Belshazzar
“Bel, protect the king”
Summary
The last ruling king of Babylon, who desecrated the temple vessels at a feast and saw the handwriting on the wall announcing his doom that very night.
☩Historical Identity
Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus, the last official king of Babylon, and was made co-regent with his father. Though critics once questioned his existence since classical historians named Nabonidus as the last king, cuneiform inscriptions discovered in 1854 confirmed that Nabonidus associated his son Bel-shar-usur (Belshazzar) with himself on the throne. This explains Belshazzar's offer to make Daniel 'third ruler in the kingdom'—Nabonidus was first, Belshazzar second.
☩The Profane Feast
While Babylon was under siege by the Medo-Persian forces, Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords. In defiant bravado, or perhaps drunken irreverence, he commanded that the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem's temple be brought so he and his guests might drink wine from them in honor of their idols. This act of sacrilege against the God of Israel brought immediate divine response.
☩The Writing on the Wall
In the same hour, fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plastered wall of the palace: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. The king's countenance changed, his thoughts troubled him, and his knees smote together in terror. None of his wise men could read or interpret the writing until Daniel was summoned at the queen mother's suggestion.
☩Daniel's Interpretation
Daniel reminded Belshazzar that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled by God for his pride, yet Belshazzar had not humbled his heart but lifted himself against the Lord of heaven by profaning the temple vessels. The interpretation: MENE—God has numbered your kingdom and finished it; TEKEL—you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES (UPHARSIN)—your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
☩The Fall of Babylon
That very night, while the feast continued, Cyrus's forces entered Babylon by diverting the Euphrates and marching through the riverbed under the walls. Belshazzar was slain, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom. The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah concerning Babylon's fall were fulfilled, demonstrating that the God whom Belshazzar had defied is the sovereign Lord of history.
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Belshazzar," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Belshazzar," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.George Morrish, "Belshazzar," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).