Facing Challenges

 I am not quite sure what happens between the end of chapter 4 and the start of chapter 5 in Daniel, but it does seem that we jump a number of years. It feels like the Nebuchadnezzar story ends abruptly. We do not hear about the rest of his reign, or about his successor. The narrative just ceases.

As we arrive at chapter 5 we realise that we have been fast-forwarded to the end of the Babylonian empire - the last evening in fact - of the last king of Babylon. So, clearly a significant number of years have passed after the last full stop. It is estimated that this happened about 70 years after Daniel and the other jewish captives were exiled to Babylon. We pick up the story in chapter 5, the very end of this epic empire that has reigned for so many years, conquered so many nations, and now itself is waiting to be conquered;

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. 

*2*Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. *3*Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. *4*They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 

Daniel 5:1–4.

Now this sounds like a night to remember, a party of parties doesn’t it? The king has over a thousand people celebrating, eating and drinking. They are getting carried away with themselves - using the holy vessels for unholy tasks. Not that Belshazzar thinks there’s anything significant about these items. He is just having a great big party at his place in Babylon……..at the same time that the city was under siege. 

Don’t you find that crazy?

The city of Babylon is under siege and has been for some time, and what is the king doing? Hosting a lavish party!

Not fighting. Not protecting his kingdom. Not leading the army but eating, drinking, celebrating.

The king is having a big celebration when there’s a battle raging outside the walls of the city. Capture is imminent and he is hosting a bounteous banquet. I wonder if he invited so many people just to drown out the sound at the attacking enemy.

Perhaps the king realised the futility of fighting. Or maybe he felt secure behind the walls, or he might just have been ignoring the fact that there was a real problem that needs dealing with and he was ‘burying his head in the sand’. Whatever the thought process behind it, it is not how we would expect a king to respond. Belshazzar shows no regard for the wider state of affairs, he is only concerned about what he is experiencing right now, so he is levelling up the ‘fun’ factor at his party. He has put aside the wider, national issues to immerse himself in celebration. 

We can look at this situation and shake our heads, or even feel aghast at Belshazzar’s response, but don’t we sometimes do the same? 

Do you ever feel like something is too big or scary to handle? Do you sometimes want to escape the battles of life and have a bit of fun?

It is not a shameful thing to admit that you feel like that - everyone gets fed up sometimes, but don’t forget the revelation of chapter 4 - that there is a Most High God that intervenes in lives, who is right and just. If you live our life with Him at the centre, and focusing on Him throughout challenges then you’ll make it through. Trust in God and take responsibility. You may not be a king, leading a nation, but you are responsible for leading your own life. You will make mistakes, you will face challenges -  are you facing up to them?