In Daniel chapter 5, I want to
direct you for a while this evening to the portion that we have here
at the end of the chapter, Daniel chapter 5 and verses 25 to 28. Here we have that writing by
the finger of God. This is the writing says
Daniel. that was written, Mene, Mene,
Tikal, Ufacin. This is the interpretation of
the thing. Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tikal, thou art weighed in the
balances and art found wanting. Perez, thy kingdom is divided
and given to the Medes and Persians. Our theme then is the finger
of God's weight in the balances, which is what God is doing here
with this great Babylonian or Chaldean ruler called Belshazzar. He was the son or the grandson
of the great Nebuchadnezzar. The content of the chapter, we've
read the chapter, the content of chapter 5 and the content
of the previous fourth chapter is very similar. In each case
we have the record of the overthrow of a proud heathen monarch. In chapter 4 we read of Nebuchadnezzar
and here we read of Belshazzar. But there is a difference. Nebuchadnezzar
was humbled, as we see in chapter 4, but he was a man who was also
restored. Going back to that chapter, in chapter 4, verse 13, He says, I saw in the visions
of my head upon my bed and behold a watcher and an holy one came
down from heaven. He cried aloud and said thus,
you down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves
and scatter his fruit. Let the beast get away from under
it and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump
of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass
in the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of
heaven, and let his portion be with the beast in the grass of
the earth." And then, at verse 26, whereas they commanded to leave
the stump of the tree roots. This is Daniel giving the interpretation
of the vision to Nebuchadnezzar. Whereas they commanded to leave
the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto
them, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. He was humbled. And yet in all
that humility, his reason taken from him in behaving as a brute
beast of the earth, ultimately God in his mercy restores him
and he is brought to acknowledge the sovereignty of the God of
the Hebrews. There, at the end of that fourth
chapter, verse 34, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, And He doeth according to His
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest
Thou? Oh, he's humbled, greatly humbled,
but also a man who is restored. But in contrast, when we come
to chapter 5, And we read of this man Belshazzar, either his
son or maybe more likely it would seem it was his grandson. This
man is utterly destroyed. Verse 30, in that night was Belshazzar
the king of the Chaldeans slain. And here, in what I read as our
text, we see something of God's solemn dealings with this man.
And how solemn the dealings of God are in these words that were
written by the finger of God. Back in the earlier part we're
told that. He is there, he's feasting, and
he takes from the treasures of the Babylonia or the Chaldean
kings these holy vessels that they'd taken from Jerusalem. And drinking out of these vessels
of gold and silver, they praised their false gods, these idols. And with 12 verse 5, in the same
hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the
candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace.
And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the
king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him,
so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote
one against another." And what is the writing? Tikal, or rather
Mine, first of all, which means numbered, and that's repeated,
numbered, numbered, Tikal, Wait, Uphastin, Divided, or Dividings,
it's a plural. But this is the message that
God gives. This is the message that Daniel
is able to interpret for the king. It's interesting, it is
the finger of God. God is clearly in this thing,
not that God has a finger. We know that God doesn't have
a body. God is a spirit, and the true
worshipper says Christ, worship him, worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, but how God so graciously condescends to speak
to us in language that we can understand. The commentators
speak of these ways of God in identifying himself with human
activities. Anthropomorphisms is what they
call it. God, as it were, likening himself
to a man. And so we have mention of the
finger. or the fingers of God. Now the first time we go back
to the plagues that were visited upon the Egyptians there in the
early chapters of the book of Exodus the third of those plagues
when all the dust throughout Egypt was turned to lice. And what are the Egyptians brought
to confess and to acknowledge there in Exodus 8, 19? This is
the finger of God. This is the finger of God. And we think of the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how he speaks to the
Jews concerning his miracles. that he accomplishes these miracles
by the Spirit of God. That's how it reads there in
Matthew 12, 28. If I, by the Spirit of God, cast
out devils, then the kingdom of God is come upon you, he says.
But it's interesting in the account that we have in Luke's Gospel,
Luke 11, 20, it says if I with the finger of God cast
out devils no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. It's the finger of God and it's
the Spirit of God and so here it is God coming and addressing
this man in all the midst of his idolatrous and sinful ways
and he writes He writes upon the wall as we see there in verse 5. The same hour came forth
fingers of a man's hand and ropes over against the candlestick
upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And it's
the same word that is used with regards to the tables of stone
in Exodus 31. Remember how Moses destroys the
tables at the foot of Mount Sinai because of the idolatry of the
people, the matter of the golden calf. But then he stands in the
breach, God would disinherit this idolatrous, sinful people,
but he stands in the breach, he mediates, as he were, he prays
for them, And God renews the covenants. And we read of the
tables of stone being written with the finger of God. Written
with the finger of God. And it's the same verb to write. To write. You know, Ultimately,
when we come to the New Testament, we have that remarkable chapter
in 2 Corinthians, the third chapter, that contrasts the Old Testament
dispensation of the Law, the New Testament dispensation of
the Gospel. Or the Law, its administration
of death, administration of condemnation, that is written on tables of
stone. But there in that chapter we
read how unto the gospel God will come and write with his
finger upon a man's heart. Oh that is the true circumcision,
that spiritual circumcision when God comes and there's an application
of his truth as a work of grace that is wrought in us. But coming
to the verses that are before us as our text tonight. I just
want to consider these three words that were written upon
the wall. First of all, we have the word
NUMBERED. This is the interpretation of
the thing, says Daniel. He's interpreting the significance
of the word mine, mine. It literally means numbered,
numbered. This is the interpretation. God
hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. And surely the repetition
here is not without some very real significance. It indicates
that this is final. His kingdom is done
forever. And so it was. So it was. The days assigned to him and
his reign, that was all completed. In that night was Belshazzar
the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the
kingdom being about three score and two years old. Now his father had also been
greatly humbled as we said. That was the case with Nebuchadnezzar. But though he was humbled he
wasn't the end of his kingdom. There's a difference here in
the way in which God is dealing with these two men, though both
of them be proud, heathen emperors. What do we read back in verse
21 concerning Nebuchadnezzar? Till he knew that the Most High
God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it
whomsoever he will. always humble for a purpose that
he might understand, that he might know that the heavens do
indeed reign. And that's what he confesses.
That's what he confesses as we see there in chapter 4 and verse
35. He bows down before the sovereignty
of God. It is God, you see, who is the
ruler over all things. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. What does he say
there in Proverbs 8? He's speaking as the wisdom of
God, and as we've said on past occasions at each chapter, set
before us the Lord Jesus. He is that wisdom. By me kings
reign and princes decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. God is the one who is sovereign
and not just sovereign in the church but God is that one who
is sovereign over everything. The Lord Jesus Christ is said
to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Or do we believe?
Do we believe these truths of Holy Scripture? The psalmist
says of God, He putteth down one and setteth up another. And in a sense that's a truth
that stands out very conspicuously here in the book of Daniel. I
know it's a book with with strange events, recorded visions. Back
in chapter 2 at verse 31 following, we read of a great image that
is set up. And what does it represent? It
represents four kingdoms. And it's repeated in a sense
in chapter 7 at verse 1 following, where we read of four great beasts. We have the image, there's four
parts of the image there, at the end of chapter 2, and then
at the beginning of chapter 7, the four great beasts. And what
do we see? Well, we have these ancient empires. We have that of the Babylonians,
the Chaldeans. We have that of the Persians,
the Medes and the Persians. Then we have that of Alexander
the Great, the Grecian Empire. And then finally, in these visions,
we see the Roman Empire. And what is Daniel teaching us?
That all these great empires that had their day, they come
and they go, they do not endure forever. No, it is God who reigns. He puteth down one and setteth
up another, says the psalmist. And here is one, you see, this
man, Belshazzar, and he is not a man who is humbled before the
God of heaven, the God of the Hebrews, the only living and
true God. No, we are to be those who would
recognize, recognize the sovereignty of God. Look at the language
that we have in the book of Job. Job 14. Man that is born of woman,
it says, is a few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like
a flower and is cut down. He flyeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. And then at verse 5 it says,
seeing his days are determined. The number of his months are
with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds
that he cannot pass. God hath numbered thy kingdom
and finished it. And so it is with us our days,
all our days are evidently numbered by God. Isn't that the message
that we find in the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes?
to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under
heaven the time to every purpose the time to be born, the time
to die there is a time for every purpose, a time for every work
says the preacher there in that chapter and are we are to be
those who would observe that, mark that fact what does Moses say in his prayer there
in the 90th Psalm so teach us to number our days that we might
apply our hearts onto wisdom. It's not just the matter of a
man like Belshazzar and his great kingdom being numbered. No God
takes account of each and every one of us and he has numbered
our days. every aspect, every detail of our lives is under
His sovereign hand. Or we're to be those then who
are aware of the time. We're to redeem the time, says
the Apostle, because the days are evil. Or we need to have
that wisdom, that wisdom that comes from God that we might
be careful then with regards to our use of our days. In a
sense, we might say that yesterday, with it being a leap year, God
grants us, as it were, an extra day. But what do we do with our
days? How do we use our days? Oh, teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. What a prayer! And what is that wisdom that
we are to apply unto? It's the wisdom of God. If a
man lacks wisdom, he's to ask of God, who giveth to all men
liberally, he's to ask in faith. And where is it that we find
that wisdom? It's above. That wisdom that is found in
the Lord Jesus Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. This is the great
thing. This is the writing that was written. This is the interpretation
of the thing. Mina. God hath numbered thy days,
Mena, and finished it. And then, we have these other
words, Tikal, thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Weight. That's the significance of the
word, that's the meaning of the word, weight. But it also contains
that idea of lightness, found wanting. Found wanting. There's a certain lightness and
a worthlessness being suggested in the language that is used
here. You know what? Weighed in the balances. All
in God weighs us in the balances. If the language of the Lord Jesus
Christ himself in the gospel, what is a man profited if he
shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? Are our priorities the right
priorities? We're not to look at the things
that are seen? but the things that are unseen. We're told in
Scripture the things that are seen are the temporal things.
The unseen things are the eternal things, weighty things. Not the
transitory things, the passing things. Men are taken up with
these things. Men imagine that they can find
satisfaction in wealth, in riches, in education, in possessions.
But what are all of these things, ultimately? Oh, there is that
one thing that is needful. And that one thing that is needful
is an eternal thing. Our never-dying souls. What are
we profited, should we gain everything, the whole world, says the Lord
Jesus, and lose our very souls. Oh, this man bow, Balshazar. He evidently did not recognize
who Daniel was. He didn't recognize this man. Although he'd ministered to Nebuchadnezzar,
as we're told there in chapter 4, he'd interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's
vision But if he's the son or maybe the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar,
he doesn't know. As we see here in the account, verse
13, when Daniel was brought in before the king, the king spoke
and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the
children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king, my father,
brought out of Jewry? He's not even addressed by his
courtly name. Back in the opening chapter he
is given a Babylonian name. He's called Balthasar. Chapter 1 verse 7. But look at
what we're told here. In verse 12, for as much as an
excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, interpreting
of dreams and showing of hard sentences and dissolving of doubts
were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Balthasar. Now let Daniel be called and
he will show the interpretation. This is the advice that Balthasar's
wife is giving to him. He seems to be completely ignorant. He knows nothing of this man
Daniel, although he must have had a wondrous reputation in
the kingdom. You see, this man has rejected
God's prophet. This man has rejected the Word
of God. Daniel had been banished from
Belshazzar's court. How solemn it is How solemn it
is. And yet, O the Lord, so wise
this man, thou art wide in the balances, and art found wanting. All that he is about, all that
he's doing, he has the wrong priorities in life. That's what
Daniel is telling him as he comes to interpret the the drawing. Let us remember that God is the
one who is constantly weighing our ways, weighing our paths. What do we read back in 1 Samuel
2 and verse 3, the song of Hannah? The Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are weighed. All that we do, all our actions,
Everything is being weighed by God. How do we use our time? Are we those who are simply wasting
our time on trivialities? Everything weighed. Thou most
upright dost weigh the part of the just. Or if we're those who
are justified, if we're the Lord's people, the Lord is weighing
the parts of the just. Now that is a comforting word
in many respects. In the midst of our trials and
our troubles, all those things that come upon us, they don't
come by chance. What does Job say? Job 6.2, Oh that my grief was
truly white, and my calamity laid in the balance together. The Lord does that, He weighs
our parts. All those things that He appoints
to us, all those trials, all those troubles, all those difficulties,
all those reverses, all those things that so often cause us
much grief, none of them come by chance. Thou most high dost weigh the
part of the just. All the ways of a man says Solomon,
are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.
So many scriptures that speak of these things. Look at the language, for example,
of the Psalmist, and there in Psalm 11, verse 4 we're told the Lord is
in his holy temple the Lord's throne is in heaven his eyes
behold his eyelids try the children of men the Lord tryeth the righteous
but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth oh God
tries the righteous the just that sinner who is justified
in his sight but what of this man Though I'd wade in the balances
and I'd found wanting, there's nothing but likeness. And what
is that likeness? It's nothing really. What is
this world likened to? Is it not in a sense like a bubble? Isn't that what we have in the
pilgrim's progress? Remember, Our Christian is confronted
with that, the world's a bubble. It's there, it's gone. All the
temporal things are all passing away. The Lord wises His people. Thank
God that He takes account of us, has dealings with us. It's
a mercy, you see. And everything that the Lord
does, it's so carefully apportioned to us. He's not a god who is
capricious, he doesn't play with us as his creatures. He delights
in us and he only seeks our best good. And then thirdly we have this
word Perez. As I said, the word in Farsi,
that's the plural. Perez is the singular. What does it mean? thy kingdom
is divided. It means divided. Thy kingdom is divided and given
to the Medes and Persians. It's interesting because it's
pointed out in the commentaries that this word Perez really has
the same consonants as in the word Persian. and the kingdom
is lost to the Medes and to the Persians. Darius the Median took
the kingdom being three score and two years old we read there
at the end of the chapter. That kingdom was lost. And remember how the Jews they
also lose the kingdom. We have the
parable that the Lord himself tells of those wicked husband
men in Matthew 21 at verse 33 following and the king goes on
a journey and he sends his servants and what do they do? They slay
the servants, last of all he sends his son and what do they
do? they slay the son, they will
seize the kingdom as it were for themselves. In Matthew 21, and then at the
end of the parable. This is the judgment that is
made upon the Jews. Therefore I say unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof. Or to whom much is given, of
the same is much required. The Lord Jesus comes unto His
own, and His own receive Him not. But as many as receive Him
to them, He gives His Kingdom. And we see it all outworked.
We see it outworked in the New Testament in the preaching of
the Apostles. When Paul is preaching that great sermon at Antioch
in Pisidia in the 13th chapter of the Acts. It's a significant
event really because it's there that we read how he turns away
from the Jews. and makes it plain that the Gospel
is going to go now to the Gentiles. At the end of Acts 13, verse
44, the next Sabbath day, came almost the whole city together
to hear the Word of God, but when the Jews saw the multitudes
they were filled with envy. and spake against those things
which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye
have put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting
life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. O the kingdom, you see, It's
divided, it's taken away. This kingdom is taken away from
Belshazzar. And that great favor that God
had given to the Jews, it was only for an appointed time and
ultimately taken away. But how there is ever division,
and division again, And again, how the Lord's own ministry we
see to be such a dividing ministry. There, in that portion we just
referred to in Acts 13, it was those that were ordained
to eternal life that believed. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Is he not the sovereignty of
God? And how the Lord's ministry you see, ever separates, ever
divides. If ye take forth the precious
from the vile, ye shall be as my mouth says the Lord God to
the prophet in Jeremiah 15, 19. And the Lord comes, His fan is
in His hand. He truly purges His floor. That
ministry of separating and dividing ministry. The gospel separates. We are unto God a sweet saver
of Christ, in them that saved and in them that perish. To the
one the saver of life unto life, to the other the saver of death
unto death, says the apostle. Oh how solemn it is. This is
what we see here. Isn't this the great lesson that
stands out so clearly weighed in the balance found wanting?
God coming by His Spirit, and God, as He were, speaking to
a man, setting before Him solemn truths, and the prophets faithfully
interpreting this writing. What should be the results, the
consequence of fire, as we are concerned? Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you says the Lord Jesus Christ we are those who
are to be careful that our priorities are all right we seek first God's
kingdom that must have the first the preeminent place and we want
God to come and deal with us in faithful ways All we want to say with David,
search me, O God, know my heart, try me, know my thoughts, see
if there be any wicked way in me, lead me in the way everlasting. Or the language of the Lord Jesus
there in John chapter 3, everyone that doeth evil, He says, Hatheth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest. that they
are wrought in God. No, we want that that is wrought
in God, that that is wrought of God. Is there not that then
that we can take away even from this solemn portion as the Lord God comes and deals
with a man and speaks to a man and the faithful ministry of
the Lord's servant, Daniel, as he gives the interpretation.
This is the interpretation of the thing, meaning, God hath
numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tikal, thou art weighed in
the balances, and art found wanting. Peres, thy kingdom is divided
and given to the Medes and Persians. O the Lord, Be pleased then to
teach and to instruct each and all of us. May the Lord bless
His Word.