DANIEL 5 BABYLON FALLS 'Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.' Proverbs 16:18. The wonderful lessons that God had taught to Nebuchadnezzar resulted in his spending the rest of his days worshipping the true God and being a good and merciful king to his people. He died in 561 B.C., and was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach, who reigned only two years. "Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand." Daniel 5:1. Nabonadius, who became king in 555 B.C., shared the royal power with his son, Belshazzar. Nabonadius was away and the haughty young king Belshazzar was left to manage the great city of Babylon. But although Belshazzar knew all about the happenings in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather, it made no impression on his pride. Defiantly he returned to the worship of idols and all the pagan festivals. Under his foolish rule, mighty Babylon, built at so great an effort by his fathers, was soon to fall. It may be that Belshazzar, growing up when the kingdom was already conquered, surrounded by luxury, did not have to learn to work hard or to control his self. Maybe he was a spoilt child. Whatever the reason he ended up being known as one of the most foolish kings in history.  In this story we again see the ‘Watcher and the Holy One’ that Nebuchadnezzar trembled before in his dream. But for him there had been a second chance. Belshazzar would have no second chance. Why? Because he KNEW BETTER! God expects us to learn the lessons of the Bible, history and even what our parents and grandparents have learned in their experience. When Nebuchadnezzar was king he did not know any better than to be just like all the heathen kings, and God gave him lesson after lesson until he got the point. Belshazzar knew Nebuchadnezzar and he no doubt even told Belshazzar as a child, his stories about the True God and what He had taught him. He knew about the Watcher and Holy One. But he refused to obey God and just wanted to live for parties and fun!  It is important to learn the lessons God makes available to us in our childhood and youth. There is not always a second chance.  “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;” Isaiah 45:1. Here is an amazing fact of the Bible that shows us that God is real. The prophet Isaiah wrote this prediction  more than a hundred years before Cyrus was born and told just how the city of Babylon would be captured. There are some interesting things about the great city. It had been made in such a way that it could not be captured; at least it looked that way to man. The great walls were so thick that two chariots could race side by side on the top. They could never be knocked down. They had huge storehouses full of carefully preserved food, enough for twenty years and they could grow more inside the city. The Euphrates River flowed through the city to provide water and had special gates so that no one could sneak in through the river. These are the ‘two leaved gates’ that the Lord describes in the prophecy. Now Cyrus and his general were very clever. They pretended to lay siege to the city and they had soldiers camp where they could be seen from the walls of Babylon. These soldiers lounged around and didn’t seem very serious about anything. This made the young and foolish king, Belshazzar very bold. History tells us they even threw food out over the walls to show the soldiers they were not at all worried. Oh how silly man can be! Babylon was like the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic that is out there off Newfoundland, on the bottom of the ocean.  “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Proverbs 29:1

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