Belshazzar: The King Who Weighed in the Balances and Found Wanting
In the annals of human history, few narratives so vividly illustrate the swift and uncompromising justice of God as that of Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon. His story, recorded in the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel, serves as a stark warning to all who would defiantly lift themselves against the Almighty. On a night of audacious revelry and sacrilege, Belshazzar, oblivious to the impending doom, sealed his fate, being literally "weighed in the balances, and found wanting." His reign, marked by pride and spiritual blindness, concluded with an abruptness that echoes through the ages, a testament to God's ultimate sovereignty over kings and kingdoms.
The Blasphemous Feast
The stage for Belshazzar's downfall was set during a great feast, a lavish celebration where "Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand." (Daniel 5:1) This was no mere banquet; it was an act of profound hubris. In a display of supreme insolence, Belshazzar commanded that the golden and silver vessels, which his forefather Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from the house of God in Jerusalem, be brought forth. These sacred artifacts, consecrated for the worship of the one true God, were then profaned by being used for pagan idolatry and drunken revelry.
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
This act was not born of ignorance but of deliberate defiance. Belshazzar was aware of the history of his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, who had been humbled by God himself after a period of immense pride. Yet, Belshazzar chose to mock the very God who had demonstrated His power over the greatest king of Babylon. This sacrilege was the pinnacle of his spiritual rebellion, a direct affront to the holiness and majesty of the God of Israel.
The Handwriting on the Wall
As the drunken debauchery reached its peak, a terrifying and supernatural event pierced the revelry, bringing immediate silence and dread. "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." (Daniel 5:5) The sight was utterly unnerving. Belshazzar's countenance changed, his thoughts troubled him, and his knees smote one against another. The king, who moments before had been so bold in his blasphemy, was now paralyzed by fear, his human pride shattered by the divine intervention.
Desperate, Belshazzar cried aloud for his astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers, promising great rewards to anyone who could read the mysterious writing and interpret its meaning. However, the wisdom of Babylon, which boasted of its mystical knowledge, proved utterly impotent before the power of God. "And all the king's wise men were brought in: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof." (Daniel 5:8) The inability of his own wise men only deepened the king's distress, highlighting the futility of human wisdom when confronted with divine truth.
Daniel's Arrival and Rebuke
In this moment of crisis, the queen, likely the queen mother, remembered Daniel, the prophet of God, who had served in Nebuchadnezzar's court and possessed an "excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts." (Daniel 5:12) Daniel, now an old man, was summoned to the king's presence. Belshazzar, though desperate, still offered the customary rewards: a scarlet robe, a chain of gold, and the promise of being the third ruler in the kingdom.
Daniel, however, was not swayed by earthly accolades. With profound boldness and spiritual authority, he rebuked the king directly, refusing the gifts and instead delivering a powerful sermon of indictment. He reminded Belshazzar of Nebuchadnezzar's rise and fall, how God had given him a mighty kingdom, but when his heart was lifted up in pride, "he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will." (Daniel 5:21)
The prophet then laid bare Belshazzar's egregious sin:
And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 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.
This was the core of Belshazzar's condemnation: he knew the truth, he had witnessed the historical evidence of God's power and judgment, yet he chose to defy Him. His sin was not one of ignorance, but of deliberate, defiant rebellion against the God who held his very breath in His hand.
The Interpretation: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin"
Having laid the foundation of Belshazzar's guilt, Daniel proceeded to interpret the terrifying words on the wall:
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
Daniel then revealed the chilling meaning of each word, an immediate prophecy of doom:
- MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. (Daniel 5:26) This indicated that the days of Belshazzar's kingdom were counted and brought to an end. God's patience had run out; the time for judgment had arrived.
- TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. (Daniel 5:27) This is the central indictment of Belshazzar. God had put his character, his actions, and his reign on a divine scale, measuring them against His perfect standard, and Belshazzar failed to meet the mark. His pride, blasphemy, and spiritual rebellion left him bankrupt in God's sight. He was too light, lacking the righteousness and humility required of one entrusted with such power.
- PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:28) The word "Upharsin" is the plural form of "Peres," meaning "divided." This foretold the immediate fall of Babylon and its conquest by the combined forces of the Medes and Persians, under the command of Cyrus the Great.
The message was clear, concise, and utterly devastating. It was a divine death sentence delivered by the hand of a faithful prophet.
The Swift Judgment
Despite the dire prophecy, Belshazzar, perhaps in a final desperate act of bravado or out of a sense of obligation, honored his promise to Daniel. "Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom." (Daniel 5:29) But the earthly rewards were meaningless, for the divine clock had struck midnight.
The judgment was swift and absolute:
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
While Belshazzar and his lords reveled, Cyrus's army had diverted the Euphrates River, allowing them to march under the city walls through the dry riverbed. Babylon, thought to be impregnable, fell in a single night without a major battle. The very same night Belshazzar mocked God, his life was taken, and his kingdom was overthrown. "And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." (Daniel 5:31) The prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, demonstrating God's absolute control over human affairs and the precise timing of His judgments.
Lessons for Today
The narrative of Belshazzar is far more than a historical account; it is a timeless lesson for all generations:
Belshazzar's story is a chilling reminder that God is not to be trifled with. His justice is sure, His judgment is swift, and His sovereignty is eternal. May we, unlike Belshazzar, learn from history, humble ourselves before the Lord, and seek to be found faithful, rather than wanting, in His divine balances.