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Scripture Reading: Dan. 5
Daniel 5 is a continuation of Daniel 4. Chapter five covers the victory of the young descendants of God's degraded elect over the ignorance concerning the result of the debauchery before God and the insult to His holiness. What Daniel records in this chapter is based on the spiritual view for spiritual lessons. Chapter five follows chapter four to give us a clear view of certain spiritual lessons.
Daniel 5:1-4 describes Belshazzar's debauchery before God and his insult to His holiness.
Belshazzar (a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar and a king of Babylon) made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and he drank wine before them (5:1). Here we see Belshazzar's debauchery before God. Debauchery is an overindulgence in eating and drinking for an adulterous purpose.
Belshazzar, under the influence of the wine, commanded men to bring the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his forefather had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that he, his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them and praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone (vv. 2-4). They took the vessels that were for God's worship in His holy temple at Jerusalem and used them in worshipping idols. That was an insult to God's holiness.
Verses 5 through 9 speak of the writing of the hand sent from God.
At the very moment that they were drinking wine and praising their gods, the fingers of a man's hand came forth and wrote opposite the lampstand upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace (v. 5a).
When Belshazzar saw that part of the hand that wrote, his countenance changed and his thoughts alarmed him (vv. 5b-6). The joints of his hips loosened and his knees began to knock together. He was a threatened man and had no peace to drink, no peace to continue his debauchery.
The king called loudly to bring the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners. He said to the wise men of Babylon, "Any man who reads this writing and declares its interpretation to me shall be clothed in purple and shall have a chain of gold around his neck and shall rule as the third ruler in the kingdom" (v. 7).
All the king's wise men came, but they could not read the writing nor make its interpretation known to the king (v. 8). Then the king was greatly alarmed. His countenance changed further, and his lords were perplexed (v. 9).
In verses 10 through 29 we have Daniel's interpretation of the writing on the wall.
Daniel was recommended, called, and brought before the king (vv. 10-16). The queen mother recommended Daniel, saying that an excellent spirit, knowledge, insight, the interpretation of dreams, the declaring of riddles, and the solving of problems were found in him. She went on to say, "Let Daniel now be called, and he will declare the interpretation" (v. 12b).
The king told Daniel that if he could interpret the writing and make its interpretation known, he would be clothed in purple, would be given a chain of gold around his neck, and would rule as the third ruler in the kingdom. In his answer to the king, Daniel said, "Let your gifts remain with you, or give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing for the king and make the interpretation known to him" (v. 17).
Before reading the writing and interpreting it, Daniel reminded Belshazzar of the experience of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in chapter four. Daniel regarded what happened to Nebuchadnezzar as a lesson not only for Nebuchadnezzar but also for all his descendants. For this reason, Daniel referred Belshazzar to his forefather's lesson in a rebuking tone. Nebuchadnezzar had been severely disciplined by God and, after he had learned the lesson, offered praise to God. Belshazzar should have learned something from this lesson, but he did not care about it at all. Thus, Daniel said to him, "You his descendant, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens....The God in whose hand is your breath and to whom all your ways belong, you have not honored. Then that part of the hand was sent from before Him, and this writing was inscribed" (vv. 22-24). Belshazzar was not expecting such a rebuke.
In verses 25 through 28 we see Daniel's interpretation of the writing. This is the writing that was inscribed: "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN" (v. 25). This is Daniel's interpretation of the matter: MENE — God has numbered Belshazzar's kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL — he has been weighed in the scales and found to be lacking; and PERES — his kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians (vv. 26-28).
Verse 29 tells us of Belshazzar's response to Daniel's interpretation. Belshazzar commanded that Daniel be clothed in purple, that a chain of gold be put around his neck, and that the proclamation be made concerning him that he should rule as the third ruler in the kingdom.
Verses 30 and 31 speak of the destiny of Belshazzar.
Verse 30 says, "In that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain." There is no indication in the record that Belshazzar repented or had some kind of change. Probably there was no time for him to repent.
I believe that while Belshazzar and his lords were engaging in debauchery, the Median army was approaching the city. Soon after Daniel interpreted the writing, the Median army entered the city and the palace and killed Belshazzar. Thus, verse 31 concludes, "Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two." That ended the Babylonian Empire.
In the first five chapters of Daniel, there are a number of lessons for us to learn. For instance, the lesson in chapter one is that we should not care for the worldly choice and the worldly taste but set our heart on God and have a taste only for vegetables, that is, for simple food. We should receive only simple things. If we do this, we will be one with God and will become wise.
In chapter five concerning the case of Belshazzar, we see the importance of being serious with God and not disregarding any spiritual lesson. Belshazzar did not benefit from the lesson learned by his forefather Nebuchadnezzar in chapter four. The case of Nebuchadnezzar teaches us that we need to be careful and not consider what we have achieved. The palace built by Nebuchadnezzar was vast. When he took a walk on the roof of that palace, he became proud and said, "Is this not Babylon the great, which I have built up as a royal house by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?" (4:30). This should warn us that our achievement may make us proud, and this may usher in God's judgment. God's judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar reduced him to nothing. This was the reason he could say of the Lord, "All the inhabitants of earth are considered as nothing, / But He does according to His will in the army of heaven / And among the inhabitants of the earth; / And there is no one who can resist His hand / Or say to Him, What are You doing?" (4:35). In 4:37 concerning the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar went on to say, "He is able to abase those who walk in pride." Belshazzar should have learned the lesson from Nebuchadnezzar's experience; however, he did not learn the lesson and suffered as a result.
Belshazzar's situation should make a deep impression on us. We all need to see that if we have received some lesson from God, we must regard that very seriously. If we disregard any lesson, we will suffer.
Among all the events in chapter five, or going along with all these events, God's economy was being carried out. God knew how to manage the world situation. Do not think that Darius the Mede came to kill Belshazzar by accident. No, that was God carrying out His economy. If He had left the empire in the hand of the Babylonians, there could never have been a return of the captives to Israel. Therefore, the empire had to be changed from gold to silver. This was God's doing. This was God's tempering, His balance in His economy, to fulfill His plan.
