Today we move beyond Babylon. Signs that the exile is nearly over.
Help for Israel
Jeremiah 51:36-40
Babylon’s fate
Jeremiah 51:41-49
God’s message
Jeremiah 51:50-52
Complete destruction of Babylon
Jeremiah 51:53-58, 60-64
Persia the world power 539-333 BC
Belshazzar’s feast
Daniel 5:1-29
Darius takes over
Daniel 5:30-31
Reigns of Cyrus and Darius
Isaiah 44:28, Daniel 1:21, 11:1
Jeremiah finishes his rant against Babylon, and when we turn back to Daniel and read about the fate of the empire after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, there’s not much left to feel sympathy for.
The behaviour of Belshazzar mirrors the decline and dissipation of the last kings of Israel. Belshazzar is not a patch on Nebuchadnezzar - a lesser man in every respect. We see him as a drunken party animal, frightened into incoherence by a vision he can’t understand. Old man Daniel is eventually wheeled in to give a laconic proclamation of doom, and that very night, the empire falls.
Help for Israel
Jeremiah 51:36-40
Babylon’s fate
Jeremiah 51:41-49
God’s message
Jeremiah 51:50-52
Complete destruction of Babylon
Jeremiah 51:53-58, 60-64
Persia the world power 539-333 BC
Belshazzar’s feast
Daniel 5:1-29
Darius takes over
Daniel 5:30-31
Reigns of Cyrus and Darius
Isaiah 44:28, Daniel 1:21, 11:1
Jeremiah finishes his rant against Babylon, and when we turn back to Daniel and read about the fate of the empire after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, there’s not much left to feel sympathy for.
The behaviour of Belshazzar mirrors the decline and dissipation of the last kings of Israel. Belshazzar is not a patch on Nebuchadnezzar - a lesser man in every respect. We see him as a drunken party animal, frightened into incoherence by a vision he can’t understand. Old man Daniel is eventually wheeled in to give a laconic proclamation of doom, and that very night, the empire falls.
Like a tree gone rotten from the inside out, it crumbles into dust very suddenly. Human pride is shown to be very hollow indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment