Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians around 539 BC. While the invading army was encroaching,
- Belshazzar holds a big party for his nobles,
- Belshazzar sees a hand writing on the wall,
- He misuses sacred vessels from Jehovah God’s temple, and
- Belshazzar is slain that night.
This paper will focus on Belshazzar’s misuse of God’s holy vessels of gold and silver that were part of God’s temple in Jerusalem. Even though Belshazzar’s stories are all tied together somewhat, the other parts of the story from Daniel 5 are in several other posts: Belshazzar’s Banquet, Handwriting on the Wall, and Daniel’s Reputation.
The Story
Belshazzar the king was having a party along with the leading men of the city. It appears that they drank too much, and Belshazzar retrieved the temple vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from Jerusalem. Belshazzar and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank wine from God’s holy vessels. While they drank the wine, they gave honor and praise to the heathen idols they had made.1
Sacrilege
I am defining sacrilege as having or showing a lack of proper respect for a sacred person, place, or object. In this sense, Belshazzar was profaning and making sport of God’s holy vessels having exalted himself against the Lord of heaven (Daniel 5:23).
Albert Barnes describes the general view of committing sacrilegious behavior even for the pagan: “The crime of sacrilege was regarded among the pagan as one of the most awful which could be committed. ‘The pagan,’ says Grotius, ‘thought it a great impiety to convert sacred things to common uses.’ ”2
The reason for this may be that many of the pagans in those days would probably consider themselves religious. They worshiped multiple gods, built temples in honor of them, and made idols of precious metal, wood, and stone. Folks who are polytheistic would be concerned that they might offend one of the gods. Not wanting a curse on themselves, they would be careful with religious objects unless they thought that their god was more powerful and could protect them from the offended god.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Decree
Committing sacrilege was not the only issue here. Around 46 years earlier, Belshazzar’s father, Nebuchadnezzar, had made a decree against speaking negatively toward Jehovah God.3 Even though Belshazzar did not speak negatively toward God, he acted negatively toward God by using the holy vessels for common purposes. (See the appendox at the end of this paper for the background of this decree.)
We don’t know exactly why Belshazzar remembered the holy vessels from the temple during the banquet. One Bible commentator, suggests two ideas,
“It may have been that some drunken fancy seized him. It may have been that he had been warned that the prophets of Jehovah had foretold the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus, whose armies were now in the neighbourhood [sic]. Whatever the true explanation may be, there can be no doubt, from Daniel’s language (Daniel 5:234), and from the way in which Belshazzar’s gods are mentioned (Daniel 5:45), that the whole act was one of defiance of Jehovah.”6
Another possible reason Belshazzar remembered the vessels, comes from David Guzik. “Gathering the vessels from the Jewish temple served the purpose of reminding the partiers of a previous victory, and Belshazzar hoped it would boost morale. ‘As if these dung-hill deities had mastered and spoiled the God of Israel… This was blasphemy in a high degree, and therefore presently punished by God.’ ”7
The Room
Guzik’s idea that Belshazzar was wanting to remind his guests of a previous exploit is echoed by Bible commentator A. R. Fausset. He explains that the room had reminders of such posted for visitors to see:
“Written in cuneiform letters on slabs on the walls, and on the very bricks, are found the perpetually recurring recital of titles, victories, and exploits, to remind the spectator at every point of the regal greatness. It is significant, that on the same wall on which the king was accustomed to read the flattering legends of his own magnificence, he beholds the mysterious inscription which foretells his fall.”8
John Walvoord describes an excavation of a large room where the banquet might have been held:
“In the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace archaeologists have uncovered a large throne room 56 feet wide and 173 feet long which probably was the scene of this banquet. Midway in the long wall opposite the entrance there was a niche in front of which the king may well have been seated. Interestingly, the wall behind the niche was covered with white plaster as described by Daniel, which would make an excellent background for such a writing.”9 10
(Just for comparison, the size of a regulation college or NBA basketball court is 50′ by 94′, sideline to sideline and baseline to baseline.11 That would make the large room in the archaeological discovery just mentioned about the same width, and close to twice as long as a full size basketball court.)
Last Chance
This incident of sacrilege in the life of Belshazzar comes after many chances to repent. This verse out of Proverbs tells us that the man who has been given many chances, finally comes to the end:
“A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1)
New Testament Example
Here is another example recorded in the Bible where God is moved to judge a man after he ran out of chances to repent. In this case, he also did not give God the glory, but exalted himself. First, we’ll look at the man’s character.
His Character
At the beginning of the church, King Herod found that he could please the Jewish leadership by his mistreatment of the early Christians. Herod’s goal was to be popular with the Jews to the detriment of the church. Acts 12:1 & 2 explain:
“Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.”
Albert Barnes evaluates Herod’s character this way:
“It was not from a sense of right; it was not to do justice, and to protect the innocent; it was not to discharge the appropriate duties of a magistrate and a king, but it was to promote his own popularity.”12
The Judgment
Later in Acts 12, we learn of King Herod’s fate because he exalted himself:
“And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. And the people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died (v21-23).”
Conclusion
In this paper we have seen the consequences of a life of pride. We have also seen that God provides time for repentance, but eventually, time runs out. In the cases of both Belshazzar and Herod, their time ended when they exalted themselves and did not give God the glory.
Dishonoring what is holy is a serious issue. Our culture is rather flippant when it comes to giving God the proper place in our lives and society. We can be examples to our friends and family by honoring God with our lives. May we do so by faith in Him.
Appendix
Nebuchadnezzar’s Decree
Nebuchadnezzar’s decree came as the result of him seeing the miraculous intervention of God. King Nebuchadnezzar had built a 60 foot tall golden image and commanded everyone to bow down and worship it. The punishment for those not bowing down was a furnace of blazing fire. Three Hebrews refused to bow and were thrown into the fire. When Nebuchadnezzar saw that God protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego from the furnace of blazing fire, he issued the following decree, found in Daniel 3:28-29:
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”13
1 My paraphrase of Daniel 5:1-4.
2 Barnes’ Notes
3 One Bible timeline has Nebuchadnezzar’s decree occurring in 585 BC, and this event happening in 539 BC.
4 Daniel 5:23 “but you (Belshazzar) have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of [God’s] house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified.”
5 Daniel 5:4 “They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
6 Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
7 David Guzik’s commentary on Daniel (Guzik also quotes Bible commentator John Trapp)
8 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9 https://walvoord.com/article/246 3/18/23 -Commentary on Daniel
10 Walvoord mentions the wall covered with plaster described by Daniel in chapter 5. He is referring to the message to Belshazzar written on the wall from that chapter which I write about in the article, Handwriting on the Wall.
11 https://www.basketball.org/equipment/basketball-court-surfaces/ 3/18/23
12 Barnes’ Notes
13 https://www.gotquestions.org/who-was-in-the-furnace.html 3/18/23 This is a really good summary of the story that is found in Daniel chapter 3.