Daniel 5:13-31 Daniel Explains the Writing
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? I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. 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.”
Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 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. But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 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.
“You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 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! So God has sent this hand to write this message.
“This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. This is what these words mean: Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 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. That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian[e] king, was killed. And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
Belshazzar threw a feast for his nobles, trusting in the strong defenses of the city of Babylon. Again, Guzik gives us this information: “Belshazzar was not afraid of the siege surrounding the city. He was confident because of Babylon’s impressive defenses and his vast supplies.
i. Conservative calculations set the dimensions of the ancient city of Babylon like this:
· The outer walls were 17 miles (27 kilometers) long.
· These walls were 22 feet (7 meters) thick and 90 feet (28 meters) high.
· The outer walls also had guard towers another 100 feet (30 meters) high.
· The city gates were made of bronze.
· A system of inner and outer walls and moats made the city very secure.”
But if all these defenses were there, how did the Medes conquer Babylon?
“The ancient Greek historian Herodotus relates that the Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylon by diverting the flow of the Euphrates into a nearby swamp. This lowered the level of the river so his troops marched through the water and under the river-gates. They still would not have been able to enter had not the bronze gates of the inner walls been left inexplicably unlocked. This was exactly what God predicted in Isaiah 44:28-45:7 and Jeremiah 51:57-58. God opened the gates of the city of Babylon for Cyrus, and put it in writing 200 years before it happened.
Isaiah 45:1-2 “This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again. This is what the Lord says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains.I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.”
Jeremiah 51:57-58 says, “I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her captains, officers, and warriors. They will fall asleep and never wake up again!” says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her massive gates will be burned. The builders from many lands have worked in vain, for their work will be destroyed by fire!”
i. “In October 539 BC, Cyrus advanced into lower Mesopotamia and, leaving Babylon till last, conquered and occupied the surrounding territory. Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Nabonidus of Babylon deserted his city, leaving it in the charge of his son Belshazzar… the taking of Babylon was as bloodless and effortless as Daniel 5 implies.” (Motyer, in his commentary on Isaiah)
ii. The fall of mystery Babylon will be like the fall of real Babylon – sudden, sure, and in the midst of her worst blasphemies. “Empires do not stand by human might, man-made machines and missiles. There is not a wall high enough nor thick enough to prevent a nation from falling when God pronounces that nation’s doom.” (Strauss)
Belshazzar was trying to bolster his courage by conducting an orgy and praising useless deities. But when the One True Living God weighed in, none of Babylon’s defenses were sufficient. Today many of us are horrified at Russia’s war against Ukraine; yet, God can still deliver Ukraine if enough of us pray persistently. From Daniel’s youth, he was accustomed to pray several times a day, and he continued that practice until he died. May we consistently and persistently turn to God, confessing, praising, worshiping, and requesting. God has promised to hear us and to answer. It is left to us to obey.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we praise You for Your glorious might and Your power over the affairs of men. Graciously look upon Ukraine and deliver her from this unjust war. Help all of us to continue in prayer, trusting that You are working in ways we neither see nor understand. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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