"There is a man in your kingdom" Daniel 5:11
Harry Foster
THE previous article dealt with the first four chapters of Daniel, describing events which took place during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the great Chaldean king. The rest of Daniel's prophecies tell of his experiences in the reigns of his successors. The chapters are not given in any chronological order and, since Chapter 5 marks the end of Belshazzar and Chapters 7 and 8, describe what happened before then, it is clear that we must consider these two chapters next.
No doubt at the end of Chapter 4 Daniel was on a "high" of spiritual expectation. Things looked good, not only for him but for God's people as a whole and for their pending release from captivity. We know that behind Daniel's acceptance and execution of his post of honour at the court lay his supreme concern that the captives should be sent back to rebuild Jerusalem. How greatly, then, must he have welcomed Nebuchadnezzar's conversion and goodwill, imagining that this boded hope for the future.
But now, Nebuchadnezzar had died. We are not told of this, but we observe its effects in the loss of status for Daniel who clearly was seconded to some insignificant post in the palace, to find himself ignored and far from the corridors of power. A little hint of this can be found in that with Nebuchadnezzar it was stated that Daniel came in to his presence (4:8), whereas he only saw the new ruler Belshazzar at the end of his reign and then it is said that "he was brought before the king " (5:13). The chief trouble, however, was that this later ruler was a dissolute blasphemer from whom nothing good could be expected. What about Jerusalem and God's people now? [94/95]
This may well have been an all-time "low" for Daniel. Life is like that. Prayer is answered, things seem to be developing in marvellous ways and we are full of expectations. Then the whole scene changes. Perhaps it was at such a time of question and dismay that Daniel was given some visions to steady him and inspire him to go on.
