Belshazzar is referred to as a king, though he may just have been a prince regent. Similarly, the Hebrew saying Nebuchadnezzar was his father could simply mean he was his ancestor. Whatever the case, he was feasting with the goblets taken from the temple in Jerusalem. So the point is that holy objects were being used for profane purposes.
The king and his guests drank from the goblets and worshipped idols of gold, silver and bronze. We have a great tendency to worship something, and it is usually the wrong thing.
God cannot be mocked, and those who today profane and mock His name will get their comeuppance one day. A hand appeared and wrote on the wall. The king was struck with fear.
Like Nebuchadnezzar he summoned his various wise men to interpret the writing, and he offered a great reward for anyone who succeeded. None of them managed to interpret its meaning.
Then the queen reminded Belshazzar about Daniel. It seems that in the change of ruler Daniel had been somewhat sidelined. However, if God wants to promote someone He will do so.
The king flattered Daniel and offered him the same reward. Daniel declined the rewards but said he would interpret the writing. Daniel was living as a servant of the Lord, he was not using the gift for his own profit. We do well to remember this, The gifts that God gives us are to enable us to serve Him.
Daniel starts be reminding Belshazzar of what happened to Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 4). Belshazzar had failed to learn from this and had not humbled himself and honoured the Lord.
So God would take the kingdom from him and divide it between the Medes and Persians. The king still gave Daniel the garment of purple and the gold chain. That night the king was slain and Darius the Mede took over.
See how quickly the kingdom crumbled.
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