After the death of king Nebuchadnezzar, three kings followed before Nabonidus came to the throne. Belshazzar, the son of Nabonidus, became co-regent with this father when his father was away. This is the Belshazzar in Daniel 5.
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them, even as Babylon was surrounded by the army of Medo-Persia. Somehow, Belshazzar was confident that the city of Babylon was impenetrable and the banquet might have been given to boost the morale of his officials. He ordered his men to bring the gold and silver goblets taken by king Nebuchadnezzar from the temple in Jerusalem and he, together with his nobles, wives and concubines, drank wine from them; at the same time, they praised the gods and idols of Babylon.
Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king was terrified and he ordered the wise men of Babylon to interpret the writing but none was able to. The king even promised to reward whoever was able to interpret by appointing him as the third ruler in the kingdom. The queen appeared and reminded the king that Daniel was able to interpret dreams and solve difficult problems. So Daniel was summoned. Daniel refused the reward offered by the king and he rebuked the king for his arrogant behaviour before interpreting the writing on the wall. And Daniel’s interpretation came to pass the very same night.
King Belshazzar was guilty of sacrilege by mocking the God of heaven and earth. He drank from the holy vessels taken from the temple of Jerusalem by king Nebuchadnezzar and praised his many gods instead of acknowledging the one true God who holds his life in His hand. Belshazzar was in fact ‘belittling’ the holiness of the Almighty by defiling what were regarded as holy by God and His people. This is indeed a very serious transgression; we will recall how the sons of Aaron died when they offered unholy fire before God in the tabernacle and how Uriah, in seeking to prevent the ark from toppling from the cart, touched the ark and was slain. Even the prophet Isaiah, and Daniel later on in the book, became weak and unable to lift themselves before the appearance of God in His awesome holiness. The high priest of Israel, was only allowed to enter the holy of holies once a year on the day of atonement and even then, he had to enter after burning sin offerings for himself and the nation. There was also the possibility of him being slain in the holy of holies if he did not carry out all the necessary instructions before entering.
This is a sober reminder for us as believers not to take God and His holiness for granted. Although the Lord Jesus, as our mediator, has opened the way into the presence of the Father, we are to continually honour God as the holy One and not be irreverent to the Almighty. As a people of God collectively, as s church, we are regarded as the temple of God, and individually, we are also noted to be God’s temples as the Holy Spirit dwells within us. The temple of God has to be holy for the holy God; defiling the temple in any way is in fact ‘belittling’ and mocking the holiness of God. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, explained that “the body, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body”. He further reminded the believers that our bodies are members of Christ and we need to honour God with our bodies. Using our bodies and our faculties in any way that dishonours God is tantamount to defiling what is regarded as holy by God. Apostle Peter also wrote, “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15).
Daniel’s curt and apparently disrespectful reply to king Belshazzar and his rebuke following this response were probably due to his disgust with the way the king had treated the God of Israel. Daniel’s concern for the glory of God made him rebuke the king for not humbling himself even though he knew what happened to king Nebuchadnezzar and how God the almighty dealt with the latter. Daniel was not interested in the reward promised by king Belshazzar and he told the king to keep the reward for himself. Do we, like Daniel, seek the honour and glory of God instead of the transient reward the world can offer? Are we ‘jealous’ for God and His holiness? The Apostle Paul had a kindred spirit with Daniel and he was jealous that the people of God were deserting God for a different gospel. To the Galatians, he wrote, ” I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). So upset was Paul that he exclaimed, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified…Have you experienced so much in vain – if it really was in vain?(Galatians 3:1,4).
If we live our lives carelessly and adhere to a false gospel and depend on false assurances that all is well when our lives clearly displease God and put HIs name to shame, we are, in effect, sinning in the same manner as king Belshazzar. Do not be presumptuous; like king Belshazzar, the judgment of God would come about in our lives.
So the writing appeared on the wall, in all likelihood, from the fingers of God. We are reminded of another king who defied the God almighty; Pharaoh refused to let the people of Israel go even after his own magicians acknowledged that the appearance of the gnats was due to ‘the finger of God’. Pharaoh hardened his heart and his own firstborn was killed and he and his army were drowned in the sea. The judgement of God can be very serious.
In the case of king Belshazzar, the inscription was:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
The words were Aramaic, a language widely known in the Gentile world. Mene could mean “numbered” or could refer to a 11/4 pound weight called mina. Tekel could mean “weighed” or could refer to a 2/5 ounce weight called a shekel. Peres (the singular of Parsin) could mean “divided” or a “half shekel” or a “half mina”. Without a context, the words by themselves seem meaningless. But Daniel interpreted the meaning of the words:
Mene – God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
Tekel – You have been weighed on the scale and found wanting.
Peres – Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty two.
Babylon was the greatest kingdom at that time before she was defeated by Persia. It was however God who numbered the days of the reign of Babylon. The king of Babylon commanded a great empire but it was God who weighed the king on the scale and found him wanting. His kingdom seemed so strong and the city of Babylon appeared so impenetrable but it was God who divided the kingdom and gave it away.
Are we overwhelmed by individuals who seem so powerful and untouchable and who continue to defy God and the people of God? The Antichrist would be such an individual in the last final days but we are told that he would be destroyed just by the pronouncement from the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Kings and kingdoms may appear to be so powerful but the King of kings would dispense with them when their time is up. We need to observe the history of the world and know that God alone would triumph and none can stand up before His judgement. We need not fear and we need not be ‘cowed’ by such individuals, for their time to go down is already numbered by God. God sees all things and He weighs all things and would judge accordingly.
The relevant questions we need to ask ourselves are: 1) Do we number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom? The time would come for us to depart from this world; have we used our time well to serve and honour the living God? 2) Are we very conscious that God would weigh our actions and our deeds and would we be found wanting even though we profess to be the children of God? Remember that God looks at the heart and there is nothing that is hidden from Him. 3) Would God take away His approval from us and would we end up with His rebuke and displeasure?
Consider these soberly even as we look at the lives of kings and great kingdoms. Daniel, a ‘fugitive’ and one in exile, was acclaimed by the angels as one highly esteemed by God. What makes the difference?