2. Daniel 5:1-4
King Belshazzar hosts a big feast – while his city is under siege by the Medes.
He serves wine in goblets stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem and taunts the God of Israel.

3. Daniel 5:5-9
A man’s hand appears and writes a message on the wall.
The king is terrified.
None of the wise men could interpret the message.

4. Daniel 5:10-16
The queen mother: “Daniel’s your man!”

5. Daniel 5:17-24
Daniel:
“I’m not doing this for gifts or a promotion. I will interpret the message on the wall, but first, I’ve got a little sermon to preach at you.”

6. Daniel 5:25-29
mene, mene, tekel, parsin
mene: God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought your kingdom to an end.
tekel: You have been weighed in the balance and found deficient.
peres (parsin): Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

7. Daniel 5:30-31
“That very night Belshazzar the king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of 62.”

8. Live every day as if it might be your last day.
Takeaway #1
Live every day as if it might be your last day.
When we live as if we might die today, we are more likely to live with the right priorities.

9. 10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty if our strength endures. 12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:10, 12

10. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
Ecclesiastes 7:2, 4

11. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.
Takeaway #2
Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.
But you, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
Daniel 5:22

12. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.
Takeaway #2
Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.
Now these things happened to them as examples and they were written as a warning to us….
1 Corinthians 10:11

13. Takeaway #3
Don’t make excuses
for your bad behavior.

14. Takeaways
Live every day as if it might be your last day.
Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.
Don’t make excuses for your bad behavior.