Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day two)
Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. vs. 3
Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them…vs. 22-23
We know little of Belshazzar as he grew up under his father Nebuchadnezzar, but we do know from Daniel that we has aware of his father’s rise and fall. His story should serve as a cautionary tale for all of us then in light of how we behave when given authority. It is one thing to witness someone abuse privilege and swear that we would never behave in a manner like that, only to be placed in power and fall into the same traps. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Will power is not enough to stave off the demons of our past or those we inherit. It is only complete reliance on Christ for strength and hope that we are able to put those tendencies to the side.
please take this with the sincere humility intended:
Daniel Ch. 2 – 7 is in the Aramaic language. That tongue has no word for grandfather/great-grandfather and so on. Belshazzar (co-regent 553-539) was the son of Nabonidus (king 553-539) son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar (king 605-562), son of Nabopolassar (king 627-605 BC). Nebudchadnezzar had two sons and two daughters, Nabonidus married the second daughter, Neriglassar; Belshazzar was the son of that union. The queen in the chapter would have been his mother, Neriglassar. Nabonidus was away (Herodotus; & Talmud ref.) due to the people and the priests hated him. So he left Belshazzar in charge as co-regent.