{"content":[{"text":"Background Study:","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.05777,"width":0.315156,"height":0.03307}},{"text":"The people of God had been in Babylonian captivity almost 70 years. More than twenty","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.110677,"width":0.829403,"height":0.018740000000000007}},{"text":"years had passed since King Nebuchadnezzar died. It seems that Daniel became less","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.139654,"width":0.807968,"height":0.018740000000000007}},{"text":"active in government business after Nebuchadnezzar’s death.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.168632,"width":0.588597,"height":0.018740000000000007}},{"text":"The new leader of the Babylonian empire was Nabonidus, probably a son-in-law of","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.221757,"width":0.784354,"height":0.018740000000000007}},{"text":"Nebuchadnezzar. Much of the time he was away from Babylon, and his son Belshazzar","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.250734,"width":0.825171,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"was in charge there. There were big military problems going on but Belshazzar seems to","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.279711,"width":0.8462609999999999,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"be devoting more time to parties than military strategy. This is too bad because while he","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.308688,"width":0.845859,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"is having this particular feast, the Medes and Persians are gathering outside the city.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.337666,"width":0.813743,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"Wine and drinking is mentioned a lot and it seems the king and his guests became drunk.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.390791,"width":0.852909,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"Losing his good judgment, Belshazzar decided to show off the gold and silver cups and","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.419768,"width":0.827577,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"bowls that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem nearly seventy years","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.448745,"width":0.851801,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"before. Items from the temple had been dedicated to God. It was insulting to Him to have","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.477722,"width":0.852796,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"these used in a drunken feast.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.5067,"width":0.287096,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"The mysterious fingers wrote their message on the plastered wall where they could be","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.559825,"width":0.825317,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"seen clearly because the light was good. The lamp stand probably was a stand holding","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.588802,"width":0.823515,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"several oil lamps.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.617779,"width":0.16618100000000002,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"As he read the message, the king stopped laughing. Verse 6 is a great verse to read out to","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.670904,"width":0.859448,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"the class because it graphically depicts how frightened the king really was. He sent for","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.699882,"width":0.829962,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"the best astrologers and diviners so that they could interpret the writing. They could not","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.728859,"width":0.845174,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"interpret it. The queen then suggested that they send for Daniel.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.757836,"width":0.6168469999999999,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"Daniel had a history of interpreting dreams. Years before he had interpreted a number of","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.810961,"width":0.851917,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"dreams for King Nebuchadnezzar. These are found in Daniel 2 and 4.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.839938,"width":0.660139,"height":0.01873999999999998}},{"text":"When Daniel arrived he told Belshazzar that the king was arrogant and had insulted God.","bbox":{"left":0.069477,"top":0.893063,"width":0.853077,"height":0.01873999999999998}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}