Our account of Daniel and Belshazzar begins with pride, arrogance and sacrilege – what could possible go wrong? Sunday I will take us through what happens to men when they disregard God and his memorials – the Temple vessels.
Babylon was under siege when Belshazzar chose to throw a party for his officials, wives and concubines! Only great pride could summon this kind of disregard. This shows you a little more of Belshazzar’s character. He was arrogant. He was proud, and unafraid.
Why was he so arrogant? Babylon was an impregnable city! Who cares if the Persians were outside?
The city was protected by a double wall. The inner wall was 21 feet thick with 30-60 foot defensive towers every 60 feet along the wall. 23 feet outside of that wall, was the 12 foot thick outer wall. 65 feet outside of that wall was a moat, connected to the Euphrates river. The city could not be breached! And, they could hold out longer than an army surrounding them. The city boasted that it had an unlimited water supply, and enough food to feed everyone for over 2 years!
And yet - The ancient Greek historian Herodotus relates that the Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylon by diverting the flow of the Euphrates into a nearby swamp. This lowered the level of the river so his troops marched through the water and under the river-gates.
Psalm 20:7 – “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Memorials are shadows of promises made our kept – join us Sunday for this lesson from Daniel 5.
Pastor Mike
