Golden Vessels Brought - Daniel 5:3

In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.  Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein”, and in chapter five and verse three of his book Daniel shared how, “they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God” where we read,

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

The verse reads, “Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem;” Daniel began with the words, “then they brought” or “at that time they, Belshazzars’s servants, carried forth” “the golden vessels” which means “ the cups, bowls and utensils that were fashioned with gold metal” “that were taken out” or “that were seized and  captured” “of the temple” which means “from the sacred worship place” “of the house of God” or “pertaining to the habitation, abode and dwelling place of God” “which was at Jerusalem” which means “that existed in the city of Jerusalem whose name means teaching of peace and is the chief city of Palestine and the capital city of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split”. Daniel shared how “Belshazzar’s” servants carried forth the cups, bowls and utensils that were seized from the sacred worship place and habitation belonging to the Supreme Deity that was located within “Jerusalem”. 

The verse goes on to say, “and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.” Daniel continued with the words, “and the king” which means “and the royal ruler and leader”, “and his princes” or “and his, Belshazzar’s, lords and nobles”, “his wives” which means “his, Belshazzar’s, female spouses”, “and his concubines” or “and his, Belshazzar’s, mistresses and women who lived with him who had statuses less than wives”, “drank in them” which means “imbibed within them, the gold vessels”. Daniel shared how Belshazzar himself, his nobles, female spouses and mistresses all were imbibing from the “golden vessels” taken from the sacred worship place of God in Jerusalem.

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how “Belshazzar” included people who were close to him at his banquet in drinking from the sacred “golden” cups which were used within the “temple in Jerusalem”. In an act that could be seen as God defying, Belshazzar decided he an his party needed to drink from them. We will see what God thought about this in our next verses, but for now let us consider the arrogance and insolence within this act. God knows we all have sinned and come short of His glory, (See Romans 3:23) and for this reason He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we surrender our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth so we never behave with insolence like King Belshazzar. 

Next time Daniel shares how, “they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".