It was party time in the pagan city of Babylon. King Belshazzar threw a party with thousands of guests. It was awesome! For some reason, he sent some of his servants to the treasury to retrieve the gold and silver vessels used for worshiping the God of Israel in Jerusalem 70 years earlier. I’m not sure what his thinking was. Perhaps he was simply thinking that Jerusalem had been totally destroyed by his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, years earlier.
They began to toast all the pagan gods of Babylon using the vessels. Sitting smugly on the throne with so many wives, so much treasure, Belshazzar thought, “It’s good to be king” — until suddenly a man’s hand began writing on the wall of the palace. Belshazzar saw the handwriting and his face went white, his hip joints went slack (some commentators think that meant he soiled himself), and his knees began knocking together.
The Queen “Mum,” his mother, came in and told him to get a grip. Then she told him to send for Daniel, a retired government employee. He will tell you what the writing means, but suck it up, son; you’re scaring everybody! The King sent for Daniel, who was about 85 years old. He was drawing “Social Security,” a government pension, and just wanted to enjoy his remaining days.
The King repeated what his mother said and more. I believe he knew of Daniel; after all, he had been a great man in the kingdom. He offered him great treasure if he could tell him what the writing meant. Daniel told him to keep his treasure, and he would reveal the meaning, but he had a few words to share with the king. He then told the story found in Daniel Chapter 4, where, because of his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and arrogance, God humbled him by causing him to be as an animal, led around by his security detail, eating grass.
Then Daniel literally slaps the king in the face. He looked at him and said, “You knew this, oh king, you knew it. But you never humbled yourself.” Then Daniel interpreted the handwriting.
“Mene, Mene Tekel, Upharsin, this is the interpretation of the message; MENE — God has numbered your kingdom and it is finished! Tekel — you have been weighed on God’s scale of justice, and you’ve come up short! PERES — your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” (Roger’s paraphrase)
Someone might ask me if I really believe this. I do because years ago I read from the “Babylonian Chronicles,” their own history. It says there was a period of time, years in fact, that Nebuchadnezzar was king, but didn’t sit on the throne. Where was he? Out eating clover! In Chapter 4, Daniel begged the king to humble himself after interpreting yet another dream, this one foretelling the king’s pending judgment. He listened, but did not repent. God gave the king an entire year to humble himself, but he didn’t. The hammer fell!
King Belshazzar gave the promised rewards to Daniel. But it was too late to stop God’s pending judgment on the nation of Babylon. God was about to bring His punishment upon the nation that had conquered the known world, and was God’s tool to bring His discipline upon Israel. Now, it was Babylon’s time to face judgment. But how, you might ask?
Did I forget to mention that as Belshazzar was hosting his feast, the walled citadel of Babylon, an impregnable fortress, was surrounded by a Medo-Persian army led by the Persian King Cyrus? Over 1,250,000 soldiers surrounded the city. Judgment was at the gate, and Belshazzar didn’t even realize it.
Next week, as Paul Harvey would say, we’ll tell you the rest of the story!
Something to think about.
Semper Fidelis
