Handwriting on the Wall

Father, thank you for tonight. Lord, we are so grateful for the things you teach us and the things that we're learning. We're thankful, Lord, that we can gather together in the middle of the week to study the Word of God. So important, Lord, to understand who you are and what you do. To real the veracity of prophecy is so Eye-opening and mind-bending to be able to realize that, Lord, hundreds of years before things happen, you've mapped them all out. And we read about him, we study them, and we marvel at the exactness of your words. Tonight, Lord, we'll learn more about that. And we are grateful for the things that you teach us. So, Lord, open our hearts and minds tonight that we could behold the beautiful things out of your law. That will allow us to live for the glory of your kingdom, not just today, but until you come again, as you most surely will. In Jesus' name, amen.

Daniel chapter 5. You've come with your Bible, so turn to Daniel chapter 5.

Many years have passed since Nebuchadnezzar was king. Babylon. In fact, 23 years have passed since Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. We don't know what takes place between the end of chapter 4 and verse 1 of chapter 5 because Daniel doesn't tell us. But that's not the important thing. The important thing is the history of the world, the history of Babylon, changes on this night in Daniel chapter 5. And everything about what Daniel prophesied in Daniel chapter 2 now comes to fruition. In chapter five. Not everything he prophesied, but it takes us from the head of gold, right, to the arms and chest of silver. From Babylon's rule to the rule of the Medo-Persians. So Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter 2. When he did that, he outlined, not just for Nebuchadnezzar, but for all of us to understand the history of world powers. From the time of Babylon's rule to the time of the Antichrist's rule. We'll know more about this in Daniel 7. Daniel chapter 8, Daniel chapter 9, as we begin to unfold for you the fulfillment of those prophecies and how they come to be. and what exactly Daniel said about them and why they are so important. But this is the downfall of Babylon. As the Lord would deal with Nebuchadnezzar in his pride and his arrogance, so God deals with nations that are filled with pride and arrogance.

The book of Hosea tells us that great axiom that like priests, like people, the people will always follow the priests. The people will always follow the leaders, right? Whoever leads the nation, whoever leads the family, whoever leads the church, the people will eventually follow. That's why it's imperative that as fathers we lead in a way that's righteous and holy and true and pure so that we can lead our family in the right direction. Well, same is true for the church. You have to have men who lead in the church whose ways are right and pure and true because they want to lead the church in the right way, because the people will follow. Same is true in a nation. If those who lead in the nation don't lead in a God-honoring way, then that nation will follow in their footsteps and will become a God-dishonoring nation and turn their backs away from God. That happened with Israel and their leadership. It'll certainly happen with our nation or any nation and their leadership. And so it's imperative to understand that what takes place in Daniel 5 is a wake-up call for every nation. It's a wake-up call for every person to realize the downfalls of nations when they forget to honor their God. And so what happens in one person's life in chapter four happens in the life of a nation in chapter five. And so Daniel picks up on that in the first verse of chapter 5. We've entitled this handwriting on the wall. We probably should have titled it. Divine graffiti because God's going to write on the wall. And when God writes on the wall, you better pay attention to what He has to say because what He says is absolutely true. The problem is the nation didn't believe What God said. And that's always a problem with any nation. They refuse to believe what God says because they refuse to recognize God as their leader anyway. Romans 1, verse number 28.

So let's begin with the setting. We'll go by each verse and we'll take it down through chapter 5 and just set it for you. As we go, and verse 1 gives us the setting. It says, Belshazzar, the king, held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the pres of the thousand. So you have Belshazzar, which is a unique way of helping us understand the accuracy of scripture. You see, we forget that not only did Daniel prophesy the downfall of Babylon, but Jeremiah prophesied the downfall of Babylon. Remember, Isaiah prophesied a hundred years before the captivity. Jeremiah prophesied right at the cusp of their captivity, right before they went in. And so, if anybody was to pay attention to what God said, they would understand where they were going. So, in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 50, listen to what it says in verses 1 to 3. The word which the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet Declare and proclaim among the nations, proclaim it, and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it, but say, Babylon has been captured, Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered. Her images have been put to shame. Her idols have been shattered. For a nation has come up against her out of the north. It will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away. So Jeremiah would set the tone in chapter fifty about the downfall of Babylon. He goes on to say in chapter 51, verse number 11: Sharpen the arrows, feel the quivers. The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes. Now remember. The breast that's in the arms of silver is the Medo-Persian Empire. Well, Jeremiah would prophesy this: that this is what's going to happen to Babylon. In enough time for them to be able to repent and turn for their sins. Sharpen the arrows, fill the quiver. The Lord has aroused the spirit of the king of the Medes because his purpose is against Babylon to destroy it. For it is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance of his temple. God is seeking vengeance for his temple. We'll know more about that in just a second. Chapter 24 of Jeremiah 51. But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chald for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes, declares the Lord. Verse 28, con the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, their governors, and all their pre, and every land of their dominion. So the land quakes and rise for the purpose of the Lord against Babylon stand to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitants. Then verse 36: Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am going to plead your case and exact full vengeance for you, and I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry. Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror, and a hissing without inhabitants. Jeremiah made it very clear that Babylon was going to go down. It was going to go down for how it treated God's people. Now, Babylon was used by God to take Israel into captivity. All the while, God was going to destroy Babylon. So when Jeremiah pro about it, and then Daniel comes and interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream. They know it's coming. And so, through time, Nebuchadnezzar. Is broken. He comes to saving faith. We saw that last week. But now there's a new king. His name is Belshazzar. And the critics of the Bible used to have a heyday with this because there was no record of Belshazzar. So they would say the Bible was wrong. But soon, archaeology would catch up with the Bible. And when archaeology catches up with the Bible, the critics are disproven. You see, Neb was the father of Belshazzar. Belshazzar was his son. He was a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. So, when it says that Belshazzar is a son of Nebuchadnezzar, they would argue: no, he didn't have a son named Belshazzar. But there's no Hebrew word for grandson. It's like when Jesus is a son of David, he's not the direct son of David, or when it says in Matthew chapter 1 that David is a son of Abraham. Well, he's not a direct son of Abraham. There is no word for grandfather or grandson in Hebrew. So it just says the next generation or a succeeding generation. So, when Belshazzar is the son of Nebuchadnezzar, we realize that he is the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. And he's having this feast. He calls all of his lords together. And they're going to celebrate. Now, note this: the Medes and the Persians have already at this time captured all the cities around Babylon. They've captured them all. But Belshazzar is going to have this feast because he's not afraid of the Medes and the Persians. Why? Because you see, Babylon is an impregnable fortress. The walls were 300 feet high. They surrounded a 15-square-mile city called Babylon. It was huge. The walls were 300 feet high. They were 80 feet thick. They had chariot races on the top of the walls surrounding Babylon. They had a hundred different towers that would oversee everything around them. So they knew what was happening. They had enough food in Babylon to last them 20 years. They could create their own food, grow their own food, because it was a city that the river Euphrates ran directly through. So they never ran out of water. It was always available to them. And so once you're in the city, you're secure. Once you're in the city, you're safe. And so Belshazzar, he wasn't afraid of. The Medes and the Persians, although he should have been, because Jeremiah prophesied about it, but he wasn't afraid because they could not get into his city. So he thought. And so that's the setting that you need to understand. 23 years since chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 43 years. Very, very important because as you read through the text, you're going to realize that it's been 70 years since chapter 2. 70. That makes Daniel 86 or above. 87, maybe, maybe even 88. He's in his late 80s. And he's always kept his integrity. He's never compromised his virtue. He's never compromised his stand. All these years, he's always been used by God. He is a hallmark of character. He's a testimony that far surpasses most people will ever, ever know or read about. And so here is this man who now is 86, 87 years of age, who's going to once again be used by the Lord in a. Remarkable way. That's the setting. Now let's look at the sin. Verses two down through verse number four.

When Belsha tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar his father, or his grandfather, had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem. So that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels. that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God, which was in Jerusalem. And the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Now, Belshazzar, we don't know much about him, but we know he is filled with sin. But what he does on this night is the straw that breaks the camel's back. What he does on this night is completely blasphemous. Now, Jeremiah tells us, we just read it earlier, that God will take vengeance because of his temple. Why? Because the articles that were taken from the temple, the utensils taken from the temple, all the gold, all the silver, Nebuchadnezzar kept away. But Belsh called for them to come out. Because they were going to use utensils consecrated to God for their own selfish pleasures. to fulfill their own selfish desires and to lift them to their own pagan gods. They wanted to praise their gods with the utensils that had been consecrated for temple use only. Completely blasphemous.

Now, think about this for a minute. We would say, how dare they? But just think about the things that are consecrated to the Lord. That we misuse for selfish purposes. Let's just take, for instance, the Lord's Day. None of us would want to take the Lord's Day in v. None of us would want to take the Lord's Day and use it for selfish purposes. We wouldn 't want to miss church for our own selfish desires, would we? To serve our own selfish pleasures. We wouldn't want to do that. But that day has been set aside by the Lord. It was the Sabbath day, it was the last day of the week. But with the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week and the church meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, the first day, became the Lord's Day. That's the Lord's Day. Now, every Day is the Lord's Day, right? We don't doubt that. But there is a specific day set aside where the Lord is to be honored and glorified and magnified. That's his day. When God set up their side, when he consecrates something, he wants to be honored on that day. And who are we to dishonor him on that day with our own selfish desires and selfish pleasures? Or how about this? Your money, it's the Lord's money. We think it's our money, but it's really the Lord's money. God has given us our income. God has given us our bank account. What we have, we have from the Lord. What do you have, Paul says, that you did not receive from the Lord? Everything. Well, if it's the Lord's money, right, how do I use it for his glory, or do I use his money for my own selfish purposes? How about your body? You've been bought with a price. You're the temple of the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 6, right? Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. God owns our body. It's set aside for His purposes. So, why would we want to do anything to desecrate the temple? Why would we want to do anything to harm the body, right? It's his body. It's set apart for his purposes. So when we look at Belshazzar and look at what he's done and say, you know what? He deserves to die. We need to look back at our lives and say, hold on a second. What do we use for our own selfish purposes of things that God has consecrated for Himself? We are to, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, glorify God in our bodies, right? How dare we not glorify God in our bodies? And in the context of 1 Corinthians 6, it all deals with immorality and using your body for fornication. How dare we use the body? For something that God has not designed it for. That's why Paul would say that whoever commits immorality with his body Sins differently than every other sin. Why? Because there's something about sexual sin that's different than every other sin. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6: those who commit sin, sexual sin, with their bodies, Do it in such a way that it affects the inside of their bodies. Every other sin affects the outside of the body. There's one sin, sexual sin, that affects the internal part of a man like no other sin. And so, Paul, in that context, says, Your body's the Lord's. He bought it with the price. It's been consecrated to him. Why would you want to defile it? With a prostitute. Why'd you want to defile it with immorality? Why would you want to do that? It's his. Belsha. He would take the utensils from the temple and use them in the worship of his gods because he didn't care about the Lord God of Israel. Even though he knew the story of Nebuchadnezzar, I'm sure everybody knew the story of Nebuchadnezzar. So you move from the studying to the sin to the sign. Look what it says: verse 5.

Suddenly.

Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. Then the king's face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking together. This was the fastest sobering of a person in the history of mankind. Here was a king filled with wine, drinking. being married, doing whatever he wanted with his wives, his concubines, and all of his lords, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, comes this hand and a finger that begins to write on the plaster of the walls of this banquet hall. Think about that. That would send shock waves through everyone. And I believe that Belsh was the first one to see it. Once he saw it. He began to grow pale and shake, and everybody else wondered what he saw. And they would look as well because God was going to give him a s. Great terror came upon Belsha. Great fear c upon him because he had blasphemed. The name of God. It was almost as if they had brought out the utensils and began to drink them. That God suddenly said, As soon as you touch your lips with that, I'm writing your doom on the wall. That's exactly what happened. For suddenly it did appear. The king saw it, the finger of God. Why not do it differently? Why not just show up? Why not send an angel coming down out of heaven? Why just the finger of God? Now remember. If you read in the book of Exodus, it was the magicians who said to Pharaoh about the plagues. It was the finger of God that brought the plagues upon Egypt. Remember what Jesus said in Luke's Gospel? If I cast out devils with the finger of God, it's the finger of God that speaks. Yes, he could have shown up, but it's not about the messenger sending an angel. He him showing up and speaking. It 's not about the miracle of a hand just appearing all of a sudden and writing on the wall. It 's all about the message. That's what's important. That's all that's important, right? What does God have to say? Because what God has to say is a reflection of who He is. It's always enough to have what God has said, because that's what our faith is built upon. And so the handwriting would tell us what God was going to say concerning Babylon, concerning the nation. And so you have this sign that comes.

Terror gripped his heart. Remember this, book of Zephan, the first chapter. It says this: Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly.

Listen, the day of the Lord, in it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction, a day of desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. A day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers, I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood will be poured out like the dust, and their flesh like dung. I will cause distress. I will cause them to shake. I will cause terror to fill them. Because that's what God does. You see, God expects us to tremble before Him. And that's why the Bible says in Isaiah 66, verse number 2: Behold, to this man will I look to him who is broken of a contrite heart, who trembles at my word. They weren't trembling at the Word of God. They were trembling at what they saw as something that was so foreign to anything they'd ever seen before. But they weren't trembling at the message because you're going to see in a moment that Belshazzar is going to get the message, but guess what? He doesn't tremble. He doesn't shake. God's looking for a particular man to the one who's broken and cont and who trembles at my word. People are going to shake uncontrollably because God's going to come back in the day of the Lord and destroy man. But he wants a man who's going to shake uncontrollably at the words that he speaks. That's the man who fears the Lord. That only happens because he's broken in heart. Nebuchadnezzar did not fear until God broke him. When God broke him, he realized that El Ely was the ruler of all mankind. He bowed in subjection to him. Belshazzar has not recognized that, and unfortunately, will not recognize that. God is looking for those who are broken and of contrite heart and who tremble at his word. And so you move in our outline from the setting to the sin to the sign. To the short of Nebuchadnezzar, I mean, of Belshazzar. It says these words in Daniel chapter 5. Verse number 7.

The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the divin. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom. That's how you know that Belshazzar's father was the ruler, but he was absent. He was not there. He had given Belshazz the rulership of Babylon. That 's why you'd be third in the kingdom, not second in the kingdom. You'd be behind my father and me. But I'm going to give it to you. Then all the king's wise men came in, and they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king. Then King Belshazzar. Was greatly alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed. So not only was he pale, because of something he had never seen before. Now his own magicians, now his own conjurers, now his own astrologists could not determine decipher what was being written. So now he's extremely fearful, but he was short-sighted because all he could think of was his foolish magicians. That's what foolish people do. Foolish people are very short-sighted on finding answers. They cannot know the answers by the things of the world because the world cannot decipher the things of God. And so he calls upon his magicians to answer the question, which they cannot. So he moved from his short-sightedness. To the summons of Daniel. And look what it says. This is so rich. It says, verse 10: The queen entered, the queen entered. This is His mother.

The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles. The queen spoke and said, O King, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods. Now remember. 2 years ago, that was said of Daniel. Three times, Daniel 4, twice in verse 8, once in verse number 18. That's how Daniel was characterized. He was characterized as a man in whom the spirit is, or the spirit of the holy gods, resides. That's how he was characterized. So 23 years later, 70 years from chapter 2, he's 86 years old. And the same thing is being said about him simply because in Daniel chapter 1, verse number 8, he purposed in his heart not to be def. So, for all these years, for 70 years, he's maintained that purpose. He would not def his life. This is how he's known. By the unbelievers. It's not how he's known among the believers. It's how he's known among the unbelievers. The queen is not a believer in the Lord. Belshazzar is not a believer in the Lord, but they know that there's a man in the kingdom where the S of the Holy God rests upon him. He's unique. He's different than everybody else. And the question comes first: how does the world see us? Well, how does the world view us? What would characterize us in the mind and eyes of the world? What would they say about your life and mind? This is what the queen says about Daniel. It says, and in the days of your father, okay, he's speaking of Nebuchadnezzar. Illumination, insight, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans, and divin. Your grandfather made him the highest guy in the land. He put him over everybody. This was because an extraordinary spirit. Knowledge and insight, inter of dreams, explanation of enigmas, and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belt. Let Daniel now be summoned, and he will declare the interpretation. Wow. What an incredible testimony that man had. Now, remember, he's not at the party. Why would he be there? He's not going to defile himself in any way, right? So he wouldn't be at the party. Maybe he wasn't invited. Maybe everybody had forgotten about him. Evidently, Belshazzar had forgotten about him. But he knew about his grandfather. He knew about the testimony of his grandfather. And so when Daniel shows up in the scene, Daniel's going to make sure that he reviews that testimony with Belshazzar. So you move from the summons to the sentence. Verse 13.

Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? He's asking the question. Now remember, when he came, he was 16. Now he's 86. Probably a little bit of change in his figure between 16 and 86. Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you. Again. There's something unique about this man. He has an extraordinary spirit. And that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom has been found in you. Just now, the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me. But they could not declare the interpretation of the message. But I personally have heard about you. That you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now, if you are able to read the ins and make its interpretation known to me. You will be clothed with purple, and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom. I'm going to give you honor. I'm going to give you whatever you want. I'm going to make you top dog. I'm going to give you the opportunity to be higher up than you were with my father or my grandfather. If you can interpret what's on the wall. So it says in verse number 17 these words.

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, keep your gifts for yourself or give your reward to someone else. I listen to that. I don't want your money. Don't need your clothes. Don't need a promotion. Don't need any of that stuff. I'm not here for that. None of that interests me. You want to give it to somebody else? Give it to somebody else. I certainly could care less about what you have to give me. However, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.

So he says, O king. The Most High God, remember, the Most High God, 12 times referenced in the book of Daniel, more than any other book, El Elian, because it's all about the magnificence of the Most High God. Daniel recognizes that God is El Ely. So he says, The Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, and glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar, your father. Do you know how your father became king? Because God allowed him to be king. God granted him that opportunity. So at the outset, Daniel is going to make it very clear that the only reason you're king is because of the most high God. Not because of your succession, but because of the most high God. That's the only reason you're here. So he says, Because of the grandeur which he bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him. Whomever he wished, he killed. And whomever he wished, he spared alive. And whomever he wished, he elevated. And whomever he wished, he humbled. That was his power. But he had power because God granted him power. So it says in verse 20, but when his heart was lifted up, And his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly. He was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him. Yes, he was a man of power. But because he was also a man of pride, he experienced great punishment. His power was taken away. He was driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of the beast, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he recognized that the Most High God, El Ely, is ruler over the realm of mankind and that he sets over it whomever he wishes.

Listen. Whether it's Nebuchadnezzar 23 years earlier, whether it's Belsh, or whether it's Joe Biden, until you recognize that Ele is the ruler of mankind. You have no hope. None whatsoever. Until you realize the sovereign control of Almighty God, the message is always the same for every president, for every king, for every queen, for every leader. It's always the same, it's never going to change. The most high God is the ruler over the realm of mankind. And we told you three weeks ago that Romans 1 tells us that they did not recognize God any long. That's what nations do. That's what America has done. They do not recognize God any longer. Why? Because the leaders of the nation no longer recognize God any longer. They want to take Ten Commandments off the wall. They want to take in God we trust off of our coin. They want to take prayer from schools. They want to take everything they can away so we can no longer understand who God is and what God is about. Simply because they don't want to recognize the Most High God. And we will see in Daniel 7, Daniel 8, and Daniel 9 that America is not there. That the United States of America is not around because the United States of America is not a part of the image of Daniel chapter 2. We have become one of the most weakest nations in the world over the last year. And God is sending a message. Unless you recognize that I am El Ely, the Most High God, you are doomed. You are completely doomed. And you know what? America is doomed. You can sing, God bless America, it's just not going to happen. God will bless Americans who give their life to him, but God's not going to bless America. He can't bless a nation that's been given over to a depraved mind. He can't bless a nation that's filled with unrighteousness at its highest ranks. He can't bless a nation who turns their back on the living God. So the message in Daniel 4, the message in Daniel 5 is the same. You must recognize that the Most High God rules over the realm of mankind. Until you submit to his authority and follow his leadership, you're doomed. And so it says this: yet you, his son Belsh, Had not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. But you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your nobles, and your wives, and your concubines. Have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which did not see, hear, or understand, but the God in whose hand. Are your life breath, and all your ways you have not gl. Wow. The God who gives you life, the God who gives you breath, you refuse to acknowledge. You refuse to humble yourself before Him. You refuse to bow before the king of the universe. You know this about Nebuchadnezzar. It's well known he's your grandfather. You know the story. It's been told over and over again. God protected his throne for seven years as he crawled like a beast in the field. And God had made sure that when he repented and gave his life back to him, that God restored that throne back to him. You know the story, Belshazzar, but yet you are just like Nebuchadnezzar. Was. You are filled with pride. You are refusing to submit. You are refusing to follow the truth of the living God. You will not glorify Him. And yet you've seen it first. Then the hand was sent from him, and this inscription was written out. So Daniel rehearses what took place with Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather. So he's reminded that Daniel knows. He should know, which he does. He doesn't deny that. He does know. And so from the summons to the sentence, you have this statement.

Now this is the inscription that was written out, Men, Mene, Tek Euphar. This is the interpretation of the message. Mene, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Pere, your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians. He gives the interpretation. He makes a statement known. A statement that, in and of itself, is how you speak to every unbeliever. We train people to go door to door. This is what we train them to say. Knock on the door and say, Men, mene, tek e. Tell them that. That's the truth. Your days are numbered. Your days are numbered. Very first thing we say, you're doomed. You're doomed. Your days are numbered. In fact, You don't know the number of your days, but God does. And Daniel says. And he says, God repeats it, men, mene. Your days are numbered. Your days are numbered. To make sure you get the message, time is short. That's why the Bible says in Psalm 90, verse number 12: teach us to number our days that we might apply our hearts into wisdom, right? Your days are numbered. You just don't know when those days are going to be up, right? But Belshazzar has a time fr. Your number's up. You are doomed. You're doomed. Then he says, No, you're doomed. You're deficient. You've been weighed in the balances. And when you're weighed in the balances, you're weighed by whose standard? God's standard. And His standard is righteousness, and you are unrighteous. So, when you go to an unbeliever, you tell them you are doomed, and not only you're doomed, you are deficient. You do not have the righteousness that can save you. For it's not by works of righteousness which you have done, but by the washing of regeneration, it's by the renewing of the Spirit of God. This is the gospel message. You are doomed and you are deficient. And not only that. You will be destroyed. You are damned. He says, very simple, these words. Mene, mene, tek, eu, which means to divide or to break or shatter. You're divided. So and so you're going be shattered. You're going to be broken beyond recognition. Your empire will be broken. Your empire will be divided. It'll be taken over by the Medes and the Persians.

Listen, it's over. This is the message from God. God has written it on the wall. God wants to make sure that everybody understands this. In your current condition, you are doomed. In your current condition, you are deficient. There's nothing you can do to save yourself. In your current condition, you are going to be damned to destruction for all eternity. That's the message of the gospel. Somebody's got to give them hope, right? Unless you understand your condition, you're not going to cry for any kind of mercy or grace. And this is Belsha's opportunity to cry out for mercy and say, wait a minute, I don't want that to happen. Now's his opportunity to repent. Now is his opportunity to. To be contrite, to be broken, to recognize, wait a minute, I'm doomed? There's nothing sufficient in and of myself that's going to gain favor with the gods or your God. I'm going to be divided and destroyed. Then tell me, how do I keep that from happening? Is there a way I can stop this from taking place? What can I do? And cry out to Daniel and beg for forgiveness, but he doesn't do that. He was once pale. He was once trembling. But once he hears the message. He turns away, says very clearly these words.

Then Belsh gave orders, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler of the kingdom. Why? Why do that? Who wants to be third ruler on the Titanic? Right? Nobody cares about that. But you see, it had no effect upon his life. You heard the message. He's like, I remember Nebuchadnezzar. He had 12 months before judgment came upon him. Remember that? That was last week. He had 12. I remember my grandfather. He was told what would happen to him, but he had enough time. I have time. That's always the young belie's answer. Not today. I can do it tomorrow. I can do it next week. I got time. Wait till I'm older. I got time. He's probably thinking in his mind, yeah, I know about my grandfather. Twelve months passed. I've got time. But he had no time. He had a very little amount of time. How do we know that? Next verse.

That same night. Belsh, the Chaldean king, was slain. So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of 6 that night. How did he do it? The summation of the story is that Daniel was rewarded, but the decree was realized. Belshazzar was sl. How do they do it? They tell us that they dammed off the waters of the Euphrates. T the water subsided, and he could walk in with it waist deep, and he took over the kingdom in one night. Belshazzar had no idea. Here's the message: Your kingdom will be divided. No, it won't. I live in this fortress. Nothing's going to happen to me. I'm good. You're deficient. I'm not deficient. Look at all the gold I have. I have everything I could possibly want. Don't tell me I'm doomed, that my days are numbered. I know that one day I'm going to die, but don't tell me I'm doomed. Don't tell me I'm damned. Don't tell me I'm going be destroyed. D Don't tell me I'm deficient. Don't tell me what I need to hear. Tell me what I want to hear. He had no effect on him. He didn't care. Give Daniel the clothes, give him the gold. Daniel, and you're now the third ruler in our country, in our city, in the city of Babylon. Right into my father and right into me, you're the guy. Who cares? Because that night, his kingdom was destroyed. And so was he. That night was the fulfillment of Daniel chapter 2. That night, prophecy was fulfilled. Now listen carefully.

All this is prophesied 1 years before this night. 1 years earlier, Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 45. It even tells us who the king is, who doesn't. Thus says the Lord, Isaiah 4, verse number 1, Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, his anointed. The king and ruler of the Medes and Persians is Cyrus. He's God's servant, God's anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand. to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings, to open doors before him, so that gates would not be shut. I will go before you and make the rough places smooth. I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the iron bars. I will give you the treasures of darkness. And hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob my servant and Israel my chosen one, I have also called you by your name. I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known me. Cyrus wasn't even born yet. The prophecy was given. And so you have Isaiah 47, these words, chapter 1. Come down and sit in the dust, O Virgin daughter of Babylon sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chal, for you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. Verse 3: Your nakedness will be uncovered, your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance and will not spare a man. Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit silently and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chald, for you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms. I was angry with my people, I profaned my heritage and gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy to them. On the aged, you made your yoke very heavy. Verse 8. Now then, hear this, you sensual one. Who dwells securely, who says in your heart, I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of children. But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day, loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your spells. For I am the Lord, and there is no one besides me. Evil will come on you, which you will not know how to charm away, and disaster will fall on you for which you cannot atone, and destruction about which you do not know, will come on you suddenly. Sure enough, it did. 175 years before this night, it was prophesied. In Daniel chapter 2, 70 years earlier, Daniel said, You are the golden head, O King Nebuchadnezzar. But there's coming another kingdom, a kingdom of silver that will come and replace you. That did not happen in Nebuchadnezzar's lifetime, but it happened in the life of Belshazzar, his grandson. It did come about. Was all prophesied. The truth of Scripture is clearly presented. So when the handwriting of the wall comes, when God and His divine graffiti speaks, you've got to listen. Belsha didn't listen because he thought he had time. He had more time. He didn't know that that night it was going to take place. Even though he was warned, it's like when you tell somebody, you're on your way to hell, you got to repent, turn from your sin. They're, you know what? I got time. You don't know you have time. You think you have time. You don't know you have time. You just don't know. That's why the Bible says today is a day of salvation. Don't postpone it. Don't wait, for now is the time to respond to the truth of God's holy word. Word. Belshazzar did not heed the warning. And God gives warnings all throughout a scripture. And I wonder how many people, even here tonight, have heard the warning over and over again and yet have not responded. Tonight could be the night where your number is up and God takes you. You don't know that. Everybody has a last night. Belsh had a last night. Everybody has a last day. Everybody hears a last sermon, a last message, a last warning. If you don't respond, it can be very, very devastating.

At the feast of Belshazzar and a thousand of his lords, while they drank from golden vessels, as the book of truth records. In the night as they revel in the royal palace hall, They were seized with consternation at the hand upon the wall. So our deeds are recorded. There's a hand that's writing now. Sinner, give your heart to Jesus, to his royal mandate, bow. For the day is approaching, it must come to one and all when the sinner's condemnation will be written on the wall. In Revelation chapter 20, when the unsaved dead are before the throne of God, the books are opened. What books are those? The books of the record of your life. And then the book of life is opened. And those whose names are not found written in the book of life are cast into the eternal fire. That which is being recorded. Has just one phrase. Many, many. Te Euphar. You are doomed. You are absolutely doom. You are deficient. Therefore, you will be damned. And that's the message we need to give to everybody that we know who doesn't know the Lord. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight, the opportunity we have to present your word. We're so grateful, Lord, at the truth of Scripture, the fulfillment of prophecy, the accuracy, the veracity of the word. It's amazing. Belsha saw it, heard it, and said, Nah. He can't mean tonight. Can't mean me. It can't be true. So he carries on as if it's no big deal. But that very night, he was gone into a criseless eternity. How sad. Our prayer, Father, is that we, as your people, would be able to give the message of God. To those in our family, our friends, who need to hear the truth. All that you're doing is deficient, doesn't work. You're doomed. Please respond, or you'll be damned forever. Come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord. May that passion be upon our souls as we seek to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only in this community but around the world. So people respond and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray in your name. Amen.