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Daniel 05: Freaky Fingers
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, daniel, chapter 5, and today's title is Freaky Fingers. Freaky Fingers and I'm going to say that because this is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. I mean, well, I've not seen it, but read in the Bible. Okay, this is right up there with. Well, I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's like the creepiest thing ever. So we're going to get to that and we're going to get down to you. Ever heard the phrase? The writing is on the wall? It's like just this phrase. That means like it's almost over, right, like whatever that's going to come from this chapter. So we're going to get into that in just a second. So go and get your Bible out, get your coffee out. We're going to jump into and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help and it doesn't cost you anything. And make sure you go into the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find, and we love building this community together. Also, I want to say real quick thank you to some of our new listeners who are listening to us from Haiti, so I love that you guys are listening. Thank you so much and, if you don't mind, I'd love for you to comment on the Bible Breakdown discussion or on the YouTube video and tell us who you are, tell us what part of Haiti you are from, and it is wonderful to meet you. Actually, I know somebody who was a missionary to Haiti for a while, and just wonderful. So thank you so very much.
Speaker 1:Well, once again we are in the book of Daniel and remember the overall idea of Daniel is God is in control, and we've seen that over the past several chapters. In Daniel chapter 1, daniel and his friends were like no, god is still in control, even though I'm in enemy territory, because they had been shipped off to Babylon as part of the destruction of Jerusalem, and they said we're still going to serve God. And then, in chapter 2, God showed he was in control again by letting Daniel interpret a dream. Chapter 3, he saved the three Hebrew teenagers from this fiery furnace Yesterday. Chapter 4, he done made King Nebuchadnezzar lose his mind for a season and then came back again, just so he could prove he could do it and just say hey, listen, man, I'm in charge, not you, buddy. And then today we're going to see some freaky fingers.
Speaker 1:And this is also one of the most famous chapters or stories in the entire Bible. And I was saying before, if you've ever heard the phrase, the writing is on the wall, it comes from this chapter in the entire Bible. And I was saying before, if you've ever heard the phrase, the writing is on the wall, it comes from this chapter. And so, like someone would use the writing on the wall, if let's say that you know, it's a big game and someone is winning 100 to nothing and there's, like you know, two minutes left and they're going, hey, the writing's on the wall, I think this other team's gonna win. In other words, it's looking inevitable at this point, it's looking like it's going to happen. Well, it comes from this. So we're going to read this and we're going to see how, yet again, god proves among all of these kings and leaders, I'm still in charge. So if you're ready, let's jump into this very famous story, even though you may not have known that phrase come from here. So here we go.
Speaker 1:Chapter 5, verse 1 says this Many years later, king Belshazzar gave a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and he drank wine with them. Now pause Now notice what happens, and that is Nebuchadnezzar is now dead and King Belshazzar has now taken over, and so he invites all these people together. And how about this? Daniel is still in charge. So many times, you know, you never knew what was going to happen when the new monarch took over, but Daniel's still the man, and so he's still there. So here he goes.
Speaker 1:Verse two while Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups from his predecessor, nebuchadnezzar, who had taken them from the temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives and his concubines. Pause again. Why can't you just leave it alone, buddy? You had to take the holy stuff, you know. Here it comes. The writing is on the wall.
Speaker 1:Here it comes, verse 3. So they brought these gold cups taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the kings and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. And while they drank from them praising their gods or idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone, and suddenly they saw the fingers of a human hand riding on the plaster wall of the king's palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. In my opinion that's their way of saying Jokerdon wet his pants. And here's the thing, wouldn't you? You're minding your business at Kroger, you're eating dinner at Qdoba or at McDonald's, and all of a sudden a hand, just a hand, some fingers show up and start writing into the wall yeah, me too, buddy, me too.
Speaker 1:All right, verse seven. The king shouted of course he did at the enchanters and astrologers and fortune tellers these guys just don't go away, fortune tellers? Did they be brought to him? They can't do anything, but they keep calling him right. He said to these wise men of Babylon whoever can read the writing on this wall and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and he will give a gold chain placed around his neck and he will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
Speaker 1:But when all the king's wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. The king grew more alarmed and his face turned pale. His nobles too were shaken. In other words, everybody's peeing on themselves. All right, verse 10. But when the queen mother heard what had happened, she hurried to the banquet hall and she said to Belshazzar Long live the king. Don't be so pale and frightened.
Speaker 1:There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar's reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king, your predecessor, king Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and fortune tellers of Babylon. This man, daniel, whom the king named Belshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel and he will tell you what the writing means. So Daniel was brought before the king. The king asked him are you, daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, king Nebuchadnezzar? I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight and wisdom. My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck and you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom. And Daniel answered the king keep your gifts and give them to someone else. But I will tell you what the writing means. Now, bible doesn't say this, but to me it looks like he has absolutely no respect for this.
Speaker 1:Predecessor of Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 18,. Your majesty, the most high God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory and honor to your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar. He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven from human society and he was given the mind of a wild animal and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow and he was drenched with the dew of heaven until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.
Speaker 1:You are his predecessor, o Baal-Shazar, and you knew all this. Yet you have not humbled yourself, for you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone, gods that neither see nor hear, nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you breath of life and controls your destiny. So God has sent this hand to write this message, and this message was written. This is what the words mean Mene numbered God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means weighed, which means you have been weighed in the balances and have not measured up. And parsin means divided your kingdom has been divided and given to the balances and have not measured up. And parson means divided your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. Then, at Belshazzar's command, daniel was dressed in purple robes and a gold chain was hung around his neck and he proclaimed that he was the third highest ruler in the kingdom. But that very night, belshazzar, king of Babylon was killed. But that very night Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, was killed and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at age 62.
Speaker 1:Wow, there's so much in that chapter. First of all, that's creepy. I mean, wow, but God sent it. And there's so many things. Let's see if I can unpack some of this. First of all, how crazy is it that a hand shows up and starts writing on a wall and you start asking people and it almost seems as though Daniel is retired because he wasn't there. They called all these other people and he at one point was the leader, but he's not the leader anymore. So it makes me think that maybe he's retired at this point, because that would have also meant that you know he had lived through the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. But whatever, he brings them in there and immediately Daniel's had enough, like he's just mad. And you find out why because he sees those golden goblets and things that he knows exactly where those came from and those don't belong to you, fool, those belong to the king of heaven. And you dare to drink out. I mean, daniel ain't messing around.
Speaker 1:And then he reads this language. Now people have asked what this language is. There's different people who think it's different things, I don't know. I can't help but wonder if it's Hebrew, because it was something that Daniel could read. But then it wasn't just the fact that he could read it, but he knew what it meant, because even if he could just read it, it would have just meant he would have just read you know, mine, mine, tekel and parson, which would have meant numbered, weighed, weighed, divided. So that still doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 1:So God gave him the wisdom to know what it meant. And so then he says you've been weighed, you've been measured, and you don't measure up. You're proud, you are not half the king your daddy was, or your predecessor, whoever he was to you, and so you're gonna lose. And then how about this? He tells belshazzar you are gonna be overrun. And the guy's response is to honor him. Think about that, honor him. So he must have highly respected and understood that daniel's no fool and he understood exactly what he was doing.
Speaker 1:But then the Bible says that that very night Darius the Mede took over. This also helps you understand why Darius kept Daniel, even though he was formerly in the Babylonian Empire. He kept him because anybody who can read a wall and knows the word of God, you get to be one of my friends, and so, once again, god is saying if you don't humble yourself, I can help you with that, right. And so what can we get out of this? There's so many great things we can get out of this. We could talk about how, if you ever see a hand run, I mean there could be the whole thing of not defiling what God has called holy. There's that, but I want to go back to this idea of the absolute courage that Daniel had under fire.
Speaker 1:Daniel was called into that room and when he saw what it was, he had a choice to make. He could have just refused to read it. He could have read it and made excuses. He could have read it, not made excuses, but then just tried to water it down. He didn't do that.
Speaker 1:He realized that the messenger has two things he has to do. The messenger, he has to tell it and he has to tell it straight. Those are the two things that a messenger has to do. The messenger, he has to tell it and he has to tell it straight. Those are the two things that a messenger has to do, and when he did that, god used him to make a difference, can I tell you in our lives as a messenger of God, because God has made us ambassadors into his kingdom. We have two jobs To tell it and to tell it straight. Tell God's word and to tell it straight. Tell God's word and to tell it straight.
Speaker 1:I don't know where God has put you right now, what God is doing in your life right now, but can I tell you that God has two things he needs you to do. He needs you to be faithful, to tell it, tell his word, tell his goodness, and to tell it straight. To be honest, love and truth go together. And when he did that, did you notice how, instead of it destroying Daniel, god honored Daniel through these people? I don't know what may be going on in your life, but I do know obeying God and telling the truth is never going to put you in a bad direction.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. I know there's a thousand different things that could be going on in people's lives right now, but I know you are still in control of all of them. God, give us the courage to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason, and trust that you, god, are gonna have your way. In Jesus' name, we pray amen. And then what God's word says in Daniel chapter three? It says that God is able to save us. But even if he doesn't, we will never serve your gods. My hope is that God will give you that kind of courage every day to follow him. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Daniel, chapter six.
