Daniel 5:1-4

As I scan chapter five of Daniel, I am struck by the brevity of King Belshazzar’s story. He gets one mere chapter, and at the end, he is dead.

Is God in a bad mood? Is God being impatient? Is God and His Justice random and arbitrary?

It seems almost blasphemous to ask such questions. However if we are to think seriously about serving Almighty God, we must have the courage to look straight into these sorts of questions—for ourselves and for those who have yet to come to believe.

Daniel chapter five provides a wonderful real-life example to think through these questions; these questions which are ever-present in the mind of the modern-day skeptic, and a few of us believers.

My foundational premise is that God is not random or arbitrary. Such traits would be outside the character of God.

To approach this chapter, and how it can inform our own day, I want over the course of three reflections to:

1.    Look at what Belshazzar’s offense against God was.

2.    Look at whether Belshazzar had any evidence that God would not stand for such behavior.

3.    Look at God’s response in light of mercy and justice.

Belshazzar’s Offense

The king cannot claim ignorance. Belshazzar cannot say, “Gee, I didn’t know these vessels were important to a distant unknown God.” Belshazzar knew of Yaweh.

1.    The text removes any doubt. Later on in the chapter, Daniel is brought before the king. They knew of Daniel and how he had counselled Nebuchadnezzar. They knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar, and how that king turned to Almighty God. Daniel makes this point in verse 22. The text is clear. Daniel speaking to Belshazzar, “…you knew all this…”

2.    Yet Belshazzar toasts the gods of gold and silver, using the Almighty God’s vessels. The first commandment, “You shall have no other God but me” (Exodus 20:3).

3.    Yet Belshazzar’s goes even beyond this blatant afront to Yahweh. Consider these vessels. Nebuchadnezzar put them in a museum. Yes, they were part of the plunder of his conquest of Jerusalem. Yes, he relativized their absolute value by putting them in a museum. However, at least he treated them with respect. 

4.    Consider Belshazzar’s actions. Belshazzar took vessels that had been set apart for God, and only God, and used them in a drunken festival. When something is set apart for God, it is called holy. Vessels, buildings, even people, are holy not because of some inherent quality they possess, but rather because God says they are holy. Belshazzar takes vessels set apart for God’s use, and God’s use alone, and parades them around his party. Belshazzar is in essence saying, “This God has no power or position in Babylon.” The third commandment says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Belshazzar has made a sacrilege of these vessels.

In essence, Belshazzar thinks he, and his kingdom to be the ultimate power of the world.

At this point my rant against Belshazzar could go on for many pages. Yet today we have a more pressing question. Where, in my life, have I who knows the story of God, used what he has set apart as holy in ways contrary to His purpose?