Presents
Pamphlet 5030 KC Daniel 11-2
Only Jesus Christ, the Word of God, can unlock the seals to your mind.
We now move to the year 426 BC and Daniel is eighty-seven years old.
The grandson of king Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, whose name means Prince of Bel, is now ruling the kingdom.
He is the third and final ruler of the kingdom of Babylon. Let's see what he's up to.
Daniel 5:1
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Even this great banquet hall where this feast and drunken bash took place has been found and excavated. It is 60 feet wide and 172 feet long with the walls decorated with painted stucco designs.
Read Dr. Bullinger's marginal notes in the Companion Bible where he even gives a reference for you to check out the discovery.
This is important because when you see that secular history and archaeology align with Father's Word, it strengthens your faith in knowing that His Word is most assuredly true and accurate.
In fact, it is the standard by which all other history must align for the events written therein did happen, even though the higher critics would like to have you believe otherwise in many cases.
So each time a new discovery is made that confirms that which is written the Word, it makes the higher critic look more foolish than he or she already is.
[2] Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzarhad taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
It is just like we would say "our father Abraham" which means our ancestral father not our immediate father.
The same applies to the word "son" which could and often does mean grandson, great grandson, etc.
Once again, if you have a Companion Bible which we highly recommend, the marginal notes will give you more details concerning Nebuchadnezzar and his son and his grandson who were prophesied to succeed him and rule Babylon.
In fact, let's go to Jeremiah and document that prophecy.
Jeremiah 27:6-7
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
God gave them to him!
[7] And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
So here we have a big party going on which Belshazzar has now turned into an idolatrous religious gathering by bringing in the golden and silver vessels taken by his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar out of the temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem.
And now not only the king and his lords are gathered but also all the king's wives and his concubines were all invited to come in and drink wine from the vessels of the house of the Lord!
What a mockery and disregard for the One who gives them the very breath they breath.
Of course it is written that the king of Babylon will come in the last days and hold a feast in the "king's palace" and gather those who are "wed to him" and those whom he can seduce, and they shall all drink of the wine of fornication and become spiritually drunken.
See that you are not one who attends his feast but rather one who flees from the land of Judea as per Christ's instructions and remains a spiritual virgin unto the coming of the true Bridegroom.
Daniel 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.
What blasphemy!
[4] They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
You will also find if you count the "gods" in verse four there are "6" of them.
[5] In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Our Father definitely has a way of getting one's attention whether he or she is drunk or not... either physically or spiritually!
And let us not overlook what has happened here because this is given as a picture, a type, a graphic ensample to those us in these last days upon whom the ends of the world are come (1 Cor. 10:11).
God did NOT pass judgment upon Belshazzar without "the handwriting on the wall" being placed right before his very eyes!
The fact that neither he nor his great idolatrous religious leaders could read or understand what was written before their very eyes convicts them and gives witness to their ignorance and disregard for the Most High!
[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.
[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 shew 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.
Let's see what the new generation of religious leaders can do because we know if one wants to know the meaning of that which is written concerning the king of Babylon, he or she must consult the prophets of God, like the prophet Daniel, and Belshazzar gave no regard and remembered not Daniel.
Remember, Jesus Christ himself told us that if we want to know what is happening concerning the abomination of desolation, the king of Babylon of these last days, then go read what the prophet Daniel has to say.
He did NOT say go read men's works or listen to soothsayers or follow the empty traditions of religionists (even if they call themselves Christian) which contain no foundation in the Word of God.
Your Father is the one who reveals secrets and gives us of the hidden manna.
Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is the only one worthy and the only one who has prevailed and is able to unlock the seals and reveal knowledge and understanding to you (Rev. 4:5).
[8] Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
Here it is... the handwriting is "written" on the wall, visible for the king and all the religious community to see and they cannot read it, meaning they have no clue what it means.
Isn't that just typical of the religious community?
They are so steeped in idolatry that they cannot read and understand God's Word when it is visibly placed right before their eyes.
They can zip-a-dee doo-dah around the altar and contort their faces and look and sound real religious and holy, but when it comes to wisdom and understanding the written Word of God, they are as drunken sots.
Some things just never change and the religious leaders of today are no different in their lack of wisdom and understanding of God's Word.
These few verses below from Isaiah 29 tell us how it is.
Isaiah 29:9
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Remember Daniel and his companions did not drink the spiritually intoxicating wine served by servants of the king of Babylon.
The "ate" only pulse, pure food from the Word of God, and "drank" only the living water of His Word.
Hey, the king of Babylon's wine will cause you to stagger and fall asleep... spiritually speaking.
[10] For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
In other words, they are not given eyes to "see" which means to "understand" the things that are written because they do not seek understanding and wisdom.
They are too busy with their traditions and church doctrines, etc., which blind them to the point that they cannot even "see" the simplicity of "men walking as trees"!
[11] And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
You can go to all the colleges and seminaries you want and obtain man's PhD's and ThD's and DD's and DVD's (just threw that in to see if you're awake) and collect more alphabet soup to go behind your name than will fit on your impressive silver and gold embossed business card, but if you have not gone to the schoolmaster and studied the law and prophets and sought through the Holy Spirit to rightly divide the Word of truth, then the book remains as sealed to you just as much as it does to the uneducated... only you look much more foolish.
[12] And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
[13] Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Therefore, all they know of the love of God is what they have been taught by the "precepts of men" which are the vain and empty traditions of men.
They do not KNOW Jesus Christ because they do know the Written Word of God.
So, Almighty God will do a marvellous work among them and He WILL get their attention!
You can count on it!
[14] Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Those who are wise know and understand His plan and what His judgment is and why.
You "see", Daniel can explain "the handwriting on the wall" and in our next study we will see him do just that!
Jesus said, "the book of Daniel was where one could go read and gain understanding"
Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 when He sat upon the Mount of Olives and gave His disciples the seven seals concerning the knowledge and the events that would transpire during the final generation of the fig tree, that the book of Daniel was where one could go read and gain understanding concerning the abomination of desolation, that abominable desolator (antichrist) who would come stand in the holy place claiming to be God.To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
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