Good Morning!
(Brilliantly coloured glazed brick decoration, facade of the throne room, palace of Nebuchadrezzar II, Babylon, c. 600 BC. EB Inc. with permission of the Staatliche Museum zu Berlin)
Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came
into the banquet house: and the queen spoke and said, O king, live
forever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be
changed: There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the
holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and
wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king
Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of
the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and
knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and
dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now
let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation (Daniel 5:10-12).
Many scholars believe this was the Queen Mother, the widow of Nebuhadnezzar." …it appears, by what she says afterwards, that she was well acquainted with affairs in his time; and, being an ancient woman, might be the reason why she was not among the ladies at the feast in the banqueting house; but came into it, without being sent for, on hearing the consternation and distress the king and his lords were in, and the moanful despairing words they expressed on this occasion: (Gill).
She is fascinating in that she has commanded the attention of so many commentators and I must confess that she stirs my own curiosity. She knew a lot about Nebuchadnezzar and must have been at least 90 years old when she came into the troubled banquet hall. She was not included in the early clatter of the wild party and was probably the ongoing connection between her young grandson king and the past of Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar could have sent word for her to come quickly or she could have heard through her private connections and could have come on her own. At least there did not seem to be any fear of being rebuffed for being pushy.
She would have been called in by the king and not by the king AND his lords. It did not take a whole committee to call in the queen mother. So it seems most likely that she was being informed all along and at some point, on her own, made her way to Belshazzar to try to be of help to him. She still had a sharp mind and was an aggressive type. This was what the king needed.
I believe she probably shared the faith of her late husband, Nebuchadnezzar, whom I believe we will see in Heaven. In the providence of God, not only was Daniel preserved, but this old queen had also been kept alive and positioned in a room not far away for this special hour. Think about it: waiting in the wings for many years to give a three-minute speech to her grandson in the presence of the ruling leaders of all the provinces of the kingdom of Babylon. That was her job.
Do you wonder sometimes if your life ever amounts to anything or have you done anything significant in the service of the Lord? Perhaps some have had a lot of birthdays and you wonder what you can do now. But be assured that God knows what He is doing and there may be an important three-minute testimony you will give somewhere that fits in perfectly with God's purpose for your life. Or perhaps you are an ongoing testimony by your words and by your faithful service right where you are. So……bloom where you are planted. And have a nice day! Don't you just love this story about the Queen Mother?
Memory Verse for this week:
(1Th 4:13)But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (1Th 4:13) (See 1Th 4:13-18).
A cluster of six verses on the second coming of Christ will be presented as memory verses, one verse per week. I hope you will work faithfully on each verse, each week and master the six verses as a group. Begin a new verse on Sunday evening. Go over it and all the others you have memorized, five times a day. You will treasure them the rest of your life and be able to share them again and again. "May I say my verses to you?"
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