In today’s reflection, we finish Daniel chapter 5 and hear Daniel interpret the writing on the wall for King Belshazzar. Belshazzar offers Daniel power, prestige, and a gold chain, but Daniel makes it clear that he isn’t serving God for earthly rewards. Daniel reminds Belshazzar of what happened to Nebuchadnezzar and points out that Belshazzar knew the story but failed to humble himself before God. The contrast between Daniel and Belshazzar challenges us to ask why we do what we do. Are we seeking recognition, approval, and earthly rewards, or are we serving simply because God has given us a calling? Pride leads us away from God, while humility and obedience lead us toward him. As we finish Daniel 5, we’re reminded that the path of Jesus is always the path of humility, faithfulness, and obedience.
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Well, good morning. It’s good to be with you on this Friday morning. I hope you’ve had a great week, and I hope you’ve got some big plans for the weekend.
I know we do. We’ve got a lot going on, and as I mentioned yesterday, we’re excited because it’s football season! Starkville is going to be rocking tomorrow night for Mississippi State versus ULM.
And as you make your plans to come to Mississippi State this weekend—maybe you’re already on the road, maybe you’re coming tomorrow morning—bring your church clothes! Make plans to stay and worship with us.
My joke as I’ve been transitioning to Starkville First has been that my goal is for us to be everybody’s second-favorite church. So if you’re coming to Starkville this weekend, bring your church clothes. We’d love for you to worship with us at 10:00 for our traditional worship service. We would be honored if you’re in town and choose to stay one more night and come to church with us at Starkville First United Methodist Church on Sunday morning.
So bring your church clothes!
Today we’re going to finish up Daniel 5: 13-30, which gives us the interpretation of the writing on the wall that we talked about yesterday.
Daniel is brought before the king, and Belshazzar says, essentially, “Are you Daniel? One of the exiles of Judah whom my father brought here? I’ve heard that you have a spirit of the gods in you, and that you have enlightenment, understanding, and excellent wisdom.”
He tells Daniel that all the wise men and enchanters have been brought in, but none of them could interpret the writing. But he’s heard that Daniel can do it. And then comes the offer: if Daniel can read and interpret the writing, he’ll be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around his neck, and be made the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.
And Daniel’s response is great.
He basically says, “Keep your gifts. Give your rewards to somebody else. Nevertheless, I’ll read the writing and tell you what it means.”
I have to admit, because we’re talking about football this weekend, when I read about Daniel being given a purple robe and a gold chain, I can’t help but think about the turnover chain you see in college football. You know, somebody gets an interception or causes a fumble, and suddenly they’ve got this big chain around their neck with some symbol from the school.
I just picture Daniel standing there and the king saying, “Daniel, you got it right. Here’s your turnover chain!”
I don’t know why that amuses me. Maybe it’s just me.
But Daniel doesn’t care about the chain.
He doesn’t care about the purple robe.
He doesn’t care about the earthly reward.
And then Daniel gives Belshazzar the history lesson he desperately needs.
He reminds him about his father, Nebuchadnezzar. God had given Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, glory, and majesty. He had tremendous power. People trembled before him. He could lift people up or bring them down.
But then his heart was lifted up. His spirit became hardened. He became proud.
And God humbled him.
Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society, and his mind became like that of an animal until he learned this lesson: the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdoms of mortals and gives them to whomever he wishes.
And then Daniel looks at Belshazzar and essentially says, “You knew all of this. You knew what happened to your father. And you still didn’t humble yourself.”
In fact, you went even further.
You took the sacred vessels from the temple of God and used them for your party. You drank from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that cannot see, hear, or understand.
But you did not honor the God who holds your very breath in his hand.
And then Daniel says that line that I think is so important:
The God whose power is your very breath, and to whom belong all your ways—you have not honored.
And so the writing on the wall is interpreted:
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.
God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
And that very night, Belshazzar is killed, and the kingdom passes to Darius the Mede.
The apple didn’t fall very far from the tree, did it?
Nebuchadnezzar refused to acknowledge God, and he paid the price for his pride. But Belshazzar made an even worse mistake.
Nebuchadnezzar was arrogant, but eventually he humbled himself and acknowledged God.
Belshazzar knew the story. He knew what had happened to his father. He knew what God had done.
And yet he chose the same path anyway.
In fact, he went further by dishonoring the sacred things of God.
Yesterday we talked about what made those vessels sacred. It wasn’t the gold or the silver. What made them sacred was their purpose. They had been consecrated for the worship of God.
And Belshazzar took something that had been set apart for God and treated it as though it were ordinary.
His pride led him down that path.
But I think there’s another lesson here for us.
Look at Daniel.
The king is living in a world of power, influence, and earthly reward. So when he wants Daniel to do something, he assumes he can buy Daniel’s loyalty.
“I’ll give you a purple robe. I’ll give you a gold chain. I’ll give you status.”
But Daniel says, “I don’t need any of that.”
Daniel isn’t doing this for the praise of the king.
He isn’t doing it for the reward.
He’s doing it because God has given him a calling, and he is going to be faithful to that calling.
And I think that gives us a question we need to ask ourselves:
Why do we do what we do?
Why do we serve?
Why do we give?
Why do we care for people?
Why do we come to church?
Why do we do the things we do?
Are we doing them for earthly reward?
Are we doing them for praise?
Are we doing them because we want somebody to notice us?
Or are we doing them simply because God has given us this gift, this calling, this purpose?
I was talking with someone yesterday about how sometimes we all need to hear a word of correction that we don’t want to hear.
I’ll put it this way: we all need somebody in our life who we’ve given permission to call us an idiot.
And when that person calls us an idiot, we need to listen!
The problem with Belshazzar was that apparently he didn’t have anybody like that.
Who thought it was a good idea to bring out the sacred vessels from the temple and use them for a party?
Apparently nobody was willing to say, “Hey, king, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
That’s what pride does.
Pride isolates us from the people who might tell us the truth.
And sometimes we need people who love us enough to tell us the truth.
Daniel understood who he was.
He understood where his purpose came from.
He understood that God was the one who gave him his very breath.
He didn’t need the king’s approval because he already knew whose approval mattered.
He didn’t need the king’s gifts because he already knew the greatest gift he had been given was the gift of serving God.
And I think that’s the choice before us.
We have the path of Belshazzar—the path of pride, arrogance, self-importance, and the constant need for approval.
Or we have the path of Daniel—the path of humility, obedience, faithfulness, and service.
And the path of Jesus is never the path of arrogance.
It just isn’t.
It is always the path of humility.
It is always the path of obedience.
It is always the path of trusting God.
So today, as we look at our own lives, let’s make sure we’re choosing the right path.
Let’s make sure we’re following the path of Daniel.
Let’s make sure that what we do, we do not for earthly praise or earthly reward, but because we understand that God is the one who gives us our very breath.
So, hey, thanks for being with us once again.
And if you’re coming to Starkville this weekend, bring your church clothes! Make plans to stay with us and worship with us Sunday morning.
Of course, we’re already in Starkville, but we’d love to have you too.
Have a great Friday, have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Sunday.