Daniel 5:1–30

Coming now to our chapter, we see a still worse moral feature of Gentile rule. Idolatry and pride of power — empty boasting — had marked Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar is known for something else: the public insolence of daring impiety, breaking out in open wickedness and profanity. The occasion for this outburst of sin is described in the first verse. It was a night of feasting, wild partying, and no restraint. Every evil passion of man's corrupt heart was stirred up and fed.

Why the third ruler? Because Belshazzar was the second ruler. His father was in fact the king. But his father was not in Babylon at that moment, and Belshazzar shared the throne with him.

It must have been a marvellous assembly. The banquet took place in one of the many palaces that adorned the city regarded as the mistress of the earth. Babylon stood on a broad plain, and was exactly square. Its walls ran fifteen miles in each direction. They were 300 feet high and 75 feet broad, with a hundred bronze gates set in them... The king and the people thought no power could touch them, in heaven or on earth. But they were wrong. They had forgotten God. One hundred and fifty years before, He had said through one servant, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon" (Isa. 21:9).

History may tell us that it was a yearly festival, when loose living ran unchecked. That gave the attacking army a good chance to seize an unguarded moment and put its long preparations to use. Scripture shows us the king wrapped in the false security that comes before destruction. He used the occasion to insult the God of Israel. Rash, blinded man! It was the eve of his ruined dynasty, and of his death.

At this feast impiety broke out, apparently let loose by the effect of drink on the king. It was "when he tasted the wine" that he gave the command to bring the golden vessels of the temple of God into the feast. Up to a point a man can control the evil passions of his heart. But when some evil influence makes him lose control of himself, all the wickedness of his heart comes out.

Wine has led many a man to ruin... Once the soul comes under the influence of strong drink, there is no depravity it will not sink to. Its victims worship it, while it damns them.

In chapter 3 you have Nebuchadnezzar setting up the idol; in the fourth he exalts himself, but God brings him low. The fifth chapter is the scene of Belshazzar's impiety and sacrilege in bringing in the vessels of the Lord and drinking out of them — a most daring insult to God. What is the result? Belshazzar is judged... The third chapter gives us idolatry; the fourth, self-exaltation; the fifth, impiety; and the sixth, apostasy.

The fact of Belshazzar's feast, with its splendour and sudden doom, stands as history and as warning. But how few believe it is a picture of what is still to come? In the day of the Lord the same sudden judgment will overtake the boasting and splendour of this world of pleasure and greatness.

An outburst of impiety marked this feast, apparently let loose by the drink's effect on the king. It was "when he tasted the wine" that he commanded the golden vessels of God's temple to be brought into the feast. Up to a point a man can control the evil passions of his heart. But when some evil influence makes him lose control of himself, all the wickedness of his heart comes out.

Was he intoxicated? With the pride of wicked presumption, certainly — and the wine he drank inflamed it. Giving in to wine, and to the joy this earth offers, is bound to feed the heart's worst desires.

The holy vessels were holy still in God's eyes, however polluted they had been by the sins of His kings and priests. They had been used in the house where He had put His name for ever, the house where His eyes and His heart would always be (1 Kings 9:3). True, in judgment He had let them share the captivity of His people. But He could not let the Gentile king and his immoral companions defile them. That would not fit with all that He was and all that He purposed.

He and his lords drank out of those holy vessels to their gods of gold and silver and wood and iron, desecrating the vessels of Jehovah. He was putting them to an improper and unholy use; they were sanctified; they belonged to Jehovah.

Belshazzar had thrown down a challenge before the eye of God. Bringing the golden vessels from the temple, the house of God, into that feast was the same as saying to Jehovah: "My gods are better than you. My gods helped the men who took your golden vessels and brought them here." That is what he meant.

It seems beyond question that Belshazzar could not have been his son. It is possible that he might have been his grandson, though this is not certain. The term "father," therefore, as is often the case in Scripture, is used in the sense of ancestor, or forefather.

The monuments have revealed that he was the son of Nabonadius, or Labynetus, and was reigning with his father. Nabonadius was defending the kingdom outside in the open country. He was defeated, but not killed. His son was under siege inside the city, and was killed that night while holding a festival to the gods. This explains why Belshazzar promised Daniel the third place of rule in the kingdom.

Esther 2:14 and Daniel 5:2 show that concubinage was a custom also among the heathen. Christianity does not allow such evil. It recognises marriage as established by God, and so the sanctity of the marriage tie in those whom God joins together.

The abuse of power in Babylon has three distinct characters, seen in three successive steps of evil: idolatry, profaneness, and self-exalting apostasy. First, there was idolatry in Nebuchadnezzar setting up the statue of gold on the plains of Dura. Second, profaneness in Belshazzar, who brings out the vessels of God's captive temple. Third, apostasy in Darius, who set himself up to be God.

Wine and earthly pleasure feed the heart's worst desires, and the company around the king shows that this night was no exception. Yet if this had been only an ordinary party, however wild, no inspired pen would have recorded it. The crowning sin of it was the direct insult which Belshazzar offered to the God of Israel, the God of heaven. The holy vessels were holy still in God's eyes. The sins of His kings and priests had polluted them, yet they had been used in the house where He had put His name for ever, and where His eyes and His heart should be always (1 Kings 9:3). True, in judgment He had let them share in the captivity of His people. But He could not let the Gentile king and his immoral companions defile them. That would not fit with all that He was and all that He purposed.

Until now people had treated the vessels of God's house with some fear and honour. Now the king profanes them and makes them serve his lusts. God had appointed them to bear witness that His priestly nation was set apart, and to mark His own worship among His people. The king turns them into toys for his amusement.

Belshazzar had thrown down a challenge before the eye of God. He brought into that feast the golden vessels taken from "the temple, the house of God." It was the same as saying to Jehovah: "My gods are better than you. My gods helped the men who took your golden vessels, and brought them here." That is what he meant. Nebuchadnezzar had carried these golden vessels from the house of the Lord. Now they stood on show as trophies of the Babylonian victory over Jehovah's people, and so over Jehovah.

But who was the king of Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar was only the whip that the Lord had chosen and used to discipline His guilty, law-breaking people Israel. … God raised up Nebuchadnezzar for that purpose. He was the head of gold in the great statue you read of in the second chapter of this book of Daniel. God used him to punish His chosen people on earth, who had turned away from Him.

It shows the great moral decline in the great Babylonian empire. Nebuchadnezzar had surely handled the golden vessels of the house of the Lord with great care. He stored them away, afraid to misuse them. His grandson sent for these vessels to drink wine from them with his prostitutes and to praise his idols.

Scripture shows us the king wrapped in a false sense of safety. Such safety comes just before destruction. He used the occasion to insult the God of Israel. Rash, blinded man! It was the eve of his ruined royal line, and of his death.

Paganism once held the ground. What has taken its place in Christendom carries something like the contempt for God that Belshazzar showed. There the great and serious sin is using the revealed word of God to gain and enjoy the world's pleasures and honours. That is doing in a spiritual way what Belshazzar and his court did in a physical and vulgar way. … The Babylon of old was taken and destroyed all at once, in the middle of the revelry. In the same way the mystic Babylon will be thrown like a great millstone into the sea.

Such contempt for God must bring down His judgment. At once God takes up the challenge. Quietly, without voice or vision, God makes His presence unmistakably felt. The fingers of a man's hand silently write the sentence of judgment on the wall of the king's palace. Despite the king's drunken state, his conscience is struck at once.

So it was in that great festive hall in Babylon, and the result is one of the most dramatic scenes on record. No legion of angels appeared, and there was no visible display of divine power. Just the fingers of what looked like a man's hand appeared. They wrote four words on the plaster of the wall, right opposite the lampstand, where they were most visible. The proud king was reduced to a shivering mortal, and his lords were astonished.

The king saw the part of the hand. His conscience, though hardened by depravity, was reached for the moment. The writing on the plaster was perfectly plain, since it stood there in Chaldean characters. Yet the king still did not understand its meaning. He was blinded by the god of this world, whose complete slave he was — as is every man until God gives light to his heart. So writing in his own language gave him no definite sense of what was meant, though he trembled before the hand that wrote his doom.

But the sentence of instant, unavoidable judgment made itself heard at once. For the cup of wickedness was full. The mouth of the Lord had long proclaimed the punishment of Babylon's king (Isaiah 13; Jeremiah 25, etc.). Yet even then the stroke does not fall without a solemn sign from God.

It is interesting to notice the three occasions on which the finger of God wrote. The law on tablets of stone. The judgment of the ungodly Belshazzar and of Babylon on the plaster of the wall — Daniel 5:5. The grace of God written in the dust by our Lord — John 8:6.

But now in Daniel we again have "the finger of God." We find it to be the finger of doom, written on plaster that easily crumbles. God made His presence known by showing the tips of His fingers, and it scared the life out of Belshazzar. The final hour of judgment will come. Then "the dead, great and small," will be "standing before the throne" (Revelation 20:12). What will their feelings be? We are reminded of that word, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).

This chapter reveals the blasphemous character of the end of the Babylonian monarchy. Blasphemy and rejection of God's truth are all around us on every side. There is a "Mene, Mene, Tekel" for apostate Christendom. There is one for that final form of Babylon too, revealed in Revelation 17 and 18.

Such contempt for God must bring down His judgment. God takes up the challenge at once. He uses no voice and no vision, yet He makes His presence felt beyond all doubt. The fingers of a man's hand write the sentence of judgment on the wall of the king's palace, and they write in silence. The king is drunk, yet conscience strikes him at once. His face shows his terror. His thoughts trouble him, and he trembles from head to foot.

No army of angels appeared. There was no visible display of divine power. Only the fingers of a man's hand could be seen, writing four words on the plaster of the wall, right opposite the lampstand, where they showed up best. The proud king became a shivering man, and his lords stood astonished... In Daniel the finger of God is the finger of doom, written on plaster that crumbles easily. When the final hour of judgment comes and the dead, great and small, stand before God, what will they feel? We are reminded of that word: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).

This was no dream in the night. It was a silent warning of terrible meaning, in the middle of their wild partying and their defiance of the living God... The king needed no one to explain it. His conscience, eaten away by evil, trembled before the hand that wrote his doom. He did not know a word of what was written. Deep down he felt that the One whose hands no one can stop was dealing with him.

But even he — wicked as he was — had a conscience. He knew about the power that had driven Nebuchadnezzar from his throne and made him live like an animal for a time... What a change! In the middle of his banquet he had dared to insult the God of heaven. Now, at the sight of this mysterious hand, fear and dread took hold of his soul, and he trembled from head to foot. He had braced himself to challenge the almighty God. The moment God took up that challenge, his heart failed — before the blow had even fallen — in dread of the judgment coming.

In the opening verses of Isaiah 45, the prophet speaks to Cyrus on God's behalf, though Cyrus had not yet been born... The details given in verses 1-3 came true exactly, as the book of Daniel records. As we read those verses, we see Belshazzar, and "his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together" (Daniel 5:6). We see the great gates of Babylon opened and broken. Then the fall of the great city puts Babylon's hidden treasures into the hands of Cyrus.

One invisible power wrote those solemn words on the wall of Belshazzar's banqueting hall — "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" — and made his knees knock together. That same power used the words of the prophet to move the heart of the king of Nineveh and to enter his conscience. The king of Nineveh and his lords trembled, just as Belshazzar and his great men had trembled at Babylon. But their fear, unlike the fear of Belshazzar and his great men, led to a repentance they would never regret.

The party is at its height. Everything is bright and cheerful, the laughter is loud, and the contempt for God is at its worst. Then, all of a sudden, God steps in. Everyone knows how completely worldly things collapse when God comes in. Bring the Lord into a worldly scene, and what happens? He spoils it. That is a solemn thought! This is what sin does, and it is conscience answering as if God were an intruder.

His conscience, eaten away by depravity, trembled before the hand that traced his doom. Yet he did not know a word of what was written. He felt at once that the One whose hand no one can stop was dealing with him... His fright made him forget his dignity, and "the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers." But it was all useless. The highest rewards are offered, but a spirit of deep sleep closed every eye.

Instead of crying to God for His mercy and pardon, the king "cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers." He offered them great rewards if they could interpret the writing of God on the wall. Not one of the world's wise men could read God's writing, but God had His interpreter at hand. Daniel, faithful as always, refused the king's gifts. He rebuked his contempt for the knowledge of God and his profanity. Then he read the words that spoke of God's judgment and explained their meaning to the king. Belshazzar's sin was not ignorance, but deliberate profanity, a challenge to the living God. He paid the penalty for inviting God's anger.

In Daniel 1:20; 2:2, 10, 27; 4:7; 5:7, 11, 15 the Hebrew word is ashshaph, meaning "enchanter, magician" — one who practised occult arts. This word occurs nowhere else.

Once more the wise men of Babylon were called in, but only to show their incompetence and ignorance again. We are told that there was nothing unusual about the four words. They were not words from some unknown, barbaric tongue. But on that occasion they were God's words, and so they lay far outside the understanding of these servants of the world and its false gods. Paul states the fact in 1 Corinthians 2:14, and here it is strikingly illustrated. As "natural" men they had no power to understand the things God had written.

The language of the writing on the wall was no further beyond the astrologers of Babylon than it was beyond Daniel. If anything, it was less so. The words were as familiar to a Chaldean as to a Hebrew. But the wise men of Babylon, the scribes of Belshazzar's court, were not able to interpret them. They were morally incapable... If we test a thing by any test but Christ, we shall misinterpret it.

Why the third ruler? Because Belshazzar was the second ruler. His father was the real king. But his father was not in Babylon at that moment, and Belshazzar shared the throne with him.

Daniel had the third place and Joseph had the second place, but Christ has the pre-eminence (Dan. 5:7, 16, 29; Gen. 41:39-43).

Once more the king called in the wise men of Babylon, and once more they showed nothing but incompetence and ignorance. We are told that there was nothing unusual about the four words. They were not words from some unknown, savage language. But on that occasion they were God's words, so they lay completely outside the understanding of these servants of the world and its false gods. This clearly illustrates what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14. As 'natural' men they had no power to understand the things God had written.

God will speak in a vision to Pharaoh, by writing on the wall in Belshazzar's day... but, as in past days, so now, the wise men of this world get it completely wrong when they try to interpret the Word of God... People's natural pride in their own intellect blinds them to a simple fact: only God can interpret what God says.

Writers have suggested several reasons why the wise men could not read the writing. The letters may have been the ancient Hebrew characters. Daniel knew that script, but they would not.

The writing was in the Chaldean language, so it was not that the king's wise men did not understand the words. What they could not unfold was the connection, the application, and the meaning. They had no clue to it, so the words seemed to them disconnected and meaningless.

His conscience, eaten away by evil, trembled before the hand that wrote out his doom, though he did not know a word of what was written. He felt at once that the One whose hands no one can stop was dealing with him... In his fright he forgot his dignity and cried aloud for the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. But it was all useless. He offers the highest rewards, but a spirit of deep sleep closed every eye.

The effect on this godless man was enormous. We rejoice when sinners are impressed, stirred, troubled, and troubled more deeply still. But the devil is always eager to remove these impressions... Sometimes what moves people like this is not fear of God but fear of the consequences of sin — the fear that comes on a deathbed — pure fear of hell and damnation.

The fact that Daniel was a stranger to Belshazzar says a great deal. Whatever the pride and daring of the great Nebuchadnezzar, in his day Daniel sat in the king's gate — ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men. His degraded and fallen descendant did not know Daniel at all.

One thing is clear. Years had passed, and Daniel had dropped completely out of public notice. His name was so unknown at court that the queen had to give a full account of him and his powers.

The king's eye was fixed on the handwriting, and the effect was immediate — on him, and on his noble guests too. He cried aloud. Then, finding that his own resources could not explain what the writing meant or why it came, he was troubled even more, so that his lords were astonished.

The king's wise men did understand the words, for the writing was in Chaldean, the language of Babylon. What they could not unfold was the connection, the application, and the interpretation. Without the clue, all those separate words seemed to them disconnected and meaningless.

The king called in the wise men of Babylon once more, and again they only showed their incompetence and ignorance. We are told that there was nothing unusual about the four words. They were not words from some unknown, foreign language. But on that occasion they were God's words, so they were far beyond the understanding of these servants of the world and its false gods. This is a striking illustration of what the Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 2:14. As "natural" men they had no power of understanding the things God had written.

Instead of crying to God for His mercy and pardon, the king called loudly for the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the fortune-tellers. He offered them great rewards if they could interpret God's writing on the wall. Not one of the world's wise men could read God's writing, but God had His interpreter at hand… Belshazzar's sin was not ignorance. It was deliberate contempt for holy things, a challenge to the living God, and he paid the penalty for inviting God's anger.

The king got no help from his wise men… "Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed" (v. 9). The effect on this godless man was tremendous. We rejoice when sinners are impressed, stirred, and troubled, and then troubled still more. But the devil is always eager to get these impressions removed, and in this case I do not think the effect lasted long. Sometimes what moves men like this is not fear of God, but fear of the consequences of sin. It is the fear produced on a deathbed, sheer fear of hell and damnation.

But help is at hand. What God wrote was not meant to stay on the palace wall as a meaningless, unreadable ghost of fear. It was meant to be read and understood. But the king and his nobles must also learn whose hand it was that traced those words on the plaster of the king's palace. They must also come to see the madness of their drinking parties, and how serious an insult they had offered to the Writer.

The queen, hearing of the king's terror, comes into the feast. It seems she had no part in this godless scene. Some suggest she was not the king's wife, since his wives were at the feast (verses 2, 3). Probably she was the queen dowager. She clearly knew Daniel well, and she knew the great events of Nebuchadnezzar's reign.

Daniel is not seen at the feast. Someone else is absent too — the queen, the king's mother. She had not his strength, but she had much of his spirit. The king is ignorant of the man of God who was then in his dominions. He also takes no notice of what God had done in the same dominions in his father's days. But the queen has memories and knowledge of these things, and she is a stranger to his feast.

But God meant the king to have the writing explained, and He meant His own chosen vessel to explain it. The instrument was at hand to bring Daniel to Belshazzar's notice. She had taken no part in the wild party of that night. But the report of the sight that had startled the king and his guests spread through the palace and reached her ears. She knew all that had happened in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. She knew the service Daniel had given, and the position he received as a result. So she hurried to the king's help.

The queen at once thinks of the Hebrew captive Daniel. She comes into the banqueting hall and reminds the king that such a person still exists in the kingdom. She says, "Let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation." Whoever else had forgotten him, she clearly had not. His present obscurity did not shake her confidence that he could unravel the mystery.

The world's greatness and glory come to an end, and its wisdom fails completely as well. The day that is fast approaching will make this plain. When God is acting, the world's wisdom is folly and thick darkness. It takes someone entirely outside the world's course and ways to make known the mind of God, whether in grace or in judgment. In the hour of deep distress, the queen tells the king that one man in his kingdom has light and wisdom beyond all others. This separate and now hidden servant, given the mind of God, appears again — not as a guest at the unholy, God-defying feast, but as the one who makes known God's judgment on it.

She comes and says to the king in verse 10, "O king, live forever." What an empty wish! Poor man, he died that night.

The queen-mother now tries to calm her son's anxiety — just as the devil would calm an awakened sinner today.

The king's alarm keeps growing, and his lords are astonished. Into the banqueting hall comes the queen — surely the queen-mother, if we compare verses 2 and 10. Her sympathies were not in the feast. She reminds the king of someone who was even further outside and above it all: a man the godless king had never met in person.

Daniel is not seen at the feast. And there is another who is absent too — the queen, the king's mother. The king knows nothing of the man of God who was then in his territory. He has also forgotten what God did in that same territory in his father's days. But the queen remembers and knows these things, and she is a stranger to his feast.

Clearly Belshazzar knew nothing about Daniel. He had entirely forgotten — if he ever heard it — that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had raised him to the place next to himself. Nebuchadnezzar made him "ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon," and "Daniel remained at the king's court" (Dan. 2:48-49). Godless men do not like godly men, and usually do not know them. … But Daniel was there all the time, separate, devoted to God, having His mind, and ready to reveal it at the right moment.

After years had passed, Daniel had dropped completely out of public notice. In court circles his name was so unknown that the queen had to give a full account of him and of his powers, though she still treated them as being "the wisdom of the gods."

Nebuchadnezzar may speak to him in a pagan style. He may credit the wisdom of the Most High God in him to his own gods. But he still admits that there is something special and unusual in Daniel.

These Chaldeans were a particular class of learned men, forming with others the Magi, or wise men of Babylon. Daniel 5:11 says Daniel was made their chief, or "master" as older translations put it. No doubt this was because they had discovered he had more wisdom than all of them. When the king called in the Chaldeans and the rest to interpret the writing on the wall, Daniel was not among them. We may be sure he kept himself well away from such people.

The world's greatness and glory not only come to an end; its wisdom fails completely. … When God is acting, the world's wisdom is folly and thick darkness. It takes someone entirely outside its course and ways to make known the mind of God, whether in grace or in judgment.

But God meant the king to have the writing explained — and only by His own chosen servant. The means to bring Daniel to Belshazzar's notice was at hand.

This scene has often been repeated in the history of men's souls. When eternity confronts an ungodly man, he turns to the godly man for light, help, and comfort if possible. … You will want him yet — that God-fearing, holy, separate man who lives for Christ. … But what a wonderful thing it is that God has His witnesses even in Babylon.

The queen hears of the king's terror and comes into the feast. She seems to have had no part in this godless scene. Some suggest she was not the king's wife, since his wives were already at the feast (verses 2 and 3). She was probably the queen dowager, the widow of an earlier king. She clearly knew Daniel well, and she knew the great events of Nebuchadnezzar's days.

The fact that Daniel was a stranger to Belshazzar speaks volumes. Whatever the pride and daring of the great Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel sat in the king's gate. He was ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men. His degraded and fallen descendant did not know Daniel.

The men of this world will take all the help that the man of God can give them in earthly things. But with him they never feel at home. A wide gulf lies between the worldly man and the man of God, and neither is fully happy in the other's company. So whatever service the servant of the Lord gives in a moment of difficulty, the world soon forgets both him and his service.

When God is acting, the world's wisdom is folly and deep darkness. It takes someone completely outside the world's course and ways to make God's mind known, whether in grace or in judgment. In the hour of deep distress, the queen tells the king that one man in his kingdom has light and wisdom beyond all others.

But in His own ways, God humbles the wise men of the world and lifts up the despised captive. Wisdom is found with God's people, even in captivity.

An excellent spirit was in him. That is a very fine quality, dear friends. A man's spirit is infinitely more valuable than what he says. I may say, by God's help, many a nice thing, and you may hear, enjoy, and then forget it. But if I have done anything nasty to you, you will never forget it. Oh, to be a Daniel in spirit! We shall never be prophets. We are not called by God in that way, but we can all cultivate an "excellent spirit."

Yes, the truth of God is unveiled by the servants of God. He reveals, and they proclaim the truth.

Along with this, Daniel and his three companions are given new names. It seems the aim was to wipe out the memory of the true God by giving them names taken from the idols of Babylon.

It is quite clear that, with the years gone by, Daniel had dropped right out of public notice. At court his name was so unknown that the queen had to explain in full who he was and what he could do. Even so, she still called his powers "the wisdom of the gods."

It is astonishing how quickly the great people of the earth forget the Lord's faithful servant. The man of the world does not understand the man of God, so he forgets him almost as soon as he loses sight of him… The men of this world will take all the help the man of God can give them in the things of earth, but they can never feel at home with him… So they call for the Lord's servant only when things are at their worst.

Clearly Belshazzar knew nothing about Daniel. He had quite forgotten — if he ever heard it — that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had raised Daniel to the place next to himself, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief of the governors over all its wise men (Dan. 2:48-49). Godless men do not like godly men, and usually do not know them. They are not in touch with them. So Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, did not know the man his grandfather had put at the head of affairs only a few years before. This fact speaks volumes about Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar may have been very proud, but he saw the moral worth of the captive Daniel, as his rise to second ruler in the kingdom showed. His corrupt grandson had ignored that Daniel even existed. But Daniel was there all the time, separate, devoted to God, knowing His mind, and ready to make it known at the right moment.

Same as Judaea in Luke 23:6; John 7:1. In Dan. 5:13 it refers to Judah.

Before long the word Jewry, or Judaea, came into use. Ezra 5:8 speaks of the province of Judaea. That shows how the land had passed under the control of a foreign power, after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Temple. The only bit of true godliness was found in a small, weak remnant. In Daniel 5:13 we read that Belshazzar spoke to Daniel as the man his father had brought out of Jewry.

Scripture calls Belshazzar the son of Nebuchadnezzar, but that often means grandson. Many think Nabonadius married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. Reports say he seized the throne without right, and such a marriage would have strengthened his hold on it.

So Daniel comes in before the king. The king had heard of Daniel's wisdom in interpreting dreams in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, but it seems he had no wish to know this captive Jew himself. Yet in His ways God humbles the wise men of his world and lifts up the despised captive. Wisdom stays with God's people, even in captivity.

Belshazzar was already panic-stricken, and now he was more troubled still. Even his courtiers were astonished. But God meant the king to have the writing explained, and it had to be done by His own chosen vessel. The instrument was at hand to bring Daniel to Belshazzar's notice.

The world's greatness and glory come to an end, and more than that, its wisdom fails altogether. That will be plain in the day now fast approaching. When God is acting, the world's wisdom is folly and deep darkness. It takes someone outside the world's whole course and ways to make known the mind of God, whether in grace or in judgment. In the hour of deep distress, the queen tells the king that one man in his kingdom has light and wisdom beyond all others. He had already proved his worth by interpreting the dream that troubled Belshazzar's forefather Nebuchadnezzar.

It is plain that Belshazzar knew nothing about Daniel. He had quite forgotten — if he ever heard it — that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had raised Daniel to the place next to himself... Godless men do not like, and usually do not know, godly men. Godless men are not in touch with godly men. So Belshazzar did not know the man his grandfather had placed at the head of affairs only a few years before. This fact speaks volumes about Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar's pride may have been great, but he had recognised the moral worth of the captive Daniel... but his depraved grandson had ignored his very existence. Yet Daniel was there all the time, separate, devoted to God, having His mind, and ready to reveal it at the right moment.

The king had heard of Daniel's wisdom in interpreting dreams in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. But he seems not to have wanted any personal acquaintance with this captive Jew. However, in the ways of God, He humbles the wise men of his world and exalts the despised captive. Wisdom is found with God's people, even though in captivity.

He may speak to him in a heathen style. He may credit his own gods with the wisdom that the Most High God had put in him. But he does still admit that there is something special and unusual in Daniel.

This scene has often repeated itself in the history of men's souls. When eternity confronts an ungodly man, he turns to the godly man for light, help and comfort if he can get it... It is very likely, my unsaved friend, that you live quite close to a godly man. He could help you grasp the truth, and yet you know nothing about him. You give him a wide berth; close quarters is the very thing you avoid. You will want him yet — that God-fearing, holy, separate man... But what a wonderful thing it is that God has His witnesses even in Babylon.

Upon the wall before the king the part of a man's hand is seen tracing letters and words on the plaster. He cannot read the writing, and neither can any of the company feasting with him. The Chaldeans, soothsayers, and astrologers are called in, but it is useless. They could neither read the writing nor make known the interpretation. Yet the reward for the man who could do this was scarlet clothing, a chain of gold for his neck, and the position of third ruler in the kingdom.

The king's wise men failed in two ways: they could not read the writing, and they could not make known its interpretation to the king. The letters may have been the ancient Hebrew characters. Daniel knew them, but the wise men would not.

Once more the wise men of Babylon were called in, but only to display again their incompetence and ignorance. We are told that there was nothing unusual about the four words. They were not words from some unknown, foreign language. But that day they were God's words, and so they were far outside the understanding of these servants of the world and its false gods.

There was nothing in the language of the writing on the wall beyond the astrologers of Babylon any more than beyond Daniel. Not so much, I might say. At least the words were as familiar to a Chaldean as to a Hebrew. But the wise men of Babylon, the scribes of Belshazzar's court and kingdom, were not able to interpret them. They were morally incapable.

Notice, as to this writing seen on the wall, what was the great difficulty of it? The language was Chaldean, and those who saw the hand and the characters were Chaldeans. It is not God's way, when He communicates anything, to put it in an obscure form. It would be a monstrous theory that God gives a revelation and makes it impossible for the people it is meant for to understand it. What is it that makes all Scripture so difficult? It is not its language. The real difficulty of Scripture is that its thoughts are infinitely above our natural mind. We must give up self in order to understand the Bible.

The words were plain enough. All of it should have been intelligible, and would have been, if the souls of the Chaldeans had been in communion with the Lord. I do not mean that Daniel could understand it without the power of the Spirit of God. But for understanding the word, it is an immense thing to have communion with the God who is making His mind known to us.

Instead of crying to God for His mercy and pardon, the king "cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers." He offered them great rewards if they could interpret the writing of God on the wall. Not one of the world's wise men could read God's writing, but God had His interpreter at hand.

God will speak in a vision to Pharaoh, by writing on the wall in Belshazzar's day, by "great plainness of speech" in our day. But now, as in days gone by, the wise men of this world are completely at a loss when they try to interpret the Word of God. So Pharaoh appeals to the "magicians of Egypt and all its wise men," only to find "there was none to interpret" his dreams. Man's natural pride of intellect blinds him to a simple fact: only God can interpret what God communicates.

He had known, as noted before, of Daniel's services, but he had not cared to know him personally. The godless king had no wish to know the servant of God. He sent for him only now, in his desperation, for help in the hour of his need.

This scene repeats again and again in the history of people's souls. When eternity confronts an ungodly man, he turns to the godly man for light, help, and comfort if possible. This proves that godliness is profitable in this life and in the one to come... It is very likely, my unsaved friend, that you live quite close to a godly man. He could help you grasp the truth, and yet you know nothing about him.

The world's greatness and glory come to an end, and its wisdom fails completely. This will be plain in the day that is fast approaching. The world's wisdom is folly and thick darkness when God is acting. It needs someone outside its whole course and ways to make known the mind of God, whether in grace or in judgment.

In the ways of God, He humbles the wise men of his world and exalts the despised captive. Wisdom is found with God's people, even though they are in captivity.

Purple is found in Scripture chiefly with Gentiles, only once or twice including Israel. ... In Daniel 5:7, 16, 29, the margin is correct — purple, not scarlet. Scarlet is nowhere found with the Gentile.

The king offered the third place in the kingdom as a reward. That is a bit of circumstantial evidence, the kind so dear to a lawyer's heart and so convincing in a court of justice. Belshazzar reigned together with his father, Nabonidus. The associate monarch is not named in Daniel 5. It is believed he was away on military business at the time. Two places belonged to these two kings, and so came the promised reward of a third place in the kingdom.

The monuments have now cleared away what, with respect to this king, had seemed to make Scripture and the historians disagree.

Whatever Daniel's attitude, he could not let his public promise of reward to the interpreter come to nothing. Men who are false to God are often true to one another in their very selfishness. This reward was Belshazzar's last act as king. That same night he was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom.

Look at his independence. How truly independent God's man is in any day. Nor does he want any reward. "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another." He does not want the world's gifts. Not one bit. He is dependent on the Lord alone. He receives everything from the Lord for himself, and he has something for everybody else down here. He is faithful to man in this chapter. Even so, he was made "the third ruler in the kingdom" — and that kingdom ended the same night.

Daniel was standing before the sovereign of all the kingdoms of the earth. This was an absolute monarch, who held the power of life and death over all his subjects. But Daniel was the servant of the God who was the source of Belshazzar's brief power. So, conscious of his mission, he neither feared the king nor was tempted by his offered rewards. … It was a noble preface, fitting for the messenger of God to the wicked king.

He had not answered Nebuchadnezzar like this. He thought about the dark and painful shadow that was to fall across that monarch's life. Compassion filled him, and he said, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies." But here the dishonour done to the living God stirs his indignation deeply. For the moment he seems to lose sight of the commanding position held by this monster of wickedness… Nebuchadnezzar had been in complete darkness, and so deserved pity. But Belshazzar was sinning against the light that had shone in God's dealings with that king.

Those gold and silver vessels taken out of the temple in Jerusalem pointed, in one way or another, to the adorable person of the Lord Jesus. Daniel found it intolerable that profane lords and wives should drink wine out of them to praise the gods of gold and silver… He does not show Belshazzar the same respect: "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another." Jehovah's Christ was attacked, and the indignation was just.

Daniel's answer in verse 17 is very striking. Earlier, at the end of Daniel 2, Daniel had accepted the honours placed on him; now he treated them with disdain. The meaning of the four fateful words had clearly already reached his heart. He knew that God had rejected Belshazzar, and that his kingdom was about to crash in ruin. So the honours Belshazzar offered were worthless.

Daniel answers as the occasion demanded… But first he gives a most painful word of admonition. In a few words he sets before him the history of Nebuchadnezzar and God's dealings with him. He reminds him too of his own complete indifference, and worse, of his reckless insults against God… He sets before him what that scene was in the eye of God. For this is what sin, what Satan, always seeks to hide. To the Babylonian court it was a magnificent feast. The trophies of their victories and the supremacy of their gods made it greater still. But what was their gorgeous revelry in the eye of God?

Daniel and his companions entered the place of the Gentiles with one purpose of heart: they would not defile themselves with the king's food. He did not know what this might cost him, but this was his purpose… And so at Belshazzar's feast. He had nothing in common with the feast — not a bit… He was as much a conqueror in the day of the feast as he was in the day of the lions' den.

I have been looking into the force of the Hebrew words for Most High. Clearly, in the end it points to God in the millennium as the supreme God revealed at that time, to the exclusion of all that is false. This is the force of the word. It means One who holds the place of the one true God, above all others and to the exclusion of them, exalted as supreme in government. Jehovah, as we know, is the God who is in relationship with Israel. But He is the supreme God, the Most High.

It is worth noting that in this chapter Daniel speaks more than once of "the God of heaven." That shows that the first Gentile ruler with supreme power held his authority as something delegated from heaven. We believe this is the fact behind the Apostle's instruction in Romans 13:1. The power in existence in his own day was the fourth one mentioned in our chapter. But whoever the Gentile powers may be at any given moment, they hold their authority as delegates of "the God of heaven."

If God is about to strike, He will have the grounds of His action explained. It is a striking feature of His ways, above all in the Old Testament, that before He acts in judgment He is careful to state His reasons. He does this so that He may be clear when He speaks, and justified when He judges… So here Daniel laid out the charge against the king. He showed him that he had ignored all the warnings of the past, and had sinned against light and knowledge… At such a solemn moment there must be no mistake. So Daniel set the king before the judgment seat of God before he explained the writing.

Before he explains the writing, Daniel rebukes the king by reminding him of God's dealings with Nebuchadnezzar. The Most High God had given Nebuchadnezzar a worldwide kingdom with absolute power. But the king used it for his own glory, and God humbled him for his pride. Belshazzar knew all this. Yet despite this warning, he had not humbled his heart.

Belshazzar knew all about God's dealings with his grandfather, and that fact makes him all the more responsible. Where much has been given, much must surely be required. Belshazzar began his reign with more light than his grandfather had, so his godless conduct is all the worse… Apart from the witness of the heavens and the earth, and whatever could be learned from God's providential dealings with His creatures, Nebuchadnezzar had no light at all. That lasted until He brought the captive Jews from Jerusalem, and the king came into contact with Daniel and his three companions. But the same could not be said of Belshazzar.

Let me say in passing that it is very helpful for us as Christians to see that there is no power in this world except what God has ordained. That would settle a thousand difficulties for you if you bowed to the Word of God. It is not a question of whether the power is good or bad… How is it that we are now living under the power of the fourth beast? God has put power into the hands of the Gentiles, and the Gentiles are answerable to Him for the way they use it. Our part is simply to recognise the power, and to see God behind the one who governs.

Before doing so, he rebukes the king by reminding him of God's dealings with Nebuchadnezzar. The Most High God had given to Nebuchadnezzar a universal kingdom with absolute power. But the king had used it for his own glory and God had humbled him for his pride. All this Belshazzar well knew, and yet, despite this warning, he had not humbled his heart.

The Persian king was himself under the laws of his kingdom. Those laws could still be enforced even when he wanted them set aside in certain cases. The Grecian king was not altogether beyond the control of his generals. But Nebuchadnezzar was himself above all the laws of his kingdom. His rule was completely despotic. And this power he had directly from God, to whom alone he was answerable, though he knew Him not.

He was "a king of kings," because of the power, strength and glory of his kingdom, which he had received from God. His rule reached everywhere, and his authority was absolute. There were no restrictions on his authority, and what he commanded was done. Only God could hinder him. He did so when He rescued His faithful servants from the fiery furnace, into which the king in his rage had thrown them.

Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was a direct gift from God. As Daniel said, "You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory." No one could say this of the three kingdoms that followed. They come on the scene in a providential way, allowed by God, for the government of the earth and according to His ordering. But their rulers were in no sense the direct holders of power, as Nebuchadnezzar was. He was nearest God in this outward sense, so his responsibility was all the greater.

God acts as "the God of heaven" when He gives power to the Gentiles. As "God of the earth" His throne was at Jerusalem, and will be when He again makes Himself known in that way. But His earthly throne has been set aside, because of the sin of those who had been the responsible holders and agents of His authority. So He now acts as "God of heaven," and gives authority to the Gentile king.

"But when his heart was lifted up" (that is always the way when men get power, their hearts are lifted up), "and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him."

Nebuchadnezzar had been guilty of much sin. He had been proud and self-satisfied, despite warning, and God humbled him as no king nor man ever was because of it. But he had acknowledged throughout his wide realm his own sin and the mighty wonders of the King of heaven. Before this bright end, even in his most reckless days, when all trembled before him and he killed whom he would and kept alive whom he would, he never went as far as the act of contemptuous profanity now committed by his grandson.

Daniel was standing before the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. He stood before an absolute monarch, one who held the power of life and death over all his subjects (see v. 19). But Daniel was the servant of the God who was the source of Belshazzar's brief power. Conscious of his mission, he did not fear the king, and the rewards the king offered did not tempt him.

If God was about to strike, He would make sure the grounds of His action were explained. This is a striking feature in His ways, above all in the Old Testament. Before He acts in judgment, He is careful to state the reasons for it. So He is clear when He speaks and justified when He judges.

God had entrusted this power to Nebuchadnezzar. He had blessed the king beyond measure in the things of this life. As a result pride takes hold of him. It takes hold despite the warning given in the interpretation of the dream, and despite the clear prediction of what was to come. The heart gets blinded by the things it sees… If God, in His providence, lifts a man up, then the man lifts himself up. All is then lost… Man is guilty, so power cannot be entrusted to him without his lifting himself up against God who gave it. He makes himself the centre instead of God.

Rendered in the older version as "mind": Proverbs 29:11 — a fool utters all his mind. Ezekiel 11:5 — I know the things that come into your mind. Ezekiel 20:32 — that which comes into your mind. Daniel 5:20 — his mind hardened in pride. "Understanding": Isaiah 11:4. "Courage": Joshua 2:11.

Never had a man been more lifted up in pride than this king, and no proud man was ever brought so low.

Notice this; it is a broad and bold confession of the judgment that had come on him because of his pride. He had passed through deep waters under God's correcting hand. And so he said: "I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth and His ways judgment: and those who walk in pride He is able to abase." Remember that this is the effect of personal humbling, "toward me," said the once proud monarch. But he had been abased, emptied, brought to the dust. Now, visited again with mercy, his lips are full of the praise of his Corrector.

Belshazzar knew well how God had dealt with his grandfather, and this fact makes him all the more responsible. Where much has been given, much must be required. Belshazzar began his reign with more light than his grandfather had, so his godless conduct is all the more blameworthy.

Nebuchadnezzar had also failed, though not to the same extent. But under God's chastening he humbled himself. He owned Him as the source of his authority, and as the almighty Ruler in heaven and on earth. He extolled and honoured Him as the King of heaven. Belshazzar was blind to all the teachings of the past. He sinned more deeply still, magnifying his idols above the God who held his breath in His hand.

When God is about to strike, He makes the grounds of His action known. This is a striking feature of His ways, especially in the Old Testament. Before He acts in judgment, He carefully states His reasons, so that He may be clear when He speaks and justified when He judges.

Nebuchadnezzar had to take his place among the beasts of the field. These have no idea of God. Man has, for he has a conscience in him. The great difference between a man and a beast is this: man recognises God, the beast does not. But "Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish." The unconverted man does not know Him. However learned or intelligent he may be, he has no true knowledge of God.

Piream comes from pere, the wild donkey. That is what man is born as (Job 11:12), and it is his obstacle to finding wisdom. Free and independent, he will not put up with a yoke or a restraining hand. Nebuchadnezzar forgot, in the pride of his heart, the One who had raised him up. So he "was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys." He was put with the creatures his moral state resembled… The one who lasts is the one who recognises the hand that raised him, and submits to it.

In the mercy of God a limit was placed to his madness, and his kingdom was made sure to him "with a band of iron and brass." God had given him the kingdom at the start, and by His power He kept it safe for him. All the while its degraded ruler, with a beast's heart given to him, herded with the cattle of the field. His hair grew like feathers, his nails like a bird's claws. And so for seven years he continued to exist, until he was ready to own that "the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom He will." God would give the kingdom back when he learned that the heavens rule.

It is the pride of power which forgets God, which levels man with the beast that has none. Nebuchadnezzar claims the great city over which he rules as built by his own power and for his own glory. In the same hour he is driven to the beasts, until he has learnt his lesson. Then he is restored, but the lesson remains. Sadly, it will not prevent the doom of the Gentile empires. It stands as a warning for the one who has the secret of the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar had been in deep darkness, and so he was to be pitied. Belshazzar was sinning against the light that had already shone in God's dealings with that king.

If our nation punishes crime, the believer is to submit to the authorities, as Romans 13:1 teaches, and not protest what the government does. … For it is God who "rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom He will." Popular vote does not decide this matter, for God has already decided what the popular vote will be, and He is concerned about all nations.

We cannot date Nebuchadnezzar's successors exactly. But it seems beyond question that Belshazzar was not his son. He may have been his grandson, though even that is not certain. So the word "father" here means ancestor, or forefather, as it often does in Scripture. Whatever his exact relation to Nebuchadnezzar, he cannot have been far removed from that king. He knew well the judgment that had fallen on him (v. 22).

Belshazzar knew well how God had dealt with his grandfather, and that makes him all the more responsible. Where much has been given, much must surely be required. Belshazzar began his reign with more light than his grandfather had, so his godless conduct is all the more blameworthy. Nebuchadnezzar had only two things at first: the witness of the heavens and the earth, and whatever he could gather from God's providential dealings with His creatures. Beyond that he had no light, until God brought the captive Jews from Jerusalem and he met Daniel and his three companions. The same was not true of Belshazzar.

Nebuchadnezzar had failed too, if not so badly. But under God's chastening he humbled himself. He owned Him as the source of his authority, and as the all-powerful Ruler in heaven and on earth. He praised and honoured Him as the King of heaven. Belshazzar was blind to all the teaching of the past. He sinned far worse. He set his idols above the God who held his very breath in His hand, and so lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven.

God's ways have a striking feature, seen again and again in the Old Testament. Before He acts in judgment, He takes care to state the reasons for it. So He is clear when He speaks and justified when He judges. So here Daniel laid out the case against the king. He showed him that he had ignored all the warnings of the past and had sinned against light and knowledge. In the end he had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven and polluted the holy vessels of His house. This shows what the king meant when he called for those vessels. It was no wild impulse under the heat of wine. It was a deliberate, calculated insult to God.

Did that godless Belshazzar know no better? Had he never heard how God had dealt with his father? No — "And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this." That same night he was slain. Judgment did not delay its stroke on a man so openly defiant. Nebuchadnezzar worshipped other gods, yet even he never dared to defile the vessels of God as Belshazzar did… Belshazzar sinned with his eyes open, for he knew better, and he was slain that night.

But does man ever really profit by the light his Creator gives him in grace? Think of Israel. What effect did God's mighty works have on them, done in their sight by His mighty hand in Egypt and in the wilderness? Divine and sovereign grace worked in men like Joshua and Caleb. Apart from them, no lasting good came of it at all, and the works might just as well never have been done.

During the times of the Gentiles, God no longer governs openly and directly from a centre on earth. His government takes a hidden form, and it comes from heaven. That is why this book calls God "the God of heaven" four times, "the King of heaven" once, and "the LORD of heaven" once.

He brings before him what that scene was in the eye of God. For this is what sin, what Satan, always seeks to hide. In the eyes of the Babylonian court, it was a magnificent feast. Reminders of their military victories and the supremacy of their gods made it greater still. But what was their splendid party in the eye of God? What did it mean to Him that they proudly paraded the vessels of His service to boast of the triumph of Babylon and her idols?

Now, notice, behind all these various idols stands the one who is the god of this world — Satan. The man who is doing his own will is only doing Satan's will, and is in his service… But the king had willingly let himself be the devil's tool. So a dispute stood between him and God. That is why he hears from Daniel's lips, "And the God in whose hand your breath is" (notice that), "and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified." It is a solemn, grave charge, but absolutely true.

Everything that makes a man what he is comes from, and belongs to, Another. No man has anything that he can truly call his own. The prophet Daniel pressed this truth on guilty Belshazzar on the last night of a wasted life. "The God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified" (Dan. 5:23). The same strong words would fit many other people just as well.

And this was not ignorant desecration, but boasting against the God of Israel. They praised gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Even a piece of wood, or a stone, was better than God… Nebuchadnezzar worshipped other gods, yet he never dared to desecrate the vessels of God, as this Belshazzar did. The first man put God above all gods. This one ignores the proof of His power, and all that God was known to be, and insults Him to the utmost. They use the vessels of God to keep the devil's feast. Then comes the hand and writes on the wall… Belshazzar sinned in open defiance, for he knew better, and he was killed that night.

If God was about to strike, He will make the grounds of His action clear. This is a striking feature of His ways, above all in the Old Testament. Before He acts in judgment, He is careful to state the reasons for it… So here Daniel laid out the charge against the king. He showed him that he had ignored all the warnings of the past and had sinned against light and knowledge. In the end he had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven, and had polluted the holy vessels of His house. This shows clearly what the king meant when he ordered those vessels to be brought in. It was no wild whim of a man heated with wine. It was a deliberate, studied insult against God.

If God was about to smite, He will have the grounds of His action explained. This is a striking feature in His ways, especially in the Old Testament. Before He acts in judgment, He is careful to state the reasons, so that He may be clear when He speaks and justified when He judges. So here Daniel presented the indictment against the king. He showed him that he had ignored all the warnings of the past and had sinned against light and knowledge. In the end he had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven, and had polluted the holy vessels of His house. This shows plainly what the king meant when he ordered these vessels to be brought. It was no mere wild impulse under the heat of wine, but a deliberate and studied insult against God. So Daniel wanted the king to understand this: God sent "the part of the hand" to write on the wall in connection with this very act.

The man who is doing his own will is simply doing Satan's, and is in his service... But the king had willingly yielded himself to be the devil's tool, so that a controversy between him and God existed. So he hears from Daniel's lips, "the God in whose hand is your breath" (mark that), "and whose are all your ways, you have not honored." A solemn and grave charge, but absolutely true. My friend, is this true of you too? Take care... "Your breath" too is in His hand. The little string of life has only to be broken, and you pass from time into eternity.

Now all that makes man what he is, is derived from, and belongs to, Another. No man has anything that he can properly call his own. This truth was pressed upon guilty Belshazzar by the prophet Daniel on the last night of a wasted life.

No legion of angels appeared. There was no visible display of divine power. Only the fingers of what looked like a man's hand could be seen, writing four words on the plaster of the wall, just opposite the lampstand, where they showed most clearly. The proud king became a shivering mortal, and his lords were astonished.

Our thoughts travel back to Exodus, where we read of the law being given, written with "the finger of God" on tablets of stone. It was fitting material, for stone cannot be twisted or bent, though it can be broken. Here the finger of God is connected with demand upon guilty men... But now in Daniel we again have "the finger of God," and we find it to be the finger of doom, written on plaster, that easily crumbles. God showed His presence by showing the tips of His fingers, and it scared the life out of Belshazzar. The final hour of judgment will come, and "the dead, small and great, stand before God" (Revelation 20:12). What will they feel then? We are reminded of that word, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).

Since the writing was in the Chaldean language, it was not that the king's wise men did not understand the words. It was the connection, application, and interpretation that they could not unfold. Without the key, the words looked to them like scattered pieces, disjointed and meaningless.

It should all have been clear to them. It would have been, if the souls of the Chaldeans had been in communion with the Lord. I do not mean that Daniel had no need of the Spirit of God's power to understand it. But for the understanding of the word, it is an immense thing that we have communion with the God who is making known His mind to us.

But the sentence of instant, inevitable judgment at once made itself heard. The cup of iniquity was full. Long before this, the mouth of the Lord had announced the punishment of Babylon's king (Isaiah 13; Jeremiah 25, and elsewhere). Yet even the stroke does not fall without a solemn sign from God.

Since the writing was in the Chaldean language, it was not that the king's wise men did not understand the words. It was the connection, application, and interpretation that they could not unfold. Without the key, so many separate words would look to them scattered and meaningless.

Even if someone had read that sentence out, no one could have known its meaning apart from God's teaching. Each word appears to have had a hidden meaning, which God revealed to Daniel. The kingdom was "divided," and given to the Medes and Persians (Peres). So, as always, God alone can interpret what He has caused to be written.

Daniel does not just translate the words on the wall. He gives out the mind of God that they were meant to convey. He could not have done this unless God had spoken to him directly. If translated according to their meaning, the words are "numbered," "weighed," and "divided"; but no human cleverness could have discovered their divine significance... The first word came twice. The reason is surely found in Joseph's words to Pharaoh: "And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about" (Genesis 41:32).

God Himself had entrusted the rule of the earth to Nebuchadnezzar as a responsibility, and He alone decided how long his kingdom would last. So when Daniel told Belshazzar, "God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it," he meant that God had set the end of Babylon's rule and it had now come. Its days were numbered, and they were over.

Being weighed and found wanting was true of Belshazzar, and it is true of you and me too, my friend. It is true of everyone. There is only One of whom it was not true, and that was the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He was put into God's balances and was found full weight... You and I have been found wanting. The things we ought to have done, we have left undone, and the things we ought not to have done, we have done. That is man.

Daniel at once sees God in the matter. The king had insulted God in what was connected with His worship... Nothing appeared at the time to make it even likely. I point this out for a reason. It is another proof of how completely false the maxim is, that we must wait until prophecy is fulfilled before we can understand it... It was His last solemn warning before the blow fell, and the interpretation was given before the Persians broke into the city — when there was not a sign of ruin, but all was gaiety and mirth.

Keep this in mind. The awful sentence that struck terror into the heart of the self-indulgent king of Babylon has, in fact, been passed on the entire human race. It falls on each individual son and daughter of fallen Adam: "You are weighed in the balance and found wanting." Has the reader fully accepted this sentence against himself?... If so, Christ is for you. He died to put away sin and to bear your many sins. Only trust Him, and all He is and has is yours.

Notice that Daniel does not simply translate the words that had been written. He gives out the mind of God that they were meant to convey. He could not have done this unless he himself had received a direct message from God. Taken at their plain meaning, the words are "numbered," "weighed," and "divided." But no human cleverness could have discovered their divine meaning, and that is what Daniel explains. The first word was repeated. The reason is surely found in Joseph's words to Pharaoh: "And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about" (Genesis 41:32).

So the kingdom was 'numbered' and finished. It is like when we say of a person, 'his days are numbered.' … And so, as always, God alone can interpret what He has caused to be written. The prophecy came true: the city and the kingdom were taken that same night.

The king is then told what "Mene," or "numbered," means: God has numbered his kingdom and finished it. Years before, Daniel had told Nebuchadnezzar that God had given him "a kingdom, power, strength, and glory." But he also warned him that another kingdom would rise after his. For sixty-eight years the kings of Babylon had held supreme power over the whole known world. Now the end of the Babylonian Empire had come. Its days were numbered and its world rule was over.

Nebuchadnezzar abused the authority the God of heaven had given him, and that could not be forgiven. As to grace beyond our understanding, and his eternal relationship with God, I am persuaded it could be forgiven, and was. But the royal position could not continue past his grandson. God had promised that the kingdom would stay in his family to the third generation (Jeremiah 27:7), and He keeps His word. So He bore patiently with their cruel and idolatrous ways. He waited until bearing any longer would have made Him look indifferent to their shameless tyranny and wickedness. In the end He stepped in with judgment only when He was openly insulted and challenged to fight the powers of darkness.

God's patience with the "head of gold" was at an end. So there is no call to repent, nothing but the announcement of God's verdict and the judgment that comes with it.

MENE meant numbered. The king knew that word, and he knew that TEKEL meant weighed and UPHARSIN meant divided. Numbered, weighed, and divided. "What has that to do with me?" the king might have said. He was soon told. "This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it." Your history is over. You have come to the end of your rope. God has numbered your kingdom on earth, and finished it. Belshazzar heard this, but I do not think he believed it.

This chapter shows the blasphemy that marked the end of the Babylonian monarchy. Blasphemy and the rejection of God's truth are all around us. There is a "Mene, Mene, Tekel" for a Christendom that has turned away from God, and for that final phase of Babylon shown in Revelation 17 and 18.

The next word "Tekel," meaning "weighed," tells this godless king why his empire had reached its end… God had weighed his actions in scales that never err, and found them wanting.

If God had handed the rule of the earth to Nebuchadnezzar and to the kings after him, then He held them responsible for the way they used that trust. Now the verdict falls on Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar had failed too, though not as far. But when God disciplined him, he humbled himself and acknowledged that his authority came from God… Belshazzar was blind to everything the past had taught. He sinned worse, lifting his idols above the God who held his very breath in His hand, and so he lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven. His time of testing was over.

Nothing showed it at the time. There was no sign that made it even likely… This was God's last solemn warning before the blow fell. Daniel gave the meaning before the Persians broke into the city, when there was not a sign of ruin and everything was bright and merry.

The warning changed nothing in Belshazzar. He gave Daniel high honours, as though his kingdom would carry on, even though Daniel had already refused them. He wore those honours for just a few short hours, because that night the judgment fell as predicted.

God is a God of knowledge, and He weighs our actions (1 Sam. 2:3). He weighed the proud king of Babylon and found him wanting (Dan. 5:27). And "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The Old Testament word for "glory" means "weight," and comes from a word meaning "to be heavy." So by God's standard, all fall short of the full weight that alone can glorify Him. There is only One who, when He was tested, was found full and true weight.

That is said of the king of Babylon only. But was there ever a mere child of Adam of whom it could not be said?… Put in one scale what a ruler among men should be, and in the other what even David, the son of Jesse, really was. What does the man after God's own heart have to confess?… What about Peter? What about Paul? Have they not all been found wanting?

"TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting." That was true of Belshazzar, and it is true of you and me too, my friend. It is true of everyone. There is only One of whom it was not true, and that was the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. God put Him in His balances and found Him full weight… You and I have been found wanting. We have left undone the things we ought to have done, and we have done the things we ought not to have done… If that is the case — and you have found it out — what should be done? You will need to reject your own works and rest on Christ.

The third word is "Peres." It is another form of "Upharsin" — both are different parts of the same verb — and it means "divided." The king's contempt for God brought judgment on him at once.

Daniel does not just translate the words that had been written. He gives out the mind of God that they were meant to convey. He could not have done this unless God had spoken to him directly. Translated by their plain meaning, the words are "numbered," "weighed," and "divided." But no human cleverness could have found their divine meaning, and that is what Daniel explains.

The next word, PERES, holds judgment — the public judgment that follows Belshazzar's failure to use the power entrusted to him in governing the earth. God's patience with the "head of gold" was over. So there is no call to repentance. There is only the announcement of the result of God's verdict, and the judgment that comes with it. Altogether this narrative, as has been well said, shows us the final character of the wickedness of the ruling power of the nations, set against the God of Israel. It also shows us the judgment that falls as a result on the kingdom of which Babylon was the head.

We need not go further than this book of Daniel to find the names of these empires. Chapter 5:28 tells us, "PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." There is the answer at once. We find the Babylonian kingdom tottering and about to fall. Scripture tells us that the Medes and Persians follow it. Nothing simpler or more certain.

Trying to separate the Median and the Persian parts, so as to make them the second and third empires, is desperate and unworthy. Daniel 5:28 was clear beforehand, and so were Daniel 6:8, 12, 15... The bear in chapter 7 matches the ram in chapter 8, which had two horns, the kings of Media and Persia. They are plainly not two Beasts, but one combined power.

It was not that anything appeared then. Nothing was seen at the time that made it even likely. I call attention to this, because it is another proof of how completely false that maxim is — that we must wait till prophecy is fulfilled before we can understand it... It was His last solemn warning before the blow fell. Daniel gave the interpretation before the Persians broke into the city, when there was not a sign of ruin, but all was celebration and laughter.

At that very moment the Medes and the Persians were besieging Babylon... The king thought it could not be taken. But God had prophesied its fall, and now announces the fact. And what takes place? Does Belshazzar bow down in repentance? Alas, no!... The proof of his unbelief was this. He proclaimed that Daniel should be the third ruler in the kingdom, though he had just heard that his kingdom was finished. He did not believe it. But it came true.

Belshazzar's feast, with its splendour and sudden doom, stands as a matter of history and warning. But how few believe it is a picture of the surprising judgment that will overtake the boasting and splendour of this world of pleasure and greatness, in the day of the Lord? The same unerring scriptures that record the past just as surely declare the future. Woe to those who refuse to listen and fail to escape before it is too late.

One thing more is added: Belshazzar's last act as king. Whatever Daniel's attitude, he could not let his public promise of a reward to the interpreter come to nothing. Men who are false to God are often true to one another in their very selfishness.

The king offered the third place in the kingdom as a reward. That is the sort of circumstantial evidence lawyers love, and that convinces a court. Belshazzar reigned together with his father, Nabonidus. This joint monarch is not named in Daniel 5. It is believed he was away on military business at the time. Two places already belonged to these two kings, so the reward promised was a third place in the kingdom.

Purple is found in Scripture mainly with Gentiles, and only once or twice with Israel. In Daniel 5:7, 16 and 29 the margin is correct: purple, not scarlet. Scarlet is never found with a Gentile.

He has been telling me my kingdom is coming to an end, says the king, but I do not believe it. I do not believe my kingdom is over. Blow the trumpet. Put a gold chain round Daniel's neck. Proclaim that I have decided he shall be the next man to me in the kingdom — my kingdom is still going on. So he thought, and so he acted… The proof of his unbelief was this. He proclaimed that Daniel was to be the third ruler in the kingdom. Yet he had just heard that his kingdom was finished. He did not believe it. But it came true.

The king makes much of the messenger, but seems to pay little attention to the message. Even so, that night the judgment fell.

Daniel's answer in verse 17 is very striking. Earlier, at the end of Daniel 2, Daniel had accepted the honours placed on him. Now he treated them with disdain. It was clear that the meaning of the four fateful words had already reached his heart. He knew that God had rejected Belshazzar, and that his kingdom was about to crash into ruin. So the honours offered were worthless.

He had no connection with the feast — none at all. In the day of it he was, as we have seen, a separated man. But he was called to it, and he entered the banqueting hall as a conqueror. The king there promised to make him the third ruler in the kingdom. "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another," said the servant of Christ. He was just as much a conqueror on the day of the feast as he was on the day of the lions' den.

The warning produced no change in Belshazzar. He gave Daniel honours as though his kingdom would continue — even though Daniel had refused them. Daniel wore those honours for just a few hours, because that night the judgment fell as predicted.

Daniel had the third place and Joseph had the second place, but Christ has the preeminence.

But was this ignorant desecration? No — it was boasting against the God of Israel. They praised the gods of gold, of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In their eyes even a piece of wood or a stone counted for more than God. Did that godless Belshazzar know no better? Had he never heard of God's ways with his father? No — "And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this." That same night he was slain. Judgment did not delay its avenging blow on one who so boldly insulted God.

He has been saying that my kingdom is coming to an end, says the king, but I do not believe it. Blow the trumpet, put a gold chain round Daniel's neck, and proclaim that I have decided he shall be the next man to me in the kingdom — my kingdom is still to go on. So he thought, and so he acted. But we read, "That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed." The man was plainly an unbeliever, despite the clear warning he had and the testimony of God in the writing on the wall.

Scripture prophesied the fall of Babylon. It says that Cyrus was God's shepherd, and that He had taken hold of him to subdue nations. God would loosen the belts of kings, to open the double doors before him. The gates would not be shut. The bronze gates would be broken and the iron bars cut through (Isaiah 45:1-2). The suddenness of the attack is mentioned too: "ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing" (Isaiah 47:11). We also find that it was on the night of Belshazzar's revelry that the king was slain.

The river Euphrates ran right through the centre of the city, guarded by great bronze gates, so that no one could enter by water. Cyrus, the Persian leader, used a very simple trick. The Euphrates bends near Babylon, so he cut a new bed for the water a few miles upstream. When darkness came, he opened the sluices and turned the river into this new channel. The riverbed was then practically dry where it passed Babylon. The Persian troops marched quietly along it, under the bronze gates, and took the city.

Years ago, learned critics claimed that the book of Daniel was largely legendary and written several centuries after the events it described. They regarded Belshazzar as an imaginary figure, since they found no reference to him in surviving records. Later, however, archaeologists dug in these ancient ruins and found his name on a clay tablet. That shattered this claim, like many other unbelieving claims. It appears that, following an ancient custom, he shared the kingship with his father. His father was away at the time, so in practice he was king in Babylon just as it fell to the rising power of Medo-Persia.

Daniel gave Belshazzar the meaning of the final word: "PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." So the Medo-Persian kingdom was to follow that of the Chaldeans. And that is how it turned out, for we read in verses 30 and 31: "That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom." This is perfectly plain and conclusive. We are not left to guesswork — not even to the testimony of secular history. The second great Gentile empire was that of the Medes and Persians.

God thus judged the first of the kingdoms of the Gentiles, and this was the monarchy of Babylon. The event was of the highest importance for history, and of no less weight for prophecy. The moral features that marked Belshazzar's rule will reappear in the future Babylon spoken of in Revelation.

But, you say, some men turn to the Lord on their deathbed. I do not deny it. But who gives you the assurance? You may spend your life in the service of sin, living only for this world and neglecting eternity. Who tells you that you will still be able to turn to the Lord at the last hour and have everything settled? Take warning: Belshazzar died that night, and you may die this night.