Daniel 5:17

Daniel 5:17 says, Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.  As with the rich foods of the Nebuchadnezzar earlier, Daniel told Belshazzar that he did not want the money and power that was offered him.  If we start to accept material rewards before we will proclaim God's word, then we have truly lost sight of what we are called to do.  There is a difference in witnessing for reward and relying on God to meet our needs.  Verse eighteen adds, O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:  Daniel begins by proclaiming the power of God.  He said that God had given Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar's father, his kingdom and glory.  As stated earlier, we can ask if God actually placed Nebuchadnezzar in power, or simply allowed him to rise to power.  Verse nineteen continues, And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.  God gave or allowed Nebuchadnezzar to have great power over all the nations around him.  There are nations today that have great power and deny God, but the fact that God allows them to maintain this power does not mean that He gives them this power.  I do not believe that God changes nations, but that He changes individuals who change nations.  That is why we need moral leaders, those who are dedicated to following God.  Verse twenty states, But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:  I believe that by now Belshazzar might have been wondering why Daniel was telling him all this.  He had to have known what had happened to his father during Nebuchadnezzar's time of disgrace, as we might say.  Sometimes we may need to remind people of God's work in the past in order to get them to understand that God is still at work today and will never change.  Verse twenty-one adds,  And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.  Daniel reminded Belshassar of what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar when he refused to acknowledge God.  God's judgment does not change with time or situations, but is always sure and just.  Verse twenty-two continues, And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;  Basically, Daniel told Belshazzar that he was without excuse for his behavior.  He knew what God had done in Nebuchadnezzar's life.  We will never be able to stand before God and justify our rebellion against Him.  Verse twenty-three concludes, But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:  Daniel still had not interpreted the writing, but he was telling Belshazzar the reason for the writing.  Belshazzar not only didn't recognize God, but he went out of his way to defy God by using the temple vessels as his own.  The reason that any person is punished by God is because of their refusal to acknowledge Him.  I also believe that we can never use the things of God for our own purposes without being held accountable for doing so.