Daniel 5:2
Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Intoxicated while tasting wine, Belshazzar commanded the golden and silver vessels taken from the temple at Jerusalem to be brought that he and his princes, wives and concubines might drink from them. Those vessels had been consecrated to God and set apart as sacred to Him, so to use them for drinking was contempt, irreverence and defiance that treated nothing as too holy to profane. Wine had beclouded his reason and made him forget God, leaving him void of self-control and swayed by base passion in pride and love of pleasure. God was present as an unseen heavenly Witness who saw and heard the sacrilege, and when the idolatrous revelry reached its height a hand wrote doom on the palace wall, and that night Belshazzar was weighed and found wanting, slain, and his kingdom passed to others. The same Witness still sees and records such intemperance and revelry, and the sudden overthrow while absorbed in feasting will be repeated at the end of the world when only those prepared will meet the Bridegroom.
Historical Setting
The verse belongs to Belshazzar's feast on a night of revelry, near the close of Daniel's life, after Babylon had passed from Nebuchadnezzar to unwise successors and was undergoing gradual decline. Belshazzar's pride and love of pleasure led him to disregard what he had learned from Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation, conversion and restoration, and to ignore his duty to obey God.
The feast was held while Babylon was under siege, with the king trusting the city's defenses and abundant supplies, feeling safe and spending the time in revelry. Babylon's fall came during that time of feasting and revelry, in that very hour of feasting and revelry.
The calamity that followed came because Belshazzar disregarded the light God had given Nebuchadnezzar, showing that rejecting heaven-sent instruction forfeits its benefits and brings judgment. Babylon's rulers forgot God in their prosperity and credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor and glory, and Babylon passed away because of it.
Wine beclouded Belshazzar's reason, shut away reason and made him forget God, and intoxicated he commanded the consecrated vessels to be brought for drinking in blasphemous presumption while leading in riot and blasphemy. Intoxicated he was void of self-control, hasty and violent in temper, gracious to flatterers and cruel as the grave when opposed, molded as wax by flattery and ferocious as a tiger when provoked, self-indulgent, gluttonous, drunken and corrupt at heart and swayed by basest passions. As a ruler who disregards sacred things his conduct is like a drunken man's loud, boastful behavior.
Sacred Vessels Profaned
While he was tasting the wine Belshazzar commanded the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem to be brought, that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines might drink therein. Intoxicated in the midst of the feast, he ordered them brought in for himself and his guests to drink from.
Those vessels had been consecrated to God, to Jehovah, and set apart as sacred and belonging to Him. To call for them for drinking was to treat what was sacred as though nothing were too holy for the king to profane. It was contempt and irreverence and open defiance of God.
The king with his officials, wives, concubines and thousand lords then drank wine from the vessels while praising gods of silver and gold. It was idolatrous revelry with music and dancing, feasting and sparkling wine and idolatrous sacrifices, with merriment and indulgence in wine and disregard for sacred things. Feasting and drinking and dancing and singing were carried so far that they dulled the senses and were accompanied by lustful, licentious indulgence.
The command itself was blasphemous presumption, with the wine-besotted king taking the lead in riot and blasphemy. In that act he crossed the limits of God's forbearance, showing that blasphemy and disobedience can exhaust divine patience. Its spirit was that of Israel's revelry around the golden calf, where feasting and drinking without regard for God led to shameless, lustful excess and dishonored God. Judgment was about to fall.
Unseen Witness and Judgment
Belshazzar did not feast alone, for God Himself was present as an unseen, heavenly Witness to the sacrilege of Daniel 5:2. Angels looked on, and a messenger from the invisible world watched as the sacred vessels were profaned in idolatrous mirth. He saw the actions, heard the dishonoring words spoken while the revelers praised their idols, and recorded the intemperance, though the king had no thought that he had an uninvited divine Witness in his hall. That history was preserved to testify to the close of time.
When the revelry reached its height, a hand wrote their doom upon the palace wall. A bloodless hand traced mysterious characters that filled the terrified king and his courtiers with dread. The king turned pale and called for the astrologers, and the feast that had rung with boasting ended in terror. In that writing judgment upon Belshazzar and his kingdom was announced by the servant of the Most High.
That very night his evil works reached their full measure. God's protection and restraint ceased from the defiant king. Weighed in the balances, he was found wanting, and before morning he was slain and his kingdom passed to others. His overthrow shows that neglect of God-given obligations is also seen and brings accountability.
God is witness of such deeds and keeps faithful record of them. The deeds of those who persist carelessly in sin are written in heaven's books. The scene illustrates that the Lord weighs character in the sanctuary.
Scripture Parallels and Prophecy
The sacrilegious feast belongs with Israel's reveling around the golden calf, for both were feasting and drinking without regard for God that dishonored Him and ran into shameless, lustful excess. In both cases revelry and indulgence dishonored God while judgment was about to fall. The divine Witness who observed that sacrilege was personally present, watching the gold and silver vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem being brought for the king and his princes, wives and concubines to drink wine from. That same Witness was present in the council that plotted the death of Christ, impressing the rulers and convicting them that they were fighting against God.
Belshazzar and his thousand lords made light of what God had chosen as sacred to Himself by profaning the golden vessels of Jehovah in sacrilegious mirth while praising the idols of Babylon. The God whom they defied witnessed the unholy scene and keeps faithful record of such deeds, and punishment came in the midst of the feast when a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, filling the terrified king and courtiers with dread as their doom was pronounced by the servant of the Most High. Tracing words of calumny and falsehood against the servants of Christ is an even greater profanation than profaning soulless vessels, because it profanes the characters of those whom Christ purchased by His blood. Every act of injustice or oppression against God's people is recorded by that same hand.
The fall of Babylon came at an hour of feasting and reveling, with the king and his court absorbed in feasting when sudden overthrow came. That sudden overthrow will be repeated at the end of the world, when many take the position that the Lord delays His coming and all things remain as they were. Only the wise virgins with oil in their vessels with their lamps will then be prepared to meet the Bridegroom. Babylon passed away because its rulers forgot God in prosperity and credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor and glory, refusing to obey His law. Its fate shows that nations are humiliated when they forget God, and if they do not humble themselves and confess their sins they suffer the penalty of transgression.
Temperance and Daily Application
The feast stands in gluttony and drunkenness, with wine-drinking and misuse of the sacred vessels taken from the temple, and the fall of Babylon is tied to that intemperance. Indulgence of appetite and passion is the foundation of her sins and the cause of her wickedness. As with the inhabitants of the Noachian world and of Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon was corrupted through indulgence of perverted appetite. Intellect was benumbed so that the sacred claims of God could not be discerned, and appetite enslaved its servants unto destruction.
Wine beclouded reason, shut it away, and made the king forget God, leading to dishonor and profanation of the God of heaven by calling for the golden and silver vessels consecrated to Jehovah. The wine-besotted king led in riot and blasphemy at an idolatrous feast of music and dancing, feasting and sparkling wine, while idolatrous sacrifices burned and praise was given to gods of gold and silver. Indulgence in wine and tobacco prepares the way for every excess of wild license. The only safeguard for youth and mature age is total abstinence and purposing, like Daniel, not to eat luxuries or taste wines at fashionable resorts while making God the strength.
Belshazzar's feast is the example of a gathering where people are absorbed in eating, drinking and pleasure while Christ is absent from their thoughts and put out of mind. Its merriment, indulgence in wine and disregard for sacred things, with indulgence in food, drink and merriment, led to forgetfulness of God and dishonoring of His name. The same forgetfulness and dishonor follows giving the heart to the fascination of the clubroom, suppers, world-loving associates, worldly entertainments and company that draw people away from God. God is nevertheless a witness to such conduct, with a witness from the invisible world present, and He sees its intemperance and records it as intemperance.
Careless, selfish conduct dishonors Christ and is witnessed by heaven, for angels witnessed the idolatrous dishonor of the revelry. God was there as an ever-present silent witness while the holy vessels were profaned for drinking, and His hand traced the characters upon the wall in judgment. He is still present where sin is done in secret and people think no eye sees, and His judgments are abroad in the earth as Christ's coming draws near. The same Witness is present in all scenes of mirth and revelry now and can suddenly change their features, as He in a moment changed the features of that sacrilegious scene of mirth and revelry. That scene is the pattern of those who claim to belong to God while their hearts are set on worldly pleasure and worldly gain and they indulge a false hope.
Taking honor for oneself and turning people from God dishonors Him, as was done when the king and his guests drank from what belonged to God and praised gods of silver and gold while an unseen Witness observed the sacrilege. Feasting, drinking, dancing and singing became so excessive that they dulled the senses and accompanied lustful indulgence. The feast thus shows how people under Satan's influence can be led into shameful conduct and become a reproach before others when the senses are dulled. Judgment was about to fall, though God gave opportunity to turn from sin.