God's Warning - It's Your Pride

In chapter 5 the focus changes from Nebuchadnezzar to his son Belshazzar. The chapter is broken into two parts, one as a History lesson (Daniel 5:18-21) and the second as an Indictment (Daniel 5:22-23). The names have changed, but God’s words have not. The family seems to suffer from the same disease called PRIDE. Unfortunate for Belshazzar his pride extends far beyond what was Nebuchadnezzar's. Belshazzar ordered the servants to bring the implements that were taken from the temple in Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and have a celebration with them. This was a great feast for the king and his court and noble men. All the kings’ court drank wine from them and praised their own gods never worshiping or praising the true God. There are three possibilities for this feast: 1. a New Year's feast held in mid-October 539 BC; 2. a Coronation feast; 3. a distraction party because Persia was at the door.

This showed great arrogance and pride on the part of Belshazzar. Shortly after the act that defiled the implements Belshazzar had a dream. Unlike the earlier dream in chapter 4 this dream was short and succinct. It exposed great concern in the king, so much so that it would change his countenance. The king knows that his court cannot interpret the dream and his mother has to suggest that Daniel is the one who can do it because he did it with Nebuchadnezzar. The king pretends not to know Daniel or of the interpretations that he provided to Nebuchadnezzar, but quickly Daniel reminds him of the differences between him and Nebuchadnezzar and refuses the gifts offered to the one who can interpret the dream. Daniel interprets the dream and tells of the pride that Belshazzar has to the point of not recognizing the one true God. There was no repentance offered or negotiated to Belshazzar in Daniels interpretation. God’s judgment was final. Shortly after Daniel interprets the dream, Belshazzar that night was slain. Darius the Mede was given the kingdom and he was around sixty-two years old.

It seems that the common denominator between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar is pride. Decisions filled with pride will always lead us to a path of destruction. Satan knows this and he uses pride to destroy lives (Revelation 18:7-8) Pride can hide itself in many ways and when you ignore it or continually tell yourself you have no pride, then you have fallen in Satan's trap and have been greatly deceived. God despises pride as we see in Proverbs 8:13 13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. If God hates pride then we should do everything in our power to squash it in our own lives and really disengage in prideful discussions and behaviors. Scripture is filled with warnings about pride and how it will ruin our lives as we see in (Isaiah 2:12). God does not want us to be filled with pride.

We see today how pride can and will destroy lives. We see it in the political systems, we see it in the news stories and we see it in the hearts of those who wish to commit evil acts. What drives evil in people is their desire to have power, to show how they can control every circumstance which will produce an outcome they believe will elevate them to a celebrity status and a higher level of living. This behavior is based on lies that are spewed from the father of lies (John 8:44). Satan lies relentlessly and if you do not have Jesus in your life and are grounded in scripture then you expose yourself to the lies and dive deeper into following the father of all lies.

Jesus is our center of our lives and when we focus on Him, truly knowing that the work we do is for God and God alone, then we have won the battle. That does not prevent Satan from trying to discourage us and come in and try to instill fear into us, but our God is greater (Romans 8:31). The work that we do to follow and serve God is not in vain! We do the work that matters to God! We fight and stand in the gap where no one else will stand and fight. If we give in to these demonic thugs then they will win. This is our encouragement from the Lord.

Lord I want to pray for all who serve You Father. I know that when things are dark You are our light and I ask Father that You will speak to our hearts and our minds. Father give us clarity to see You Lord. I pray that the conviction You have placed in our hearts, the resolve You have embedded in us, the fire that continues to energize us, and Your love that fuels us will never leave us. You know Father our concerns for our safety, the safety of our ministries and the safety of our families Father, and I asked that Your presence and comfort will fall upon us. I pray that Your love will cover all of our sorrow, Your beauty will cover all of the worlds ugliness and Your promises will fill our hearts with peace and joy knowing that we will be in Your presence one day. I pray for the lost and for those who follow the evil in this world, for those who deceive your children. I pray that they hear Your voice and that they see Your face. Father we ask that You intervene at this moment and in Your righteousness heal this land and turn those who wish to do evil, who live in darkness, bring them into the light so they may know who You are and the love You have for them. We know through scripture that all the evil will be destroyed and all who are evil will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity. I pray that it is not too late for them to receive you Jesus and that they will know what we know and seek the truth of who You are Lord. I pray that You bring peace, comfort and protection over us as we know You will never leave us nor forsake us. In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray Amen! Amen!