Nebuchadnezzar received severe discipline from the Lord, which resulted in his acknowledging that God ruled over all.
Then I PRAISED the MOST HIGH; I HONOURED and GLORIFIED HIM WHO LIVES FOREVER. Daniel 4
The scene changes in Daniel 5 when a new king and a new generation rise to power.
5 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. Daniel 5
King Belshazzar (means Bel protect the king) then took a very foolish step, he ordered that the gold and silver goblets his father had brought from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought to the feast.
4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
Then they used them to drink toasts to their false gods and once again judgement came swiftly. Kjell Sjoberg, a man I used to travel with, said sooner or later the enemy always goes too far and then God intervenes. We are seeing this happen again in our world today.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand (highly visible) in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.
Make no mistake, earthly rulers will tremble whenever God moves. ‘You believe there’s only one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.’ James 2:19
The king called for his wisemen and even though he promised them great reward they couldn’t interpret the words the hand had written. He became even more afraid.
7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed round his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.’
This reward is declared three times in Daniel 5:7, 16 and 29. Daniel ultimately received the reward even though it meant little to him. The public declarations of an earthly king had to be honoured and obeyed, HOW MUCH MORE THE WORDS OF ALMIGHTY GOD!
Just as in the time of Joseph, when Pharaoh had his dreams Genesis 41, the Babylonian wisemen were unable to help. The wisdom of this world is of no use when God intervenes in power. They had to seek out a man of God to tell them what was going to happen.
10 The queen (or queen mother) hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. ‘May the king live for ever!’ she said. ‘Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. … Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.’
THE WORLD DOESN’T HAVE THE ANSWERS WHEN GOD INTERVENES, BUT HIS PEOPLE WILL HAVE.
God bless and keep you in these days.