Victory Over Fear Daniel
Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords. While they are drinking wine, the king commanded his servants to bring in the gold and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon. Then they began to drink wine out of these vessels, and praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. This he did, not because they were short of vessels, but because he wanted to blaspheme the name of Jehovah.
Throughout the ages, men who are prosperous and at the height of their glory have blasphemed God. We have a present day instance of this in Russia. They have advanced much in scientific knowledge and have invented many new medicines. Carried away by their prosperity, they have increased in blasphemy against God. Belshazzar had become wealthy and prosperous, and therefore he became bold in defying the living God. He knew that these vessels had been brought from the temple in Jerusalem. He might not have known the particular use of each of those vessels, but he knew that they were meant to be used only in the temple. Even so, he deliberately commanded them to be brought to him so that he and his lords might drink wine out of them and praise the heathen gods. It is a surprising thing that sinful men take such pride and pleasure in blaspheming against the living God, in seeking against His word, and against His people. I will give you an instance. Although the bible and the Koran have a number of things in common we do not find the Hindus speaking against Muslims and the Koran, but they will blaspheme against Christ and the bible. In the same way king Belshazzar and his lords wanted to show their hatred and contempt for the living and true God, so the king brought out the holy vessels to drink wine in them.
While they were drinking, suddenly the king saw a part of a hand moving before him and writing words on the wall, --- words that he could not read, for they were in a language unknown to him. At this the king was filled with fear, and his knees smote one against the other. Fear is a terrible thing. Many people shake with fear. Some people’s hair turns gray because of fear. In this case, the King’s whole body began to tremble; his knees knocked together, his joints became loose, and he cried out with fear (Vs. 6 and 7).
We have seen many times how men of wealth, knowledge, position and power start trembling when they see mysterious things happen, which they are not able to explain. Only perfect love coming into our hearts can deliver us from every fear. There is no fear in love (I John 4:18). All men have a longing to be loved. They long for the love of father or mother, brother or sister, husband or wife. But all this human love will change. Only God’s love is perfect and unchanging. His love is everlasting (Jer. 31:3). Even though God may rebuke and chasten us because of our folly, His love will never change.
God does not love us a little; He loves us in all His fullness. That is why he gives us all He has. He left all His glory for us. He gave to the very last ounce of His blood for our sakes. Only such a love is perfect live, and only such a love can take away our fears. Sometimes we go through peculiar trials and sufferings, and at such times, no mother, however sincere and loving she might be, is able to share it with us. But the love of Christ is perfect, and He is able to share all our burdens, difficulties, sorrows and sufferings.
Those who do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior will be subject to many fears. In spite of all their knowledge, wealth and power, you can frequently see the marks of fear upon the faces of great men. For some it may be fear for their health; will it improve, or will they die? For some it may be fear of their enemies; will they injure them? For others it may be fears concerning their business; will they suffer loss, and become bankrupt? Thus, throughout their lifetime, men are victims of one kind of fear or another. Still others are afraid of death; if I die, what will happen to my children, and to my property?
The lord Jesus said that in the last days there would be many fearful signs, such as stars falling from heaven, earthquakes and pestilences and wars. Then men’s hearts will fail because of fear (Luke 21:26).
At that time even God’s people will have to go through testing. He said, “ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and Kinsfolk, and friends, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death” (Luke 21:16). But the Lord will keep them above fear.
All the lords were able to see the handwriting on the wall, but only the King saw the part of the hand that wrote. It was Belshazzar who had commanded the vessels of gold and silver to be brought, and it was he who had made the guests drink wine from them. So the chief guilt was upon him, and he was the first to be judged.
In the same manner, before God judges the sinner, first of all he will judge the devil, who is responsible for man’s downfall, sin and defilement. The Lord first judged the devil upon the cross. In the last judgment also, he will be the first to be cast into the lake of fire.
When Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall, he trembled. This was only a sign. If he trembled so much then, how much more will he be trembling in hell? It was God’s hand and His writing. God was saying to the king, “O king, thou art found guilty. Get ready for your punishment. It may come at anytime, so get ready for it”. This made the king to tremble.
God is speaking to you also now. If you are still a sinner, God is saying to you. “O sinner, if you do not want to repent of your sins, be prepared for your day of judgment.” God in His great love and mercy gives you warning again and again in many ways. Through sickness and calamities He calls you, that you may receive His salvation. It is only when men continually refuse to repent, that God finally sends His punishment upon them.
God gave Daniel wisdom to understand and read the writing on the wall. The Lord Jesus Christ will become your wisdom, if you accept Him as your savior. The whole world may be weeping and crying, full of fear. Even at such times God’s children will go down upon their knees and pray. Then they will understand everything and they will be able to tell the meaning of it all.
There was a man in France called Voltaire. He was a great scholar, but he was an atheist and a blasphemer. Just before his death, he fell sick, and he was full of fear. Every night he would scream so much that no nurse would stay near him for more than one night. His face was so full of fear that it was horrible to look at.
I have seen people who did not know their god, dying full of fear. But those who know their God can go into the valley of the shadow of death without fear. I knew a young man who was a believer. He died suddenly while on duty due to heart failure. The office manager went to his home to tell his wife, and with great difficulty broke the news to her. To his great surprise she replied, “I shall meet him in heaven”, and she told him of the wonderful hope we have in Christ. The manager had expected her to break down in grief and despair. He went away surprised. The Lord never fails His people.
Today have you still not come to Him? He will free you from all condemnation. He will give you the answer to every question. He will reveal His mysteries t you as He revealed them to Daniel, and make you am over comer in every situation.
These studies in the book of Daniel show us God’s great plan. God’s purpose is to raise up overcomers who will completely defeat the devil and all his schemes.
God might have chosen to destroy the enemy on the very day of his fall, but His great wisdom he has desired us, His people, to be partners with Him in His great victory. He has loved us with an everlasting love, and He has chosen us in Him for a very high and lofty purpose which was in His mind before all creation was made, this is shown to us in Ephesians 1:4-23.