Daniel

Daniel chapter 5 and the lessons we should learn.

In the 5th chapter of Daniel, we are told the story of King Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Having been the son of the King of Babylon, Belshazzar would have lived a very lavish life with great privilege, and I’m sure, as most affluent children, had little if any responsibility or demands placed upon him. Now Belshazzar’s father had been humbled before God and his people, but Belshazzar had not heeded the lesson.

In the last verses of chapter 4 we see that Belshazzar knew better than what he was about to do.

Allow me to stop here and quote a verse we must continually remind ourselves of. In Luke we are told “to whom much is given, much will be required”. (this will be revisited)

We know, from what was written, that Belshazzar had a great feast and invited a thousand of his lords. He drank wine in their presence, which was taboo, and there were wives and concubines there—surely a drunken event that was out of the norm.

Now here is where many get confused or hung up on the coming events. Belshazzar ordered the gold and silver vessels that his father had raided from the temple in Jerusalem and they all drank from them. During the feast, all attendants saw a disembodied hand begin to write on the wall these words, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin”. None of the king’s wise men, magicians, or fortune-tellers could interpret the words so Belshazzar’s mother, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, told him to send for Daniel.

When Daniel arrived he was offered much wealth if he could interpret the words written on the wall. Daniel refused the reward but proceeded to interpret the words written by the hand of God. The meaning was clear and relayed to King Belshazzar, “You have been weighed and measured and fallen short and will be divided”. That night the Persians and Medes attacked the city and Belshazzar was killed.

Daniel had told the king that he knew of his father and how he had been a great king that was then humbled by God and who grazed in the field with the donkeys and oxen.

Even knowing that, Belshazzar defied God, placed himself above God, and was destroyed (paraphrased). This is where most people stop and think that the only reason Belshazzar was destroyed was because he summoned the vessels taken from the temple and then defiled them, but this is an example of how far from God he had strayed; I believe it was not the root cause.

Something that must be learned from the 5th chapter of Daniel is that many portions of the Bible come into play in this chapter.

Proverbs 16:1 Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Was Belshazzar not prideful? Did he not have a haughty spirit? How about this scripture, Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Belshazzar had been placed in the throne by God just as his father had been. He had seen the workings of God in the very kingdom over which he reigned. Surely he had heard the stories of how God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fire of the furnace when they had been sentenced to death, and how God had saved Daniel from the lions when he had been sentenced to death.

Yet he ignored those examples, even the example of his father being humbled by God and restored to his kingdom. Belshazzar had been beguiled, just as Eve had been at the tree of knowledge; he had fallen prey to the principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness, and in turn, became one of the spiritually wicked in a high place! Belshazzar had been placed in a position by God and received much, but he never fulfilled the requirements!

Belshazzar had been trained by evil to defy God. I’ll elaborate: he had been the son of a king and lived a lavish lifestyle, he had been shown many examples by his father of ruling with an iron fist and the powers a king had at his disposal. Just as he drank the wine at the feast, he had become drunk with power and indulged in his lusts of the flesh. He had, in fact, been trained to defy God!

I want to discuss this training done by the adversary. First answer this question, have you been placed in a position by God? Maybe you are a preacher or teacher, maybe you have been called to preach or teach. If so, you have been given much and much will be required!

Back to training by the adversary—how does Satan train a preacher or teacher? One way I have personally witnessed is through either accolades or complaints. ??? Yes, those are methodologies of training. Through praises and accolades it becomes easy to think more of ourselves than we ought and in turn, become prideful and develop haughty spirits. (Remember much is required!)

If we receive complaints or disagreements, then often to please people we restrain our words or even refrain from delivering that which we were prompted to preach or teach through the Holy Spirit. In turn, we fall short of the mark.

As a teacher, one of God’s calls, I understand I have been placed in a position and will be weighed and measured. If I execute my calling with the sole purpose of pleasing God then I will not be found lacking, but if I attempt to execute my calling to please man, then surely I will be found lacking and in turn may possibly hear that ominous statement, “Depart from Me, I never knew you”.

This is why I often say things like “I don’t care who likes it, this is what the scripture says”, because I honestly don’t care if any man likes it or not; my care is that God is pleased with my teaching!

I pray this writing strikes you as profoundly as the words came to me, and that we always are in tune to the training up of the Holy Spirit and never fall prey to the training of the adversary!

Kenneth Kellar
A Man Called by God to Teach and Disciple