It has been a while since we have been in our study. bTonight we will begin in Daniel 5:17. You might remember from last time that King Belshazzar held a huge banquet. He had made the mistake of using the sacred cups that were stolen from the temple in Jerusalem. He used them as part of his celebration. This was definitely a no-no. Suddenly a hand came out of nowhere and started writing on the wall. This sobered everyone up almost immediately.
King Belshazzar did not understand what the writing meant. So, he called in his cultic advisors to try to interpret the writing. They could not interpret anything for the king. The queen suggested that they bring Daniel in to interpret the message. The king offered compensation if he could interpret the message. Daniel was offered a scarlet robe, a gold chain around his neck, and the opportunity to be the third ruler of the Kingdom.
Read Daniel 5:17. So Daniel graciously refuses the reward offered by the king. He stated that he would be willing to interpret the handwriting. His refusal of the gifts is worth noting. It shows that Daniel's heart was not swayed or controlled by greed. As we said last time, Daniel was an older man probably in his 80s by now and he could have enlarged his estate significantly. But he wanted the king to know that his ministry could not be bought. He was the servant of the most-high God, a servant who had been called to help people not to take things from them.
Read Daniel 5:18-21. We mentioned last time that King Belshazzar did not know Daniel. But we also mentioned that he knew the story of Nebuchadnezzar and what he went through. In these verses, Daniel reminded the king that he had failed to follow the example of his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar. Here’s a review of that story.
Years earlier the Lord had made Nebuchadnezzar so great that all people feared him. He held absolute authority over the entire empire which included authority over life and death, honor and disgrace. He had the authority to execute those he wanted to kill and to spare those he wanted to live. He could promote those he wanted to promote and disgrace those he wanted to disgrace.
In addition to that, Nebuchadnezzar became arrogant and proud, exalting himself as being all powerful. He didn't acknowledge the Lord as the source of his ability and authority. He also failed to serve the people in mercy and compassion and to execute true justice throughout the empire. As a result, God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar by removing him from the Royal throne and stripping him of his glory. He was stricken with insanity and lived outdoors like an animal. He remained insane until he finally humbled himself and acknowledged the Lord's sovereignty, that the Lord controls the nations and the affairs of the people.
No doubt, as Daniel reviewed Nebuchadnezzar's pride and self-exaltation, King Belshazzar began to sense that his own pride and blasphemy against the Lord were about to be judged. If he was convicted at this moment, he was correct.
Read Daniel 5:22-23. So, without hesitation, Daniel rebukes the king. Belshazzar was guilty before the Lord. Although Belshazzar had known about his grandfather's experience, he had refused to follow in Nebuchadnezzar's footsteps of repentance. He was guilty of five very serious offenses:
- he was guilty of pride, refusing to humble himself before the Lord. And with the example of his grandfather to follow, he didn't have any excuses.
- he was guilty of being hard-hearted and defiant toward the Lord, guilty of lifting himself up in the place of God.
- he was guilty of blasphemy and of profaning the holy name and things of God. In a spirit of arrogance and shamelessness, he and his guests had taken the sacred cups of the Lord and drank wine from them while toasting the false gods of Babylon.
- he and his guests were all guilty of idolatry, of worshiping the false gods whom they were toasting.
- he was guilty of failing to honor the Lord who holds in His hands the life and destiny of every human being. Belshazzar and his nobles may have been some of the most powerful leaders on Earth in that day and time, but in the eyes of the Lord they were mere men who were failing him in all aspects.
It was the king's wickedness that had aroused the Lord to send the hand that wrote the message on the wall.
Now to the actual message. Read Daniel 5:24-28. The message was only four brief words: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARES. (several spellings of the last word.)
Notice that each of these words have something to do with measurement.
MENE - the word MENE means numbered, counted, measured. God had numbered the days of Belshazzar's reign and that number was now up. The Lord, not man, determines when a nation rises and when it falls. The Lord, not man, determines how many days a person lives. When Belshazzar was born, the Lord counted out the days of his life. Now his days had run out and we're coming to an abrupt end. Note that the word mene was written twice to emphasize the certainty that Belshazzar's days were at an end. His doom was an absolute certainty.
TEKEL - the word TEKEL means weighed. Belshazzar had been weighed and found wanting. He had been weighed against the righteousness of God and found to be totally deficient. The king had completely ignored the Lord and His holy commandments and had chosen instead to live a fleshly, covetous, and prideful life that glorified idols and dishonored God. He had chosen to pursue the fleshly pleasures and greedy Spirit of this world and had arrogantly defied the Lord himself. So, when weighed in the Lord's balance, the king came up short, utterly lacking in righteousness and morality.
PERES, PARES, UPHARSIN. - this word means divided. Belshazzar's kingdom was now to be divided and given to the Medes and Persians. The king felt that Babylon was secure because of its massive walls, storage of food, and seemingly endless supply of water from the river that ran through the city. But the Persian army had diverted the Euphrates River, and while the king and his guests were having a good old time at their drunken orgy, the enemy was sneaking its army under the wall at the site of the dry river bed.
Daniel's interpretation of the handwriting was not a warning to King Belshazzar, but rather a pronouncement of judgment. It was a sentence. The day for warning and a hoped for repentance was over. The king had gone too far in his sinful behavior, beyond the point of ever repenting. As a result, the Lord had to judge him. Belshazzar was to immediately feel God's hand of judgment falling upon him.
Read Daniel 5:29. In most cases, a king would order the execution of an advisor who pronounced such judgment. But surprisingly, Belshazzar gave Daniel the reward he had promised and had Daniel proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Whether he did this out of deep conviction from God's spirit or because he remembered Daniel's long service to Nebuchadnezzar, we will never know. But apparently Belshazzar was somewhat fearful about harming Daniel. Regardless, that very night Belshazzar was killed by the Persian army.
Read Daniel 5:30-31. Upon Belshazzar's death, he was replaced as ruler of Babylon by Darius the Mede, who was 62 years old.
There are several speculations about who Darius the Mead was. For the purpose of this study, we will just say that he was a high-ranking military commander in the Persian army. It could have actually been King Cyrus himself that changed his name as he became ruler over Babylon. But for this study, Belshazzar was killed and Darius is now King over Babylon.
CONCLUSION:
I think the reason that God had this episode recorded in the Bible is to let us know that the day is coming when every one of us will see God's handwriting on the wall. On that day, we will stand before the Lord to face his judgment.
And as shocking as it sounds, a number of us are looking at death square in the face right now and may not know it. But one thing is for sure, after death, comes the judgment of God.
The question each of us must ask is when God weighs me in the balance will I be found wanting? The only people who can measure up to God's standard are those who have placed their faith in Christ. One who has not trusted Christ as their personal Savior will be found lacking and deficient.
