seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Daniel 5:1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.
7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers[b] and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
10 The queen,[c] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. 12 He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
18 “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.
22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[d] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
25 “This is the inscription that was written:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin
26 “Here is what these words mean:
Mene[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
28 Peres[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,[h] was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.[i]
a. Daniel 5:2 Or ancestor; or predecessor; also in verses 11, 13 and 18
b. Daniel 5:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 11
c. Daniel 5:10 Or queen mother
d. Daniel 5:22 Or descendant; or successor
e. Daniel 5:26 Mene can mean numbered or mina (a unit of money).
f. Daniel 5:27 Tekel can mean weighed or shekel.
g. Daniel 5:28 Peres (the singular of Parsin) can mean divided or Persia or a half mina or a half shekel.
h. Daniel 5:30 Or Chaldeans
i. Daniel 5:31 In Aramaic texts this verse (5:31) is numbered 6:1
Daniel saw some exciting stuff. Fingers of fire writing on the wall.... Lasers!!!
This is from Bible-studys.org.
We must quickly make note that this is not Daniel, whose name had been changed to Belteshazzar. Belshazzar, the king, was not the son of Nebuchadnezzar, but the grandson. History tells us his mother, Nitocris, was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar.
These events occurred (in 539 B.C.), over two decades after Nebuchadnezzar’s death. This king, whose name means “Bel, protect the king,” is about to be conquered by the Medo-Persian army.
The years between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar are filled with murder, intrigue, conspiracy, and political decline. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-merodach who had reigned for only two years when he was murdered by his brother in law, Neriglissar. After a brief reign, Neriglissar died, leaving the kingdom in the hands of his son, Labashi-marduk. The latter lasted only two months before being killed by an assassin and succeeded by Nabonidus.
Nabonidus, who was probably the son in law of Nebuchadnezzar, reigned for some 16 years. Although he left the kingdom in the hands of his son Belshazzar for much of the time, Nabonidus was able to restore a measure of glory to Babylon.
Belshazzar ruled as king during the last years of Babylon. It is not evident until the end of the chapter, but while Belshazzar was feasting in revelry, the city was surrounded by the Persian army. Belshazzar considered the city unassailable because of its massive walls, and therefore felt confident to hold a banquet in the face of military threat.
The celebration was designed to boost morale and break the feelings of doom, because at this very time, armies of Medo-Persia (verse 30), had Babylon helplessly under siege.
These atheists had no idea what they were doing. The silver and the gold vessels were holy, and dedicated to God alone. To drink from these vessels, would be a terrible sin before God.
God will not overlook this act of disrespect for His holy things. They have sealed their own fate, by this terrible thing they have done.
These fingers and hand came out of the total darkness, and came to a lighted area of the wall near the lamp to write. This is where the statement (handwriting on the wall), came from. This is the hand of God. The finger of God had written the Ten Commandments.
Archaeologists have unearthed a room on the site of ancient Babylon, located in Iraq, that is plastered and measures 165 feet by 55 feet. It may very well have been Belshazzar’s banquet hall.
Now, we see Daniel explaining to Belshazzar that it will be no different with him. He is so proud, he has not given God credit for making him king. He is not a humble man. God will bring him down.
Babylon has fallen into the hands of the Medes. Darius is 62 years old, when he took the kingdom of Babylon.
Possibly Darius is not a name, but an honored title for Cyrus, who with his army entered Babylon. It is used in inscriptions for at least 5 Persian rulers. History mentions no specific man named Darius the Mede.
As far as his name goes, historians believe that the name Darius was not a proper name at all, but a title of honor meaning "Holder of the Scepter.” In other words, "The Scepter Holder (King), of the Medes.
I read other commentaries.... this is a pretty straight forward story. This chapter also gets a lot of attention because of the detached fingers. It says the king's knees were knocking.... I don't know if I would have had knocking knees.... I think I would just faint if I saw detached fingers writing on a wall. Back in the days of Daniel and Belshazzar.... there was no CGI.... they didn't spend their time in front of the big screen or the boob tube back then. Their mindless exercises were drinking parties. With the Medes laying siege to Babylon.... a nice loud drinking party would be quite the diversion. I can even imagine Neb's grandson saying "Oh what the hell.... let's pull out those gold and silver mugs granddad has in the safe..... we should enjoy life..... here have a drink sister..... have a drink brother..... who cares what granddad said about these mugs being so special..... a toast.... to the gods of silver, gold, and drink".
Stupid humans..... mocking God is not a good idea..... especially the God who caused your grandfather to scrounge around eating grass like an ox.
I am worried, as a matter of fact, that most of the humans who are in leadership positions today are just as ignorant as Belshazzar. They have no idea why things are going so horribly wrong in the world.... everyone seems to be so anxious all the time..... it's all because they don't give the One True God the respect He deserves..... As a matter of fact.... it seems the majority of the world leaders today are a lot like Belshazzar..... have another glass.... or chalice.... it's been a long siege.
