The New Babylonian Empire ~ Part 3

I can hardly believe it's September already. Today's post is Part 3 about the New Babylonian Empire. Refer to Part 1 and Part 2 about the New Babylonian Empire to refresh your memory.

Last time, we left off with Nebuchadnezzar's experiences in the animal kingdom. Well, not exactly. For seven years, Nebuchadnezzar was given the mind of an animal because he continuously glorified himself as the great ruler and builder of his empire. The chapter also indicates that Nebuchadnezzar turned from his gods (whether his false gods or himself) and worshipped the one true God alone.

Then the next chapter skips even more time. After Nebuchadnezzar, there were several more kings until King Labashi-Marduk came along. He was overthrown by Nabonidus who angered the pagan priests by saying that the moon god, Sin (I sometimes wonder how they come up with all of these weird names), was above the chief god of the time, Marduk. That's the problem about man-made gods: they are just terribly man-made. Whoever is in power can make up a new story for a new god. They should have tried writing fantasy instead of religious writings.

Nabonidus was so passionate about Sin who he promoted to chief god (how silly does that sound?), he decided to go around the empire building shrines and temples to this god. Since he was rarely in the capital city of Babylon, he left his son Belshazzar to rule the kingdom. This brings us to Daniel 5.

Belshazzar (not to be confused with Daniel's Babylonian name, Belteshazzar) threw a huge party for all of the leaders of his kingdom. Since he was drunk, he commanded that the gold and silver vessels which were used in the Temple of Jerusalem to serve God be brought out for the party. They defiled these vessels dedicated to God and instead praised all of their phony gods. If you remember, Nebuchadnezzar plundered the Temple in Jerusalem in the beginning of the book of Daniel.

All of a sudden, a hand appeared and wrote on the wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Belshazzar saw this hand, and he became very afraid. He immediately called all of his sorcerers and magicians to interpret the meanings of these words. He tells them that whoever interprets the meaning will be clothed in scarlet which was not as expensive as purple, but still pretty good for those days; will be given a gold chain; and will be made third over all the kingdom since Nabonidus was first and Belshazzar was second.

So those guys come in again and are about as useless as usual. Fortunately, for those guys, Belshazzar didn't have as bad a temper as Nebuchadnezzar, so he didn't sentence them all to death on the spot. Then the queen (his mother) comes and tells him that there was a guy named Daniel who interpreted many of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams and that he would certainly be able to interpret the meaning of the words.

Daniel is brought in and reminds Belshazzar of some family history. Nebuchadnezzar was a very powerful king. He could decide the fate of anyone's life in most of the known world. God gave him all of that power, but he did not glorify God for any of it. He did not even recognize God at all and kept praising himself as if he was solely responsible for all that he had. So, God humbled him by driving him out with the animals until he knew that God ruled over all men.

Belshazzar had the same pride, and he had not humbled himself under God. That was really obvious from his previous actions. Then Daniel interpreted the words. MENE meant that his days were numbered. The word appearing twice meant that it was surely going to happen soon. TEKEL meant that his actions were weighed, and he needed to pay for them since he was wanting in the balance. URPHASIN or PERES meant that the kingdom will be divided by the Medes and Persians.

Daniel received his rewards, but that same night, Belshazzar was killed by the Medo-Persian conquerors. Herodotus writes that the Persians started their siege outside of the city. When this took too long, they diverted the Euphrates so they could cross under the city walls through a dry river bed. The book of Isaiah prophesies this fall and also says that the conquerors will take the Babylonian women and statues.

King Darius of the Medes became king of the empire. We'll talk about the Persian Empire in the next article. The fall of Babylon shows an important concept. Nebuchadnezzar had plenty of years and plenty of warnings to repent from his pride and turn toward God. He was warned at least three times with three pretty unforgettable signs: two dreams and a Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's deliverance from the furnace which obviously showed God's power.

Belshazzar had one sign: the writing on the wall. We don't know how many chances we'll have to repent from our sins and turn toward God. We might have several years or we might have an hour left to repent. Granted you will not have a strange dream that a prophet will need to interpret. But how about someone giving you a gospel tract or a Bible or someone telling you about your sins and the salvation in Christ. Or for a Christian, maybe it's a godly friend who will confront you about something that you have done or a verse in the Bible.

Do not ignore these "signs" if I could use that word. You don't know how much longer you will have to live or the damage that could be done if you continue in your sin. Life is short; that's why we need to get right with the Lord before it's too late. The phrase "life is short" shouldn't be an excuse to do whatever you want. Your way is not the right way; it will not be good for you; it will not satisfy you. It will only lead to more destruction.

God's way is the only way that will satisfy. It is the best choice you could ever make for your life, hands down. But make that decision now. You don't want to wait until it's too late. Get your life right with the Lord and ask Him for forgiveness. The urgency couldn't be greater.