Bible Memory Verse:
“”Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” Proverbs 15:3
This week we will learn about what happens in Daniel chapter 5.
Daniel was now an old man. King Nebuchadnezzar had died. King Belshazzar was ruling in his place. He was probably the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah. 27:7). He was co-regent with his father King Nabonidus which means he was they were ruling over the kingdom together.
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.
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 as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, “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.” King Belshazzar was probably the second highest ruler in the land under King Nabonidus. The third highest ruler in the land would be the next highest under him, the highest honor he could award.
Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. So King Belshazzar became even more terrified & his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
The queen, hearing the voices of the king & his nobles, came into the banquet hall. She was probably either the mother or the grandmother of King Belshazzar. “O king, live forever,” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of King Nebuchadnezzar he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. 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.”
So Daniel was brought before King Belshazzar, and the king said to him, “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.”
Then Daniel answered the king, “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.”
Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. King Belshazzar was satisfied that Daniel had told him the truth even though it was a message of doom. He might have thought that what Daniel said could never happen.
It was thought impossible for Babylon, where King Belshazzar ruled, to ever be taken captive by another country. It had massive defenses and 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 Euphrates River 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 EuphratesRiver 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.
QUESTIONS:
1. What was the name of the king when the handwriting appeared on the wall?
2. What was King Belshazzar doing when the handwriting appeared on the wall?
3. What did King Belshazzar especially do to make God angry?
4. How did the writing appear on the wall?
5. Who were the first people the king called in to interpret the writing?
6. What did the king offer to give to anyone who could interpret the writing?
7. Who told the king about Daniel?
8. Why could Daniel interpret the writing?
9. What did the handwriting mean?
10. When did what God had foretold in the handwriting happen?