Daniel 5:19
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
God gave Nebuchadnezzar his majesty, kingdom, glory, honor and wide dominion, so that all peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him, and his word was absolute over persons to kill or spare alive and to raise up or bring down in rank. Daniel rehearsed this history before Belshazzar at the feast of judgment, recalling both the God-given authority and the divinely appointed humiliation of banishment, conversion and restoration. The same unchecked will-as-law belonged to Belshazzar, who with his thousand lords held property, princes and favor at his command to reward flatterers and crush opposers. Such power did not lift its holder above God, who rules over human kingdoms and appoints their rulers, so Nebuchadnezzar's pride in ascribing his glory to human achievement and magnifying himself in the golden image brought his removal until he acknowledged God's rule. Belshazzar knew that light yet refused its lesson and gloried in his own power, crowning his defiance by profaning Jehovah's holy vessels in praise of idols until forbearance ended, when a hand wrote his doom on the wall and Babylon fell in an hour of revelry, warning that neglect of God's lessons and injustice against His people brings certain judgment at the end of the world.
God-Given Majesty and Power
The majesty and kingdom possessed by Nebuchadnezzar, with its glory and honor and wide dominion, were given to him by God. His exceptional greatness of authority was not self-originated but bestowed, extending over all peoples, nations, and languages. Because of that given majesty all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. That universal fear is also shown as belonging to the majesty given to the king of Babylon before whom all trembled, a royal power shared in by Belshazzar and his thousand lords.
His authority over persons was absolute, deciding life and death and elevation or demotion in rank. Whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, taking life or preserving life, killing or sparing at his pleasure. Whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down, raising to power or bringing low, promoting or deposing. The verse belongs to Daniel's rehearsal of Nebuchadnezzar's history before Belshazzar at the judgment feast, recalling this God-given authority as a warning against sacrilege and pride. It recalls together both that authority and the divinely decreed humiliation, for Belshazzar knew that his grandfather had been banished and later converted and restored.
The same description of absolute monarchy applied to Belshazzar, whose will was law. He held at his command the property of lords and nobles, with princes as his servants, able to favor and indulge flatterers who suited his caprice and to crush and destroy those who opposed him. That royal power of killing and sparing and raising up and casting down belonged to him and his thousand lords, and he exercised absolute power over life and position while people trembled before him. That unchecked power flattered his pride and fed his passions, leaving his will void of self-control, hasty and violent. He was gracious when indulgent yet cruel as the grave when provoked, molded as wax by flattery and ferocious as a tiger in anger, self-indulgent, gluttonous, drunken, corrupt at heart and swayed by base passions.
Pride, Fall, and Warning
Vast authority did not make its holder independent of God or place him above God, for Jehovah is exalted above earthly kings, rules over human kingdoms, and appoints their rulers. The majesty and power to take life and preserve life and to raise to rank and bring down were given, not self-originated, and therefore gave no ground for pride. In prosperity the rulers of Babylon forgot God, regarded themselves as independent, ascribed the glory and honor of the kingdom to human achievement, and magnified their own excellence.
Nebuchadnezzar perverted revealed light by reading it through an idolatrous mind and ambition, setting up a golden image representing himself and his kingdom and the excellency of Babylon in hope of bringing all nations to its worship. His pride led to removal and banishment and humiliation until he acknowledged God's rule, showing that God can humble a ruler who relies on his own strength. Belshazzar knew that his predecessor had been banished and later converted and restored, and the kings who followed knew that history and the light given to Nebuchadnezzar. Yet they failed to learn from it, ignored its lessons, disregarded that light, and gloried in their own power.
The height of Belshazzar's presumption and defiance was sacrilege at his feast, profaning the golden vessels of Jehovah and praising the idols of Babylon. That act misused what is holy and desecrated powers dedicated to God's service, persisting in blasphemy until passing the limits of God's forbearance. That sacrilege brought sudden doom which royal power could not prevent, for God witnessed the unholy scene. In the midst of sacrilegious mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, and the terrified king and courtiers heard their doom pronounced by the servant of the Most High.
The fall of Babylon came in an hour of feasting and revelry, when the kingdom was shattered and broken and passed away as a literal fulfillment of divine prophecy, showing that God intervenes to end insolence and disobedience. God gives lessons to instruct His people and lead them to reform, and neglecting and failing to practice those lessons brings judgment. The same hand keeps faithful record of every act of injustice, oppression, calumny, and falsehood against God's people, for such words against those purchased by Christ's blood profane characters sacred to God and will be punished in those who make light of what God has chosen as sacred. That judgment during revelry will be repeated at the end of the world in this momentous period when many say the Lord delays His coming and all things remain as from the beginning of creation, when only the wise virgins prepared with oil in their vessels with their lamps will be ready to go forth to meet the Bridegroom.