Daniel 5:1-31

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

(ESV)

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About thirty years after the events of chapter four, Nebuchadnezzar had been replaced by Nabonidus, and Belshazzar, his son, was co-regent. Nabonidus had just suffered a crushing defeat by the Persians and fled. Only Babylon held out. While the Persians lay siege to Babylon, Belshazzar hosted a large banquet for thousands of his nobles. Perhaps he held the celebration to boost the morale of his subjects. Babylon had a strong wall, the Euphrates river ran through the city and they had a stockpile of food to last years. As the wine flowed, Belshazzar ordered that the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought in and everyone gathered drank from them. They not only drank from these vessels, but used them to praise their idols of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. This was an act of sacrilege and blasphemy against the God of Israel.

The celebration was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a human hand that wrote four words onto the plaster of the wall. The king got a huge fright. His colour left his face, his legs became weak and his knees knocked together. He immediately called for the wise men of Babylon to interpret the writing on the wall. He offered a reward of being placed third in charge within the kingdom (after him and his father) along with royal robes and a chain of gold. The wise men came in but they could not decipher the meaning of the writing.

The queen, or perhaps the queen mother, heard about the situation and came to the banquet hall. She reminded Belshazzar about Daniel, a man in the kingdom who had the spirit of the holy gods whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed as chief over the wise men of Babylon. Daniel had been able to interpret dreams and solve problems for king Nebuchadnezzar so she advised Belshazzar to call him in to interpret the words on the wall.

The king offered Daniel the same reward he had offered his wise men if he could interpret the writing. Daniel refused the king’s offer. He likely wanted to make it clear that God’s help could not be bought. First Daniel reminded Belshazzar of his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar who had built a great nation but allowed his heart to become proud. God had humbled him by removing his sanity and leaving him to live and eat with animals until he acknowledged God was the Most High and had the sovereign right to establish the rulers of human kingdoms by His will. With knowledge of what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, how could Belshazzar have acted with similar pride against the Lord of heaven? He had taken the vessels from God’s house and used them to worship manmade idols which do not see or hear or know anything. At the same time, he had refused to honour God who has control over his every breath.

Then Daniel interpreted the writing. There were four words inscribed, “mene, mene, tekel, and parsin”. The individual words would have been understood as “numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided”. But together their message was not understood. Daniel explained that God had numbered the days of his kingdom and brought it to an end. Belshazzar’s reign had been weighed or measured and found wanting. As with all of us, the king’s actions were placed on one side of the scale and God’s holiness and laws on the other and he was shown to be deficient. Belshazzar’s life didn’t measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. Finally, his kingdom was going to be destroyed or dissolved and given to the Medes and Persians.

Belshazzar rewarded Daniel with all he had promised but the reward was worthless because that very night the king was killed as the Persians invaded Babylon and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom aged sixty-two years old.

If you compare your life to Belshazzar, the scales might tip in your favour. But when your life is put on the scales against God’s righteousness, the Bible tells us we all fall short. The only way we can measure up is if Christ puts His life on the scales instead of ours. While we were God’s enemies, Christ died for us so that we can be reconciled with God and not face His wrath (Romans 5:8-11). If you have not placed your faith in Jesus for your salvation, there is no better time than right now (Eph 2:8-9; John 11:25-26). Only Belshazzar got writing on the wall to tell him his life was going to be taken from him that same night.


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