Daniel 5

Read Daniel 5 – Mene, mene, tekel, parsin – Here we have Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar, ruling Babylon and hosting a debaucherous banquet. It must have felt so rebellious when he had the holy goblets brought in with utter disdain, praising his gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone with them.

Verses :5-6, wow~! Only God, right? A hand wrote words the king did not understand, but he went pale and collapsed at the sight of them all the same. Have you ever known to fear, without understanding why?

Daniel is summoned and the king promises him royal gifts if he can interpret the dream. “Daniel answered the king, ‘Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means…’ “ :17 Daniel gives a quick history of where pride got the last king. He tells King Belshazzar his lack of humility earned him the writing on the wall:

Mene – God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel – you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. Parsin – your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (:26-28)

The king gives Daniel the royal gifts… was this a shallow attempt at good behavior? Scripture does not say, but even so, God was not fooled. “That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king was killed. And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.” :30-31

Rest assured, a life lived in rebellion is never satisfying for long because sin is never satisfied. The LORD is not swayed by fame, fortune, title or charm. One day every knee will bow before the LORD God Almighty.