Chapter 5

“I will make drunk her officials and her wise men, her governors, her commanders, and her warriors; they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.” Jeremiah 51:57

I.     Daniel 5:1-4

      A. A great feast like King Ahasuerus would have 160 years later.   Esther 1:1-4

      B. “Bring in the vessels”     Daniel 1:2; Exodus 25:29; Ezra 1:7-11

      C. Praising gods that are meaningless.      Psalm 115:1-8; Isaiah 47:1-11

II.     Daniel 5:5-9

A.                                 We cannot possibly understand the fears and superstitions that ancient people had and what this vision would do to somebody like Belshazzar.

B.                              “Bring me somebody to explain!”

C.                               “Prizes” are offered like King Ahasuerus offered in Esther 6:6-9.

D.                              “The third ruler in the kingdom” because Belshazzar was the second under his father, Nabonidus, who was “retired” in Arabia.

E.                              Nobody can explain the oracles of God.

III.    Daniel 5:10-12

A.                                 The queen is either Belshazzar’s mother or grandmother but not his wife. (verse 2)

B.                              She remembers Daniel’s service to her father (or husband), Nebuchadnezzar.

C.                               She describes Daniel exactly as Nebuchadnezzar had described him (4:8,9).

D.                              She calls him “Daniel,” his Hebrew name.  He is now about 76+ years old. It has been about 66 years since Daniel was taken from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar.

IV.    Daniel 5:13-16

      It would be nice to know what Belshazzar’s tone was when he spoke this to Daniel.

V.     Daniel 5:17-24

      A. What a difference in Daniel’s response compared to his response to Nebuchadnezzar (4:19).

        B. Daniel has seen this coming! (Chapters 2, 7 and 8) He was certainly acquainted with Jeremiah’s words in Jeremiah 27:6,7.

      C. For his actions (vss 22 and 23), Belshazzar would be deposed by God Himself. Jer. 50:28-32

      D. The hand was from God’s presence!  God is always in charge of the universe!

VI.    Daniel 5:25-30

A.                                 “Mene” is “a measure of weight” and comes from the verb “to number.”

Genesis 13:16; 1 Kings 3:8; Psalm 90:12; Jeremiah 25:11, 12

      B. “Tekel” is “a shekel” from the verb “to weigh.”   Job 31:6; Jeremiah 32:9, 10

      C. “Upharsin” (or “Parsin”) is a “half-mina” and “Peres” is “to break in two.” Jer. 51:28-32