Daniel 5 - The Writing's on the Wall

Daniel 5

God cuts down a king who didn’t humble himself before God

“But you, Belshazzar,… have not humbled yourself…. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven…You did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”  Daniel 5:22-23

OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTER

1. A New King Parties On, Without Respect for the Most High God (v. 1-4)
2. A Frightening Scene: A Hand Appears and Writes on the Wall (v. 5-9)
3. Daniel is Called in to Interpret by the Queen’s Recommendation (v. 10-16)
4. Daniel’s Presentation of the Case & Verdict against King Belshazzar (v. 17-23)
5. Daniel’s Interpretation, Followed by the Delivery of Punishment (v. 24-30)

Literary Considerations

Genre: Horror?  An "Edgar Allen Poe" Bible story

Idioms: From this biblical story come the roots of two famous literary sayings

• “The writing’s on the wall” – a portent (warning) of doom or misfortune.  Relevant to relationships: Many pop songs have this title, From country (George Jones) to rock (George Harrison) to R&B (Destiny’s Child/Beyonce)
• “Your days are numbered” – death is imminent, approaching

THE MESSAGE: Honor God through worshipful humility; Avoid pridefully going against the Lord

Consider another famous idiom: “What’s past is prologue” – Shakespeare, The Tempest (1610)...and this related quote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" – Philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952)

Pride Goes Before a Fall, part 2 (see Daniel 4 for part 1)

Belshazzar’s failure:

• Had every chance to praise the God of Israel, but insulted Him by using His holy goblets to “toast” idols.
• Did not learn the lesson of his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar (through his fall from pride “he learned that the Most High God has sovereignty” 5:21, see ch 4)
• Another chance for all to learn the lesson of humbling oneself before the Most High God

“But you, Belshazzar,… have not humbled yourself…. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven…You did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”  Daniel 5:22-23

The Interpretation of the Writing on the Wall

Mene, tekel, parsin

Currency - units of monetary weight in Aramaic: mina, shekel (tekel), half-mina (parsin)

Allegorical, with puns based on the sound of the words

Mene

Sounds like the verb “to number”

Message: “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end”

Meaning: Your reign is over

Tekel

Sounds like the verb “to weigh”

Message: “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting”

Meaning: You have been judged guilty:

Parsin (plural) / Peres (singular)

Sounds like the verb “to divide”; a second pun is on the word “Persians”

Message: It is divided and given to the Medes and Persians (the next major world power)

Meaning: Your kingdom is lost

Belshazzar doesn’t survive the punishment; he is killed that night.  [Notice that the punishment doesn’t specifically mention his death, nor does the text mention that God killed Belshazzar]

READING WITH CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD – suggestions from Christopher J.H. Wright

Blasphemy & Believers

Blasphemy involves the use of sacred symbols – including language – without respect to the holy reality behind them.  Belshazzar blasphemed by using holy vessels from the temple in Jerusalem for a profane purpose without respect to the God of Jerusalem, even in service to other gods.  In our contemporary world, we can’t avoid dealing with blasphemy.  First, we must remain faithful to God even when we see God blasphemed by people in casual conversation and over the media.  Second, we must avoid blaspheming language and behavior ourselves – unlike many secular folks, we KNOW the holiness of God…and therefore have no excuse.

Interesting take: In addition to mentioning religious images misused by news & entertainment media and consumer sales, Wright mentions as an example of blaspheming the way various nations used Christian language and symbols to support war efforts in WWII, highlighting the book by Philip Jenkins, The Great & Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade.

Discussion/Reflection:

1. What types of blasphemy have you witnessed?
2. How can faithful Christians stand firm in their faith when their God is being publicly degraded by others?