Fairhaven Sermon 11-2-2025

So the original story, which we just heard where the saying comes from, is found in the The southern kingdom, which included Jerusalem, hung on for a bit longer, So you might say that Belshazzar was sort of the acting king, and that's the guy we and how Nebuchadnezzar once went insane when he refused to honor the real God, the God of Israel, Cyrus would order and finance the return of the people of Judah to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, some of you might remember those names from Sunday school So as we turn now to the book of Daniel and our reading for today, many decades have passed now since Israel was taken captive. Today, this part of the world is called Iran, of the one true and living God. So our final spooky sermon is called Two groups of people, foreigners, the Medes and the Persians, The ancient city of Babylon was 14 square miles surrounded by stone walls.

The Persians invented algebra, backgammon, guitars, These are the same vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took when he captured God's people. And that's exactly what she did. And Daniel explains that this means that Belshazzar's days are numbered. But most of them chose to return to Jerusalem, But back in the days of Daniel, the people of God were not so crazy about being there.

that God's people would be in exile for 70 years. God has numbered those days. For the average Babylonian, life would improve because Cyrus was a good leader. and some of the walls were 80 feet thick.

And finally, a king named Nabonidus came to the throne, and God protected them and they lived. Now for this story in Daniel to make any sense to us, And secondly, whenever we take a look at the world around us and we see trouble, As a bad joke, Belshazzar ordered the servants to bring to him the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar had always treated these items with respect. And he says to them, I will make you third in the kingdom, that would be after my father and myself, if you can tell me what this writing says. and they're getting in that way, So the writing on the wall, which was spooky when it happened, Now the queen was the widow of Nebuchadnezzar, not the wife of Belshazzar.

And the God in whose hand your breath is held, you have not given glory to him. So Belshazzar figured he was fine. Belshazzar wasn't afraid and he wasn't going to go anywhere because he figured that the city of Babylon was unconquerable. And Daniel answers that he doesn't want any gifts.

And all of a sudden, Belshazzar was not feeling so cocky. Now, at this point in the history of God's people who had been living in Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel is gone. And for the next few years after that, Can you imagine how many animals they killed to feed these people? But what about the everyday people? Now at this point, Daniel's probably in his 80s. The city of Babylon is located on the river Euphrates, and we may remember from history Now, this is not the first time that Belshazzar had heard this story, but Daniel reminded This act of blasphemy set in motion the deliverance of God's people.

For the people of Judah, of course, it meant they were going home, if they chose to go home. So for us today, two things I think we can take home with us. and they're approaching the palace at that very moment. The Writing is on the Wall, the government of Babylon was a mess.

She greeted him respectfully, and then she tells him, reminds him, They are here to remind us that God cares about us The people who were not rich, He's either retired or semi-retired, Well, there we have it. Nobody was going to get into the city. or Iran, depending on how you pronounce it. So you could put chariots up on the walls He took good care of them, but Belshazzar handed them out to his friends like they were nothing and we've all heard that saying before.

and the rest of the Old Testament tells us their story. He doesn't want a reward, but he can and will read the words on the wall. And as a result, King Nebuchadnezzar became a believer in the God of Israel. a long time ago, they were noticed by King Nebuchadnezzar because they were so good at God is in control.

I need to share a little bit about the city of Babylon itself. and the country stabilized, but there was just one problem. He turned pale, and it says his knees literally started knocking together, And that 70 years was now just about up. And how many servants were cooking and serving? The writing is on the wall.

the people who were not at the feast, book of Daniel, chapter 5, which we just heard a moment ago. but eventually they also were invaded and they were taken to exile into Babylon, And she's one of the few people who had the right to walk into Belshazzar's presence without to defend the walls. First off, we always want to treat God and the things of God with respect, captured a number of the cities around Babylon, him of it, and then he says, But you, Belshazzar, you have not humbled yourself, even though And to prove to everybody that everyone was safe and everything was going to be fine, turned out to be the beginning of God setting things right, It usually means that something's about to happen, They are now at an end. and he comes at the Queen's request, And the old fashioned name for it is Persia.

were hearing about a moment ago. either trouble happening or trouble coming, They wanted to go home to Jerusalem. They had a string of three rulers in three years, class that that area between the Tigris and the Euphrates was a land called Mesopotamia, And one day those who bring trouble on God's people the very first postal system, For years the people of Babylon had suffered under a king who wanted to be somewhere else. that there's a man in the kingdom named Daniel, that he was actually eating the grass of the fields like an animal, And some of them were so wide, And these are the same vessels that Belshazzar called for so he could party with them.

And because of the decree of Cyrus the Great, Belshazzar didn't really care much about the people he ruled. Belshazzar knows that Daniel is speaking the truth, and has provided for us and wants us to be with God. And how many skins of wine they drank? the people who lived in the city? That he has been weighed in the scales and found wanting. But most of the people in the story don't know that at this point in time.

and they praised the gods of silver and the gods of gold and with all the sarcasm they you could do four chariots wide. and Belshazzar points to the handwriting on the wall, Nabonidus didn't particularly like living in Babylon. and whatever it is that's about to happen, Now, I don't know that he actually gave up his other gods, that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem so that he and his guests could drink out of them. So it was a walled city.

And there are many, many things that we have today Babylon and the area surrounding it who's both a prophet and a man of learning, Because all of a sudden, Belshazzar and all his guests saw a hand, So the prophet Daniel arrived in Babylon with the first wave of the captives. Today is our final installation of the Spooky Sermons series that we've had going on leading so he couldn't stand, but he couldn't sit either. And the events in this chapter take place during the time when the people of the southern And then Daniel reads the writing on the wall. relatives of the king who either died or were killed.

But before he does, he reminds Belshazzar of the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom, and the very first charter of human rights Following God is always a choice. about 50,000 people of Judah returned home So why stick his neck out? not taking them for granted or misusing them the way Belshazzar did. like that big banquet that Belshazzar held with an invading army on the way, They were invaded by the Assyrians about 150 years prior, and they were no longer a nation. and they also captured Belshazzar's father, the king, And none of them could read it.

And unknown to most of the people in this story, Jeremiah had left behind a prophecy. will be weighed in the scales and found wanting. we're probably not going to like it. while the enemy was approaching the city, Belshazzar held a feast at his palace.

The actions of the great affected them all. leaving behind only the very poorest of the people to keep the land from growing completely wild. And the city didn't have just one wall. but he started to worship Israel's God in addition.

what they did. and he gives him all the rewards, that come from this ancient civilization. and that his kingdom was restored to him when he finally said, Israel's God is the real God. God bringing God's people home, being invited and to speak to him without his permission.

you knew all this. And the river Euphrates ran through the city, and he says, If you can tell me what this means, John Calvin, the founder of the Presbyterian Church, The words are mene mene tekel yufarsin, or parsin depending on which translation, who will be able to figure out what this writing says. And all these events focus on the rich and the powerful in Babylon. He just enjoyed the perks of being king, and he would invite his rich friends to the palace which literally means between the rivers.

And that the kingdom will be divided this very night between the Medes and the Persians. contains some of the oldest human settlements in the world. And Belshazzar was terrified. And immediately, Belshazzar sent for astrologers and soothsayers, He wanted to live in Arabia instead, so that's where he went.

They were smart. It had many walls, like walls within walls, within walls, within walls. Now this was blasphemy and people knew it. Writing on the wall is never a good thing.

And here's why Belshazzar thought Babylon was safe. You and your lords and their wives and their concurbines have been drinking wine from sacred So we treat these things with respect no body attached to it, no arm attached to it, just a hand, And the son of a king, Belshazzar, who was not very bright, Cyrus was a man who wanted to see the country and its people prosper, and they did. that was ever written was written by Cyrus the Great, And so the government was constantly changing hands. Some of the people of Judah chose to stay in Babylon, and we don't hear about them again.

Daniel knew it, and a few other people, God's people knew it, but that was it. could muster while drinking from things that were dedicated to the one true and living God. who was still in Arabia. and within a matter of hours, Belshazzar is dead, we can be confident that whatever is going wrong in the world, They served the country well.

and ending the reign of a king who wasn't worthy of the title. Things like Persian rugs, Persian cats, The things in the church, the plates, the cups, the crosses, the bread and the wine, Now, those of you who are in our Wednesday Night Bible study, He was a young leader and bright and capable, and he and his friends, And Nebuchadnezzar reigned for about 43 years. I will give you all the things that he promised because they are things that belong to God which had the effect of creating moats in between the walls. That's where Babylon was, was on the Euphrates.

And she says, send for Daniel. So we can read this story of the writing on the wall, once said that Belshazzar's carelessness was a sign of his stupidity and also of God's wrath. So how did life change for them? kingdom of Judah have been living as captives in Babylon. It was very unstable.

Now did Belshazzar try to rescue his dad? And all these events created a ruckus in the palace, and apparently the noise came to the ears of the queen, up to Halloween. to rebuild the temple, rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Civilization there dates back to at least 6,000 BC, who will become the king of Babylon Check this out. we just read this past week about those gold and silver vessels.

writing on the wall behind the king where everybody could see it. But when they refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's gods, the king threw Daniel's friends into And he invited a thousand of his best friends and their wives and a few hangers-on, Those people were assimilated into countries in the north. which literally translated means numbered, numbered, weighed, divided. and Darius, the leader of the Medes, And he left his son Belshazzar as his regent.

Belshazzar did not know it, not that he would have been interested anyway. So then he passed away. and are given to us by God. And as God had said through the prophets, if the people were unfaithful and worshiped other gods, So it gives us an idea of really how old this part of the civilization and this part of And so with Halloween now in the rearview mirror, this series has to come to an end, unfortunately, to give the other men.

and some versions of the Bible say, and magi. No. vessels and praising the gods of silver, gold, brass, iron, wood, and stone, which do not to eat and drink and have parties, and he gave no thought to the people he was ruling. So you had wall, water, wall, water, wall, water.

long. at the very end of our story today. And some of those walls were over 300 feet high. In fact, even as Daniel is speaking, the invading armies have found a way, either as a warning or as a promise.

Nebuchadnezzar became sane again when he put his trust in God, becomes king temporarily until Cyrus the Great arrives, there is a limit to how long the times of trouble will last. Yes, these are the same magi, the same group of religious folks things like this, they don't contain God. They were created by King Solomon, David's son, That's the length of a football field. And the hand was writing some kind of message, but nobody could read it.

But right about that time... That is, he was in charge of Babylon while the king was living away, So the history of this part of the world is pretty amazing probably even back further than that.

so at least 2,000 people, for a feast at the palace. the world was. So if all this wasn't bad enough..

. because all of a sudden the queen walked into the banquet hall unannounced. they would lose their land, and that's what had happened. They're just things, but they are things that are dedicated to the service.

And either way, we praise God for God's faithfulness but I hate to see it go. and his whole kingdom was restored to him, and then some. and then Cyrus begins the restoration of Jerusalem. a fiery furnace.

see and cannot hear. that came to visit the baby Jesus, the same magi. It's been a lot of fun, this series, and I hope you've enjoyed it as well. Compare that to our 250 years we've got a ways to go yet.

and what a place it would be to visit. not over the walls, but under them. created and dedicated to the service of God for the glory of God. from then until now.

and the king was away most of the time. Okay. Okay.