SOME PERSPECTIVES FROM THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer

If God Can, Why Doesn’t He?

There are some things that God cannot do. For example, He cannot lie or do something which is contrary to His nature. Yet there are many miracles that God could perform which He doesn’t. Sometimes I’ve referred to this as “the unpredictability of God.”

In Acts 12, James is killed by Herod, but Peter is miraculously delivered from prison. God raised up King Hezekiah from his sick bed so that he could live 15 more years, but Rachel was allowed to die in childbirth on the way to Bethlehem.

God delivered Daniel from the lions’ den, yet hundreds of Christians have been thrown to lions and there was no angel to close the mouths of the wild beasts. As we try to understand such situations, we’re left asking, “Why?”

In Daniel 3, we have a remarkable story of how God delivered three of His children from the fiery furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar had made an image of gold and expected everyone to bow down to worship the image. But there were three Jews who refused to do so — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Some of those who watched the proceedings at the dedication of the image told the king about these three Jews who were not participating in the festivities.

Nebuchadnezzar became enraged and repeated his warning that if they did not worship the image, they would immediately be cast into a furnace of blazing fire.

Now these three men could have used many excuses to go along with the king’s request. First, they could have said that they had a responsibility to obey the king; or they could have rationalized, saying that they would commit this sin and repent later. Perhaps they could have had a greater ministry if their lives had been spared rather than be put to death. But these men were not easily intimidated. They said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this” (Daniel 3:16). They were saying that they didn’t have to waste any words discussing this with the king because, quite frankly, there was nothing to be said. They knew that a compromise was impossible because they were intent on serving the living and true God alone.

They continued, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship Me golden image that you have set up” (vv. 17, 18).

What were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego saying? It’s interesting that the Hebrew text would read like this: “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, then He will deliver us. But if He is not able to deliver us, we will not serve your gods or worship them.”

Obviously, these men were not doubting God’s ability. They knew that He was the God who had all things under His control and if He would but speak the word, they would be delivered. But they knew that it might not be possible for God to deliver them because of some ultimate purpose which He may have in mind. They were uncertain regarding God’s plans. So they were saying, in effect, “If His purposes allow Him to deliver us, He will ... but if His purposes will not allow Him to deliver us, then He won’t.” Their faith was unshaken, regardless of the possible outcome.

The Scriptures would indicate that God’s power is limited by a number of factors. First, He is incapable of logical contradictions; He is limited by His character, and He is also limited by unbelief. At one point, Christ was not able to do any miracles because of the unbelief of a particular village (Matthew 13:58). But God is also limited because of His purposes. There are certain goals which God has in mind that prevent Him from doing miracles. But often those purposes are hidden from us.

So how shall we respond when God’s purposes are unknown? Have you ever prayed not knowing God’s will? That’s what happened in this situation. The three friends did not know whether God was going to deliver them from the fiery furnace. But they submitted themselves to the unknown purposes of God. They said that whether God delivered them or not made no difference; they would not bow down before the image.

That’s what our attitude ought to be. We should be willing to say, “Not my will but Thine be done.” Even though God doesn’t tell us beforehand what He will do, we must be willing to leave it in His hands. Perhaps you are praying for someone who is sick and you don’t know whether it is God’s will to heal them. You must submit to God and accept whatever He chooses to do.

Those who believed God after they committed a matter to Him are also men and women of faith. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, they have proven that God’s will is more important than their wishes.

If we don’t know what God is going to do beforehand, what is there to depend on? The answer—His promises. If God had allowed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to be burned, they knew that even then they would not be forsaken. In Isaiah the Lord says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through rivers, they will not overflow you, when you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you” (Isaiah 43:2). Actually, whether they had been delivered from the fiery furnace or not, the faithfulness of God would have remained the same.

Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing,, so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:12, 13). The Lord has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, whether He delivers us or not.

In this instance Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were miraculously delivered. They were tied up and thrown into the fiery furnace, but King Nebuchadnezzar was astounded and stood up in haste and asked, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said unto the king, ‘Certainly, O king. “ He answered and said, ‘Look! I see four men loose and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” (Daniel 3:24,25). The flame was so great that the strong men who had thrown the Hebrew children into the furnace were burned, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were not singed nor were their trousers damaged; in fact, they never even had the smell of smoke on them.

One great lesson we must learn is that God is limited by the purposes He wishes to accomplish. If God had delivered Paul from his thorn in the flesh, His purpose, namely, to humble the apostle, would then not have been achieved. No doubt He would answer all of our prayers and miraculously deliver us from our troubles if it would not interfere with His ultimate goals. These, of course, are unknown to us, but this is where faith comes in.

The other day it dawned on me that ultimate faith is to believe God even when it seems He is working against us rather than for us. When God could intervene but doesn’t; when He could save people through conviction of sin but allows them to go on in hardness of heart, then we begin to question Him. But even here, we must believe that God knows best. We cannot read His purposes through the envelope.

Blessed is the one who is willing to accept whatever God chooses to do. If He answers our prayers, fine; but if He doesn’t, we will not swerve in our allegiance to the living God.

The Conversion of a Proud Man

When Lucifer fell, a drop of his rebellion fell onto every human heart. Since that time man has always struggled with pride, which is really our distaste for submission to God.

In Daniel 4 we have the remarkable story of King Nebuchadnezzar and how God humbled him. From the heights of earth’s greatest empire, living like an animal, the king learned a sobering lesson.

The bottom line of this chapter is found in the last verse, Those who walk in pride He is able to abase - (Daniel 4:37).
You probably remember the story: Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream of a huge tree with its height reaching to the sky. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant; the beasts of the field found shade under it and the birds of the sky settled in its branches. But an angelic watcher cried, “Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; let the beasts leave from under it, and the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground...” (vv 14,15).

Nebuchadnezzar was frightened by this dream but could not interpret it. So he asked Daniel to give understanding regarding this rather strange occurrence. Furthermore, it was clear to the king that the dream referred to a person, someone who would eventually become like a beast of the field and be brought to total humiliation.

Daniel is alarmed when he comes to see the king with the interpretation, because he knows that the king will be greatly distressed when he knows what God is about to do. But Daniel fearlessly tells the king the unsettling news, “You, O King, are the tree ... for you have become great and grown strong and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth ... and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field and you will be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is the ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes - (vv 22-25).

Did this change King Nebuchadnezzar? Not at all. He remained the same because the message did not penetrate his heart. But one day God fulfilled His word. For the Scriptures teach, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

A full year later, King Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon. Probably he thought that God had forgotten the prediction that had been made regarding his humiliation. He interpreted God’s patience as reticence to fulfill the prophecy. So the king in reflection said, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” (v 30).

As he scanned the gorgeous city of Babylon, he saw walls perhaps 85 feet high, the top of which could accommodate chariots riding abreast. There were 8 gates to the city, named after the gods of Babylon. One of the wonders of the ancient world was the Hanging Gardens which King Nebuchadnezzar had built for his wife because of her melancholy over not seeing the mountains and the beautiful vegetation of them. So the king had some mountains and gardens built in the middle of the city next to the palace.

But just as he was meditating on all that he had accomplished, a voice came out of heaven saying, “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle ...” (vv 31,32).

The voice from heaven announcing Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation was like a bolt of lightning. James Graham imagines it this way: In the twinkling of an eye, Nebuchadnezzar became a raving maniac. With wild shrieks he rushed from the room and down the staircase as the crown of gold toppled from his head. Across the tiled floor of the throne room he raced, tearing from his body his regal robes and scattering them as he went. Through the doors and down the corridors he ran, bellowing like a wounded bull while the palace retainers stood by in consternation. But by the time he issued from the great door of the palace, he was very little encumbered with garments of any kind, only his tunic and short trousers remaining, and these he also discarded as he continued his mad flight down palace way. Nebuchadnezzar, the proud and dignified monarch of the greatest empire of ancient times, was running down the street of his capital city, stripped, stark naked” (The Prophet-Statesman, page 110).

His insanity is called lycanthropy; that is, a person begins to think of himself as an animal and actually goes out in the fields to live with them.

Can you imagine what people were saying about Nebuchadnezzar? In fact, archaeologists tell us that his name dropped from all records for a period of four years. Possibly this was the length of time in which he acted like a raving beast. His dignity was gone; there was no pride left within him. He had absolutely nothing he could hang on to. His humiliation was complete.

What was God trying to accomplish? He hates pride but also He will someday bring down to shame those who have exalted themselves in His presence.

Fortunately, King Nebuchadnezzar learned his lesson. He said, “At the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, What hast Thou done?” (vv 36,37).

Today, pride lurks within every one of us. Someone has said that there are at least four kinds of pride. First, there is the pride of race. You’d be surprised at the prejudice that is found within all the races of the world and the hatred toward those of a different color or ethnic background. Or there’s the pride of face - beauty becomes a snare. So often a person who is good looking will flaunt his or her physical features simply to draw attention and to be admired. Then again there is pride of place, indicating the prominence of our jobs or positions. And finally there is pride of grace or ability. Some people are unusually talented and they can easily display this kind of pride if they accept the credit for their talent. Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity returned when he began to worship God in humility and truth.

In the Scriptures, God always tells us that we ought to humble ourselves. He seems to imply that it is something that we can do. We can choose to submit totally and fully to God and remain in His presence until we see who we are in relation to who He is. Then our sanity will be restored.

But if we don’t humble ourselves, we shall have to pay the consequences. Some day, either in this world or in the world to come, we shall be brought to the place of total humiliation and brokenness. “Every knee shag bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10,11). God wounds us in order that He might heal us.

A woman in Switzerland came to a sheepfold and on a nearby pile of straw saw a single sheep with its leg broken. She was ready to sympathize with the animal when the shepherd said, “I did it. This sheep would often run to the edge of a perilous cliff and lead others astray. Only in this way could I be sure that it would be under my authority! Then the shepherd continued, “I shall carry it with me and it will now be an obedient sheep.”

Remember Jonah? God prepared a fish to swallow him and he was still an unbroken man. And then when he went to Nineveh to preach, he was angry because God’s grace was given to what had been a very wicked city. As far as we know, Jonah never did come under God’s authority, for his stubborn attitude was nothing but bigotry, self-will, and pride. What a tragedy if we are not brought low before the Lord. Peter says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.”

Nebuchadnezzar eventually was converted but only after his life totally collapsed around him. This tragedy was God’s merciful intervention that this man might be brought to his senses. If we don’t repent of our pride, God will have to bring us to the point where we are stripped of everything that we hold dear that we might finally come into His presence with submission and worship.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

One of the most familiar stories in the Old Testament is that of Daniel thrown to the lions. Daniel was one of many captive Israelites living under the jurisdiction of Babylon. Darius was king of this great empire and had parceled out his dominion to 120 administrators. Daniel, however, had the distinct privilege of being one of three commissioners who were responsible for the entire kingdom. This led to a story of political intrigue and a miraculous display of God’s preserving power.

Daniel had a position of authority and distinction in the king’s court. As a result, he was the target of jealousy. The Gentiles did not want Daniel, who had come from Jerusalem, to have such privileges. But they could not bring any accusations against Daniel because he had an unblemished record. There was no evidence of corruption of any kind.

Yet they weren't satisfied. Jealousy has a way of manipulating circumstances so that another person is disgraced. And the higher you go on the ladder of success, the more people there are who would like to see you fall. Even among Christians, jealousy can flourish. One missionary told me about his co-worker. “Nothing would make him feel better than for me to fall.”

And so these jealous men came up with a plan: They encouraged the king to play God for 30 days. They said that they had consulted with all of the leaders of the kingdom and the unanimous decision was “that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any god besides you, O king, for 30 days, shall be cast into the lions’ den” (Daniel 6:7).

The king took the bait. He decided that he would exalt himself and that all worship should be suspended except that which was directed toward him.

Isn’t it frightening to see how quickly we can respond to flattery! If the king had thought about what his nobles were saying, he would have realized how foolish it was for him to take honor that belonged to God alone. But we’re born with such a sinful and rebellious heart that we’re only too quick to accept the adulation of man.

“Pride cometh before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18). The king accepted the word of the nobles and made a decree, not knowing that one of his favorite advisors would become trapped in the legal tangle that the nobles had set up.

Daniel remained undeterred. He knew that the document was signed and yet he entered his house which had windows opened toward Jerusalem; and he continued kneeling three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously (v. 10).

Think of what Daniel could have done to avoid the lions’ den! For one thing, he could have chosen to pray in his heart since we know that God answers the prayers offered within our minds. Kneeling isn’t necessary to prayer. Or at least, Daniel could have chosen to pray in private. He could have gone into his closet and closed the door so no one would have seen his piety.

But what did Daniel do? He believed that to change his habit of prayer would be to deny his God. And so he continued with this custom regardless of the consequences.

Aren’t you in awe of a man like that? It has been said that every man has his price, but we know that is not true. Daniel was not for sale. Here was a man who was willing to do right even if the sky fell in. He simply could not be intimidated or pushed around. Whatever he believed God willed, Daniel was prepared to do.

When Darius found out that Daniel was arrested for praying, he realized that he had been trapped. He loved Daniel and did not want him to be thrown to the wild beasts. And yet, he could not after the decree of the Medes and the Persians. He had to be true to the document he had signed; there could be no exceptions. This is an interesting example of the conflict between law and love. The king wanted to free Daniel and even had the power to do so. But his own power was limited by the law and therefore he had to do what the law dictated. Love said, “I want to free him,” but law said, “You can’t, because Daniel violated the law.”

Of course we’re reminded of God’s own predicament regarding the salvation of His people. On the one hand, His love wanted to forgive sinners, and yet His justice could not do it. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”’ And because of that sin, no man can be acquitted by love alone. God’s remedy was to authorize Jesus Christ to bear the penalty for sin so that we might be freed. In other words, God could exercise His love toward us because the demands of the law had been satisfied.

Darius wasn’t able to resolve the conflict. Though he was deeply distressed and consulted his lawyers to see whether Daniel could be excused from the law, eventually Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den.

Just think for a moment about Daniel, dropped into a subterranean cave. There, starving lions have been waiting for something to eat. There was no place for Daniel to hide. He could not run or fight.

And yet, even there, God was with him in a miraculous way. An angel was sent to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not harm Daniel. There’s an interesting contrast between Daniel in the lions’ den and the king in his palace. D.L. Moody suggested that Daniel was asleep using a lion for his pillow and slept better than the king lying on his bed in the palace. In fact, the king spent the night fasting, “and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him” (v. 18). So while Daniel was able to sleep, the king could not.

In the morning, the king rose early and went quickly to the lions’ den and called to Daniel not knowing whether he would hear an answer. Daniel replied, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me...”

Then the king ordered that those who had maliciously accused Daniel, and their children, should be cast into the lions’ den. By now the animals were so hungry that the people were eaten before they even reached the bottom of the pit.

In the New Testament, Satan is likened to a lion. “Satan as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan has the power to destroy any one of us at any time. But the Lord Jesus Christ is with us to close the mouth of Satan that we might not be put to death. Undoubtedly, it’s the restraining hand of God that keeps us from instant death at the hand of our enemy. And just as Daniel learned, our victories are won by faith.

But how can we have such faith? Someone has said that God is saying to us, “Know Me better and you can trust Me more.” It’s difficult to trust a stranger and it’s hard to learn principles of faith in a crisis. But that steady day-by-day walk with God enables us to believe Him and His ability to deliver us from our own lions!

And of course, all of this comes about through consistency in prayer. Daniel believed that prayer was so important that nothing would deter him from his schedule. It was his daily means of strength and courage. We need people who can lovingly witness with boldness and confidence. We need those who refuse to run with the crowd, regardless of the price.

Daniel reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed in Gethsemane even while plans were being made for His death. He knew that doing the will of God was more important than the acclaim and the approval of men. He submitted Himself to the will of God at great, personal cost.

Throughout the centuries God’s message has been the same: those who know God best can trust Him the most.

How God Weighs a Nation

Today many are debating the question of how strong our military defense system ought to be. In the past we have spent billions of dollars in the arms race. Many people think that our nation can be spared only if we continue to build more bombs and develop other weapons systems.

I’m sure that we need such defenses but let’s not overlook a lesson that comes to us from Daniel 5. From the history of Babylon, we learn that the best-armed city or nation will fall if it lacks righteousness. No defense system can save us from the judgment of God when our hour comes.

Let’s imagine that we are back in Babylon in 539 B.C. It is a magnificent city with walls perhaps 85 feet high and wide enough for several chariots to ride abreast on top. The great Tigris-Euphrates river flows right through the middle of the city so there is no chance that its inhabitants can be cut off from water.

Furthermore, there is enough food stored within its walls to last 20 years. Outside the city, a moat prevents the enemy from coming close to the massive stone walls which are absolutely impregnable.

Inside the beautiful banquet hall, King Belshazzar has gathered a thousand of his friends for a huge feast. Outside the walls, the Persian armies led by King Darius have laid siege to the city for four months. But Belshazzar wants to prove that there is nothing to worry about. Regardless of what the Persians are up to, there isn’t a chance in the worid that Babylon will fall to their tactics. No battering ram could ever knock a hole through the walls, and no soldiers could scale them. All of the gates are guarded and there’s enough food for everyone.

In the middle of the feast, Belshazzar asks that the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple in Jerusalem by his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, be brought into the banquet hall. He wants to drink a toast to all of the gods of Babylon, proving that they are greater than the Lord God of Israel.

Suddenly in the midst of the feast, the fingers of a man’s hand appear and begin writing on the wall of the king’s palace. The king sees the back of the hand that did the writing (Daniel 5:5).

The king thinks that the gods have interrupted the feast. But he’s troubled by this supernatural intervention and his conscience is smitten. The text says, “Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him; and his joints went slack and his knees began knocking together” (v 6).

What a description of someone who is overcome by guiltl! Suddenly he senses that he is up against a power greater than himself. He becomes desperate and tells his advisors that anyone who can interpret the message will be clothed with purple and be given a necklace of gold and installed as a third ruler in the kingdom.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly joy can turn to fear when one’s conscience is pricked? So it will be at the end of the world, as Christ predicted. People will be marrying and giving in marriage; they will be drinking and making merry but suddenly God will interrupt their banquet. And at that moment everything shall be seen for what it is and reality will crash in upon people who defy the living God.

Belshazzar’s feast had been interrupted by ominous writing on the wall. His immediate need was to know how the message on the wall could be interpreted.

The queen mother suggests that the Israelite, Daniel be brought into the banquet hall. As Daniel sees the writing, he is given insight by the Spirit of God to understand the meaning of the words. And so Daniel tells the king of God’s coming judgment, a judgment that was to fall on the king himself. Years earlier, God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar, but his grandson, Belshazzar had not learned to humble himself in the presence of God. Instead, he brought out the vessels of the Lord and mocked the living God.

After that, Daniel gets directly into the interpretation of the words on the wall. The first is mene, which comes from an Aramaic word ‘to number.’ Sometimes it meant ‘to set the limit.’

The second word is tekel, and also has an Aramaic root meaning ‘to weigh.’ Sometimes we like to stress that God does not have a big scale in the sky by which He weighs our good works and our bad works to see whether we have scored enough points to be accepted by Him. But God does have a scale in the sky. On the one side is His righteousness and that of the Lord Jesus Christ. We, of ourselves, can do nothing to bring the scale into balance. That’s why we so desperately need the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God Himself is the true weight on the one side of the scale and to have His acceptance we must have His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ on the other side. Babylon was weighed by God and found deficient.

The third word, upharsin, means ‘to break’ or ‘to divide.’ So Daniel summarizes the message, “God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient, therefore your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and the Persians” (vv 26-28).

How was this prophecy fulfilled? That very evening when the banquet was going on, Darius the Mede and his armies had found a way into the city. Apparently, the waters of the great Tigris-Euphrates River had been diverted. As a result, it became shallow enough for some of his men to enter into the city and overpower the guards at the gates. They ran up to the palace and were told that this evening the king was having a banquet. Once again, the men were able to overpower the guards. They ran into the banquet hall and the king was slain.

As predicted, Daniel’s prophecy came true that very evening, October 13, 539 B.C.

What a specific reminder this is for us to realize that God has authority over nations. When we lack righteousness, we become vulnerable to His judgment.

God is the God of history. He raises up nations and He sets them down; He predicted in Isaiah 45:1-5 that Babylon would fall and His prediction was fulfilled.

When we read our newspapers from day to day, we must remember that God is the God of history and He is actively involved in the affairs of men.

What great lesson do we learn from the experience of Babylon? Simply this: Any nation will eventually fall if it lacks righteousness. Yes, we may need intercontinental ballistic missiles and H-bombs. We can profitably put money into submarines and airplanes. But ultimately, we cannot look to these weapons to defend us. The greatest defense that a country can have is righteousness. “Righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.” We can make this nation as secure as weapons can make it, but if God decrees our downfall, we shall perish. There is no weapons system in the world that can combat or withstand the judgment of God.

I’d feel more comfortable with fewer weapons and more righteousness. As God said to Abraham, “I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” When God defends us, there is no nation on earth that can overcome us; but when we turn from Him, we are doomed for judgment regardless of how high our defense budget happens to be.

For us, the handwriting is on the wall. No nation has had as much light and yet fallen into more rebellion and wickedness than ours. Yet we know that God is no respecter of persons.

The destruction of Babylon isn’t finished yet. When you read Revelation 17 and 18, you find that Babylon will be revived. There is religious Babylon, which refers to the unity of all world religions that deny the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. This wicked system will be destroyed by God; it’s the harlot of Revelation 17. But there’s also economic Babylon, the network of trade and commerce localized in Europe and the Middle East that will be judged for its greed and selfish ambition.

So the story of Daniel 5 will repeat itself. God will again bring judgment to those that lack righteousness and there is no defense that can possibly save them.

As believers, we have the responsibility of praying and witnessing that this nation shall yet turn from its wicked ways and seek the face of the Lord that we shall be spared God’s judgment. Apart from a return of righteousness, God will take our privileges away because we too are weighed and found wanting.

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