Babylon's Last Night!

here tonight. I want you to turn to Daniel chapter five, Daniel chapter five here tonight in our Bible study and this is part five of our series, The Heavens Rule. What a powerful statement when we read that in the word of God, the heavens do rule. There's no doubt about that and I hope as we deal with these chapters that you become convinced that no matter who the politicians or the kingdom or the state of our world or the persecution and trials of the real church, I want you to be fully persuaded that the heavens do rule, that God raises up who he desires and he removes who he desires. Reading from Daniel chapter five and I just want to read the first nine verses here. It says in Daniel chapter five verse one, Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar whilst 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 wife's and his concubines might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem and the king, his princes, his wife's, his concubines drank in them. They drank wine and they praised the gods of gold and of silver and of brass and of iron and wood and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loose and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the chaldeans and the soothsayers and the king speak and said to the wise men of Babylon, whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men but they could not read the writing nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled and his countenance was changed in him and his lords were astonished. My message here tonight as we look at Daniel chapter 5 is Babylon's last night. Babylon's last night. Let's pray here together. Father we do pray here in this Bible study tonight would you open up the word of God. We are in desperate days. We are in an hour where everything is changing. Where we're beginning to see the formation of Babylonianism. We're beginning to see what was spoken of in prophecies of old and father I pray that this would grip us tonight. That we're not merely reading history but Lord God we're reading about the dealings of our God with kings and kingdoms and the children of God. Father I pray tonight will you speak from on high. Will you show us again for the fifth time in this series in the fifth chapter. Will you show us that the heavens do rule. That the God of heaven is in sovereign authority and power even over the wicked deeds of men. And that you will have a remnant in the earth in this year in this hour. Let Jesus Christ receive of all the glory and the praise and the honor in Jesus name. Amen. Last week in Daniel chapter 4 we dealt with Nebuchadnezzar's conversion. Here in chapter 5 we are now looking at Babylon's last night. We have now in Daniel chapter 5 reached the point of almost 70 years of captivity for the nation of Israel in Babylon. You will know from the word of God that twice in the book of Jeremiah twice Jeremiah prophesied about a period of 70 years. Listen I actually believe these two prophecies are not synonymous but they have a 20 year gap between them. Two periods of 70 years but there's a gap of 20 years between when the first one initiates and the second one initiates. I don't know another Bible teacher that teaches this so forgive me if I'm in any way misleading you but I'm becoming more and more convinced of it. The first 70 years that Jeremiah prophesied about he said at the end of that 70 years that Babylon would be judged. That is Daniel chapter 5. We are at the end of the first period of 70 years and Babylon is about to be judged. The Babylonian kingdom but Jeremiah also gave a second prophecy about another 70 years and he said at the end of those 70 years that the people of Israel would be released and they would return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Jeremiah prophesied both of these things. Here in Daniel chapter 5 we have the first fulfillment of Jeremiah's 70 years and I personally believe that there's about 20 years between Daniel chapter 5 and the first expedition of Israel returning to Jerusalem to begin the rebuilding. If you remember from Daniel chapter 1 there were three captivities of Israel being carried into Babylon. Now very shortly there's going to be three returns over a period of a hundred years. Here in Daniel chapter 5 we have our message tonight Babylon's last night. There is a last night for the kingdoms of this world and for the kingdoms of men when God's kingdom will come to reign on the earth once again. Last week we dealt with Nebuchadnezzar's conversion. The history books actually tell us that Nebuchadnezzar reigned on the throne for 43 years and that he died in the year 562 BC. He grew sick and he died like all men do in our world. 43 years sitting on the Babylonian throne over that great city and over that great kingdom. After he died there was another 23 years before we come to Daniel 5. In other words there's 23 years from Nebuchadnezzar dies until God judges the Babylonian kingdom. There are 23 years between Daniel 4 and Daniel 5 between the conversion we read about and the death of Nebuchadnezzar and the destruction of this Babylonian kingdom. When we go to the history books we read that after Nebuchadnezzar's death his son evil Muradach was put on the throne. He reigned for two years and then was assassinated. One of his assassinators called Nerigig-Lisar reigned on the throne for four years and then was assassinated again. His son Lebor-Sarkhad and you can't pronounce these any better than me so I'm not too worried here tonight. But his son then reigned for five months and a conspiracy was hatched in which he was beaten to death. Finally and listen carefully to this there came the last king of Babylon to the throne. His name was Nerigig-Lisar. Sorry let me say that again. His name was Nabanidios. Nabanidios in the history books he is called the last king of the Babylonian kingdom. The last emperor and yet our bible when it opens in Daniel chapter 5 it calls Belshazzar the last king of Babylon. Is there a contradiction here? Absolutely not. There's no contradiction. I'm going to tie it together here for you. Nabodinus was the last king of the Babylonian empire. He married the widow of a previous king and he reigned on the throne for 17 long years. He was going to be the last king of the Babylonian empire but yet we come to the book of Daniel and we see that the king of Babylon is called Belshazzar. How do we reconcile this? Many critics of the book of Daniel they said there's no such person as Belshazzar. Daniel got it wrong. The bible was wrong. In the history books in the ancient writings there's no Belshazzar. The last king was Nabanidios not Belshazzar. Well they started to laugh at the bible in the days of Darwin and they began to ridicule it and said there was no such person and you can't find him. You know what? Be very careful about those who say the bible has made a mistake. In the year 1861 for the very first time a cuneiform was published in the English language and there in an ancient document was written the name Belshazzar. Then again in the year 1882 another document was published called the Nabonidus Cylinder or Chronicle. Listen to what it says. It talks about the crown prince whose name is Belshazzar or in other words he is the son of the king. He is the crown prince and yet it says on that cylinder he was regarded as the king or the king left him in full control of the army in Babylon. His father made him the king of Babylon. You see those who mock the bible speak too quickly. You can be assured there is evidence hidden under the sun that's going to verify every single word of the bible. So here we have king Belshazzar left as king of Babylon over all the armies of Babylon while his father in the ancient writings is what it said. His father went to Arabia and began to build a kingdom there. He was the son of Nabonidus again in 1916, 1924, 1958, 1916 documents came forward showing that Belshazzar was the last king of Babylon since the bible never misses it in names details and dates. Belshazzar was left by his father as the regent, the co-regent, the prince who's considered the king of Babylon for at least a period of several years and in fact he is the second ruler in the entire kingdom. His father is the first, he is the second and very shortly you're going to see who becomes the third. If you've read your chapter here tonight then you know who's going to become the third ruler in that kingdom before we finish this message tonight. You see we read that Belshazzar was the king of Babylon when Babylon fell but it fell without a conflict. In other words it was taken captive by Cyrus the Great without a war, without bloodshed, without any fighting and without armies engaging together. The history books actually tell us that Belshazzar's father returned when the Persian Median army began to come into the land. The king, the old king returned to the city of Babylon and as Cyrus the Great approached he went forward to fight the Medes and the Persians. His army was defeated and he fled to Barzippa which is the Tower of Babel. You remember we talked about before. At Barzippa or the Tower of Babel he surrendered to Cyrus and his army was completely defeated. You see as we come to Daniel chapter 5 we also read that this Belshazzar, we read about his father in verse 2, 11, 18 and 22. We are told that Nebuchadnezzar was his father. This old Arabic word for father can also mean grandfather. So here he is. We know who his father is according to the history books. We know that he has been placed as king of Babylon but he's also the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. I want you to see here what we dealt with last week and this week. Chapter 4 and chapter 5. The comparison of two great kings. The first king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar and the last king of Babylon of the Babylonian empire Belshazzar and we're going to see how they're compared. Last week we've seen how God humbled Nebuchadnezzar and he turned to God and was converted. But here in chapter 5 we're going to see how Belshazzar is judged by God and the is removed from the Babylonians. Before we go to this message I want you to see that Daniel is not written in chronological order. You see if you go to chapter 7 and chapter 8 you will find that they are written before chapter 5. It says in Daniel chapter 7 verse 1, in the first year of Belshazzar. Chapter 8 says in the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar and yet in Daniel chapter 5 we have the last night of Belshazzar's rule and reign in Babylon. In other words chapter 7 and chapter 8 come before chapter 5. I want you to understand that and here before I start preaching I'm just laying the groundwork. I'm making you to understand this book and this chapter. Let me explain just a little bit about the city of Babylon as we look at it in chapter 5 on its last night. That great city of Babylon had double walls in around it. It had an inner and an outer wall with a moat in between the walls about 40 feet and it was filled with water. Each of those walls were about 25 feet thick. That outside wall had 260 towers on it, a hundred brass gates and one ancient writer said that on the outward wall you could race four chariots of horses side by side in around that wall. The walls were hundreds of feet high and even inside the city the buildings were three or four stories high. Why am I telling you this? Because when we come to look at God's judgment on Babylon and Belshazzar I want you to see how secure they are. When we begin to read chapter 5 we see Belshazzar the king of Babylon thinks that he is absolutely secure. This city is impregnable even with armies at the gate. They laugh at the armies at the gate. They party the night away. They're getting drunk inside the city. Do you know why? Why are they when there's armies marching against them? Why do they party the night away? Because they say nobody can get in this city. It's impregnable. It is the biggest city in world history up until that point. We're actually also told about that ancient city that through the middle of it ran the river Euphrates. Babylon was built in two halves like an orange cut down the middle and down the middle of that great city the river Euphrates ran with walls either side of that river and gateways down to the river guarded by many many soldiers. Do you know over that river joining one side of the city to the other was a great bridge and in fact the ancient writings say the bridge moved or it could be lifted and removed. What an amazing city for that generation of Belshazzar. This was Belshazzar's city. He had a drawbridge and listen there was even a tunnel in under the Euphrates from one side of Babylon to the other. That was never done again until 1841 when they done it with the Thames Tunnel in the city of London. They actually said about that great city that you could hide behind its walls for five years. They had enough money, enough sufficiency, they had enough fresh water. They could stand against the siege for at least five years without any enemy getting in. Do you see why Belshazzar was so secure in that city? Nobody's going to get past those walls. Nobody's going to get inside this city. We can just rest on our laurels. What a dangerous place to be. You know when you're secure and you're not right with God it is a very very dangerous place. When the word of God tries to convict you and yet you say I'm okay, I'm fine, everything will be all right. What a dangerous position and place that is. Let me go to my message here tonight. I've just laid the foundation but I've got four points for you here tonight. The first point, a drunken party. That's what we see inside the city walls. Belshazzar, it says in chapter 5 and verse 1, Belshazzar the king and I want you to see Belshazzar the king and I want you to see this party that he's hosting. It says he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and he drank wine before the thousand. It is a drunken party. This is Babylon's last night. It's a night of judgment. It's a night where their sins have caught up with them. It's a night where God has drawn near to judge them. But what's Belshazzar doing? He's holding a great feast. He knows that the Persian Median army is marching against the nation. But you know what? He's got a thousand of his leaders drawn in and they're partying the night away. They're drinking the night away. In fact, the old history book says the entire city was drinking. The soldiers were drinking. The parents were drinking. All the men of war were getting drunk that night because they were told nobody will touch this city on this particular night. What are they doing? They're drinking. They're getting intoxicated. They're becoming light-hearted. And it says Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, and notice this, he's going to do something. Do you realize what happens when you begin to drink wine? You may say one glass of wine doesn't affect me. Yes, it does. When you drink one glass of wine, you lose 15% of your ability to react immediately. 15%. I don't want to drive in the road with anyone who has just lost 15% of their perception. One glass of wine. You say one glass of wine won't harm me. Yes, it will. Yes, it will. I assure you. It says Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, while he was drinking the wine, it's emphasizing this. In other words, he's about to do something that he would never do if he wasn't drinking wine. While he's drinking that wine, he's going to do something that he wouldn't have done before. You see, that wine made him relax. It made him do things that he would never normally do. It says he commanded to bring the golden silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple, which is in Jerusalem. He called for them and he said, let's drink wine in these golden vessels. Saints, when you begin to do that, you're doing something very dangerous. This Babylonian king, under the influence of alcohol, desecrated the holy things of God. Do you realize in this night, God said, I've had enough. I've had enough. Babylon has been in power 70 years. 70 years. Didn't God warn them that he was going to judge them at the end of 70 years? And do you know what the final straw was? When Belshazzar said, take those golden cups and vessels from the house of God and let's begin to continue to get intoxicated in these golden vessels. Well, they brought those golden vessels that had been carried into captivity 70 years ago. And God is saying, boy, I'm going to return them again. I'm going to judge Babylon. I'm going to begin to send these vessels back again. Do you realize God has a cutoff point? God has a point that after chastising his children, after disciplining the church, you see, I believe the church of our generation has been under the chastening hand of God. God has used the nations and the kings and all of world events. You know what he's been doing? He's been chastening the church of our generation. We have sinned against the Holy Spirit. We, that's why we went into captivity as a church, no revival, compromise, no power, not dwelling in the promises of God. Do you know why? We disobeyed God and God used Babylon to chastise the church. But you know what he does? There's a night of reckoning where he says, I'm going to turn the captivity. Do you know God can use this world to discipline you as a believer? He could use your boss. He could use your family. He could use society. He could use your prime minister or your president or some world leader. He could use all this to the chastening of the church, but woe betide Babylon when he says, I've had enough, I've had enough. I'm going to set my people free. Here they are, Belshazzar with his thousand leaders, getting drunk, using the vessels of God. Do you know archaeologists in the city of Babylon have found this feast room, this palace, this large room, they dug it up and they said it was a room 56 feet by 173 feet or about half the size of a football field and halfway down that wall opposite the entrance where you got into this great hall was a white plastered wall. There was a niche set back into the wall and on that wall, it was plastered white. Do you realize here in chapter five and verse five, that's what it says. It talks about the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall. That wall was plastered. They have found it. It is still there in Babylon. Since I'm telling you the never misses a mark. It is absolutely accurate in its smallest details. They have unearthed this very room where this judgment came this night. You see, they are getting drunk and this Belshazzar is going to be judged for his pride, his sacrilege, his blasphemous acts. He knows exactly what he's doing, but you know what? This is the night God has caught up with him. This is the night God's going to begin to pour judgment on Babylon and begin to send his people back to where they ought to be. I want you to see here tonight, God's dealing with a man in the midst of a drunken party. You see in this throne room, in this drunken party, God is dealing with a man, but in a very different way to Daniel chapter four. In Daniel chapter four, he allowed insanity to come to a man for seven years in order to save him. But here he is finished with a man. This man knew and sinned against life. Be very careful how far you go with this God. Be very careful of what you play games with lest you can't get back again. It says in chapter five and verse five, in the same hour, listen carefully, look at them drinking from the golden vessels from the house of God. And it says in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed. This is God attempting to speak to a man and to a kingdom. He is speaking. He has a message for them, but you know what? They don't understand the message. They don't understand it. Look at Belshazzar. God is speaking to him in a very real way and to the kingdom. And what's the first reaction? It says the king's countenance was changed. Wouldn't your countenance be a hand comes out of nowhere and begins to write on the wall. They don't know who it is. They don't know what the message is. They don't know why this is happening, but it's God. It is God in it, even though they don't realize maybe someone in this meeting or who listens at afterwards, God is maybe speaking to them, wanting to turn them from their sin. And yet they don't recognize it. They're scared. King Belshazzar, it says his countenance was changed. You know what? He went as wide as that wall. When he seen a ghostly hand, a divine hand begin to write, he turned as wide as my shirt is here tonight. It says his thoughts trouble them. He was utterly confused. It says that his joints and his lungs were loose. In other words, his limbs were coming out of joint. That's how scared this man was. Do you know that sinners can get that scared when God begins dealing with them? He's speaking to them, but they don't understand it. He's dealing with them. He's trying to warn them. The judgment is at the door. He's trying to tell them, you're secure. You're drinking the night away. You think you're going to live forever? Tonight, your life is going to be required of you. Do you know what? They can have dealings of God. They maybe get sobered up. Haven't we seen it in the church? I was talking to Candace about this, or she was talking to me about this earlier. And she said, haven't we seen this many times in this church? Sinners, they've trembled. They shook just like Belshazzar. God, the Holy Ghost has been speaking to them, but it never went any further. It actually says about him here, and the knees smote one against the other. That's how terrified this King was. This great leader of the nation. It says the King cried aloud for his astrologers, the Chaldeans, the Seussers. And he speak unto all of the wise men of Babylon. You see how all these Kings for 70 years have turned to their wise men? They don't turn to the church. They don't turn to the preacher. They go looking for the wisdom of this world, for the experts, the professionals. Sure, the professionals don't know how to sort their life out. God help you if you look to this world when you should be looking to God. Listen to his message to his wise men. Whosoever shall read this writing and show the interpretation should be clothed in scarlet, have a chain of gold placed around his neck, and become the third ruler in the kingdom. His father was the first. He was the second. And now he is promising to give the third position to whosoever can solve this problem. You're dealing with a man who's scared here, a man who God has drawn near and is going to judge that night, is going to take his life. He knows there's something happening, something from another world, a message from another world, but he cannot interpret it. He cannot understand it. He doesn't know what it means. And he doesn't know the person who's given the message. It's like many sinners. They don't know the God who's speaking to them. They don't understand the message when it comes to them. Yet they tremble. They get worried. They have many different thoughts. And you know what? They go look into this world. If anyone can help me, I'll give them half of all I have. They don't turn to God. They don't repent of their sins. You know what? They look at this world and say, I would give everything I have to have sanity in my mind. I would give everything to be free of drugs. I would give everything if I wasn't destroying my life with alcohol. And yet they never turn to God. This city of Limerick and all of our cities are filled with men like Belshazzar and mothers and women. The women are worse than the men in this generation, I can assure you. See, that's the first point, is a drunken party, a drunken party, and yet God is there. Can I say that again? A drunken party, but God is there. A drunken party, and yet God is speaking. A drunken party, yet God is warning. Don't you know he warns in this hour and in this generation? That's my first point. None of the wise men could interpret it, and they were as confused as Belshazzar. Second of all, second of all, a wise mother, a wise mother. In Daniel chapter five, we not only have a drunken king and a drunken party, we have a very wise mother. Aren't you glad for wise mothers? Maybe we don't appreciate them the way we ought to. I thank God for a mother that talked to me about Christ, told me the gospel, warned me how to live, warned me against sin, told me about prayer. It was my mother who taught me to fast. It was my mother who taught me to pray. It was my mother who shared the gospel with me. It was my mother that was there all through those important stages. Thank God for a mother. You know, you ladies that are having children, raising children, you don't realize the value of a mother. You can't imagine the impact a mother has on a child, on a son, or a daughter. This is my second point. In the midst of this drunken party, there was a wise mother, a wise mother. Look at verse 10. Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting house. She heard the noise. She heard the confusion. She heard the upset from her son. She heard all of this going on, and she came like a good mother does. Isn't that what a mother does? There's trouble in the home, and she's the first one there. She goes to investigate, and the queen spoke and said, oh king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. Now listen for a minute. She is called the queen. I do not at all believe this is the wife of Belshazzar. No. I believe this woman, this queen, is the queen mother, or the wife of his father. In fact, the history book speaks about her and gives her a name, though the Bible is silent. It calls her Nitocris. Nitocris. She was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. She is now the wife of Belshazzar's father, and here she is. She's a wise woman. She's a wise mother. She cares about her son. He's in a drunken party. She's not in that drunken party. She doesn't have anything to do with that drunken party, but as soon as there is a sober tone, as soon as the laughter turns to weeping, as soon as everyone sobers up, she comes straight into the midst of that party. What a woman. Why do I think it's the mother and not the wife? She comes at the sound of that noise. She comes without an invitation, and she begins to give instruction to Belshazzar. Oh, give us more women like this in the church of Jesus Christ. Women who are wise. Women who know the timing of God. Don't go in there when it's a drunken party. Just wait until God begins to deal with your children. Wait upon the Lord. Pray fast. Seek the Lord. Let God begin the deal, and then when you see God dealing, go in there and speak to him the wisdom of God. Look at her. She begins to give instruction unto Belshazzar, her son. Verse 11. Listen to the answer of this wise woman. She says, don't be troubled, son. There is a man in thy kingdom. I know a man you need to speak to. I wish mothers done that. I know a preacher, son, you need to speak to tonight. You're confused. You're disturbed. Something's going on in your life. A sword is hanging over your head. You don't know what to do. I know a man you need to speak to tonight. I know a preacher. I know a man who is an answer to your problems. See why I call her a wise woman. The mother of Belshazzar was a wise woman because she knew who had an answer on that night in Babylon. She knew the only man in the city who really had an answer for her son. Oh, may you get a grip of this here tonight, especially you mothers, that you would know a man. You know where to direct your children. Son, I've got a sermon you need to listen to. I had a mother who used to take me to meetings, take me to church. She didn't send me. She took me. She took me to the best preachers. She took me to preachers filled with the Holy Spirit of God. She found men who could hear from heaven, had real testimonies, and could impact my life. Under those meetings, I got deeply impacted. I got called to the ministry, baptized in the Holy Ghost. I got healed in my body. All of these things through a mother who knew where to take me. Son, I know a man. She says, I know a man, son, and he's in your kingdom. The answer is in your kingdom. You may be ignorant, but I do have the answer. And listen, it says, in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom was given unto him like the wisdom of the gods. It was found in him, and whom Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made him master of the magicians. You know, Nebuchadnezzar was a great king. She's speaking her son, and she says, Nebuchadnezzar was a great king. He was far greater than you. Don't you be proud and arrogant. You're a nobody in comparison to Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar doesn't have a chance of comparison with the great Nebuchadnezzar. And she says, listen, your grandfather, that great king, that great leader, that golden head, he actually appointed this man into a position of authority. He made a master of the magicians. And you know what, son, if you have any wisdom, you'll do the same. You'll listen to him. His name is Belshazzar, or Daniel, and he has an answer for you, son. What a wise woman. She then goes on to begin to explain who this preacher is. He's a man that was given honor by thy grandfather. But she goes much further. She not only gives instruction, she speaks about her father from personal knowledge. She gives exact details. She was a witness to what happened, but she also knew this Daniel. She knew him, knew his character, knew his ministry, and knew he could interpret. He has an answer for you, son. You don't know what God's saying. I know a man who does. You don't know how to interpret God's dealings with you. I know a man who actually does. Listen to what she says about Daniel, that he had an excellent spirit. That's a powerful statement. See, if you get someone in the church who has an excellent spirit, don't let go of them. Don't let go of them. If they have an unbelievable spirit within them, don't let go of them. They're worth hearing. She says about him that he had knowledge. That means facts. He had real knowledge about supernatural things, about the things of God that only God could reveal. He had solid facts, not mirage, not sham religion. Solid Christianity is what we need in this hour. I am tired of the games of religion. I want men and women who have knowledge of God, knowledge of the will of God. He also had understanding. He knew how to put facts together, and he was an interpreter of dreams. Look how this wise woman is talking about him. This Daniel can interpret dreams, open them up, and reveal God's will from them. She also says about him that he can show hard sentences, or he can solve or open up enigmas or puzzles that no one else can solve. He can solve them. He can open them up. He can show you also the dissolving of doubts. Say tonight, do you have doubts? Do you have problems? Do you know God gifts men that can minister into that? Son, I know a man, and he's in your kingdom. You know, I know a preacher in your city. If you go to him, he'll preach the truth to you. Mothers, be very wise how you speak to your children. Be very wise to point them in the right direction. Isn't it amazing this mother, she calls her own son a similar name to Daniel. You see, Daniel was given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar. Her own son was named Belshazzar. I don't believe that's accidental, but we need to move on. My third point here, so we've got a drunken party, we've got a wise mother, but third of all, we've got an old godly believer. Don't retire. Do you hear me? If someone listens this message afterwards, and you're in your 80s and 90s, don't you dare retire. I want to warn you and exhort you, oh, to have in this hour that we live in an old godly believer who's walked with God. Oh, you might be set aside in this hour. You may be ignored. No one's listening to you. No one's coming to you for revelation. Nobody's coming to hear your messages. Nobody's sitting at your far side, but you're an old godly believer. You walk with God. You have testimonies. You have a history with God. Here in Daniel chapter 5, it is believed that Daniel is about 86 years old, and yet he's not in a position in the land. In the previous four chapters, he had a job. He had respect. He was being acknowledged. He was greatly noticed. He left his mark, and he was raised up into a position of authority in politics, but not in Daniel 5. He has actually been set aside. The king doesn't even know where he is. The king doesn't even consider him. The king doesn't notice him since maybe a child. No position, but I want to show you God still has a plan for him to bring him out of obscurity at the age of 86. Do you know what God's plan is? I want you in that banquet hall. I want you in the king's palace. There is a king, a drunken king, and a drunken party, and they're terrified. They're under the judgment of God, and I want you. I've got a plan. I'm going to bring you out of retirement, Daniel. I'm going to bring you right into the middle of things again. That's what God always does to a faithful godly believer. You may say it seems like God's forgotten me. Seems like God has set me aside. Seems like God doesn't have anything for me to do. Maybe I'm too old. Maybe God's finished with me. Just wait around a little bit. You may be 86 years old, but God still has a plan. It says in verse 13, then was Daniel brought in before the king, and the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel. He uses his Hebrew name, not his Babylonian name. Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought out of jury. Do you see that proves it's Nebuchadnezzar is his father? Thy father, my father brought out of jury, out of the land of Israel to Babylon. That proves he's talking about Nebuchadnezzar. Do you know what Belshazzar thinks of Daniel? You're just one of those prisoners. My father, my grandfather brought you as a prisoner. You're a nobody. You're a Hebrew. You're a Jew. You have nothing to do with this kingdom. Art thou that Daniel. But he goes on and he says, I've heard about you, that the spirit of God is within you, that you have understanding and wisdom, that you can interpret this writing upon the wall. This statement, I've been told, will you do it? Listen to what he says to Daniel. If you interpret this, I'll close you with scarlet. I'll put a chain of gold around your neck and I'll make you the third ruler in my kingdom. The third ruler. Belshazzar thinks this will impress Daniel. Do you know something about a man that's walked with God? Money doesn't impress him. Position doesn't impress him. Clothes certainly don't impress him and a chain definitely won't impress him. I'm talking about a man of God. You know what he says in verse 17? O King, let thy gifts be to thyself. Give thy rewards to another. Yet I'll read the writing on the wall for you, O King. That's a real man of God. I don't preach because I'm paid. I don't preach because of the size of the congregation. I don't preach because of the reward. I preach because I'm a preacher of the gospel. That's why I preach. If I can take one soul to heaven, I'm a happy man. That means more than all the gold, all the possession, all the positions, all the praise. One soul going to heaven means more to me than that. You know what Daniel says? I don't want anything. You cannot pay me, but I'm here in the will of God to interpret the words on the wall. He says, O thou King, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, a kingdom. Look what he begins to do here. He says, I'm going to interpret, but first let me give you a testimony. Let me remind you what happened in Daniel chapter four. God gave the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar, not man. God gave him it. And he goes on to begin to testify to Belshazzar. God gave him it and all nations began to serve him. Verse 20, but when his heart was lifted up, what a warning. Pride is a very dangerous thing. God begins to bless you. God gives you things. God gives you position and power and gifting and ability and people to serve you and follow you and listen to you and you become pride. Do you realize pride is very dangerous? Daniel is now testifying to Belshazzar about Nebuchadnezzar. He become lifted up with pride and his mind hardened through pride. You know what happened? God deposed him and removed him from the throne. He gave him the heart of an animal and he acted like a wild ass for seven years. And listen until this point, till he knew that the most high God rules in the kingdom of men and that he appointed over it, whomsoever he will. This is Daniel in the palace, the last night of Babylon, the last night before judgment falls. And Daniel is saying, you know what? Nebuchadnezzar got pride, but after seven years, he was a humble man and he realized God reigns. The heavens do rule. It's not man. It's God who raises up and God who removes kings. Saints, you need to get a grip of this if you're going to walk through 2021. If you're going to survive this year, you need to realize that no matter who's on the throne, God is sovereignly in power. God can use a pride man, but he can remove him just as quickly. Verse 22, and thou his son of Belshazzar. Now he gets personal. He's testified. He's testified. Now he gets personal. Saints, I want to get very personal with you here tonight. I'm not talking about Belshazzar tonight. I'm talking about you. I've got a message for you. Beware of pride. Walk humbly before the Lord because you know what? He can put you in ministry or remove you from ministry. Make you a preacher or remove you from being a preacher. He could give you a position or he could remove you from a position. It's not by your manipulation. Most preachers that I've met along the way, they have more pride than Nebuchadnezzar. They're self-made men. They manipulated their way. They put themselves in ministry. I assure you one of these days, God will remove them. He will. And what a day that will be. Belshazzar has not humbled thine heart. You have not humbled your heart. Though you knew all of this, you knew the testimony of your grandfather, yet you never learned. You read the stories, you heard the preaching, yet you never humbled yourself. You're in a dangerous position. When you hear about God humbling men, God judging men, and yet you don't humble yourself. You carry on with proud thoughts how dangerous you are playing with the things of God. And listen, the God in whose hand thy breath is. Belshazzar, don't you realize that your breath is in the hand of God? He gives it to you and he can remove it from you. Someone listening to me tonight could be at death's door. God's about to take you and you don't know it. Maybe the least likely person, you don't realize it. And yet your breath is in the hand of God. Won't you humble yourself? Doesn't that make you tremble? Doesn't that sober you up? Doesn't that wake you up out of your life? That God could take your breath at any time and it's over? This night could be your last night like with Belshazzar. And yet God sent him a message, a warning. Listen, Daniel not only gives a testimony, makes it personal, but then he gives the interpretation of God's message to Belshazzar. Look at verse 25. And this is the writing that was written. Many, many tackle a parson. This is the interpretation of the thing. It's a bit like tongues and interpretation in the church. You get a tongue in the church. It doesn't, we don't understand it. We know it's a message from God, but we don't understand it. It needs an interpretation. We have the message in tongues. We need an interpretation. That's what happened here. There is a message with clear words from God and yet it's not understood. Daniel needs to be the interpreter. Every preacher needs to be an interpreter for God to make an individual understand what God is doing in their life. Either a sinner or a saint. You could be going through things and I as a preacher can apply the word of God and you say, now I know what's happening. Now I know what God was trying to tell me. Now I understand the message of what God was dealing with me. It's happened many times as someone has preached. I've listened to preachers and I go, now I understand. God makes it clear and makes it very real. Let's look at this message on the wall. Many tackle Paris. Written on the wall was four words. Listen carefully here as I give you the message. Four words, probably in the Arabic language. Many, many tackle Paris. Four words. What did the four words mean? Listen. Many, numbered, finished, weighed and divided. There were four individual words and as they looked at them, all they could read is numbered, finished, weighed, divided. What does this mean? A hand from God, but they don't know it's God. This supernatural hand, this ghostly hand writes four words on the wall. In the light of the candlestick, God made sure everyone could see it on that wall. What did the message mean? It took an interpreter. You see, God took, Daniel took the first word, many, this word and gave the interpretation. He actually explained who was speaking it and what it was about. It is the word many, meaning numbered. Do you know what he said? God has numbered thy kingdom. It is God who is doing the numbering and he's numbering your kingdom. That's what the word many means. God is numbering your kingdom. In other words, he is counting it. He is judging it. He is studying it. The second word many is the word finished. In other words, he's numbered it and he's reached the very end. You know what Daniel's saying? This is your last night. Your life is over. Your days have been numbered by God. See if God is numbering your days. It's a very sobering thing. The Bible says you ought to number your own days. You ought to count it up. You ought to look at your life. You ought to consider I'm nearer the end of life than I am the beginning of life. You ought to number your days. But do you know what? God is numbering Belshazzar's days and he's numbering the kingdom's days. And he says, it's finished. It's over. Babylon is finished. The Babylonian kingdom is finished. Verse 27, tackle thy weight. What is the word weight? Let me explain it. Thou art weighed in the balance and you're found wanting. Belshazzar, you are in the balancing scales and everything is against you. There's no weight with you. There's no substance. There's no evidence. There's no spirituality. It's too late. You have reached the end of your days and you've got nothing to show for your life. No humility. No humility, no brokenness, no repentance. You're not ready for your last days and yet here you are. And the fourth word, Paris, one individual word, Paris, divided. They couldn't understand it. Daniel gave the interpretation. Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. This is God's message on the last night of Babylon. It wasn't written in a foreign tongue. It was written in the Aramaic language, but they did not know the author of it. Neither could they decipher or apply the message to their hearts. Do you know what Belshazzar done? Did he repent? No. Did he humble himself? No. Did he turn to Daniel and say, what must I do to get saved? No. Do you know some people, and I've seen hundreds of them, they hear the word of God, they tremble. They say, please tell me what God's saying to me. Please show me the way, but they don't listen. They don't want to change. Do you know what Belshazzar done? Verse 29, then commanded Belshazzar and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, put a chain of gold around his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. He actually was all caught up in praising this man, honoring this man, in exalting this man, giving him a position, giving him a reward, giving him power. Little did he realize, what a tragedy. Do you know, I've seen sinners do that and go out into a lost eternity. God is dealing with their heart and they do the wrong thing. They think it's about position and the ministry and how you look on what is the outward. You know what Daniel was saying? I don't care about this. I care about your soul. I care about where you're going to spend eternity. Since we are living in a generation where the church is filled with people who say, tell me what the writing on the wall is. And when you say you're weighed in the balance and found wanting, they go running off in the wrong direction. They don't have a clue. They don't have a clue. Don't miss the message tonight. Don't miss the message. Fourth and finally, let me finish. My fourth point, a new king and a new kingdom. Look with me in verse 30 of this chapter. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old. This is Babylon's final night. It was the end of the Babylonian kingdom that very night within hours. You remember when God warned Nebuchadnezzar, he gave him one year, one year before God judged Nebuchadnezzar. Do you know what he does with Belshazzar? Maybe gives him one hour, one hour, an hour from hell, one hour away from eternity, one hour away from the gates of an eternal hell. And God is riding on the wall. He's warning you, he's reaching out to you, and you can't see it. That very night Belshazzar died at the edge of a sword. You know what? The kingdom fell. The king fell. And God raised up another king and another kingdom as he prophesied. Oh, if they'd only listened to that old preacher, that old prophet of God. Had he not warned them? Had he not prophesied? Had he not had the dreams and the visions and told them what was coming? And yet they never listened. They never listened. Look at verse 31, a new kingdom and a new king, a new king and a new kingdom. Verse 31, and Darius the Median took the kingdom. Being three score and two years or 62 years old. Look at this old man called Darius the Median. He became the new king of Babylon. The new king of Babylon. Do you know Isaiah in the Old Testament, about 150 years before this night of judgment, 150 years before, listen to what he said in chapter 317. Behold, I, the Lord will stir up the Medes against them, the Babylonians. God is warning this nation 150 years earlier when the Medes were nothing. They were nothing. And yet God is warning of what he's going to do. What about Cyrus? I said at the start, Cyrus led this army and was going to become the new king. And yet in this last verse, it says it's Darius the Median. So which is it again? Is it Darius the Median or is it Cyrus the Persian? Who is it who becomes the next king? I have said it was Cyrus who led the army against Babylon. It was Cyrus who defeated their enemies. But yet it says Darius the Median become the great king. Let me just explain. Cyrus is mentioned in Daniel chapter 121, chapter 6 verse 28, and chapter 10 and verse 1. Do you know Cyrus is mentioned 24 times in the Bible by name, this ancient king. Isaiah prophesies about him by name, using the name Cyrus 150 years before he comes against Babylon. The Bible prophesies and predicts using his actual name and shows that he'll be the leader of the Medo-Persian empire and that he would defeat the Babylonian empire. And it was all predicted. The Bible, Isaiah also prophesies that he would give the command to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem before the temple was destroyed. Do you see how remarkable this is? Way before Cyrus was even born, there are prophecies saying he's going to be God's anointed, God's shepherd, that God is going to subdue kingdoms before him and that God is going to raise him up and that all gates are going to open before him, even the hundred gates of Babylon. Do you realize God has plans for kings who haven't even been conceived in their mother's womb and you're worried about how you're going to survive in the year to come? Don't you realize who your God is? Don't you realize that he predetermines history itself, that he has laid out in scripture what is going to happen in our generation, in our day. He has even talked about the 10 great kings that he's going to raise up at the end of time. Even 80 years before Babylon's last night, Jeremiah prophesied and predicted the same thing. In Jeremiah 51, he said, prepare against her Babylon, the kings of the Medes. What amazing prophecies. Let me close here. I wish I could keep you for another hour here. I've got so many wonderful things to say about this change of the kingdom. Listen, who was Cyrus? I've yet to solve the problem of Cyrus and Darius, but listen carefully as we close. Cyrus became the king of Persia in the year 559 BC. 20 years. That is exactly 20 years before chapter 5 of Daniel. 20 years before the last night of Babylon. Do you know what happened? Cyrus come up through the ranks and became the king of Persia. What was Persia? It was a small tribe. A small, tiny, insignificant nation. Who was Cyrus? Cyrus was, as a young baby, his grandfather tried to kill him. Had him destroyed. Thought he'd finished him. And it's an amazing story about the life of Cyrus. How God preserved him and kept his hand upon him. Everything was against him. But 20 years before this night, he becomes the king of Persia. Another 10 years down the road, 10 years before this night, he conquers Midian. So there was Persia and Midian. Persia was a small tribe. A small country. Midian was a large nation. A large army. And yet Cyrus of the Persians rises up in a small nation and he conquers the Midian kingdom and becomes its great leader. Its great king. Just 10 years before this judgment in Babylon. You know what God is doing? God is preparing. Putting a political leader in the right place at the right time. Listen to me. Cyrus was nephew to a man called Darius the Mede. He was Cyrus the Persian. But he married into the Medes again and took his daughter. And his father, sorry, took the daughter of Darius the Mede to be his wife. Do you see how it's coming together here? Darius on this very night was 62 years old. And he came with Cyrus and the invading army. Don't mix up Darius with Darius the first in the rest of the Bible. It's a different Darius. This Darius actually was the uncle-in-law of King Cyrus. And they led the army against Babylon. Listen how they done it. Remember Babylon when I told you about the great city. The great river running through it. The entire city is secure. It's impregnable. This is its very last night. Nobody can get inside it. The entire city is having a party. They are drunken on that night. Cyrus divided his army. Two groups of men. One at the north of the city. One at the south. And what they done was divert the river. And the river started to fall. As the river got to waist level, both of these armies began to march up that river bed unnoticed that night as the city is drunken in a party. These soldiers began to wade through the water and secretly entered the city on the night. They never fired a shot. They never engaged in battle. And that night Babylon fell. It was either the 11th or 12th of October in the year 539 that the city fell to Cyrus the Great. And Darius, his uncle-in-law, was put in charge, made Darius the Mede the king of Babylon. And he ruled the city while Cyrus ruled the entire empire. God had a plan. He said, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Two kingdoms made one nation. They'll replace Babylon. In Daniel chapter 2 and 39 it says, and after thee, after you Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee. This inferior kingdom is depicted in the statue as the breast and the arms of silver. Later in Daniel, it's depicted as the beast, a great bear, a ravenous bear. You know who it was? Cyrus the Great. God was raising him up and the Medo-Persian empire had conquered the great city of Babylon. On Babylon's last night, Daniel was promoted to the third highest man in the nation. And he would continue into the kingdom of Cyrus the Great to be a man that walks with God. You say, what's this got to do with us? Because there's other prophecy saints about a city of Babylon, an economic city of Babylon, a city of commerce that's going to get rebuilt very shortly. We read in Isaiah 13, Jeremiah 50 and 51, Revelation 16 and 18, that the kingdom of Babylon is going to get destroyed. It's never been fulfilled. The final destruction of the city of Babylon. Do you realize the city of Babylon in Iraq is going to be the headquarters for the little horn, the man of sin, Antichrist in the last days. But I want you to remember as we begin to see the rise of the last Babylonian kingdom of world history, I want to tell you here tonight, there's going to be a last night for Babylon when the writing is on the wall and God is going to judge it like he did with Belshazzar. Revelation chapter 18 will happen that God is going to destroy the economic, political, religious system of this world. And you know what he's going to do? He's going to bring in an everlasting kingdom of righteousness. Are you ready to meet the Lord? Do you have your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you ready to meet him? Are you ready to live in Babylon as we see it all rise around us like Daniel did? Are you walking with God tonight? Let's pray together as we close this Bible study. Father, I thank you for the word of God here tonight. Lord God, it's remarkable what we're reading in the book of Daniel. You're a God who prophesies everything beforehand. And Lord God, you prophesied about our generation in detail, about nations and kingdoms and kings. And you've spoken to us about us in this last generation. My God, I pray raise up wise mothers who know preachers who preach truth. Raise up old godly men who are in the right place at the right time in this last generation. My God, I pray will you have mercy on the Belshazzars of this generation. Give them one last opportunity before you judge them and you remove them from the scene of time. Father, I do pray as we continue in these studies, make it alive, make it real, open our heart and here tonight help us to humble ourself under your mighty hand. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. God bless you here tonight in this Bible study. May you know how to interpret the writing on the wall. May you know the person who's speaking and may you understand what he's saying to you individually tonight. Maybe when this meeting is over before you go to bed, you need to get on your knees and humble yourself. Maybe God's been trying to speak to you time after time after time and you've ignored it. You're still proud. You're still doing what you're doing. You're not listening to him. You haven't got the message yet and God sent you a message tonight. Maybe tonight's the last time you'll speak. I don't know. God's very merciful but very often there's a last time he speaks. Make sure for you it's not the last time. But I have a heart that's open to God tonight. God bless you.