When the Writing's on the Wall
Governments come and go, leaders rise and fall. Sometimes all that happens overnight. Four years ago, we were on a bus in Germany, as part of a Reformation study tour, when some one, can't remember who'd been willing to pay for global roaming, broke the news that we had a new Prime Minister! Kevin Rudd had been replaced by Julia Gillard. Overnight, almost without warning the government, and the leader, changed.
We get that feeling when we get to Daniel chapter 5. Chapters 1-4 have been all about King Nebuchadnezzar. He's conquered Jerusalem, brought Daniel and his friends back to Babylon. He's had some weird dreams, which Daniel's interpreted, he's built statutes, seen God at work, he's been humbled by God. Chapter 4 ends with these words:
37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven,
for all his works are truth,
and his ways are justice;
and he is able to bring low
those who walk in pride.
It's a pretty high note. But then we get to chapter 5, and all of a sudden, without warning, Nebuchadnezzar's gone. Instead we read of King Belshazzar. What's happened? What's going on?
The reality is it wasn't an overnight change. Belshazzar didn't even directly succeed Nebuchadnezzar as King. It looks like it in the chapter because Nebcudnezzar is referred to as Belshazzar's father, but the word can actually mean predecessor or ancestor, and from history it's clearly meant in that way. There was a period of instability after Nebuchadnezzar's reign, a bit of political infighting. Few replacements that made Kevin Rudd's sacking look quite friendly. Eventually someone called Nabonidus takes the throne, but he ends up spending most of his time in a kind of exile in the North Arabian Desert. So his son Belshazzar effectively takes the throne in Babylon.
Which helps explain why Belshazzar's throwing a huge feast in verse 1. Why he's inviting a thousand of his lords and ladies to party with him. Belshazzar hadn't taken the throne by might or power, he wasn't even King in his own right. So he needs to shore up his authority any way he can. He's winning and dinning all the elite in Babylon. He's buying respect and support with food, wine and entertainment. But rather than conducting himself like a true monarch, like a respectable ruler, Belshazzar's in the midst of everything, leading the drinking and debauchery. It's under the influence of the wine, that Belshazzar has what must've seemed like a brilliant idea. What do you do if you're having a party and really want to impress people? You bust out the good silver. The sterling knives and forks that for 364 days of the year live in a box on top of your cupboard, but on that one day you pull out in order to impress. That's what Belshazzar does. He orders his servants to fetch the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Do you remember those from back in chapter 1? Nebuchadnezzar took the vessels and placed them in the'treasury of his gods'. Well, Belshazzar orders that the vessels be brought out, in order to use them as a wine glass. He's mocking Nebuchadnezzar. By his actions he's claiming he's greater than his predecessor, who at least treated these objects with respect. But that's not only who Belshazzar is mocking. His actions he's claiming that he's greater that God. He's saying God has no power, no might. He's claiming to be greater than God. Imagine how you'd feel if I took the chalice from here, took it home and used it as a wine glass at dinner? Of if I took it away on the CLAY camp to use as a cordial cup?
If that wasn't bad enough Belshazzar, and his lords and ladies, then add insult to injury. Not only do they drink from the vessels, from the house of God, but they then praise the gods of gold and silver, of wood, iron, bronze and stone. They begin praising dead objects, they're in effect claiming that God is deader than dead wood. We see from what Daniel says in verse 23 that they're lifting themselves up against heaven. It's really a challenge to God. Belshazzar is claiming to be greater than God! We're meant to sit up and gasp! What will God do? Will he allow this to happen? The answer comes back pretty quickly. Immediately, the fingers of a human hand appear and begin writing a message to Belshazzar.
It's hard to imagine exactly what this looked like. The passage just says fingers of human hand. Can't help but imagine what it wrote with, did it scratch the message in the plaster, or scrawl it in paint? How big was the writing, what did it look like? Probably not like the few paintings that have been done. What is clear is that the message was clear! Verse 5 says that the fingers wrote in the plaster next to the lampstand. It's in a well lit area. It's not a private message, but a public one. It's there for all to see. But it's a message directed primarily at one person. That's King Belshazzar. Verse 5 says he sees, he's watching as this hand appears and begins writing. He sees the message and he knows it's an ominous sign. In fact, Belshazzar's face turned pale, and his thoughts terrified him. His limbs give way and his knees knocked together. It's funny but all the modern translations put it something like his limbs gave way. But there's another way of translating it, which the old KJV gets close to,'so that the joints of his loins were loosed' (the NET puts it'the joints of his hips gave way'). The passage can read, his loins became unknotted. Let the reader understand. (There's a hint that what happened was he lost control of his bladder, he wet himself). What makes the situation worse is that while it's a public message, no one can read it!
The Chaldeans, the wise men, the diviners and the enchanters are brought it, but they can't interpret it, just as they couldn't interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dreams in chapters 2 & 4. You can imagine what they're work reviews looked like. '?Tries hard, gets most of work done but struggles with key performance criteria.' You've got to wonder why they're kept around! The gods of gold and silver are mute are their representatives! Even the promise of new clothes, a bit of bling and a promotion can't help. They're stumped and that only makes Belshazzar more terrified. How would it feel if you received what's clearly an important message but couldn't understand it? (Illustration of Chinese email, or wet mail)
Well, where do you turn when you get stuck in life, when no one else can answer your questions? Mum of course! It's just then that the queen-mother walks in. (Given Belshazzar's partying with his lords and their wives and concubines, it's pretty likely his wife was there, so the phrase is better interpreted queen-mother). In walks Mum and she can see little Belsshie's in trouble and she's ready to ride to the rescue. She reminds him that there's someone who does know how to do their job:
10The queen, when she heard the discussion of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall. The queen said, 'O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts terrify you or your face grow pale. 11There is a man in your kingdom who is endowed with a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father he was found to have enlightenment, understanding, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners, 12because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.'