Biblia

390. DAN 5:30. THE FATAL NIGHT

390. DAN 5:30. THE FATAL NIGHT

Dan_5:30. The Fatal Night

"In that night, Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, was slain."’97Dan_5:30.

(See Sketch 166.)

Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzar, who flourished between 500 and 600 years before Christ. During his reign, the city of Babylon, the metropolis of the Chaldean empire, was in its greatest glory. It is said that this city was fifteen miles in length and width; that it was surrounded by a wall of bitumen, 87 feet thick, and 350 feet high. It had a hundred gates; that is, twenty-five to each of the four sides of the city; these gates, with their posts, were all of brass; there was a street, corresponding with each gate, fifteen miles long, and 150 feet wide; that it had 676 squares, of two miles and a quarter in circumference. In addition to this, the city possessed splendid hanging gardens and terraces, two magnificent palaces, and the renowned temple of Belus. The city, in addition to its impregnable wall, was defended by the deep bed of the river Euphrates. Such was this famous city at the time to which the text refers. At this period, the Jews were within it, in a state of captivity. The overthrow of the Babylonian power had been clearly predicted by Isaiah , 200 years before, xlv., &c.; and now this is literally accomplished, the last grain of sand is falling in the hourglass of Belshazzar, his cup of iniquity is full, his career of impiety ended, the sword is suspended, the fatal arrow is aimed, and is about to be directed by the finger of the Almighty, &c. Observe, the circumstances connected with this momentous night.

I. It was a Night of Dissipation and sinful Pleasure.

The monarch convenes the company of his princes, nobles, and concubines; the evening is devoted to banqueting and intemperance; the intoxicating goblet is passed freely round, and nothing is heard but the sounds of revelling, and the din of maddening mirth. How many has the love and practice of sensual pleasure destroyed; our country has lost its most able and talented patriots, by the destructive influence of sinful pleasure; hundreds and thousands of parents have gone down to a premature grave, through the revellings of their dissipated children; homes have been desolated, wives’ hearts broken, children worse than orphans through fathers being addicted to sinful pleasures; eternity alone will disclose the unnumbered multitudes that the tavern, the race-course, and the theatre have destroyed forever. It was,

II. A Night of impious Profanity.

Revelling leads to profanity; purity of speech is soon lost in the carousing bowl; here, on this occasion, nothing will serve the infatuated monarch, but that the vessels of the Lord’s house must be introduced, to bear the intoxicating draught around to the thoughtless assembly. No doubt this was intended as an affront to the captive Jews, and in contempt of the God they worshipped. Surely, Belshazzar must have known the events of his grandfather’s reign, how the God to whom these vessels had been consecrated, had driven him to herd with the beasts of the field, &c.; but revelling and dissipation had prepared him for everything daring and wicked; allow me to say, that infidelity and contempt for every thing sacred, is generally produced under similar circumstances; skepticism is seldom the result of deliberate reflection, but of the love of sinful pleasure. A certain amount of infidelity is necessary to render the goblet sparkling, and the draught delicious.

III. A Night of recklessness and apathy.

They were aware that the enemy, a powerful army, was at their gates, yet relying on the security of the city, they gave themselves no concern. Now was time for reflection, but reason is dethroned; now they should have been watchful and vigilant, but they were sunk in intoxicating stupor. What a scene! a city engulfed in dissipation, and a powerful army undermining her walls. Yet recklessness is the natural consequence of dissipation and pleasure; these scenes blind the eyes of the mind, they deaden the moral feeling, they brutalize the passions, and sear the conscience as with a hot iron; how rarely are men drawn from the whirlpool of pleasure friends admonish, but they hear not; ministers preach, but they hear not; providence presents her appalling spectacles, but they heed not; health is undermined, and often, even when the last enemy is known to be at the door, they persist in their course of sin and death. It was,

IV. A Night of supernatural Warning.

See the banqueting hall; behold the guests; the king elevated, the goblets pass ing round; but behold, the countenance of the monarch changes, his eyes indicate terror, his knees smite each other, hi whole frame trembles, the mirth is interrupted, fear comes upon the assembly as a whirlwind; and what has produced this astonishing change? Behold! upon the wall there is the appearance of the hand of a man; he leaves an inscription, which outglares the dazzling light of the banqueting hall; a few words are written, and the ominous hand retires forever; the wise men and soothsayers are called in to interpret, but all in vain. At length the queen the mother of Belshazzar, is called in, (for to her honor be it spoken, she was absent from this infamous assembly,) and she recommends Daniel. Daniel, the servant of God, is introduced; he refers him to the history of Nebuchadnezzar; then he refers to his own wickedness, ver. 22, 23, and at last, gives the fearful interpretation. Mene which signifies numbered or finished; thy days are numbered, this is the last of them Tekel, weighed, the balance is against thee. Upharsin, divided; thy kingdom is divided, the Medes and Persians are now entering the city, and thy reign is ended.

V. A Night of fearful Realization.

The enemy had drained the bed of the river; the keepers of the gates, in their revellings, had left them open; the army passed into the city. The palace is besieged, and the banquet of wine is exchanged for the flowing of human gore, and that night Belshazzar is slain. Such is truly typical of the end of the sinner; he may revel, and laugh, and scoff, but the end will come, the results will be appalling; the sequel is inevitable death; "the wages of sin is death," &c.; "the wicked shall be turned into hell," &c.

Application

1. Learn the infallibility of the word of God. Read with me Isa_13:17, and Isa_47:1.

2. There is no security against God’s displeasure;

3. The condemned, guilty sinner may find mercy by repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Autor: JABEZ BURNS