Fourth Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
"Daniel"

Insights to Lesson 5:
Surprise Party
October 23-29

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

A little over 20 years ago, rock-star Prince (who is said to have had Adventist connections in his youth) wrote these lyrics:

“I was dreamin’ when I wrote this;
Forgive me if it goes astray.
But when I woke up this morning coulda’ swore it was Judgment Day.
The sky was all purple — there were people running everywhere.
Tried to run from my destruction —
You know, I didn’t even care.

They say 2000 zero, zero party over — oops! Out of time!
So tonight I’m gonna party like its 1999!”

I have often thought that this song would have made an appropriate theme song for the party scene in Daniel 5. The music sung at Belshazzar’s feast could not have bristled with less hubris! The very atmosphere Daniel describes here breeds pride and stubborn, heaven-daring rebellion, both of which are the very essence of idolatry. Apparently at the height of the festivities, driven by a mixture of irreverence and misguided patriotism, the vessels that had been set aside by God for use in His temple were brought to serve up Belshazzar’s intoxicating beverage. This act apparently brings on a polytheistic praise service, everyone worshiping the god of his own choosing. Clearly those gathered extolled their gods as being superior to the God of the Hebrews, since they now possessed the vessels of His temple. Given the fact that Babylon was, at this very hour, surrounded by the armies of the Medo-Persian alliance, the party-goers probably were also reminding themselves of their many military victories. It was a combination worship service and political rally!  Into this scene intrudes the mysterious hand that writes the message of impending judgment on the wall for all to see! Shortly thereafter, the now aged Daniel strides into that banquet hall to tell them what it all means.

Belshazzar’s feast is an illustration of the end times, in which spiritual Babylon (a metaphor for apostate religion gone global) will be judged and punished by God. Note some similarities to our day:

• Mixture of religion and politics -- False religion is invoked in an apparently patriotic context as a show of support for one’s country. False patriotism will certainly be a feature in the last-day crisis.

• Religious pluralism -- the god’s praised at this feast are varied – they are “of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.” Isn’t it like this today in the religious world? In our postmodern age, the concept of truth is scoffed at, and everything becomes a matter of one’s perspective. Spiritual Babylon is a mass of confusing, conflicting points of view coming together under the banner of “Tolerance.”

Perhaps the greatest similarity to our time is in the act of filling vessels meant for service in the Temple of Yahweh with the intoxicating wine of Babylon. Wouldn’t this equate to what modern religionists have done in taking words and ideas related to the person and work of Jesus Christ (which was what the Old Testament sanctuary/temple was all about), removing them from their proper setting (as the vessels were), and then redefining them with erroneous concepts (analogous to filling the vessels with the intoxicating wine). I ask with all sincerity, what word or idea concerning the gospel has been left untouched in Satan’s onslaught against the truth? Sin is now viewed as an unavoidable thing, grace is redefined as permissiveness, faith is understood as a mere mental assent to truth, obedience is termed legalism, and judgment and justice are almost entirely dismissed. God’s love is viewed as a passive sentiment, rather than an active, transformational principle.

I could go on and on, but I pause here to ask one question: In view of this wholesale redefinition of the fundamental gospel principles, is there any doubt in anyone’s mind why we needed the 1888 message of righteousness by faith? Ellen White said, “This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure” (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 92). God has raised up this movement to call people out of Babylon, and to do this, God gave us the gospel message which is a corrective to the false concepts of righteousness by faith so prevalent in the popular churches. If the 1888 message was (as some have asserted) only an echo of popular concepts of righteousness by faith, then why would we need to give it “to the world?” The popular churches have already done this. The reality is that the popular ideas of righteousness by faith are like those vessels filled with Babylonian wine — yes, its the same language, but placed in a different context and filled with unscriptural content. God sent us the message of Waggoner and Jones as a corrective, not only for ourselves, but for the world! Ellen White said so!

It is vital that we present this message in its fullness and power, because unless we do, the world will not be ready for the final judgment. A key phrase in the message to Belshazzar was, “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this” (Dan. 5:22). Today, God cannot honestly say to the world the words, “You knew all this.” Not until the prophecy quoted above (from TM 92) is fulfilled will God be able to say to those who reject the gospel, “You have not humbled your heart even though you knew all this.” May God hasten the fulfillment of this prophecy! And may God bless your Sabbath School class this week!

—Skip Dodson

Read the study notes for lesson 6