Untitled Sermon (3)

dan 5

The Herods were infamous examples of rulers who blasphemed God and persecuted his people. Herod the Great, a non-Jew, reigned over Israel from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. Though he instigated the rebuilding of the temple, he persecuted the Jews for many years. He became best known for ordering the death of the Jewish babies in Bethlehem two years old and younger in hopes of killing the Messiah (). Within months of this evil deed, Herod the Great was dead. Was this the judgment of God?

When he died, his kingdom was divided into four regions that were ruled by three of his sons. The most famous was Herod Antipas who reigned in Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. He also persecuted God’s people and became best known for having John the Baptist beheaded () and ridiculing Jesus when Pilate sent Jesus to him (). Within six years this Herod too was dead, and his son never ascended the throne. Was this the judgment of God?

Instead, his nephew Herod Agrippa became King of Judea from A.D. 39–44. He picked up where his uncle left off in persecuting God’s people, but now he had a new group called the Church to deal with. Ten years after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the Church was growing like a wildfire, and Herod tried to think of some way to put out the fire. He arrested a large number of disciples in Jerusalem, including James, the brother of the Apostle John. James was the patriarch of Jerusalem, and Herod thought if he could silence James and other key leaders, he could quench the flames of Christianity. So he had James put to death with the sword. Since this pleased the unbelieving Jews who kept him in power, he decided to arrest Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Much to Herod’s surprise, he heard the next morning an unbelievable story. His prize prisoner, whom he was planning to present to the Jews for pubic trial at Passover, had escaped. Herod was told by one of his aides that Peter had been chained to two soldiers, with two other soldiers standing guard. Somehow he broke out of his chains and got away from those four guards. Then he passed by four more armed guards who were standing by the locked inner gate and from there passed by four additional armed guards by the locked central gate. As incredible as it seems, Peter then walked right out of the heavily guarded outer gate that led to the streets of the city of Jerusalem. To top it all off, not one guard saw a thing.

You would think by now Herod might have realized that he was dealing with a power far greater than his own. You would think that after seeing what had happened to his grandfather and uncle after they persecuted God’s people, he could have seen the handwriting on the wall. But as with so many proud, cocky rulers of this world, he did not.

Shortly after killing James and trying to imprison Peter, Herod was seated on his throne addressing some of his loyal subjects. Before he finished speaking, his loyal subjects began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” says, , because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” There is no question that this was the judgment of God! Isaiah had earlier written:

[God] brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. (, )

God is sovereign over the kings and rulers of this world today as well as yesterday. We must be aware of that, but we cannot always say that the death of a ruler is a direct judgment of God for his evil ways.

German leader Adolf Hitler presided over the death of six million Jews and millions of “born-again” Christians. When the Germans were defeated in 1945 and Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in Berlin, was that the judgment of God? Great care and wisdom are needed to discern the hand of God, but that should not lead us to the conclusion that God does not at times intervene and judge the rulers of this world.

shows an obvious example of God bringing his judgment to bear upon a wicked, godless, and arrogant young ruler in Babylon named Belshazzar. This is history with a theological and didactic purpose, which is the significance of what is called “prophetic history.” In this chapter we learn things about the nature of God and what our response to him should be, whether we are a prince or a pauper. Since God is a God of justice, we must humble ourselves before him.

Humility before a just God is what Nebuchadnezzar (Nabonidus) learned through his experience recorded in . This lesson forms his closing message in the last verse of that chapter, setting the stage for chapter 5 and giving fatherly advice to his wild son. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (, emphasis added).

This proposition will be unfolded as we meet the three main characters of this chapter of prophetic history. Through them the author shows us what we must do to walk humbly before our just God. From the example of King Belshazzar we learn that we must avoid profaning God’s holy name. The queen modeled for us one who humbly acknowledged God’s infinite wisdom. And Daniel shows us that we must accept God’s righteous judgments.

WE MUST AVOID PROFANING HIS HOLY NAME (5:1–9)

Life in the magnificent city of Babylon, with its Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, seemed normal on the night of October 12, 539 B.C. The biggest event in town was a huge banquet thrown by King Belshazzar for a thousand of his nobles (5:1). We learn from extrabiblical sources, both cuneiform records and Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon, that the Persians were at that time poised on the plains outside of Babylon ready to take the city.

So why was King Belshazzar hosting this big banquet? There are at least three possibilities. This could have been a show of power the day before the big battle, like the banquet King Xerxes hosted in the days of Esther before he left to try to conquer the Greeks. Knowing the Persians were ready to attack, Belshazzar was perhaps bragging about his power to his nobles. There seems to be no mention of this in the text.

Or, a second possibility, maybe he knew the Persians were at his door, but he also knew he was powerless to do anything about it. The Babylonia Chronicle indicates that just a few days earlier, Cyrus the Persian had defeated Nabonidus and the Babylonian army near Sippar, which was only fifty miles from Babylon. King Belshazzar was co-reigning with his father Nabonidus, and perhaps he knew they were going to lose the battle. So maybe his attitude that night was, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

The third scenario seems most plausible. King Belshazzar was completely oblivious to the fact that Babylon the Great was about to be invaded. Darius, the King of Persia, had conquered his father in his capital city of Tema and moved north to Babylon. In those days there was no fast communication, and King Belshazzar just did not know. He was a riotous, arrogant young man who loved his wine and loved to throw banquets. Banquets like this were celebrated on a regular basis. It just so happened this occurred on the night that Babylon would fall.

This scenario seems most plausible because history records that the Persian army conquered Babylon with a sneak attack. The city of Babylon was considered invincible. There were double walls all around the city, and the walls were too thick to destroy by ancient methods. But the Euphrates River ran right through the middle of the city, and the plan was for some men from the Persian army to go upstream and dam the river. In a few hours the water stopped flowing, and the Persian army walked into the city under the walls using the muddy riverbeds. There was no resistance by the Babylonian army, and Babylon fell that very night as a result of the judgment of God. Why didn’t King Belshazzar see the handwriting on the wall? Oh, but he did.

The Arrogance of Belshazzar (5:2–4)

While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his predecessor [alternate reading in the footnote of the NIV Study Bible] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.… As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. (5:2–4)

His first act of arrogance in profaning the holy name of God was to bring in the gold and silver goblets that his predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. This was Nebuchadnezzar II who had destroyed the temple in 586 B.C. As we saw in the last chapter, he was not the biological father or forefather of King Belshazzar. Belshazzar’s father was Nabonidus, who took the name Nebuchadnezzar for political purposes, but was not blood-related to Nebuchadnezzar the Great.

These gold and silver goblets were holy unto the Lord, like the pieces of the tabernacle the Lord told Moses to make. For example, the altar of incense () was “most holy to the LORD.” There were special instructions on to how to treat this altar. Special poles were made to carry the altar of incense so no human hand would ever touch it. The ark of the covenant was another piece of the tabernacle that was “most holy to the LORD.” It too was to be carried using poles, so no human hand would touch it.

In the days of King David when the Israelites were returning the ark to Jerusalem, they ignored the rule of treating the ark as holy by carrying it with two poles. Instead they set the ark on a new cart. As they were walking, the oxen stumbled, and the ark began to fall off. Uzzah reached out his hand to keep the ark from falling, and God struck him dead instantly “because of his irreverent act” ().

Many people find it difficult to understand why God would do that since Uzzah was only trying to help. Even King David was upset with God. “David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah” (v. 8). What we need to realize is that God is holy, and we are sinful. We are much more filthy than the ground upon which the ark would have fallen. We must not profane the holy things of God. If that is how God treated Uzzah who truly was trying to help, how much more was Belshazzar in trouble by using God’s holy vessels for such revelry. And what about us?

We don’t have the holy temple vessels anymore, but that does not mean there is not an application for us. Paul wrote about this in his letters. “Flee from sexually immorality.… Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (). And in another place he wrote, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you” (). We are the holy vessels of God and should use our bodies only for holy, not profane, ends.

King Belshazzar’s second act of arrogance in profaning the holy name of God was idolatry. Not only did he misuse the holy vessels—he also used them to worship his gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. The Babylonians were polytheists. King Belshazzar did not deny the existence of Yahweh, the God of Israel; rather he brought the gold and silver of Yahweh to join the gold and silver gods he worshiped. By using these golden goblets for wine to drink to the gods of the Babylonians, he was obviously making Yahweh subservient in his mind. And why not? Had not his gods given the Babylonians victory over Israel and their God?

But the God of Israel will not be made subservient to any other god. He says, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (). Again he says, “For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens” (, ). He will not share his glory with another! To do so is idolatry.

The actions of Belshazzar are reminiscent of the actions of the Philistines when they captured the ark of the covenant. They acknowledged the existence of the God of Israel; so they did not destroy the ark. Instead they put it in the temple of their god, Dagon (). They set the ark beside Dagon in a subservient position. The next morning when the priests came to worship, Dagon had fallen on his face. God had made the idol look like he was worshiping Yahweh. The Philistines did not catch the significance of this picture. After all, these were two inanimate objects. Surely Dagon had just fallen over. The next day when the priests entered, Dagon had fallen again, but this time his head and his hands were broken off. Now the Philistines got the message. “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god” (). Yahweh addressed the idolatry dramatically and got their attention. They sent the ark of God back to Israel.

This subtle form of idolatry, acknowledging Yahweh as God but making him equal to or even subservient to other gods, is more prevalent than we may think. A missionary in Taiwan once told me that it is very easy to get a profession of faith in Jesus among the Taiwanese people. The problem is that they put Jesus on their shelf with many other idols. The rub comes when they are encouraged to be baptized. The genuinely born-again Taiwanese surface at this point, because to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is to renounce all idols. When they are baptized, they are often forsaken by family, unable to get jobs, and rejected by their friends.

In America it is very easy to put Jesus on the shelf with our other gods. We worship him on Sunday, but the rest of the week we worship the god of sports, the god of family, the god of money, or the god of pleasure. He will get our attention. The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (). Again the Lord says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another” ().

Christians, wake up before he needs to get your attention. As Yahweh got the attention of the Philistines by knocking the god Dagon off his pedestal, he got the attention of Belshazzar and knocked him off his pedestal too.

The Answer of God (5:5–9)

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

God’s answer was sudden and frightening. With no warning a mysterious hand appeared in midair and started writing an enigmatic message. The arrogant king turned pale, his knees knocked together, and his legs gave way. In his terror he called for his wise men, but they could not help. He turned to his nobles, but they were baffled. Yahweh answered Belshazzar’s blasphemy and arrogance, knocking him off his pedestal!

God’s answer shows again that the wisdom of God confounds the wisdom of men. All the wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. The Lord said through Isaiah, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (quoted in ). He definitely frustrated these wise men. The message, as we will see, was written in their language, but it probably did not have any spaces between the words, and God used that to prevent them from reading the message, much less interpreting it. Where was their great wisdom?

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (, )

God’s answer verified the truthfulness of Scripture once again. The hand wrote the message on “the plaster of the wall.” The throne room of the kings of Babylon was excavated by Koldewey in 1899. Of course, the message was not found, but they did find that the walls were coated with white gypsum. Archaeology once again verified the truthfulness of Scripture, showing this message was not just a figment of someone’s imagination. It appeared on a white wall, and it was written “near the lampstand” so all could see it clearly.

Further evidence of the truthfulness of Scripture is the fact that Belshazzar promised that the one who could interpret the message would “be made third highest ruler in the kingdom.” The reason for “third highest” was not clear for many years until archaeology showed that Belshazzar was co-regent with his father Nabonidus at the time. Thus the highest position in the land after father and son was third in the kingdom.

God’s answer confronted the arrogance, idolatry, and blasphemy of this young ruler. He would not stand by and allow his holy vessels to be profaned in front of all these people. Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall. Tremper Longman III writes:

We do not have to look too far to see contemporary misuses of God’s Word that look eerily similar to Belshazzar’s profanation of the holy vessels. Not everyone who practices a postmodern approach to the Bible is guilty of profanation … however, it is wrong simply to assume the validity of the culture that we happen to live in without submitting it to a biblical critique. Unfortunately, there are too many examples of the reverse, submitting the Bible to a postmodern critique.

One glaring example may be found in a recent interpretation of . (D. J. A. Clines, A World Established on Water: . Valley Forge, Pa: Trinity Press International, 1993, 79–90) This essay’s purpose is to demonstrate an approach to the text as well as to discuss . The author proclaims the postmodern dictum that texts have no determinate meaning. There is no presence, divine or authorial, to rein in our interpretation. We, as readers, can ascribe whatever meaning we like to the text. He promotes the idea that Biblical interpreters should simply cut the cloth of the text to fit the needs of the audience who is paying for our skills. Nonetheless, with a move that seems to fit uneasily with his idea that the text itself has no meaning, he argues that presents a view of God and war that he finds repulsive and argues that we must read “against the grain” of the apparent meaning of this text. Belshazzar takes the holy vessels of God and mocks God by drinking and toasting his idols; is Clines’ treatment of the Bible far removed from this act? (emphasis added)

WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE HIS INFINITE WISDOM (5:10–16)

The banquet hall was in confusion. Belshazzar was shaking in sheer terror. The wise men were quaking, because they might be put to death due to their inability to interpret the handwriting on the wall (cf. ). And the nobles were faking it, trying to stay cool, calm, and collected. The queen was near enough that she could hear the frightened voices of the king and the nobles. Though not in the banquet hall, she figured out that the wise men could not interpret the message. Without formal invitation, she entered the hall. “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!” (5:10).

The Remembrance of the Queen (5:11–12)

There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your predecessor [NIV margin] he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor [NIV margin]—your predecessor [NIV margin] the king, I say—appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.

The king referred to here is King Nebuchadnezzar II. He is the one who made Daniel chief of the magi (2:48) and named him Belteshazzar (1:7). Daniel was very close to this king, and that ruler gave glory to the God of Israel: “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings” (2:47).

We know the king who is referred to in these verses, but who is this queen? She is not the wife of Belshazzar, because his wives and concubines were in the banquet hall (5:2). “She has not been attending the party, but she enters at the moment of crisis, acting with authority and dignified confidence.” This would indicate that perhaps she was the queen mother, a figure of importance in most Near Eastern societies. Ever since Josephus, the queen here has been identified as the queen mother.

But whose mother was she? If she was Belshazzar’s mother, the wife of Nabonidus, we do not know her name. She could not be his grandmother, the mother of Nabonidus, Adad-guppi, because she died a few years before this fateful night. She could have been Nebuchadnezzar the Great’s wife, Nitocris, who was still influential two decades after her husband’s death in 562 B.C. This may be the most likely possibility because of her emphasized reference to her husband when she spoke to Belshazzar. “King Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor [NIV margin]—your predecessor [NIV margin] the king, I say” (5:11). In addition, Herodotus, the Greek historian, celebrates her wisdom in his writings.

Whoever she was, she knew where to go to get the answer to the puzzle that even Belshazzar’s wise men could not solve. “There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your predecessor [NIV margin] he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom” (5:11). We don’t know who the queen mother was, much less anything about her faith, but she did acknowledge that Daniel’s God dwelt in him and had given him superior wisdom. Even unbelievers can recognize this.

I think of the men who were involved in the founding of our nation. Not all the Founding Fathers were Christians, but there was a reverence for and acceptance of the wisdom of the Word of God. They established a government based on the Scriptures. They based the laws of the land upon the Word of God. Many acknowledged the wisdom of God in the Scriptures even though they did not believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Even the principal of the public high school I attended in the sixties began each day reading from the “wisdom of God” as he called it, reading from the Psalms or Proverbs over the loudspeaker. He was not even a professing Christian.

As Christians, we need to publicly acknowledge the wisdom of God found in the Scriptures and encourage people to search the Scriptures for answers to this world’s problems. When we do, we need to keep in mind the words that God spoke to Ezekiel:

The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says.” And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. (, )

The Response of the King (5:13–16)

So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my predecessor [NIV margin] the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

Belshazzar seemed cynical and condescending toward Daniel, who now was an old man. He reminded Daniel from the start that he was one of the Jewish exiles. He must have known of Daniel because Daniel had been chief of the magi for at least forty years, and though he was now in his eighties, he still was highly respected. Maybe the king did not call him earlier because of his disdain for Nebuchadnezzar II or because of his disdain for Daniel’s God. Another way you can see the king’s low view of Daniel was in contrast to the queen. The queen mother acknowledged that Daniel had “the spirit of the holy gods in him,” whereas Belshazzar simply said that he “heard” that the spirit of the gods was in him. He did not acknowledge the infinite wisdom of God. But he was desperate and was willing to let anyone help him.

Do you acknowledge the infinite wisdom of God and seek first his wisdom in the pages of Scripture to keep your life free from the pain of the consequences of disobedience to his commands? Or do you turn to him only as a last resort when you are desperate? So many people live as though God’s wisdom is unimportant and irrelevant to daily living. They hear about it, but they don’t pursue it. Then their life gets messed up by sinful choices, and they cry out to God. Like Belshazzar, they make promises to God of riches from their pocket if he will only help them this once.

A professing Christian I once knew had lived a very undisciplined, ungodly life. He was not kind to his wife. He abused alcohol and had virtually destroyed his business. He had also been unfaithful to his wife on several occasions. We tried to get him involved in Bible studies, but he was not interested. We encouraged him to be consistent in worship, but he preferred to be at the stadium. We challenged him to read his Bible on his own daily, but he said he did not have time. He had no interest in seeking the wisdom of God for his life. He wanted to pursue pleasure.

When he realized that he was about to lose everything, he cried out to the Lord and came back to the people of the church for help. One of the members took him to a program to overcome the alcohol and drug abuse. He met with me and made a promise to meet with me weekly for discipleship. He also promised to attend church regularly on the Lord’s Day for both morning and evening worship. But these turned out to be vain promises just to get his family back; he really was not interested in the wisdom of God any more than Belshazzar was. The man was soon separated from his wife and back on the bottle. He just could not see the handwriting on the wall.

WE MUST ACCEPT HIS JUST JUDGMENTS (5:17–31)

Daniel waited patiently for his turn to speak. Unimpressed with the king’s offer of riches and power, Daniel responded, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means” (5:17). Daniel would first deliver a message to Belshazzar and then tell him the meaning of the inscription. In spite of the king’s insolence, Daniel greeted him with respect for his office; but you can detect the prophet’s annoyance and dislike for this cocky, young monarch.

The Message of Daniel (5:18–24)

O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. (5:18–21)

Daniel first reminds the king of the humbling experience of his biological father Nabonidus, also known as Nebuchadnezzar III. When the king’s father’s heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, the Lord humbled him by deposing him from his royal throne and stripping him of his glory. Belshazzar had seen how God dealt with his father’s pride and should have learned an important lesson about pride and arrogance. He should have seen the handwriting on the wall in his own life. He also should have learned from what happened when his father repented and acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. His father was graciously restored to his right mind and his royal throne. Daniel then turned his attention to the pride of Belshazzar.

But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. (vv. 22–24)

Calvin wrote, “I have no doubt that he meant to speak roughly to the ungodly Belshazzar, a man beyond hope.” God’s patience ran out with Belshazzar. Paul writes in , , “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

The king foolishly honored gods of silver and gold who cannot see, hear, or understand, while dishonoring the true God who held Belshazzar’s life and all his ways in his divine, cosmic scales. He had stored up wrath against himself, and now he was going to experience the humiliation of the judgment of God.

The Meaning of the Inscription (5:25–31)

“This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN” (5:25). Daniel was given the responsibility of reading the handwriting on the wall and delivering the bad news to the king.

This is what these words mean: MENE: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. TEKEL: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. PERES [singular of Parsin]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (5:26–28)

Al Wolters argues that the reason the Babylonian wise men could not read the inscription was because it was continuous script without vocalization. They would have seen the following handwriting on the wall: mnʾtqlprs. Typical of writing language in those days and in that part of the world, it contained only consonants with no vowel pointings.

God gave Daniel special insight into this message. Daniel first understood that it was three words each with three letters. Then he understood that the words could have three different meanings depending on the vowel pointing used. This explains Daniel’s interpretation of the handwriting on the wall.

He first considered the vowel pointing for these words and interpreted them as nouns. That is how he arrived at the three words: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. Considering them as nouns, they are three kinds of Babylonian coins: the mina, the shekel, and half a shekel.

Now when he takes the same three words and gives then verbal vowel pointings, they are actually passive participles. MENE is related to the verb m-n-h, “numbered.” TEKEL is related to the verb t-q-l, “weighed.” And PARSIN is related to the verb p-r-s, “divided.” This explains why Daniel interpreted these three words on the wall as follows. MENE: “God has numbered the days of your reign”; TEKEL: “You have been weighed on the scales”; and PARSIN: “Your kingdom is divided.”

Now there is one more level of understanding for these three words using a third set of vowel pointings (menah, tiqqal, paras). These indicate the consequences of God’s judgment on Babylonia: “He has paid out, you are too light (the pe’al of qll), and Persia.” Look at the last phrase of Daniel’s interpretation of the three words. “MENE: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. TEKEL: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. PERES: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Belshazzar now saw the handwriting on the wall, and he knew his kingdom would come to an end. He ordered that Daniel be clothed in purple with a gold chain placed around his neck. He proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the land (5:29). Though there is no evidence of repentance, the king appeared to resign himself to the reality of God’s coming judgment upon him. He accepted the judgment of God.

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments” (, ). Daniel accepted the just judgment of God as well and delivered the message of doom without wavering. Think how risky it would be to tell a proud, rebellious king in front of all of his nobles that his kingdom is about to end. Belshazzar could have been so angry at the message that he would kill the messenger. If Daniel had that fear, he could have made up an interpretation of the handwriting on the wall that would have been more favorable, and no one would have ever known. He could have said, “That inscription means God loves you, and so do I.” But Daniel accepted the judgment of God as true and just; so he did not hide the message.

I wish preachers today would not hide the message of God’s judgment upon the sins of men. Many must not believe God’s judgments are true or just, because they do not warn the people of the coming wrath of God. God’s coming judgment upon this nation ought to be resounding from the pulpits of our land. What nation can exist very long whose laws call evil good and good evil?

We prohibit prayer at high school football games and demand that homosexuals be allowed in the Boy Scouts. We acquit a murderer because he is famous and kill unborn babies for money and convenience. We are a nation of idolatry and greed. We have embraced sexual immorality as a way of life and have a high rate of divorce. The list could go on and on, but we have to see the handwriting on the wall for America. If we preach the gospel and believe that God is a just God who judges nations, then we need to sound the warning boldly like Daniel and the other prophets did. God calls us to be watchmen.

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’ Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.” ()

Babylon had two proud kings, father and son. One was humbled and given a heart of repentance; so his life and kingdom were spared for a time. I would not be surprised to see Nabonidus in Heaven one day. The other was humiliated in front of his wives, nobles, and concubines but did not repent of his pride. “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two” (5:30, 31). Belshazzar was a man who had it all—a wealthy king of the once most powerful nation in the world who became a fool and lost it all. Jesus said, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” ().

On the other hand, if you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you get it all. The story is told of a father who had one son. He was the apple of his eye. The father was a collector of art, and when his son was old enough, he took him around the world to teach him how to collect the finest paintings at the best price. Over the years this man’s house became quite a museum of fine art, from Picasso to Raphael.

One day his son responded to the call of his country to go to war. The father kissed the son and proudly, though reluctantly, sent him off to the conflict. He received word a few weeks later that his son had been killed in battle saving the life of another man. Stricken with grief, the man would not leave the house.

Some weeks later a soldier appeared at his door with a large wrapped package under his arm. The soldier said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart, and he died instantly. He often talked about you and your love for art.”

He did not know how to say thank you to the father, but he knew he loved paintings. The soldier was not a painter, but he had tried his hand at painting a picture of the beloved son. The father took the wrapping off the portrait and wept as he saw his son. It was not a good painting, but it had a good resemblance. The soldier had captured the personality of the son in the painting.

The father thanked the man for the painting and offered to pay. The soldier replied, “Oh no, sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. This is a gift.”

The father placed the portrait upon the mantel and looked at it every day. As the man became older, dealers in the area began to makes plans for the day he would auction off all his paintings. Soon the day came that the man died, and the date of the auction was set.

The auctioneer began by holding up the painting of the man’s son. “We will start the bidding with this picture of his son. Who will bid for this picture?” There was silence.

The buyers complained, “Forget about that amateur portrait—let’s get to the good stuff. We’re here for the famous paintings.”

The auctioneer said that it was in the will of the father that this painting should go first. He insisted, “What am I bid for this painting of the son? One hundred dollars? Two hundred dollars?” No one offered a bid.

“We want the treasures,” they complained. “Give us the treasures. We want to bid on the true works of art. Give us van Gogh and Rembrandt. Get on with the real bids.”

An old man in the back of the room had been the gardener of the father and the son. So he raised his hand and bid ten dollars.

“Is there another bid?” asked the auctioneer. Hearing no one he said, “Going once, going twice, sold for ten dollars.” He banged the gavel and announced that the auction was over.

All the art dealers began protesting loudly. “How can you say the auction is over when we haven’t had a chance to bid on the good paintings? Let’s start bidding on the treasures.”

The auctioneer announced with a smile, “It was in the will of the father that he who gets the son, gets it all.”

Stortz, R., & Hughes, R. K. (2004). Daniel: the triumph of God’s kingdom (pp. 72–88). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.