Daniel 5:1-31 I. Belshazzar's feast was characterised by great intemperance. II. It was characterised by great profanity. III. This night was one of supernatural visitation. IV. This was a night of terrible retribution. W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, p. 98. References: Daniel 5:1-31 . W. M. Taylor, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 240. Daniel 5:5 . R. Payne-Smith, Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 158. Daniel 5:10-23 . Ibid. p. 220. read more
Shall we turn now in our Bible to Daniel, chapter 5.Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousands ( Daniel 5:1 ).There are men who call themselves Bible scholars and they belong to a school known as "higher criticism." And for years these men declared that the book of Daniel was not valid. And one of their reasons for this declaration was that in secular history they had not discovered the name Belshazzar. But one of ancient historians,... read more
Daniel 5:2 . Belshazzar his father Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar was the son of Evilmerodach, and grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. The empire therefore falling at this time, fulfilled the prophecy, that all nations should serve Nebuchadnezzar, and his son, and his son’s son. Jeremiah 27:7. Having spoken of the fall of Babylon on Isaiah 13:14. and elsewhere, I shall subjoin some reflections from one of my sermons. Daniel 5:4 . They drank wine and praised the gods of gold. Here the king first... read more
Dan 5:9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. Ver. 9. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled. ] In the midst of his feast he was thus damped and cast into his dumps; according to that of Amos, Amo 8:10 "I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation." Yet find we not in him any sign of true remorse. "Whoredom and wine and new wine had even taken away his heart," Hos 4:11 robbed him of... read more
greatly: Daniel 5:6, Daniel 2:1, Job 18:11-2 Chronicles :, Psalms 18:14, Revelation 6:15 countenance: Chal, brightness, Daniel 5:6, Daniel 10:8 changed: Psalms 48:6, Isaiah 13:6-Ruth :, Isaiah 21:2-Numbers :, Jeremiah 6:24, Jeremiah 30:6, Matthew 2:3 read more
7-9. This Babylonian king, like his “father,” forgetting Daniel, calls for help from the same worthless crowd of “witches” (Wyclif) and Chaldeans (see note Daniel 2:2; some ancient texts omit “Chaldeans” here) and offers, as Nebuchadnezzar had done, great rewards to the man who can explain the vision (see Genesis 41:42; Esther 8:15; Ezekiel 27:7), who also shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. That is, according to its natural meaning, “third in rank” (Kautzsch); meaning, probably,... read more
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Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Daniel 5:1-31
HOMILETICSSECT. XVII.—BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST (Chap. 5.)This chapter deservedly a favourite with general readers [126]. The magnificence, excitement, and revelry of the royal feast; the profligate king, when heated with wine, calling for the sacred vessels of the Temple, and, with his princes, wives, and concubines, drinking out of them to the honour of heathen deities; the sudden appearance, in the midst of the carousal, of a weird hand, tracing distinct but unintelligible characters on the wall;... read more