ダニエル書5:1-30

Children’s Sermon (January 22, 2023)

Daniel 5:1-30, “The God Ruling Over Kingdoms of Man” by Rev. MIYOSHI Akira

Continuing from last week, here is a story from the book of Daniel. In the Old Testament times, the kingdom of Israel was divided in two and destroyed by a powerful nation called Babylon. This book of Daniel is a literary work that describes the lives of Daniel and three young men who were taken to the city of Babylon just before the nation was destroyed.

Last week, I preached about Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who did not worship the great golden image made by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Today, I would like to preach about Daniel. Daniel was able to solve dreams and mysteries by the power God gave him. In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, there is a story about King Nebuchadnezzar commanding the wise men of Babylon, “Tell me the dream I had, and its interpretation.” Without telling what kind of dream he had, he said, “Tell me the dream I had, and its interpretation.” It seems impossible! None of the wise men of Babylon could do it. However, Daniel prayed to God and was told the secret of the dream, and he was able to guess what the king had dreamed and tell the interpretation of the dream.

In today’s passage, we read about a strange incident. When Belshazzar, the new king of Babylon, was having a banquet, a human hand appeared in the air and wrote letters on the wall. King Belshazzar was so frightened by this eerie incident that he told the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation shall be robed in purple and have a gold chain hung round his neck, and he shall rank third in the kingdom.” He must have really wanted to know what the writing on the wall meant. However, as in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, no one could tell the interpretation of the writing on the wall. So, Daniel, who has the power to solve mysteries, was called in.

Daniel explained. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, was for a time banished from human society and had to live like a beast in the field. Then King Nebuchadnezzar realized that although he had made himself out to be the greatest, God was really in control of the kingdom. But you, King Belshazzar, knowing about your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, you did not humble your heart before God, but use the temple vessels for a banquet and worship idol gods. You do not believe in and revere the true God. That is why God had the hand write those letters on the wall.”

“The letters read Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. Mene means to number. God numbered the years you ruled the land as king and finished it. Tekel means to weigh. You were weighed in the balance of God and judged insufficient for a king. Parsin means to divide. Your kingdom will be divided in two and given to the nations of Medes and Persians.” In other words, the writing on the wall was the word of God’s judgment that the reign of King Belshazzar would end and the kingdom of Babylon would be destroyed. And after these words of judgment were written, at that very night, King Belshazzar was killed and the kingdom of Babylon was destroyed. No matter how strong a nation may appear to be on earth, its rulers will be destroyed if they go against God’s teachings. This is true not only in biblical times, but also in the present age.