The Writing on the Wall
In the 5th chapter of the book of Daniel, there is a viceroy ruling Babylon in Nebuchadnezzar’s stead. The interim ruler’s name was Belshazzar, and he was Nebuchadnezzar’s son. As the story goes, one day, Belshazzar holds a great feast for his thousand nobles. At this feast, he gets drunk and does something never done before. About 70 years prior, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and conquered Israel, among many other nations, he took the holy things from the temple (cup and bowls made of gold and silver) and had them placed in his treasury. His treasury is where they were kept all of this time until now. Now, Belshazzar decides to have those things taken out so he can continue in his revelry and further intoxicate himself and his nobles with the holy items. They all indulge and worship the idol gods.
As the chapter reads:
Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.
Belshazzar codlin’t find any diviners who could decipher the writing on the wall, until one of his nobles told him about Daniel, and Israelite who has served Nebuchadnezzar the past 70 years, “in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.” G-d gave Daniel the gift of unlocking mysteries and revealing secrets to king Nebuchadnezzar, and now his son is in need of Daniel’s very services. Belshazzar tells Daniel that if he can tell him what the writing on the wall means, he will clothe Daniel in the finest clothes, and make him third ruler in all the land. Daniel rejects the gifts and tells Belshazzar the meaning of the writing. As Daniel is speaking, he gives Belshazzar (and the readers) context to his rulership; telling him that G-d gave Nebuchadnezzar authority over the known world, and Nebuchadnezzar destroyed many civilizations, but kept the holy things in his treasury. He explained that when Nebuchadnezzar got too arrogant, G-d made him lose his mind and live amongst the animals as a beast does for several years until he recognized that the Holy One of Israel is the one true God. Then Daniel pivots and tells Belshazzar that he, even though seeing all this, has “lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.” Then he interprets what was written on the wall.
“…And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Belshazzar does what he promises Daniel and orders that the finest clothes be put on him and that he would be promoted to third in command. That very night, the Persians invade the kingdom, kill Belshazzar, and become the new superpower.
The book of Daniel has always been one of my favorite books to read, but one thing I caught this time reading chapter 5 was that according to Jewish sages and commentators, the reason Belshazzar held the feast in the first place was because he knew of the prophesy given through the prophet Jeremiah about two generations prior that G-d would raise up Nebuchadnezzar and that Israel would go into captivity for 70 years. Belshazzar thought that the 70 years had passed, and so he held the banquet to both celebrate Babylon’s continued existence, and to mock G-d. He purposefully called for the holy things of the destroyed Jerusalem temple to drink from as a middle finger to G-d.
Turns out, Belshazzar’s math was wrong.
70 years had not yet passed, but it was fast approaching. With the dismantling of the Babylonian kingdom came the reign of Persia and the return of the Jewish exiles to their homeland. The return was after 70 years of captivity.
Whether a person or a nation, arrogance breeds foolishness. And that foolishness will breed death.
Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:18