Persian Soldiers Enter Babylon Under the Wallby KyleS
5:31Daniel 5:31
And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
Darius the Median took the kingdom on the night Belshazzar was slain, ending Babylon's rule and beginning the Medo-Persian kingdom. The transfer came while Babylon was besieged by Cyrus, commander of the combined Median and Persian armies, yet Belshazzar felt secure behind strong walls and abundant provisions and spent the hour in feasting and revelry. The taking of the kingdom was God's judgment that weighed his life and character in the balances of the sanctuary and pronounced him wanting for profaning what God had made sacred. Babylon fell because its rulers forgot God, credited human achievement for its glory, and disregarded the light given through Nebuchadnezzar, and when Belshazzar's probation ended God left him to the certain result of his own presumptuous choice. The fall was a literal fulfillment of divine prophecy, and as it came suddenly while men were unprepared in revelry, so sudden judgment will come at the end of the world.
Babylon Falls to Darius
Daniel 5:31 marks the end of Babylon's rule and the beginning of the Medo-Persian kingdom, coming after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and the weak rule of his successors. Babylon fell because its rulers forgot God and credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor and glory, and those who followed Nebuchadnezzar failed to learn from his experience. Babylonia was the first and greatest world-moulding empire, the great and golden kingdom to which it was fitting that God's revelation and warning should be given, yet it passed away under the weaker rulers Nabonadius and his son Belshazzar in 538 B.C., in the same generation in which the revelation was given.
The transfer came while Babylon was besieged by Cyrus, the nephew of Darius the Mede and commander of the combined Median and Persian armies. Its strong walls, brass gates, and abundant provisions made Belshazzar feel secure, even as the siege was bringing the transfer of the kingdom to Darius. The fall came in an hour of feasting and revelry, placing Belshazzar's sacrilegious feast and judgment in the setting of this transfer of power.
On the night Belshazzar was slain, Darius the Median took the kingdom, carrying out the announced transfer of the kingdom to the Medes and Persians. An alien monarch took the throne, showing that wealth and power could not protect Babylon's king from sudden doom.
Divine Judgment on Arrogance
Belshazzar was a man of absolute power, void of self-control, corrupt at heart and swayed by base passions. With his thousand lords he held an idolatrous feast marked by music, dancing, sparkling wine and blasphemy. While warmed and beclouded by wine he forgot God and dishonored Him by drinking with his princes from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the gods of gold and silver and the idols of Babylon.
God was an unseen witness of that unholy scene. In the midst of their sacrilegious mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall that pronounced the king's doom and destiny. Filled with terror, the king and courtiers heard their doom pronounced. The taking of the kingdom was God's judgment that weighed his motives, character, life and soul in the balances of His sanctuary and pronounced him wanting. This shows the punishment of those who made light of what God had chosen as sacred.
Babylon was soon to fall because Belshazzar ignored the lessons and opportunities God had given him. Its calamity followed the king's disregard of heaven-sent light given through Nebuchadnezzar. Its rulers forgot God and credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor and glory, and those who followed Nebuchadnezzar failed to learn from his experience.
When Belshazzar's probation ended, God no longer protected him from the certain results of his choices. His fall came as the consequence of his own course and not because God had forced him to act or failed to warn him, for God gives warnings and reproofs but leaves people free to choose, and the sin and its results rest with the one who chooses it. His presumption and defiance reached the limit of God's forbearance, illustrating that God eventually ends persistent blasphemy and disobedience. An alien monarch took the throne after Belshazzar was slain, showing that wealth and power could not protect Babylon's king from sudden doom. The Medo-Persian realm that succeeded Babylon was also judged and incurred God's wrath because God's law was trampled underfoot, and wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed.
Prophecy Fulfilled, Warning Repeated
The taking of the kingdom by Darius the Median was the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy, when Babylon fell and its dominion passed to the Medes and Persians. The succeeding Medo-Persian realm was itself judged and incurred wrath because the law of God was trampled underfoot while wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed.
The taking of Belshazzar's kingdom was God's judgment upon a man of absolute power who was void of self-control, corrupt at heart, and swayed by base passions. With his princes and his thousand lords he made an idolatrous feast with music, dancing, sparkling wine, and blasphemy, and while warmed and beclouded by wine he forgot God and dishonored Him by drinking from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the gods of gold and silver and the idols of Babylon. God, whom they defied, was the unseen witness of that unholy scene and of that sacrilegious mirth, making a history to testify to the close of time. In the midst of the revelry a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, declaring his destiny and pronouncing his doom by the servant of the Most High, filling with terror the king and his courtiers. His motives, character, life, and soul were weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting, showing the punishment of those who make light of what God has chosen as sacred. His record will stand when the books of heaven are opened before the great Judge.
The same hand that wrote his doom keeps a faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people. God witnesses slander and falsehood uttered against the servants of Christ. To profane by slanderous touch the character of those whom Christ purchased by His blood is worse than to profane soulless vessels consecrated to His service.
Babylon fell in an hour of feasting and reveling, and in the same manner sudden judgment will come upon men while unprepared in the end of the world.
Darius the Median took the kingdom on the night Belshazzar was slain, ending Babylon's rule and beginning the Medo-Persian kingdom. The transfer came while Babylon was besieged by Cyrus, commander of the combined Median and Persian armies, yet Belshazzar felt secure behind strong walls and abundant provisions and spent the hour in feasting and revelry. The taking of the kingdom was God's judgment that weighed his life and character in the balances of the sanctuary and pronounced him wanting for profaning what God had made sacred. Babylon fell because its rulers forgot God, credited human achievement for its glory, and disregarded the light given through Nebuchadnezzar, and when Belshazzar's probation ended God left him to the certain result of his own presumptuous choice. The fall was a literal fulfillment of divine prophecy, and as it came suddenly while men were unprepared in revelry, so sudden judgment will come at the end of the world.
Babylon Falls to Darius
Daniel 5:31 marks the end of Babylon's rule and the beginning of the Medo-Persian kingdom, coming after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and the weak rule of his successors. Babylon fell because its rulers forgot God and credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor and glory, and those who followed Nebuchadnezzar failed to learn from his experience. Babylonia was the first and greatest world-moulding empire, the great and golden kingdom to which it was fitting that God's revelation and warning should be given, yet it passed away under the weaker rulers Nabonadius and his son Belshazzar in 538 B.C., in the same generation in which the revelation was given.
The transfer came while Babylon was besieged by Cyrus, the nephew of Darius the Mede and commander of the combined Median and Persian armies. Its strong walls, brass gates, and abundant provisions made Belshazzar feel secure, even as the siege was bringing the transfer of the kingdom to Darius. The fall came in an hour of feasting and revelry, placing Belshazzar's sacrilegious feast and judgment in the setting of this transfer of power.
On the night Belshazzar was slain, Darius the Median took the kingdom, carrying out the announced transfer of the kingdom to the Medes and Persians. An alien monarch took the throne, showing that wealth and power could not protect Babylon's king from sudden doom.
Divine Judgment on Arrogance
Belshazzar was a man of absolute power, void of self-control, corrupt at heart and swayed by base passions. With his thousand lords he held an idolatrous feast marked by music, dancing, sparkling wine and blasphemy. While warmed and beclouded by wine he forgot God and dishonored Him by drinking with his princes from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the gods of gold and silver and the idols of Babylon.
God was an unseen witness of that unholy scene. In the midst of their sacrilegious mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall that pronounced the king's doom and destiny. Filled with terror, the king and courtiers heard their doom pronounced. The taking of the kingdom was God's judgment that weighed his motives, character, life and soul in the balances of His sanctuary and pronounced him wanting. This shows the punishment of those who made light of what God had chosen as sacred.
Babylon was soon to fall because Belshazzar ignored the lessons and opportunities God had given him. Its calamity followed the king's disregard of heaven-sent light given through Nebuchadnezzar. Its rulers forgot God and credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor and glory, and those who followed Nebuchadnezzar failed to learn from his experience.
When Belshazzar's probation ended, God no longer protected him from the certain results of his choices. His fall came as the consequence of his own course and not because God had forced him to act or failed to warn him, for God gives warnings and reproofs but leaves people free to choose, and the sin and its results rest with the one who chooses it. His presumption and defiance reached the limit of God's forbearance, illustrating that God eventually ends persistent blasphemy and disobedience. An alien monarch took the throne after Belshazzar was slain, showing that wealth and power could not protect Babylon's king from sudden doom. The Medo-Persian realm that succeeded Babylon was also judged and incurred God's wrath because God's law was trampled underfoot, and wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed.
Prophecy Fulfilled, Warning Repeated
The taking of the kingdom by Darius the Median was the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy, when Babylon fell and its dominion passed to the Medes and Persians. The succeeding Medo-Persian realm was itself judged and incurred wrath because the law of God was trampled underfoot while wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed.
The taking of Belshazzar's kingdom was God's judgment upon a man of absolute power who was void of self-control, corrupt at heart, and swayed by base passions. With his princes and his thousand lords he made an idolatrous feast with music, dancing, sparkling wine, and blasphemy, and while warmed and beclouded by wine he forgot God and dishonored Him by drinking from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the gods of gold and silver and the idols of Babylon. God, whom they defied, was the unseen witness of that unholy scene and of that sacrilegious mirth, making a history to testify to the close of time. In the midst of the revelry a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, declaring his destiny and pronouncing his doom by the servant of the Most High, filling with terror the king and his courtiers. His motives, character, life, and soul were weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting, showing the punishment of those who make light of what God has chosen as sacred. His record will stand when the books of heaven are opened before the great Judge.
The same hand that wrote his doom keeps a faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people. God witnesses slander and falsehood uttered against the servants of Christ. To profane by slanderous touch the character of those whom Christ purchased by His blood is worse than to profane soulless vessels consecrated to His service.
Babylon fell in an hour of feasting and reveling, and in the same manner sudden judgment will come upon men while unprepared in the end of the world.