DANIEL ch. 5, Lost in Translation
CHCC: October 14, 2012
Belshazzar by Johnny Cash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pAvKBwCTTU
INTRODUCTION:
Today we’re looking at one of the most interesting stories in the Old Testament. We have a Ruler of the greatest Kingdom of that day holding a huge banquet that is interrupted by the fingers of a human hand writing on the wall. No one in the hall could interpret the words, but they knew it had to be bad news.
I found out my son-in-law, PJ Condit, is preaching a sermon series on Daniel at the same time we are --- great minds think alike! He found some funny slides that show the problems that come when the meaning gets lost in translation:
4 slides (mistranslated English signs in foreign countries)
Now, back to King Belshazzar --- Let’s review the events that led up to the Writing on the Wall. The first 4 chapters of Daniel talked about Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. For many years Daniel served as head of the King’s advisory --- a position of great power, second only to the King himself. By the time chapter 5 opens, things had changed.
Daniel was probably in his early 80’s by this time. King Nebuchadnezzar had died several years before. Several different sons fought over the throne until eventually Nebonidus, killed off enough of his brothers and became King. He appointed HIS son, Belshazzar as co-regent in charge of the great city of Babylon.
Things were not going well in Babylon. The Medes and Persians were threatening to attack. King Nebonidus believed the gods had withdrawn protection from Babylon, so he was travelling the country, rebuilding temples to the pagan gods. While his father was travelling around, King Belshazzar decided to throw a big party in honor of the pagan gods. It was a REALLY big party! Archaeologists have uncovered a banquet hall that could hold as many as 10,000 people. Probably every important person in Babylon was in the hall that night.
Then King Belshazzar called for the sacred golden cups that had been stolen from the Jewish Temple years before. This was a very intentional act --- meant to show that respect for Jehovah was officially over in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed that Jehovah was the most powerful God --- but from now on Babylon would go back to worshiping idols.
You can picture Belshazzar standing up and shouting out a toast to the Babylonian gods when suddenly he stops mid sentence … his legs give out and he falls back onto his seat with his eyes glued to the wall where a hand is writing an ominous message: MENE MENE TEKEL PEREZ. (Upharsin) No one in the room can translate the words, but they all know it can’t be good.
Belshazzar called in all his magicians and wise men, but no one could translate for him. Then finally, the Queen told him about Daniel. This was probably Queen Nitocris – the widow of Nebuchadnezzar and grandmother of Belshazzar. She remembered Daniel well --- but evidently Belshazzar had never heard of him.
Here is a summary of Daniel’s translation of the writing on the wall:
MENE MENE TEKEL PEREZ
NUMBERED! NUMBERED! WEIGHED! DIVIDED!
1. MENE MENE – God is watching
Daniel translated: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Daniel 5:26
The word MENE is repeated twice for emphasis. God has numbered and numbered your days. Belshazzar may have been ignoring God --- but God was not ignoring Belshazzar.
All this time, God’s people must have felt like God wasn’t watching. By this time they had been held captive in a pagan land for over 60 years. To all appearances it looked like evil was winning and God was absent. Probably a lot of God’s people gave up on God during those years … but never Daniel.
The King had promised Daniel: “If you can tell me the meaning of this writing, you’ll get a purple robe, a gold chain and you’ll be the 3rd highest ruler in the kingdom.” But Daniel had no interest in the rewards Belshazzar THOUGHT he could give. Daniel simply said, “You can keep your rewards, but I WILL give you God’s message.”
Daniel is so impressive in this story! Even though he’s an old man --- around 80 years old --- he stands firm in his faith --- as steady as he was when he went into Babylonian exile as a teenager.
• He stood before the King then, refusing to compromise His faith with the King’s food.
• He stood before the King again as a young adult and interpreted the dream of the statue. After that Daniel was appointed as head of the King’s advisers.
• Daniel stood before the King again in his early 60’s and interpreted a dream of a huge tree. This time the message was bad news for the King. But in the end, King Nebuchadnezzar declared that Daniel’s God was the one true and all-powerful God.
• Now, in his old age, Daniel is once more called to stand before a pagan King. His faith has not wavered. Even at 80 years old, he has all the wisdom and courage he had as a boy. Daniel reminds me of the truth in Psalm 1:
Blessed is the one who does not walk
in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
And the rest of Psalm 1 describes Belshazzar:
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction
2. TEKEL – God is Weighing
MENE MENE – God has numbered your days
TEKEL - You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Daniel 5:17
Belshazzar thought he had it all. His father had WON the throne and put him on it. He believed Babylon was invincible. The historian, Herodotus described Babylon as 12 miles square with walls that were 80 feet wide by 330 feet high. No wonder the Babylonians were partying while the Persian army stood outside. They considered themselves impregnable.
What Belshazzar didn’t know was at that very moment --- while Daniel was translating the message for him --- the Medo-Persian army was quietly conquering the city. The Euphrates River flowed under those high walls and bronze gates. History records that the Persian army secretly dug a diversionary channel for the river. That night they dammed the main river course and diverted the river to its new channel. The soldiers then marched under the city walls on the muddy riverbed. They opened the city gates and took the city. Belshazzar was captured and executed that very night.
Belshazzar had weighed his chances of survival, but Belshazzar’s scales were wrong. Only God’s scales matter. And on God’s scales, Belshazzar came up as a light weight.
The last word gave God’s final verdict:
3. PEREZ – God’s Verdict is Final
For Belshazzar, here was the translation: PEREZ: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Daniel 5:28
To all appearances, Belshazzar was on top of the world. He ruled the most powerful nation on earth. He could have every pleasure he wanted … in fact he was throwing the biggest party on the planet that very night.
Meanwhile, to all appearances, Daniel was at the bottom of the heap. He’d fallen from his position of power. At this point Belshazzar didn’t even know he existed. He seemed to be no more than an old man who had been put on a shelf and forgotten.
That’s the way people tend to see life. Many folks think the Christian life is a life of legalism and hardship with few rewards. The life of sin appears to be the easy life, full of freedom and pleasure and partying.
But in every life, the writing on the wall finally appears. This week I read a devotion by David Timms and I want to share part of it with you.
David Timms said: "Skeptics, atheists, cynics, and unbelievers often cast Christianity as a legalistic burden, a lifestyle of bondage or a crutch for the weak to lean on.
Well, perhaps it’s time for those same voices to look around and see the fruit of recklessness. Our insistence on autonomy and independence has successfully reaped a storm. We sow greed and we reap corruption. We sow illicit sex and we reap family chaos. We sow violence and we reap abuse and hostility.
The truth is, those who reject Christ live more alone than anyone else on this planet. Sin has a voracious and insatiable appetite and produces nothing but hurts that disfigure us, habits that imprison us, and hang-ups that isolate us.
On the other hand, those who follow Christ know the blessing of the Son who saves us, the Holy Spirit who indwells us, and the angels of God who protect us.
Don’t be taken in by the illusions of this world that tell us …“Sin is fun,” --- “Live it up while you can!” In reality, these are invitations to drink poison. (Sin, anyone? by David Timms )
When Belshazzar raised up the sacred golden goblet and made a toast to the pagan gods, he might as well have been drinking poison. For him, the writing was on the wall.
CONCLUSION:
This writing on the wall has a message that is true for all of us.
• God is watching – There is not a second of our lives that God has not seen --- the good, the bad, and the ugly --- it has all been numbered by God.
• We have been weighed in the scales and found wanting. None of us measure up to the perfect standards of God.
• And then we read the fatal verdict. For us this verdict is spelled out in Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death …
But Praise God, the writing on OUR wall doesn’t end there. Keep reading: the wages of sin is death … but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You see, God has replaced the fatal verdict. PEREZ has been replaced with the name of JESUS. We have been weighed and found wanting, but Jesus has taken the punishment for our sins. Because of Him, we can be set free.
We know what God was saying to Belshazzar. What is He saying to you?
Belshazzar probably thought … “as soon as this party’s over, I’ll do something about this message from God.” By the time that party ended it was too late.
God is speaking to you today. Don’t delay in responding to the writing on your wall.
