Daniel 5 - Handwriting on the wall

Last time we went over Daniel 4. And we learned about King Nebuchadnezzar’s shift in understanding of God’s sovereignty. Realizing God is in the one in power of everything and that there is no other god. It took the King having to witness multiple miracles over the course of 30 years and eventually being completely humbled by having his human mind taken away and taking on the mind of an animal for 7 years. Then he finally looked up to heaven, his sanity returned, and he praised and worshiped and honored God.

Now I wonder what the rest of King Nebuchadnezzar’s days were like, but here in the next chapter, chapter 5, we skip ahead about 15 years. And we’re reading about a different King of Babylon. And in this chapter we also read about the fall of Babylon.

[ Prayer ]

Now let’s start by reading the first 9 verses.

[ Body ]

Daniel 5:1–9 NLT

1 Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. 3 So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6 and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. 7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!” 8 But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. 9 So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.

So we’re introduced to the new King here. King Belshazzar. And from my reading of the NLT it reads that King Nebuchadnezzar was his predecessor. Now in some other translations, predecessor is read as “his father”. The meaning of the word here for predecessor really means ancestor. And from history we know that King Nebuchadnezzar was actually the grandfather of Belshazzar. So that’s the relationship here. You might be thinking how did the grandson end up with the Kingship and not one of his sons, because he had 3. How Belshazzar received his kingship was a little complicated. King Nebuchadnezzar was in power for about 43-44 years. After his death there was a bit of a power struggle in the family. The Kingship passed between Nebuchadnezzar’s sons, sons-in-laws, and eventually grandson through the course of 6-7 years. Some ruled for months and others for years. And eventually Nabonidus, Nebuchadnezzar’s son-in-law ended up being King, but he wasn’t around much and typically was living elsewhere. So Nabonidus gave his son, Belshazzar, authority to rule. So this was more of a coregency between Nabonidus and Belshazzar. Pretty bizarre situation, but that is how we get to Belshazzar here noted as King.

So back to what we read here in scripture, King Belshazzar, his wives, concubines and nobles are having a party. Drinking wine, and probably lots of it. And at some point Belshazzar decides, hey how about we drink from the gold and silver cups that was taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Since they were from the temple, these would be sacred items. Which were some of the items that we read about in Daniel chapter 1 when King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. And we discussed then how taking sacred items was likely done as a sign stating “our gods are better than your God”. It was a sign of dominance.

And now Belshazzar dishonors God by taking these sacred cups and using them to not just get drunk and treating them like common cups, but also in the process they are worshipping their idols. This would be a way of the sign of dominance again, mocking God by using these cups in the process of worshipping their idols.

Then things get really interesting, a floating hand comes out of nowhere and begins writing on the wall. Have you ever heard or used that phrase, “I can see the writing on the wall”. It’s a phrase used up to this day that means I can tell that something bad is about to happen. And that phrase comes from this situation here in chapter 5.

And as you’d expect the King was terrified. The New King James Version translation reads that the “joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other”. And just like when Nebuchadnezzar was ever afraid of how God would send a message to him, Belshazzar calls in his nobles and asks for an interpretation. Willing to give just about anything for it. And of course, none of his nobles can figure it out. Just like all the other situations when God sends a message to the King.

Let’s continue on:

Daniel 5:10–12 NLT

10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king—your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar—made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

Thank goodness there was someone in the kingdom that could recall the miraculous things God would do through Daniel. Although we don’t know exactly who the queen mother is, usually that’s a term that would refer to the mother of the king. So this could be Belshazzar’s mom. And she has to come and calm him down, as he’s trembling on the floor. But she has no concern, knowing that Daniel can handle the situation without a problem. But one thing to note here is her understanding of how Daniel has this knowledge. She refers to multiple gods, saying Daniel has “within him the spirit of the gods”. Just like what Nebuchadnezzar had struggled with, before God humbled him. Seems like no one in the family learned what Nebuchadnezzar had gone through and testified to.

Let’s read on:

Daniel 5:13–24 NLT

13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. 15 My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. 16 I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” 17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. 20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them. 22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.

So just like usual, Daniel is called in by the king, get’s the update on what’s going on, no one else is able to help, and he’s offered many treasures and authority if he’s able to read and interpret the message. Also, when Daniel is offered 3rd highest position that could have meant more like second in command, since Nabonidus and Belshazzar were a coregency. But worldly possessions don’t matter to Daniel. He rubs it all off, just give them to someone else, regardless though explaining the dream isn’t a problem.

Then Belshazzar gets quite a lecture for his failures. Basically Daniel puts it all out there on how Belshazzar had not learned anything from his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar is called out for knowing what God had done through his grandfather, and yet failing to honor God. And now he is held accountable. And the judgment is in the message from the writing on the wall:

Let’s read on:

Daniel 5:25–31 NLT

25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean: Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. 27 Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. 28 Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

You see Mene written twice at the beginning, and whenever the same thing is said twice in the Bible, it’s a meaning of emphasis. And as we can read, Belshazzar’s reign did come to an end very fast from the time of receiving this message. It was that night that he was killed and Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians.

Babylon was obviously a great and huge city of the most powerful empire in the world, so how could it fall so suddenly. The King is partying and later that night he’s killed.

There’s different historical documents talking about the fall of Babylon, and many of them are written as Babylon was taken over without battle. Which seems to line up with how it’s documented here in the Bible, pretty abrupt. There was a man named Herodotus who wrote a lot of history from these ancient times. He’s known as “The Father of History” because of how much he wrote. He claimed that the walls of Babylon were 56 miles (90 km) long, 80 feet (24 m) thick, and 320 feet (97 m) high. It sounds impenetrable. Herodotus also documented how they the Medes and Persians got into Babylon. The Babylonians being so big and powerful, could do whatever they wanted, so they actually diverted the Euphrates river to go through there city. That’s obviously a huge benefit to have flowing water going right through your city. Now Cyrus, who was the king of Persia, had his armies go upstream and divert the river somewhere else. This led to the riverbed drying up that was going through Babylon, and they walked right into the city and took it over. Very clever thinking. And I know we heard Darius’s name at the end of this chapter ruling over Babylon. The Medes and Persians came together as an alliance. Darius the Mede was put in place as King over Babylon. But the Persian King was Cyrus.

What’s really cool about this chapter, is we’re reading about prophecy fulfilled. Yes Daniel just told Belshazzar that the Medes and Persians are going to successfully take over. And we read earlier in Daniel about the dream King Nebuchadnezzar had and that eventually Babylon would fall. But we can also read about this from Jeremiah and Isaiah.

In Isaiah 45 and 48 you can read about Cyrus being God’s anointed one who will free God’s people from the Babylonians. And keep in mind, Cyrus hadn’t even been born at this time.

And then also in Jeremiah. And I want to start with the punishment that the Israelites were warned that was coming, which was to be ruled by Babylon.

Jeremiah 27:6–7 NLT

6 Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. 7 All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon.

And we see Daniel saying the same things when he interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. But you see here it says the nations will be under Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and then his grandson, who is Belshazzar. When his time is up, Babylon will fall.

And then in Jeremiah 51:11

Jeremiah 51:11 NLT

11 Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields! For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes to march against Babylon and destroy her. This is his vengeance against those who desecrated his Temple.

This is exactly what we just read at the end of Daniel 5. Knowing this scripture, you gotta assume that Daniel was really just waiting for this time. He would have known the prophecies, and when he saw the writing on the wall he knew this is going to be the fulfillment of prophecy from Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Now there are things here that we can apply directly to our lives. One is to look at how God examined Belshazzar.

I’m going to read verse 27 again: “Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.“ Now every human has fallen short, because we are contaminated with sin and cannot save ourselves. But when we think why is God being so harsh towards him, he gave his grandfather soo much grace before he finally came to the realization of the Most High God. But as we read earlier, Belshazzar knew everything that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had gone through and learned. So he had it easier, he was able to witness it all, and he rejected it. He went with the way of the pagans. And so he was held even more accountable. God is just, and although no-one has an excuse to reject God because of creation. We are also accountable for how we respond with how much we’ve been blessed.

2 Peter 2:21 NLT

21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.

Belshazzar rejected what had been laid out so clearly to him.

Proverbs 16:2 NLT

2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.

Doesn’t matter how good something looks on the outside, God is looking right into our soul. Looking at our hearts and checking our motives. There’s no hiding anything.

Obviously this is not promoting any sort of works based gospel. But this made me think of all that I’ve been blessed with in terms of the ways God has shown and proven his goodness and power to me and the Godly people he has surrounded me with for examples. I have the opportunity to study the Bible and pray freely. But yet, I still stumble with silly foolish things and forget to honor God at times. We’re accountable for all our actions. When God looks at my motives, what is he seeing, how am I weighing up to the balances? It’s a challenging and convicting thought for me. But also makes me that much more thankful for the salvation we have through Christ, who payed the debt for us.