Daniel 5:1: Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
There were about 25 years between our last chapter and this one. Belshazzar came to the throne about the year 541 B.C.
Only two years later the hosts of the Medes and Persians clashed with the Babylonian army outside the walls of the city. The Babylonians were defeated and crawled back within the safety of their city walls. The gates were closed, and the siege began. Still the Babylonians laughed at their enemies. Were not their walls the strongest in the world? Did they not have provisions sufficient for twenty years?
But now the last night of that proud empire's existence has come, and rulers and people know it not. All are busy seeking pleasure, some dancing, many drinking. Unknown to them, the Holy Watchers in heaven weigh both people and king in the scales of God's judgment, and find them wanting. A pronouncement is made on them of eternal doom. Little does Belshazzar think as he sees that evening sun sink behind the western walls of Babylon that he will never see it rise another morning. So we are reminded today by the Savior, "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and ... so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth" (Luke 21:34, 35).
Excavations at old Babylon have uncovered what is very likely this same banquet hall, 173 feet long by 57 feet wide. In the center of one wall is a niche, probably where the king's table was. The walls are still covered with white plaster. Ancient records tell of kings entertaining huge parties, a Persian king feeding 15,000 from his table, Alexander the Great 10,000. The book of Esther tells of Xerxes' great feast (chapter 1). Belshazzar's feast was a wild, immoral, drunken scene. The ancient historian Xenophon tells how the Babylonians had a certain national holiday when everyone was expected to drink and revel all night. This could well have been that occasion.
Daniel 5:2-3: Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank in them.
Doubtless this feast was in honor of the victory the heathen gods of Babylon gained over the God of heaven (so they thought), when Judah was conquered years before. As the king gets drunk, he wickedly calls for the sacred vessels which had been fashioned for the worship of the holy God of heaven (see Exodus 31:1-11). He knew about Him, but wanted to insult Him.
There were thoughtful people in Babylon who reverenced Him, just as there are people in our culture today who disapprove of the licentious abandon of pleasure-seeking multitudes. Such defiance and blasphemy this night in Babylon will not be left at last unpunished, although it has been apparently overlooked many times previously. But before the king can lift the sacred vessel to his lips, he sees something that makes him turn pale. There in public he loses his normal physical self-control:
Daniel 5:4-9: They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
The loud laughing is hushed. Men and women tremble with a nameless terror they have never known before. They watch a hand slowly trace mysterious characters on the wall as though it were a giant cinema. Each remembers the evil in his own life. It's like being arraigned before the judgment bar of the eternal God, whose holiness and righteousness they have defied. Where but a few moments before there was hilarity and blasphemous witticism, now there are shaking limbs and cries of fear. When God makes men fear, they cannot hide the intensity of their terror.
The king is the most terrified of all. Above all others, he was responsible for the rebellion against heaven which that night has reached its height in Babylon. In the presence of the unseen Watcher whose power has been challenged and whose name has been blasphemed, the king is paralyzed with horror. This is a preview we are privileged to see of what will come on our world, perhaps far sooner than we have imagined.
Daniel 5:10-12: Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
The queen here mentioned is the queen-mother, perhaps a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. The ancient historians gave her name as Nicotris. She remembers the old prophet whom the younger generation have dismissed from office, probably with sneers (they will not be guided by such a foolish and superstitious old man!). They are too wise to entertain belief in an unseen God of heaven. But old Daniel is hastily called, very likely from his sleep, for he would have no part in drunken pleasure parties. Calm, sober, self-possessed, he comes in quietly before the trembling king and faces his brilliantly dressed, drunken nobles.
Daniel 5:13: Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
The king, despite his trembling and fear, pretends to despise the old man Daniel, not wishing to appear before his peers as worried by the mysterious message on the walls. Though Daniel was once the prime minister of the empire, chief of the "wise men," the vain-headed young king addresses him condescendingly as one of the conquered captives out of Jewry. The old prophet (answering not a word) looks straight into the shifting eyes of a foolish but terror-stricken ruler. Belshazzar must say something as to why he has summoned Daniel:
Daniel 5:14-16: I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: and I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Now the king changes his speech, and begins to praise Daniel. He realizes that a man of God, not a despised captive, stands before him. Daniel wishes it plainly understood that he cares nothing for the rewards the king has offered, for he is not moved by the selfish motives of the pagan wise men. He offers no words of flattery, no vain wish that the king will live forever, for he well knows that in a few hours the proud monarch of Babylon will be dead, together with his empire:
Daniel 5:17-24: Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet, I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: and for the majesty that he gave him, all the people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou has praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
Straightforward and bold are Daniel's words. The story he told about Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar's grandfather, is not new to the court. The young king's conscience smites him as his memory recalls the well-known events that had once been the talk of the Babylonian empire. Great light and opportunities from heaven had been offered to the Babylonian kings, and they outhful Belshazzar cannot plead ignorance. Macho and boastful, he has rejected the light of heaven. "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed," said the Lord to Jeremiah (51:9). Now the finger of God has touched the pride of Babylon's golden empire, and it is about to fall.
Daniel 5:25-29: And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Daniel, long accustomed to obey the voice of God, has no difficulty reading the language of heaven. The wicked king is baffled, but the figure of being weighed in the balance as in judgment is familiar to him. Their pagan belief was similar to the karma of Hinduism in that the gods weigh the good deeds of people over against their bad deeds. Whichever prevail, so the person is judged.
Even as Daniel is speaking, the soldiers of Cyrus (see notes on chapter 2, verse 39) are quietly entering the city on the dry river bed. No one has seen the waters of the river Euphrates go down, admitting the army of the besiegers. The king sits, trembling, awaiting his nameless doom.
Daniel leaves the banquet hall in dignity and honor. All is now quiet, save for the sobs and moans of weeping people. Suddenly the shout of invaders is heard, and the rude Persian soldiers, swords in hand, break in to slay the king first of all. They seem as numerous as "locusts" (Jeremiah 51:14, NKJV). Fighting erupts all over the city. Posts run from station to station announcing that the city is taken (Jeremiah 51:31). Fires are lit. The sky is red with the glare. Hand to hand, the Babylonians fight desperately for their ruined empire. But, wearied with sleeplessness and drunkenness, they give up the struggle, and many perish by the Medo-Persian sword.
As the sun rises over the eastern walls of the city, great Babylon is no longer the queen of empires. The head of gold of Nebuchadnezzar's dream has changed to the breast and arms of silver.
Daniel 5:30, 31: In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
Daniel was probably personally acquainted with Darius, for his life was spared. He had accepted the gifts of Belshazzar, being made the third ruler in the kingdom, with the purpose of being better able to help his own people when the Persians took over the kingdom. (To be made "third ruler in the kingdom" meant that probably Nabonidus was first, Belshazzar his son second, and Daniel last. Evidently the victorious Medes and Persians retained Daniel in high position in the new government.)
Nations are today repeating the sad mistakes that led to the fall of ancient Babylon. The next great fall of kingdoms will usher in the everlasting kingdom of God. Today the call goes from heaven to God's people still in modern spiritual "Babylon": "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance" (Jeremiah 51:6; Revelation 18:14).
The place of refuge is found where we "dwell in the secret place of the most High, ... under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). A living faith in the Son of God who is "the Savior of the world" will lead one into full reconciliation with the righteousness of God, and in obedience to His commandments (Galatians 5:6; Revelation 14:6-12). It's the experience of the atonement, becoming one with God in character through faith which is a heart appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ upon His cross.
The world is gravitating constantly toward the wild pleasure-loving spirit of ancient Babylon; but as we shall see in later chapters, our period of world history is what God calls "the time of the end," "the day of atonement." The Babylonians should have spent their last night in prayer and fasting!