A period of sixty-eight years, according to the best chronology, had passed since the captivity began, with the death of Jehoiakim and the carrying of Daniel and his follow exiles to Babylon. He was now an old man, not far from eighty years old. The period had come for great changes in the world's history, for the overthrow of one of the great universal empires; for the "head of gold" to give way to "the breast and arms of silver;" for the Babylonian empire to be supplanted by the Medo-Persian power, and for the children of Israel, as a consequence, to return from exile. Nebuchadnezzar had long been dead, and his successors had been far from showing his vigor and ability. At the same time a power had been developing itself to the eastward that was ready to begin the struggle for the mastery of the world. The Medes had been growing in strength for several generations, but recently, on account of the surpassing ability of Cyrus the Great, the Persians were in the ascendant. He was king of Persia, the son of a Persian father, but grandson of the Medan king by his mother, and the ruling spirit of the united kingdoms, though his uncle Cyaxares or Darius remained a nominal king until his death. Already Cyrus had defeated the Babylonian armies in battle and had then conquered the kingdom of Lydia, lying in Asia Minor, and at this time, he marched to lay siege to Babylon.

      Belshazzar, spoken of as king and as son of Nebuchadnezzar, has caused some trouble to the critics. Several ancient historians have affirmed that the last king of Babylon was Nabonedus. Hence there were those who asserted that there was no such king as Belshazzar. All has been made plain by the discoveries of Sir Henry Rawlinson. He has discovered inscriptions, and translated them, which give a history of the exploits of king Nabonedus. This states that he had associated his son Belshazzar with him in the kingdom. He was defeated in the field and retreated into Borsippa, where he was besieged, while Belshazzar was in Babylon and held royal honors until his death. This discovery explains why Daniel was made the third ruler of Babylon. King Nabonedus was first; king Belshazzar was second, and Daniel of course could not be more than third. [46] Belshazzar was the, grandson, or descendant of Nebuchadnezzar, a sense in which son is often used.

      At the date of this lesson the Persian armies were around Babylon. The walls however were 300 feet high and of immense thickness. There were great quantities of provisions in the city, and the Babylonians had no fears of the success of their enemies. But, as we learn from ancient historians, Cyrus constructed great canals to draw off the waters of the Euphrates, which ran through the city, under walls that were carried over it on arches; and choosing a night when the Babylonians engaged in a drunken feast in honor of one of their gods, he turned off the waters, marched under the arches and was in the city engaged in the work of death before the drunken Babylonians knew he had entered. It will be noted that this account agrees with that of the Bible which represents Belshazzar and a thousand lords as engaged in a drunken religious feast the night the city was taken.

      1. Belshazzar, the king. According to the inscriptions referred to above, the son of Nabonedus, who was also king, but besieged at Borsippa, while Belshazzar exercised royal authority in Babylon, where he was at this time besieged by Cyrus. The accounts agree in making him a prince much given to pleasure and license. Made a great feast to a thousand of his lords. Xenophon says that the night the city of Babylon was taken the people were engaged in a drunken feast in honor of one of their gods, and that while the whole city was given to feasting and revelry the Persians broke in. This account agrees well with that of Daniel. The religions feasts of the pagans were usually drunken and licentious revels. The king was evidently the leader in the orgies. He drank wine before his thousand lords and set them the example of high wassail. The others drank also, but the object of the sacred writer is to portray his conduct, as all concentrates in him.

      2. Belshazzar, while he tasted wine. While engaged in wine drinking and under its influence. Inflamed, half crazed with wine, he dared to do a sacrilegious act that he would not have done had he been sober. Nothing is more common when men surrender their reason to the influence of the cup. Countless numbers have committed crimes, done shameful deeds, assaulted and murdered their friends, and ruined themselves hopelessly when they have "tasted wine." In this city of Babylon Belshazzar lost his kingdom and life in the wine cup; in this same city, about two hundred and fifty years litter, Alexander the Great, the conqueror of the world, was conquered by the wine cup and died. Commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels. The vessels used in the service of the temple at [47] Jerusalem and carried away by Nebuchadnezzar. He had probably stored them as trophies of war in one of the temples, but regarded them sacred, and refused to desecrate them by use in feasting. Now, however, Belshazzar is incited by wine to surprise his lords with the display. When one's brains are taken away, there is nothing too sacred, too foolish, or too daring to be done. His wives and his concubines might drink in them. The sacred vessels were to be profaned by drinking from them at a drunken and licentious feast. The wives and concubines of the voluptuous king had been brought. It is not probable that they were present at the beginning of the feast, but when the king was inflamed with wine they were sent for. The reader will remember the similar case of King Ahasuerus and his queen Vashti. Esther 1:10, 11. In the harem of an oriental king there were two classes, the concubines who did not have the privilege of wives and whose children could not succeed to the throne, and the wives of whom there might be several and whose children were legitimate. Of these only one was usually called queen.

      4. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold, etc. The sacred vessels, unused for more than sixty years, were brought forth and filled with glowing wine. Then king, nobles and women drank from them and offered praises and libations to their idol gods. The sacred vessels from Jehovah's temple, by the command of the king, were used in an idol feast and for idol service. Still the banquet and the jest and the laughter and the revelry went on.

      5. In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand. Suddenly the laughs ceased, the shouts grew still, every tongue is silent and every eye is fixed upon the plaster of the wall beyond and in the bright light of the golden candlestick with seven branches which had also been profaned on this occasion. There on the wall are the fingers of a man's hand. There is no arm, no human power to move it, yet it glides back and forth and traces mysterious characters that no man present can read. There in clear relief stand forth the strange characters, four in number. What can so wonderful a sight portend? What do the words mean?

      6. Then the king's countenance was changed. All were sobered in an instant. The [48] king, so bold a moment before, is pale and trembling. His knees smite together and his whole form shakes with terror. It is not only the marvelous sight, such as no man has seen before, but the consciousness of his own sin. He has just insulted Jehovah, committed sacrilege, and the awful omen means some dread judgment upon him. This is the thought that makes him quake with terror. What can be the import?

      7. The king cried aloud to bring the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. He cries for the men whose business it is to interpret omens, dreams, and to foretell the future. The astrologers are those who read fates in the stars, by casting the horoscope and finding the stars that rule the birth. On the plains of Mesopotamia astronomy was first studied and the first use was to predict events by the stars. The Chaldeans were the same as the magicians, a class of enchanters and diviners. Balaam may be accepted as a representative of this class. The soothsayers. Another class of diviners who relied upon various matters, such as the flight of birds, the moon, the entrails of slain birds, thunder, etc., to enable them to interpret omens. All these classes were called that out of so large a counsel, the king might receive some light. Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation. This language makes it evident that even the characters were unknown. It is idle to speculate whether they were Hebrew or of some other language. It is certain they were unknown to the king, his lords and to his learned men. Shall be clothed in scarlet. The great anxiety of the king leads him to offer a magnificent reward. The man who reads and interprets shall be clad in, not scarlet, but purple, as given in the margin, the princely color, shall have a chain of gold, a mark also of rank and authority. See Gen. 41:42. And shall be made third ruler of the kingdom. There has been much discussion why the successful candidate should be made third instead of second ruler. The discovery of Sir Henry Rawlinson, mentioned in the Introduction, makes all clear. The father of Belshazzar, Nabonedus, was first king, but besieged at Borsippa; Belshazzar, associated with his father in the monarchy, stood second, and the one thus honored would be third in rank.

      8. They could not read the writing. If the characters were Hebrew the wise men were not familiar with them. They may not have belonged to any human language.

      9. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled. His alarm filled him with intense [49] anxiety. It certainly portended something and yet its significance was wrapped in dreadful obscurity. The whole court was filled with terror, amazement and perplexity.

      10. Now the queen . . . came into the banquet house. The wives and concubines were already there, but the queen only came on account of hearing of the awful portent. This convinces us that the queen was not the wife of Belshazzar at all, but his mother and the wife of king Nabonedus, his father, who was besieged at Borsippa. This accounts for her familiarity with the character of Daniel, of whom Belshazzar seemed to have no knowledge. Daniel was now an old man; during the long reign of Nebuchadnezzar he had been a prominent figure, but under such frivolous princes as his successors Daniel had fallen into obscurity.

      11. There is a man in thy kingdom. The queen, after the usual salutation, bids the king dismiss his anxiety, for there is a man who can solve every dark mystery and had been put to the test again and again in the reign of the great Nebuchadnezzar. Her memory easily reached backward to the period when Daniel repeated to Nebuchadnezzar his forgotten dream and interpreted it, for the benefit of all ages. A believer in a plurality of gods herself and knowing that Daniel was inspired, she declares that "in him was the spirit of the holy gods."

      12. Now let Daniel be called. After recounting the wisdom and former exaltation of Daniel she bids that he be called. This seems to imply that he still lived in the palace, probably in an obscure position. It must be remembered that in an eastern royal palace, itself a city, there were often as many as 20,000 persons. It is said to have been the oriental custom to change physicians and advisers on the death of a king. Daniel had probably been out of favor since the death of Nebuchadnezzar. The 13th verse implies that Belshazzar knew of Daniel's history but did not personally know him. [50]

      25. And this is the writing . . . Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Daniel, before the interpretation, takes occasion to explain why the judgment has come. The king is reminded of his awful sin. Then the hand disappears but the words remain. The characters are read by Daniel, either by inspiration or because he knew them. One word was twice repeated and there were three different words.

      26. God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. The first word, repeated, was Mene. It is the participle of a Hebrew verb that means "to number." The words written were, "Numbered, Numbered!" A man's days are numbered when his death draws nigh. This significant word here implies either that the days of Belshazzar, or his kingdom, are numbered. Daniel applies it to the kingdom. Babylon has run its race and the end is at hand. The Persians thundering around the walls would bring it to a close.

      27. Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. The second word is Tekel, which is from a Hebrew verb and means "weighed." The first word applies to the kingdom, the second to the king. The scales have always been the emblem of justice; the suffering Job asks: "Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity." The king had been weighed. In one side of the balance were placed his responsibilities and his opportunities; in the other his conduct and character; he was wanting! Light, frivolous, contemptible, rather than a noble ruler.

      28. Peres; thy kingdom is divided. Upharsin, found in the 25th verse, is the plural of peres, which means "divided." The king had been tested in the balance and was wanting; his lords were also wanting; so was the kingdom; therefore it was numbered and divided. It would be taken away and given to the Medes and Persians. This leads to the reflection that the fate of Babylon was like that of all countries and kingdoms. When God weighed Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Judea, Greece, Rome, Poland, and found them wanting, he numbered their days and divided them to others. It is the corrupt nation that perishes.

      That night, probably before Daniel had completed his interpretation, the Persians turned the current of the Euphrates into the great canals they had dug, marched under the walls through the arches where the river had run, found the gates of the walls along the river open, marched in and began the work of death. Before morning Belshazzar was slain.

      1. To profane sacred things, to scoff and to take the name of God in vain, are marks of a frivolous and unscrupulous character. [51]

      2. In the depths of the wine cup is found every species of sin. "Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? They that tarry long at wine." Alcohol is not only "a thief that enters at the mouth to steal away the brains," but is a devil to lead to crime. Half of the inmates of the State prison Will testify that whisky brought them there.

      3. Even the, scoffer will quake and tremble when eternity seems to stare him in the face. The impious Belshazzar shook; Voltaire is said to have called for the priests; Paine to have died full of remorse; Ingersoll will change his tone when the fingers of death clutch his heart.

      4. The great and good may be consigned to obscurity in the days of prosperity, but when trouble comes they are sought out. So Saul sought Samuel, Zedekiah Jeremiah, and Belshazzar Daniel.

      5. All are weighed in balances--kingdoms, institutions, systems and men. Whatever is found wanting, does not bless the race but degrades it; will be destroyed. Thus religions, philosophies and kingdoms have their day, are numbered, and pass away because they do not lift men higher and make them better. Whatsoever tree bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.

      6. There are balances for every man, for you. In the one scale is what God demands of you to be; in the other what you are. Is there a balance, or does your end of the beam fly upward? If so you have no part in the kingdom. Weigh yourself in the scale of God's word and "add" weights, the Christian graces, until there is an equipoise.

      7. Reader, when thy heart grows hard, when the gospel has no power to move thee, when thou dost love evil rather than good, when thou art an unbeliever, ready to "believe a lie," when thou art ready to scoff at holy things, then, look! Others can read if thou canst not, THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.

[CLC01 46-52]