GROW - Daniel 5

Reminder of the GROW method that I am using to study these chapter...

G - Go to God in prayer

R - Read the selected scripture passage

O - Observe such as Who, What, Where, When , Why or use sensory application such as imagining the heat of the fire, the smells of the scene such as the smells on the ark, the sounds of the crowds etc

W - Write the lessons you have learned today

Go to God in prayer

Read Daniel 5

Observations

This was a night of celebration.  Imagine being at a grand royal feast with a thousand noblemen.  The food would be the best you have ever had, the best musicians playing, everyone dressed in their very best.  It would be have been exciting and enchanting.  But it wasn't enough for the king.  He remembered all the treasures that King Neb had looted from the temple all those years ago.  He ordered them to be brought to the feast so that they could drink from them.  This seems to be the first step in his downfall.

They made toasts to their pagan gods and drank from the very cups that had been dedicated to God. In verse 5 it says Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall...  God immediately began to correct them.

The chapter goes on to find Daniel interpreting the writing and explaining to the king what it all meant.  He also explained why King Neb had his downfall and how he recovered from it.

Downfall - Daniel 5:20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.

Recovery - Daniel 5:21 He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.

Essentially, pride is the downfall, and freedom comes from understanding that God is the Creator of the Universe.

Daniel then chastises the current king in verse 22 for not learning the lessons of King Neb.  He goes on to list the four reasons why God is about to cause his downfall as well.

Daniel 5:22

1. you have not humbled yourself.

Three points from Daniel 5:23

2. you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you

3. drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone

4. you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!

 And the result of his pride, defiance and dishonor is that he was killed later that night.  Babylon was overthrown by the Medes.  The golden head of the statue in King Neb's dream has been toppled.

Write the lesson

We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  We are just like those golden cups that were dedicated to God.  When we allow Satan to fuel pride in us we are defiling God and He has no choice but to cause a downfall so that we may learn the it is the Lord Most High who rules and is in control of everything.