Truth Matters 68: The Handwriting On The Wall

Hello and welcome to Truth Matters.

I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis. On our last episode we ended with chapter four of Daniel and covering the humiliation of King Nebuchadnezzar and really how he lost it all to gain it all. He had a moment of pride within his palace and said look at all I've done and then the prophecy spoken by Daniel and the interpretation of Daniel that he would be like a beast living on the outside happened. happened to Nebuchadnezzar. But later at the end of chapter four we see where Nebuchadnezzar praises God. He said now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the king of heaven all of whose works are truth and his ways justice and those who walk in pride he is able to put down.

The reason Nebuchadnezzar could say this is that he had firsthand experience of being put down because of walking in pride in chapter four. Moving on to chapter five. This is the infamous chapter in which we get the saying the handwriting on the wall. A lot of us are very familiar with chapter five so we're going to try to glean a lot of nuggets out of chapter five, but many of us have heard this story numbers of times, even as children.

So let's get into chapter five, we'll read verse one through four. Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords his wives and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem, the king and his lords his wives and his concubines drink from them.

They drank wine and praise the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. From the time of the beginning of captivity to the time of chapter five, there had been about a 70 year time span. If you remember in Jeremiah 25 he predicted that in 70 years I will punish the king of Babylon. So moving over to Jeremiah chapter 25 verses 12 through 14, the Bible says, Then it will come to pass when 70 years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity, says the Lord, and I will make it a perpetual desolation. So I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands. Also, Jeremiah predicts judgment in Jeremiah 51 verse 24, and that states, And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight, says the Lord.

And if you move over to Jeremiah 51 and 11, Make the arrows bright, gather the shields. The Lord has raised up the spirit of the king of the Medes, for his plan is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for his temple. After King Nebuchadnezzar, many kings came after him. History tells us that King Nebuchadnezzar died in October of 562 BC, after having reigned 43 years. Going through history, Belshazzar was the fourth king after Nebuchadnezzar, who's known as his grandson, the Belshazzar that is mentioned in verse one. Just to get to know him, his character was somewhat different from his grandfather.

Belshazzar was addicted to wine, to women, and to music. And the party that he throws in chapter five is famous for the handwriting on the wall. But notice in these first four verses, Daniel is not on the scene.

Based on history, all of the ministers were sent away from the throne. Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis is a ministry of The Truth Project. Since the earliest times in the church, believers have been looking for the return of Jesus and the rapture. While it has been almost 2,000 years since Jesus ascended, the signs of his return are more prevalent and imminent today than ever. In the past 72 years, since the reemergence of Israel as a nation in 1948, this generation has witnessed more prophetic signs than all other generations combined. Join Dr. Cheryl Davis for Truth Matters, preparing the church for the rapture, on Christian 105.7 WCLN.