Additional Thoughts about Babylon's Fall

Here we see Belshazzar becoming drunk with the power and glory he inherited from his father. In his drunkenness he ordered that the vessels from the temple of God in Jerusalem be brought. He began to use them for his own pleasure. He should have honoured God because he had seen how God had dealt with and humbled his father. Instead he insulted God by using the holy cups and bowls for himself, his lords, his wives and his concubines. The whole scene at that party gives a pretty good picture of what kind of person Belshazzar was. No wonder God found him lacking.

The story ends with the simple statement that Darius the Mede received the kingdom. According to history Babylon was protected by a great, high wall that was 80 feet thick and 300 feet high. Large canals on the outside of the wall also surrounded the city. The wall enclosed an area of about 15 miles square, the city and its gardens. The Euphrates river ran under the wall through the middle of the city. At the time of this story the army of the Medes and the Persians had been besieging Babylon for some time but the people in it were not concerned. They thought their city was impregnable. They were feasting instead of watching.

Meanwhile the besieging army had been digging a channel upstream from Babylon. That very night they opened up the channel and diverted the river around the city. Darius led his army into the city on the river bed through the hole under the wall. He proclaimed that he was now the king. Thus the mighty Babylonian empire was defeated in a single night without even a fight. Surely this is an example of God's ruling over the nations.

This story, together with the others in Daniel, portray how ineffective outward knowledge is in changing people. Three times Nebuchadnezzar had seen God's work to the extent that he had to acknowledge God's omniscience, power, dominion, and justice. Each time he praised God but there is no indication that he turned his heart to seek God. If he was really seeking God, one sign should have been enough to turn him away from all the idols. Instead of seeking God, however, he was caring for his own riches and "glory".

Belshazzar was impressed even less by his knowledge of the things God had done. That knowledge, as Daniel pointed out, should have caused him to fear and honor God. Instead, he dared to deliberately insult and provoke God by using the cups and bowls from the temple of God for his drunken feast. At the same time he was praising the Babylonian idols rather than God. One thousand of his lords were with him in this revelry.

Normally, God hides Himself; He does not usually come to judge sin immediately. He is waiting for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose, then He will judge all men. However, God can be provoked to the extent that He does execute judgement in this age. God had used the Babylonian conquests and empire to judge the nations in that region including His judgement on His own people. It had been made clear by the prophets of God even before it happened that this was God's doing. But the Chaldeans did not consider this. They did not fear God and worshiped their own idols. They were excessively cruel in their conquests and thus offended God. This feast was the climax of their rejection of God and brought in His immediate judgement on the whole nation.

Even as Christians we need to be careful that we do not offend God. On the one hand, He will forgive if we repent and confess our sins to Him. On the other hand, His judgement will begin with His own people. Let us love and seek Him with our whole heart. This is much more effective than any kind of resolution to be good to avoid offending Him.