Are you

Are you someone who's able to learn from others' mistakes, or do you have to learn by making the mistake yourself?

Today on Truth for Life, we'll hear the tragic story of a king who failed to learn from his predecessor.

Alistair Begg explains how we can avoid making the same error in judgment.

We're looking at Daniel, Chapter 5.

Well, as we come to Chapter 5, let me take just a moment to say a couple of things by way of

introduction concerning chronology and terminology. If you come at these chapters, failing to realize

the purpose of the author, and you begin to look for a way in which you can establish a strict

chronology through it, then you will inevitably

be disappointed. For example, between the end of chapter four and the beginning of chapter five,

there is probably a gap of some 30 years. And it is clear that the author is choosing to take

in one chapter the life of this particular king in order,

once again, to encourage those who are the readers about the fact that while man builds his

proud empires, that God in a moment is able to destroy them and put someone else in that person's place. And that is,

of course, the story here in Chapter 5 of the judgment of God that falls on Belchazer, a judgment

that is swift, that is sudden, and that is absolutely secure. In terminology, I want you just to

be alert to the fact that Father, the word Father, as it is

used here, is often not used in ancient Near East and in the Bible, again, in strict terms.

But in terms of the fact of my Father Abraham, I am one of Abraham's children by grace through faith, and so are you.

I take it also that the queen whom we will meet is actually the queen mother. I can say more

about that later on, but by way of introduction, let's get immediately to the text. In these

opening verses, my heading was simply the king does his thing. And what we find

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