Daniel 5:1-31 The Writing on the Wall
Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 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. 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. While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
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, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.
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!”
But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.
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. 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. 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.”
Who was Belshazzar? David Guzik in his Enduring Word Commentary gives us the answer: “When we come to Daniel 5, Nebuchadnezzar is no longer the king of Babylon. How did it pass from Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar? The ancient historian Berosus gives us the following order of events:
· Nebuchadnezzar died after a 43-year reign.
· His son, Evil-Merodach (described in 2 Kings 25:27-30 and Jeremiah 52:31-34) ruled for only two years when he was assassinated by his brother-in-law Neriglassar, because his rule was arbitrary and licentious.
· Neriglassar (mentioned as Nergalsharezer in Jeremiah 39:3, 13) ruled for four years until he died a natural death.
· His son, Laborosoarchod, only a child and of diminished mental capacity, ruled for only nine months when he was beaten to death by a gang of conspirators.
· The conspirators appointed Nabonidus, one of their gang, to be king. He ruled until Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon.
b. Belshazzar the king: For a long time, historians and archaeologists knew that Nabonidus was said to be the last king of Babylon, not Belshazzar (who was Nabonidus’ eldest son). The solution to this so-called discrepancy was apparent when evidence was uncovered indicating not only Belshazzar’s association with Nabonidus on the throne, but also demonstrating that during the last part of his reign Nabonidus lived in Arabia and left the conduct of the Kingdom of Babylon to his eldest son Belshazzar. i. There was no additional mention of Belshazzar, the eldest son and co-regent with Nabonidus, until the Nabonidus Cylinder was discovered in this century. It is now displayed in the British Museum.
ii. According to Babylonian records, Belshazzar became co-regent in the third year of Nabonidus’ reign (553 B.C.) and continued in that capacity till the fall of Babylon (539 B.C.).
iii. It is most likely that at the time of Daniel 5, Nabonidus had gone out to fight the Medo-Persian army and had been already captured. Those armies now surrounded Babylon, and were looking for a way into the strongly defended city.”
With the Medes surrounding the city, Belshazzar threw a party for his nobles and brought out the vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the temple in Jerusalem so that his nobles could drink wine from these consecrated objects. Evidently, Belshazzar had already proven himself to be foolish and had refused to learn anything from the sufferings of his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar. When Belshazzar desecrated the holy vessels from the temple in Jerusalem by drinking from them and praising demons rather than the One True Living God, he sealed his fate and that of his city.
God proceeded to write a warning with his finger on the wall. It’s possible that the writing was in Hebrew, a language none of the Babylonian magicians and astrologers would have understood. Obviously, the queen mother was not part of the orgy at the palace and she had far more sense than did her son, for she remembered Daniel. It’s also obvious that by this time, Daniel had faded into the background while the Babylonian astrologers and magicians had gained favor, likely because they would tell the king what he wanted to hear.
The story of the handwriting on the wall has passed into common parlance and is now used to indicate a warning that should be obvious to the meanest observer. The spectacle described in this story reminds me of a video I saw years ago about a family who chose to have a “hurricane party,” remaining in their home rather than evacuating from the path of the storm as did their neighbors. Already drunk, the husband insisted that everything would be fine. Sadly, the house was mostly destroyed and the innocent wife, who had pleaded to evacuate, was killed when struck by a falling beam. The last scene of the video showed the husband, now sober, grieving as he realized the results of his poor judgment.
We might read this story and feel complacent or even superior. After all, we would never do such a thing; we would certainly heed God’s warnings. But is that statement true? Through the years, we have watched as people have tried to convince themselves that there were no problems in a situation when major issues were already in abundance. Misplaced loyalties, fear of betrayal, fear of others discovering malfeasance-there are all kinds of reasons why people will steadfastly ignore God’s handwriting on the wall. May we confess our sins regularly, so that when God wants to show us something, we are prepared to receive it.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to keep close accounts with You, confessing our sins swiftly so that when You want to tell us something, we will be prepared to receive it. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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