God set up King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon into his position of power, but the king became proud and did not acknowledge the LORD or that his power was given to him by the LORD.
The king had a dream and Daniel, one of the exiles of Israel, was the only person who could interpret it. Daniel told the king that the dream was a warning that the king's downfall was coming. (Read Daniel, Chapter 4).
This is what happened as written in Daniel 4:28-33:
"All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, 'Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?'”
The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, 'This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes.'
Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird."
Seven years later, the king's sanity and reign was restored to him after he acknowledged the LORD's overall authority over government heads.
Later on, in Daniel Chapter 5, King Nebuchadnezzar's son, Belshazzar. became king and was in his palace having a great banquet. King Belshazzar was using the golden goblets taken from the LORD's temple to serve drinks in, contemptuously; No doubt, he knew all about what had happened to his father previously, but he dismissed it all. (Read Daniel 5:22-23)
Then, the king saw the fingers of a hand writing these words into the plaster of the wall:
"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN" (Daniel 5:25)
He brought Daniel in to interpret the words. Daniel did so in Daniel 5: 22-28, but first Daniel reminded the king of what had happened earlier to his father, King Nebuchadnezzar, because of his pride. Daniel then said:
26 “This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Daniel 5:30-31 reads:
30 "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two."
The LORD also put King Cyrus, the Persian, into power over the vast region, including Babylon.
The wonderful thing is that around 150 years before King Cyrus was brought into power, the Prophet Isaiah prophesied by the LORD that Cyrus (calling him by name) would freely let the nation of Israel return to their own land from exile in Babylon. Read Isaiah 44:24-28, Isaiah 45:1-7 and Isaiah 45:13. The Lord brought Cyrus into power in order to have him release Israel from captivity in Babylon.
Even though Cyrus did not know the LORD or acknowledge Him, the LORD used him to fulfill His purposes anyway. Read Isaiah 45:5.
By the LORD, the Prophet Jeremiah prophesied vividly about King Belshazzar's drinking party/banquet in Jeremiah 51:39, 44, and 57. In Jeremiah 51:44, Jeremiah even mentions King "Bel" by name. Jeremiah specifically mentions that the Medes would do battle with Babylon in Jeremiah 51: 11 and 51:28.
God is in control.
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