Saturday, January 24, 2015

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 4)



Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our study of Daniel’s Devotionfrom God’s Word…

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 4)

This fifth chapter of Daniel's prophecy is not only a prophetic passage of great importance but also a chapter that has a very important historic significance as well. The King of Babylon, at the time of chapter 5 is Belshazzar who most likely was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar had died and Belshazzar came to power over this world empire near the time of the end of this great Gentile world power.

The King had invited 1,000 of his "lords" to a banquet, which actually turned into the "last hoorah" for King Belshazzar:

Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand Daniel 5:1

Though the Medes and the Persians had been threatening to overthrow the Babylonians, the King felt secure inside the walls of this supposedly "impregnable city" with its double high walls surrounding the city, a city that had never been defeated.

During the course of the evening the King called for the "Temple vessels" that his grandfather had brought out of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to Babylon. The King had his servants fill these "special vessels" with wine and made them available to the King's guest. This was a very bad mistake:

While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone Daniel 5:2-4

It was while the drunken party was going on that the Medes came from the North and the Persians from the South and damned up the water entering the city under its Northern wall and exiting under its Southern wall. That gave Babylon's enemies a dry tunnel under the walls to enter the city. This was the method by which the "impregnable city" was entered by its major enemies at that time. The Babylonian Empire was brought down by the Medo-Persian Empire – the second of the Gentile world powers to rule over Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

This passage is describing the fall of the Babylonian Empire but does not mention that the city of Babylon was destroyed. The city of Babylon has never been totally destroyed. However, Bible prophecy seems to say this will happen in the last days.

Ancient Jewish Prophets say that Babylon must be totally destroyed and never be rebuilt:

Isaiah chapters 13 & 14
Jeremiah chapters 50 & 51
Revelation chapters 16 & 18

Seventy-five years after the fall of the Babylonian Empire, Ezra lived in Babylon:

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him… For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him – Ezra 7:6 & 9

Secular history tells us that Alexander the Great ruled the world from his headquarters in Babylon, 200 years after the fall of the Babylonian Empire. The Apostle Peter started a church in Babylon 500 years after the fall of the Empire:

She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son – 1 Peter 5:13

One day in the future, Babylon will be totally destroyed.

The other thought that I have is pertaining to the use of the "implements" from the Temple. Because the Babylonians desecrated the Temple and it's implements…

But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written. “And this is the inscription that was written:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom Daniel 5:22-29

God brought judgment to King “Belshazzar” and “Darius the Mede received the kingdom”:

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old Daniel 5:30-31

God will also bring His eternal judgment on Babylon:

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple – Jeremiah 50:28

Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for His temple – Jeremiah 51:11

Biblical Babylon is the modern-day state of Iraq, where the Antichrist may be headquartered and will rule over a "one world" political, governmental, economic system in the last days. The rebuilding of war-torn Iraq is setting the stage for Bible Prophecy to be fulfilled…

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued investigation of Daniel’s Devotion

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!
Shane <><

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