August 14, 2005

Daniel 5 & 6

ch. 5

Read all the chapter verse by verse

v. 2 - the desecration of the Temple utensils

v. 4 - praise to everyone but God to whom it is due -

"give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name"

"thou shalt have no other gods before me"

Drunkenness, profligacy and profanity - sinful

revelry.

v. 5 - "In the same hour" - the intoxication of

pleasure may blind us to approaching judgment,

but cannot stay it.

Eccl. 8:11-13 Luke 9:54-56

Ezekiel 7:13 - "neither shall any strengthen himself

in the iniquity of his life"

II Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is......longsuffering to usward

not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL

should come to repentance"

"candlestick"

Out of the darkness came the hand.

v. 6 - a change of tune

The omen of a hand - had actually written - had

left words - Belshazzar was sure the message was

laden with fate.

It is a delusion to suppose one will have good warning

and time for repentance before we meet the Judge.

For Belshazzar, there was gross negligence - the enemy

was at the gate and he is reveling in effeminate orgies.

v. 9 - the effect on Belshazzar and his lords

v. 19 - the arbitrariness of Nebuchadnezzar

v. 20 -

v. 21 - "till he knew the Most High God ruled in the

kingdom of men"

v. 22 - practical atheism associated with epicurean

life style - extravagance - false security -

The intimate relation existing between moral and

spiritual degradation generally and alcohol/now drugs.

v. 23 - "and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and

whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified"

The universal human duty of glorifying God - we enjoy

the life He gives and the fruits of His goodness.

The neglect of our duty to glorify God is the root

of all sin - when God is dethroned from the shrine

of our hearts all forms of evil take His place.

Idolatry, the worship of false gods, is only possible

when the worship of the true God is neglected.

Indulgence in sinful pleasures is possible only when

the pure pleasures of Divine things are lost.

Insulting God by bringing the harem into the

banquet room set by the utensils that were

sanctified for the use only for God.

The indifference of a passive atheism associated

with an open and defiant antagonism against God.

So much for things constitutional - "to promote the

general welfare"?????

vs. 25-28 - "found wanting" -summons, trial and

sentence - we are all given sufficient time and

opportunity to bring forth fruit - we have not

the leisure of eternity to postpone the work of

today until tomorrow.

John 9:4 - "I must work the works of Him that sent

me, while it is day: the night cometh when

no man can work"

"weighed" - "found wanting"

Corruption, disintegration, dissolution, spiritual death

in outer darkness - the mysterious doom of sin unrepented

and persisted in to the end - James 1:15

It was the king's own sin and folly of that very hour that

led straight to Belshazzar's ruin.

vs. 6 & 9 - terror - awakening - the king asks for help from

the scientists real or pretended - those acquainted with things

material - mental - psyche - a false science that was USELESS.

A competent leader in natural philosophy or psychology are of

no use in dealing with a conscience awakened and alarmed!

vs. 11-12, 16 - Man needs to know the deeper things of life -

such are revelations from God and such Daniel knew -

v. 22 - infidelity to revelation

v. 23 - substituting shadows for God

Sacrilege, indecency, drunkenness, prostration

before idols, infatuations, profanities, improprieties,

sensualisms of the 21st century differ in form maybe,

but not in spirit, as those in the times of Belshazzar.

THEY WILL MEET THE SAME END - BEWARE!

Puritans - Glorify God - background of this nation -

New Era yesterday - deep religious background of

famous academic institutions - now totally secular.

Failure to glorify God - a foul up of a man's prime duty!

We put the highest honor on Him when we repeat His

likeness - to glorify God is to reflect God!

This was to be the final end of our creation!

CHRIST CAME TO FACILITATE THIS!

ch. 6

vs. 1-3 - "Daniel was first" - who would not want his

expertise - ch. 5:11-12,16

vs. 4-5 - jealousy - high office provokes envy - prominent

positions are exposed to searching criticism -

they would not pay the price - wanted the

benefits - the prestige - easy way - men wish to

gain the fruits of virtue rather than virtue itself -

if they cannot rise to the elevation of their rival,

they seek to bring him down to ther level or

to destroy him altogether - only way to

find fault was with "the law of his God"

Seeming success makes Envy bold - she will involve the

king himself in her murderous scheme - a crafty use of

flattery will win his powerful patronage - masked under

the pretense of excessive loyalty.

Murder is the final act in her program.

It is a perilous thing to harbor an evil principle in

any corner of the heart.

Depose Daniel - injure his reputation with the king - any

thing to topple him?

It matters little to Envy whether she speaks the

language of truth or falsehood - whether she employs

just or unjust tactics - thus the modern scrutiny of

those trying to control politics.

How ironical -

George Washington - "It is impossible to rightly

govern the world without God and the Bible"

Daniel Webster - "If we abide by the principles taught

in the Bible, our country will go on prospering

and to prosper, but if we and our posterity

neglect its instructions and authority, no man

can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm

us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.

Thomas Huxley - "The Bible has been the Magna Carta

of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not

in a position to dispense with it"

U. S. Grant - "The Bible is the sheet anchor of our liberties"

Andrew Jackson - "That book, sir, is the rock on

which our republic rests"

John Quincy Adams - "So great is my veneration for

the Bible that the earlier my children begin to

read it the more confident will be my hope

that they will prove to be useful citizens of

their country and respectable members of

society"

Daniel prayed and made supplication to the Lord

his God three times a day.

vs. 6-8 - a conspiracy of Daniel's co-presidents

In the long run right will triumph, but here and

now wrong often triumphs.

Courage, strength, & independence of character

are indispensable to a faithful Christian -

v. 9 - Darius' weakness

v. 10 - Daniel was resolved - every habit of his life

had been formed under the guidance of God,

wisdom and discretion - terror shall not rob

him of advantages which experience had given.

God had been a True and Trusty Friend for

over seven decades - it would be base ingratitude

to neglect Him now!

Daniel's habit - I Kings 8:48 (I remember one

day at Ferguson High School reading this while waiting,

in the truck, for my father

Prayer is a help to the performance of duty! Prayer can

be no more neglected with profit, than not eating or

sleeping.

Christ spent much time in prayer

vs. 11-13 - the accusation -

"that Daniel" - compare II Chron. 28:19-23 (read)

"this is that Ahaz" - I remember one of Spurgeon’s Sermons

on this!

v. 14 - Darius' remorse - a constitutional dilemma

v. 16 - "Thy God whom thou servest continually,

He will deliver thee"

v. 18 - a miserable night for the king

v. 20 - "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy

God, whom thou servest continually, able to

deliver thee from the lions?"

vs. 21-22 - "My God hath sent His angel, and hath

shut the lions' mouths"

Wild beasts do not disobey the will of God - man alone

rebels.

v. 23 - "no manner of hurt was found upon him,

because he believed in his God"

v. 24 - It is dangerous to show enmity to the weakest

man who stands on the side of right - all the

power of God is behind him.

v. 25 - Darius waxing Pauline like Nebuchadnezzar

v. 26 - Darius would not last long in the judicial

climate of the United States of America???

(in light of ch. 2:44-46)

v. 28 - "So this Daniel prospered" - isn't that

what we all want to do?