“Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink that puttest thy bottle to him and makest him drunken.”  Habakkuk 2:15

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”  Proverbs 20:1

“Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  1 Corinthians 10:31

Belshazzar’s Feast

To understand a man, you must know his environment and ancestry.  So, before discussing Belshazzar himself, we must consider his country, his city, and the great king, Nebuchadnezzar, who was his grandfather (Prophets and Kings, p. 522).

The city of Babylon was queen of the ancient world.  Sitting beside the mighty Euphrates, she took toll of its traffic in fruit and grain, livestock and manufactured goods.  Her artisans turned out brick and furniture, clothing, tapestry, and vases.  Smiths made jewelry.  They worked in copper, iron, and lead.

Surprisingly modern was Babylon in other respects.  Practically all her freemen could read and write.  For more than forty years, Nebuchadnezzar was king.  During the early half of his reign, he conquered all the great nations of his time.  Yet his real interest was in the things of peace.  So, when wars were ended, he came back to Babylon to dig irrigation ditches, build roads, pave city streets, plant orchards, lay out and beautify parks, and erect temples.  He constructed fortifications, and even cities.  Nebuchadnezzar was one of the greatest builders of all history.

Babylon’s walls were unbelievably high, and so wide that a four-horse chariot could safely turn on its top.  Every little way, there were sentry towers with watchmen on guard.  Outside, a moat, wide and deep, was filled with water.  Drawbridges crossed it; but when they were lifted and the gates shut, no foe could enter.  Babylon was impregnable.  (for extra study see The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, p. 96, city description; vol. 4, pp. 533, 535, 757, 772, 794-799)

Nebuchadnezzar had a large family.  One of his daughters married an army officer named Nabonidus.  Belshazzar was their son.

As King Nebuchadnezzar looked at the glories of mighty Babylon, pride filled his heart, and he forgot his Maker.

In mercy, God gave the king another dream, to warn him of his peril and the snare that had been laid for his ruin (see Daniel 4:1–27).

“A year from the time he had received the warning, Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace and thinking with pride of his power as a ruler and of his success as a builder, exclaimed, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?’  While the proud boast was yet on the king’s lips, a voice from heaven announced that God’s appointed time of judgment had come. Upon his ears fell the mandate of Jehovah: ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.’

“The messages of warning had been unheeded; now, stripped of the power his Creator had given him, and driven from men, Nebuchadnezzar ‘did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.’

“For seven years Nebuchadnezzar was an astonishment to all his subjects; for seven years he was humbled before all the world. Then his reason was restored and, looking up in humility to the God of heaven, he recognized the divine hand in his chastisement. In a public proclamation he acknowledged his guilt and the great mercy of God in his restoration. . . .

“The once proud monarch had become a humble child of God; the tyrannical, overbearing ruler, a wise and compassionate king. He who had defied and blasphemed the God of heaven, now acknowledged the power of the Most High and earnestly sought to promote the fear of Jehovah and the happiness of his subjects. Under the rebuke of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords, Nebuchadnezzar had learned at last the lesson which all rulers need to learn–that true greatness consists in true goodness. He acknowledged Jehovah as the living God, saying, ‘I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.’

“God’s purpose that the greatest kingdom in the world should show forth His praise was now fulfilled. This public proclamation, in which Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the mercy and goodness and authority of God, was the last act of his life recorded in sacred history.

“Toward the close of Daniel’s life great changes were taking place in the land to which, over threescore years before, he and his Hebrew companions had been carried captive. Nebuchadnezzar, ‘the terrible of the nations’ (Ezekiel 28:7), had died.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 519–522

After Nebuchadnezzar’s death, Belshazzar was now crown prince after a short revolution. “Through the folly and weakness of Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, proud Babylon was soon to fall. Admitted in his youth to a share in kingly authority, Belshazzar gloried in his power and lifted up his heart against the God of heaven. Many had been his opportunities to know the divine will and to understand his responsibility of rendering obedience thereto. He had known of his grandfather’s banishment, by the decree of God, from the society of men; and he was familiar with Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion and miraculous restoration. But Belshazzar allowed the love of pleasure and self-glorification to efface the lessons that he should never have forgotten. He wasted the opportunities graciously granted him, and neglected to use the means within his reach for becoming more fully acquainted with truth. That which Nebuchadnezzar had finally gained at the cost of untold suffering and humiliation, Belshazzar passed by with indifference.” –Prophets and Kings, pp. 522–523

One of the great holidays was in honour of the god of spring.  It was called the Feast of Tammuz.  It was held about the time of Easter; but was celebrated like New Year’s Eve.  It was at the Feast of Tammuz that Babylon fell.

“Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north, and behold there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”  Ezekiel 8:14 (see Prophets and Kings, pp. 448–449)

The Unseen Watcher

When Nebuchadnezzar died, subject nations revolted; and no great effort was made to reconquer them.  Eventually, an alliance between two neighbouring states made Medo-Persia the great world power.

These changes took time.  It was something like twenty-three years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, before Cyrus, nephew of Darius the Mede, and commanding general of the combined armies of the Median and Persians troops, laid siege to Babylon.

The feast of Tammuz was coming soon; Cyrus knew it.  He knew that nearly everyone in Babylon would be drunk, therefore he planned accordingly.  Leaving only a small detachment before the city wall, Cyrus went up the Euphrates.  At just the right moment, he cut its dikes.  The river flowed out over fertile bottom lands.  The water in its channel at Babylon fell.  Under cover of darkness, on the night of the great feast, Medo-Persian troops marched stealthily down the river’s dry bed.  Up they came into the city, through gates unguarded while sentries slept, or loafed in neighbouring saloons.

Past housing celebrating the feast with drunken carousal, the invaders marched.  On they went to the palace.  There the scenes in modest homes were being duplicated in splendour.  It is recorded that, “In his pride and arrogancy, with a reckless feeling of security, Belshazzar ‘made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.’ All the attractions that wealth and power could command, added splendour to the scene.  Beautiful women with their enchantments were among the guests in attendance at the royal banquet.  Men of genius and education were there.  Princes and statesmen drank wine like water and reveled under its maddening influence.” –Prophets and Kings, p. 523

As the feast progressed, after Belshazzar tasted the wine, he “commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which . . .  [his grandfather] Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.’  The king would prove that nothing was too sacred for his hands to handle. –Prophets and Kings, pp.523–524

“Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem, and the king, and his princes, his wives and his concubines drank in them.  They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.” Daniel 5:3–4

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.” Romans 13:1

“God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever He will.” Daniel 5:21 (last part)

“Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels. . . that the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.” Daniel 5:2

“David’s power had been given him by God, but to be exercised only in harmony with the divine law. When he commanded that which was contrary to God’s law, it became sin to obey. ‘The powers that be are ordained of God’ (Romans 13:1), but we are not to obey them contrary to God’s law.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 719

“Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” Hosea 4:11

“At the very moment when the feasting was at its height, a bloodless hand came forth, and traced on the wall of the banqueting room the doom of the king and his kingdom. ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,’ were the words written, and they were interpreted by Daniel to mean, ‘Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. . . . Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.’ And the record tells us, ‘In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom.’” –Temperance, p. 49; Daniel 5:24–31; Isaiah 13:1–22

“Little did Belshazzar think that an unseen Watcher beheld his idolatrous revelry. But there is nothing said or done that is not recorded on the books of heaven. The mystic characters traced by the bloodless hand testify that God is a witness to all we do, and that He is dishonored by feasting and reveling. We cannot hide anything from God. We cannot escape from our accountability to Him. Wherever we are and whatever we do, we are responsible to Him whose we are by creation and by redemption. –Manuscript 50, 1893.” –Temperance, p. 49

End of part 1.  Part 2 will be in the next issue of the Messenger

Golden Kayawa Hingabantu

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