We can learn so much from God’s Word. Sometime as we read God’s Word we don’t see how much we can learn. God gives us His Word so that we can not only live the life He wants us to live, but to avoid the mistakes that others have made. This is what we see in Belshazzar’s life. These are some of the mistakes that Belshazzar made.
Mistake #1: Misusing the Temple Elements
Belshazzar’s grandfather already committed a serious infraction by taking these from the temple of God. After all, God set aside each part of the temple for a holy purpose. But Belshazzar ups the ante by having his people drink from them with a debase purpose. Drunken people used the elements of God to participate in further wickedness and sin. It also doesn’t help that they end up praising their pagan gods in a drunken state during this event.
Mistake #2: Pride
It takes some serious gall to throw a party when the kingdom of Persia knocks at your door. But Belshazzar doesn’t care. One might expect someone in their teens or twenties to perhaps commit an act so foolishly, but Belshazzar was most likely in his forties. Way too old to throw this kind of party. And we know what they say about pride and falling … and he fell hard.
Mistake #3: Placing Too Much Faith in Humans
Part of the reason he had so much pride was because he believed he could skirt off his father’s strength and accomplishments. Babylon supposedly had an impenetrable wall—until the Persians figured out a way to divert the water source and sneaked their way into the city. Nebuchadnezzar ruled well, but this didn’t phase the Persians. They knew that every king had to prove themselves, and Belshazzar had not yet done so.