“And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;”
Daniel 5:22
Daniel was now an older man. King Nebuchadnezzar no longer ruled. A new king reigned in Babylon. His name was Belshazzar, and he was King Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson. We know little about him, except for the time he drank wine before his thousands. “1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2. Belshazzar, whiles 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” (Daniel 5:1-2). Father in this verse means “grandfather.” King Belshazzar called for the vessels from the house of the Lord to be brought to him. Remember King Nebuchadnezzar had stolen the vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem (see Daniel 1:1-2). These vessels belonged in the house of the Lord and were consecrated to God (set apart for a special purpose). Recognize that Belshazzar misused these vessels. “They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone” (Daniel 5:4). Belshazzar was using them to praise false gods (of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone).
Read what God did. “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote” (Daniel 5:5). When King Belshazzar saw a hand writing on the palace wall, he was so scared that his knees began to shake together! He sent for his wise men to tell him what the message meant – with a promise of great reward (see Daniel 5:6-7). However, none of them could tell the king what the writing meant. This frightened King Belshazzar even more.
Nevertheless, when the queen heard what was happening, she told the king that she knew of someone. “11. 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; 12. 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” (Daniel 5:11-12). Notice the reputation that preceded Daniel! Also, recognize the confidence the queen had in Daniel – for we read the king then requested Daniel’s presence. If Daniel would give King Belshazzar the meaning, Daniel would receive great reward (see Daniel 5:13-16). However, Daniel did not want rewards for delivering a message from God to the king (see Daniel 5:17).
The first thing Daniel did was remind King Belshazzar of his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, and the response he had made when God spoke to and dealt with him (see Daniel 5:18-21; also see Daniel chapter four). Next, Daniel brought the responsibility of the writing upon the wall to the king. “22. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 23. 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 hast 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” (Daniel 5:22-23). Daniel rebuked King Belshazzar for praising the gods of silver, gold, brass, iron, wood and stone, and not acknowledging God who had given him life.
Nebuchadnezzar had humbled himself before God, but Belshazzar had refused.
King Belshazzar had not believed in God like his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar.
Read the message God had for King Belshazzar. “25. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:25-28). King Belshazzar had been “weighed in the balances” by God, and Belshazzar had been found wanting (means “deficient; lacking; to fail”). Although Belshazzar had a great kingdom, he had rejected God. The God in whom Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather, had believed and trusted. For that, God was going to take the kingdom from Belshazzar and divide it among his enemies.
Belshazzar fulfilled his promise to Daniel, giving him honor and gifts (see Daniel 5:29). Recognize that it did not really matter that the king declared Daniel to be the third ruler in the kingdom. Why not? “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain” (Daniel 5:30). The handwriting declared King Belshazzar would lose his kingdom that night – and he did. He also lost his life. With that came the demise of the Babylonian reign. Belshazzar no longer lived, nor did he rule over Babylon any more.
Nebuchadnezzar had a choice. He chose to believe in the one true God.
Belshazzar had a choice. He chose to disregard the one true God.
What choice have you made?
How to choose wisely: Choose the one true God