READ: Dan. 5:1–12: … from the temple … and … drank from them …
In chapter 5 we meet one of Nebuchadnezzar’s descendants: King Belshazzar. His name means “May Bel (a Babylonian god) protect him.” Compare that to Daniel’s name, which means “God is my judge.”
Belshazzar throws a massive banquet for his officials—about a thousand guests—along with their wives and concubines. It becomes a wild and immoral feast with heavy drinking. The event is entirely centered around self-glorification and pleasure. Idols are invoked and praised—gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, all manmade.
Instead of honoring the one true God of heaven, they revere powerless objects. Belshazzar drinks and drinks—this is emphasized five times in the text. He loses all restraint under the influence of wine.
Then he crosses a terrible line: he commands the sacred vessels stolen by Nebuchadnezzar from God’s temple in Jerusalem to be brought out—golden and silver cups and pitchers that had been consecrated for God’s service. These items had been stored in a pagan treasury for years. Likely, no one had dared to use them—until now.
Belshazzar wants to show he is greater than God, and that his gods are more powerful than the God of the Jews. He challenges the God of heaven by drinking from these holy vessels and praising idols. In doing so, he deeply dishonors God.
This is a very serious sin against both the first and third commandments. And the Lord will not hold him guiltless for it.
There are clear parallels with our own time. Around the world, God is blasphemed—on sports fields, in cafeterias, films, comedy shows, and music festivals.
The question for us is: what do we do about it? The Lord calls us to stand up for His holy name. Can we allow such terrible sins without speaking up? Would that not make us also guilty? (See the Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 100.)
What is your answer to those final questions?
Sing: Ps. 76:4