Daniel 5:23
But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
Belshazzar lifted himself against the Lord of heaven in deliberate pride and self-glorification, profaning the consecrated vessels of God's house by drinking wine in them with his lords and women at a drunken feast, and praising lifeless idols of metal and wood and stone instead of glorifying the God in whose hand his breath was and whose were all his ways. He did this with full light and opportunity to know his duty, for he knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar for forgetting God and exalting himself and then restored him, yet he did not humble himself but repeated his sins. God was present as unseen witness of the unholy scene, and in the midst of the feast judgment was pronounced by the writing on the wall, leaving the king and his guests terrified before God, his evil works reaching their full measure until he was slain and his kingdom passed to others. Babylon was shattered and left desolate because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement, persisting in presumption until they passed the limits of God's forbearance. Knowledge of God's dealings makes guilt greater and removes excuse, so those who know yet persist in disobedience and self-exaltation cannot excuse themselves, for every breath depends on God and no one can safely set aside His Word as the guide of thought and speech and deed.
Belshazzar's Defiant Sacrilege
To lift up oneself against the Lord of heaven is deliberate pride and self-glorification, exalting self, trusting in one's own power, and reckoning without God, as the climax of pride and folly with harmful results. He profaned the sacred, consecrated vessels of God's house, including the golden vessels, by having them brought before him and drinking wine in them at a drunken feast with his thousand lords and princes, his wives and his concubines, making light of what God had chosen as sacred in sacrilegious mirth. The bringing of the vessels before him and the drinking in them turned devotion consecrated to God toward revelry and dishonor.
He praised lifeless idols of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know, instead of glorifying God. Those gods were soulless and unable to perceive or understand, yet he gave them the honor due to the living God. The God he failed to glorify holds each person's breath in His hand and governs all their ways, sustaining life and ruling over all human ways. Every breath and every way of life depends on Him, and stewardship entrusted by Him must be answered for.
He acted with full light and opportunity to know God's will and his duty to obey, for he knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar for forgetting God and glorifying himself and then restored him, and how pride had brought him low. Yet he did not humble himself, but neglected the means to know truth, misused power, repeated his grandfather's sins, and maintained a defiant attitude that wasted his opportunities. Wine beclouded reason and took away reverence and self-control, leading to forgetting God. The feast was led by a proud, passionate, self-indulgent, gluttonous, drunken, corrupt king who took the lead in riot and blasphemy amid music and dancing, feasting and sparkling wine, and idolatrous sacrifices, with nothing held sacred.
God was present as an unseen witness of the unholy scene, seeing the sacred vessels dedicated to Him used for profane purposes and hearing praise directed to idols, with a heavenly messenger watching on the night of the feast.
Judgment Falls on Babylon
His rebellion brought the divine judgment announced by the writing on the wall, for though he knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar he failed to learn humility, profaned the vessels from God's house and praised lifeless idols instead of glorifying the God who holds each person's breath and governs all their ways. With his thousand lords he profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah, making light of what God had chosen as sacred and defying God Himself in sacrilegious mirth, while God was a witness of the unholy scene. In the midst of the feast a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters on the palace wall, filling the terrified king and courtiers with dread as their doom was pronounced by the servant of the Most High.
His defiance brought him before the judgment of the eternal God, where his evil deeds and rebellion stood exposed. It was a personal rebellion in which he exalted himself, trusted his own power, and failed to honor the God who held his life and ways in His hand, and his guilt awakened his conscience and left him terrified before God's presence. He had to answer for the stewardship entrusted to him, with no excuse for wasting his opportunities and maintaining a defiant attitude. God's power made the king and his guests terrified, and no one can hide the intensity of that fear before God's presence.
His evil works had reached their full measure, so that on the night of the feast, while a heavenly messenger watched him as he exalted himself against God, profaned the sacred vessels and honored lifeless idols instead of glorifying the God who sustained his life and governed his ways, God's protection and restraint were withdrawn. He was slain and his kingdom passed to others. The city was swept with destruction and left a desolate ruin of broken structures, towers and barren plain, as the Daniel 5 history of lifting up against the Lord of heaven ends.
The fall of Babylon came in an hour of feasting and revelry. This was the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy in the history of nations, giving the reason Babylon was shattered and broken and passed away. In prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God, lifted themselves against the Lord of heaven, forgot God, and ascribed the glory and honor of their kingdom to human achievement instead of glorifying Him whose power sustains human life and whose authority extends over all human ways. His pride and refusal to humble himself, defying the Lord of heaven despite knowing what God had done for Nebuchadnezzar, profaning the vessels from God's house by drinking from them and honoring lifeless idols instead of the God who sustained his breath and ruled all his ways, brought him to the limit of God's patience. His presumption and blasphemy show that people can persist in defiance, insolence and disobedience until they pass the limits of God's forbearance, after which God intervenes, for divine forbearance does not continue without end.
Warnings for Later Generations
Knowing God's dealings makes guilt greater and removes all excuse, so that to lift up self against the Lord of heaven after knowing how He humbled Nebuchadnezzar for pride and self-glorification and then restored him is defiance without defense. To profane the vessels of God's house at a feast and praise lifeless idols of silver and gold, brass, iron, wood, and stone which see not nor hear nor know, while failing to honor the God in whose hand breath is and whose are all ways, is to trust one's own power and waste entrusted stewardship. Those who know God's counsel and judgments yet persist in disobedience, self-exaltation, and a defiant attitude will have conscience awakened and stand terrified before God's presence, and judgment follows disregard of His warnings.
Condemnation falls not only for doing wrong but for failing to use opportunities and abilities to do right. Belshazzar had great opportunity to know the living God and do His will through what happened to Nebuchadnezzar when he forgot God, yet he disregarded that heaven-sent instruction and light and repeated his grandfather's sins. To reject such light forfeits the benefits obedience could have brought, and to neglect and fail to practice God's lessons brings judgment and coming calamity. To reckon without God is folly with harmful consequences, and those who trust their own judgment as if they had all wisdom, especially leaders who rule arrogantly, bring harm rather than glorifying God.
Belshazzar's feast warns that turning devotion and powers consecrated to God toward human beings or other earthly objects dishonors God and repeats idolatry. God was present as unseen witness, seeing sacred vessels dedicated to Him used for profane purposes and hearing praise directed to idols, making a history to testify to the close of time. The same sin is repeated when men praise sparkling wine in the heart and degrade their powers, and the only safeguard for youth and age is total abstinence from wine and tobacco, purposing like Daniel not to taste luxuries and wines at fashionable resorts and making God their strength.
Profaning soulless golden vessels with a thousand lords in sacrilegious mirth, making light of what God chose as sacred and defying God Himself, warns against still greater guilt. That greater guilt is tracing words of calumny and falsehood against the servants of Christ, which profanes not vessels but the characters of those Christ purchased by His blood. God witnesses those deeds, and the bloodless hand that traced mysterious characters on the palace wall and filled the terrified king and courtiers with dread keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression against God's people in the books of final accounts, weighing motives, character, life, soul, and every word in the balances of His sanctuary for punishment to the close of time.
Because every breath and every way of life depends on God, no one can safely set aside God's Word as a guide. That truth governs daily work, where God's Word must guide action and the Holy Spirit must direct thought, speech, and deed. As Babylon lifted itself against the Lord of heaven in idolatry at an hour of feasting and reveling, so it will be at the end of the world in the present period of peculiar momentous importance. Students of God's Word in the last days will work away from the customs and appointments of the world's great counselors, will not take the position that the Lord delays His coming and all things remain as they were from the beginning of creation, and only the wise virgins prepared with oil in their vessels with their lamps will go forth to meet the Bridegroom.