Intro:
Belshazzar's feast is a picture of the Party of the society of our
day,
BUT
GOD KNOWS HOW TO BRING THE PARTY TO A SUDDEN SCREECHING SHOCKING STOP.
I.
THE FEAST
V 1-4
Dan 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Dan 5:2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Dan 5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
Dan 5:4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
A.
A feast of sinful lust........V 1-4
1.
Evil Wine.....Prov 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
2.
Evil Women....V 2-3
Dan 5:2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Dan 5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
3.
Evil Worship....V 4
B.
A feast of self-satisfaction....Nebuchadezzar had conquered all the
kingdoms of the world, and there was nothing else for his son to do but live
it up.
C.
A feast of self-security...The way the city was built, they thought
they were safe, but they found out different.
II.
THE FINGERS.
V 5
Dan 5:5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
A.
The period of the fingers...."Then"
B.
The person of the fingers....Three times in the Scriptures a finger
writes...
Ex
31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
John
8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
and
here in Daniel 5:
a.
The place of the fingers.....Where everyone could see the writing
well.
D.
The proclamation of the fingers...' Judgement'
III.
THE FEAR
A.
Revealed in his appearance.....V 6
Dan 5:6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
B.
Revealed in his announcement...V 7
Dan 5:7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
C.
Revealed in his action....V 11-12
Dan 5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
Dan 5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
IV.
THE FINISH.....V 25-30
A.
His days were numbered.....V 26
Dan 5:26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
B.
His deeds were weighed.....V 27
Dan 5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
a.
His dynasty was finished...V 28
Dan 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
D.
His death was disasterous....V 30
Dan 5:30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
The
world might be living it up now, but soon the handwriting will be on the
wall for this generation.
