Bible Memory Verse:
“”Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
CHARACTERS: NARRATOR, KING BELSHAZZAR, NOBLES, WISE MEN, QUEEN, DANIEL
PROPS: crown & throne for King Belshazzar, candlestick, hand, writing, crown for queen, robe, necklace to award Daniel
(Narrator is at side of stage, King Belshazzar is sitting on his throne facing candlestick and blank spot on wall where writing appears or writing can already be on wall. Guards, nobles & wives are close to king. Wise men are farther away. Everyone is drinking from goblets & having a party.)
NARRATOR: Daniel is an old man. King Nebuchadnezzar has died, and King Belshazzar is ruling in his place. King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles. While he was drinking wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem several years before, so that the king and his nobles and his wives might drink from them. As they drank the wine from these goblets that had been in the temple of God in Jerusalem, they praised gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.
(While Narrator is speaking the following writing appears on the wall—a hand could appear from behind a curtain & write, a light could shine on the writing already there or an overhead projector can show writing King Belshazzar watches writing appear & is more & more frightened. His knees knock & his legs give way.)
NARRATOR: 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. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
BELSHAZZAR: (in frightened voice) Bring me the enchanters, astrologers and diviners.
(Guards go get wise men.)
BELSHAZZAR: (to wise men) 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.
(Wise men try to read writing & are baffled.)
WISE MEN: Oh, king, live forever! None of us can read the writing on the wall or tell what it means.
(King Belshazzar acts even more afraid. His knees knock. Everyone talks to each other, making a lot of noise. The queen, hearing the voices, enters the banquet hall.).)
QUEEN: O king, live forever. Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! In the time of King Nebuchadnezzar a man who was found who had insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar appointed him chief of the wise men. This man Daniel 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.
(Guards go offstage to get Daniel.)
BELSHAZZAR: Are you Daniel, one of the exiles King Nebuchadnezzar brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 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. 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.
DANIEL: 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.
O king, the Most High God gave King Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the people and nations and men 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. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
But you, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 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. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
This is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
This is the meaning of the handwriting on the wall:
MENE: (numbered or mina) God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
TEKEL: (weighed on the scales–measured in the light of God’s standards) You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
PERES: (divided or Persia or half mina or half shekel) Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
BELSHAZZAR: (to guards) Clothe this man in purple and place a gold chain around his neck.
BELSHAZZAR: (to Daniel) You shall be the third highest ruler in the kingdom because you told me the meaning of the writing on the wall.
(Guards put purple cloak & gold chain on Daniel.)
NARRATOR: It was thought impossible for Babylon, where King Belshazzar ruled, to ever be taken captive by another country. It had massive defenses & was surrounded by a wall so thick that several teams of horses pulling chariots could ride side by side on the wall. No one could defeat Babylon!
However, the EuphratesRiver ran under the city wall to give water to the city. The armies of the Medes and the Persians, 2 countries that ruled together, diverted the Euphrates River and then they waded through the riverbed under the city wall. They took the Babylonians by surprise when they were feasting. That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom. Everything happened as God had foretold through the handwriting on the wall.