Confront and Convict: Daniel 5
Have you ever met someone who just does not get it? They are the ones who insist the sky is green, who keep going long after it is clear that what they are doing will not work, who refuse to believe even after they are presented with absolutely incontrovertible evidence. Perhaps, if you are to be completely honest, you are like that.
In Daniel 5, Belshazzar was that guy. In Daniel 4, after exalting himself for the greatness of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar suffered a spectacular mental breakdown. It was not until he acknowledged God that he was finally restored. When he died shortly thereafter, his son Evil-Merodach was installed as king in 562 BC, but just two years later, he was assassinated by his brother-in-law Neriglissar. Neriglissar seized the throne and ruled for four years before he died and was succeeded by his son, Labasi-Marduk. Labasi-Markuk, however, was notoriously weak, and only two months after he took the thrown, he was overthrown by Nabonidus in late 556 BC. In the midst of scandal and intrigue, Nabonidus appointed his son Belshazzar as his second in command, co-regent of the empire, and moved out of Babylon.
Some scholars suggest that Nabonidus left to consolidate the empire that was fracturing as a result of scandal and intrigue. Others insist he was insane. Regardless of why Nabonidus left, his departure left Belshazzar presiding over an empire in undeniable decline. For seventeen years, Babylon crumbled, and enemies rose up all around, but these two carried on unfazed. Instead of concerning themselves with the obvious problems facing their nation, they became known for their extravagant parties. And indeed, that is where we find Belshazzarat the beginning of Daniel 5:
King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine in their presence. 2 Under the influence of[a] the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor[b] Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold[c] vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand[d] that was writing, 6 his face turned pale,[e] and his thoughts so terrified him that he soiled himself[f] and his knees knocked together. 7 The king shouted to bring in the mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and gives me its interpretation will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around his neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.” 8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but none could read the inscription or make its interpretation known to him. 9 Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face turned pale,[g] and his nobles were bewildered.
Daniel 5:1-9 CSB
The world will forget.
Of course, Belshazzar’s face was pale, and his nobles were bewildered! We can even understand the knocking knees and soiled britches because, if a disembodied hand suddenly appeared and started writing on the wall of our house, we would do the same! Doubtless, this is the part of the passage that draws our attention. It is real Walking Dead sort of stuff. Yet, before we get to that and what it meant, it is important to notice some of the details recorded and not recorded here.
Notice, for instance, the utter lack of any introductory comments in verse 1. Elsewhere in the Bible, we see time gaps in which generations arose that did not know the Lord or his commands. Certainly, this is to be expected if we are not careful to introduce the next generation to Jesus. Here in Daniel 5, however, only 6 years passed between Nebby’s death and Nabonidus’ and Belshazzar’s rise to power. In fact, extrabiblical sources indicate that Belshazzar was a government worker in 560, within two years of Nebby’s death. In other words, Belshazzar was old enough to remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. He knew all about Nebby’s bout with insanity, his restoration, and his call for all Babylonians to praise and honor the one true God. He should have learned from Nebby’s mistakes!
Instead, we see a striking comparison between the way Nebby behaved before his humiliation and the way Belly behaves now in Daniel 5. Belly held a great feast to celebrate himself. We know this because he showed off his ability to give orders, drink out of cups made from precious metals, and gather the gods of all these nations that were under his rule. He invited a thousand of “his nobles,” and one can imagine a guard standing at the door, checking guests off the list of loyal subjects much as Nebby insisted that all of his nobles bow before his statue in Daniel 3. Moreover, while Nebuchadnezzar went over four chapters from trying to write God out of Daniel’s and co.’s lives to calling everyone to proclaim God’s praise, Belshazzar went from proclaiming God’s praise to praising their impotent little-g gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. And then there was verse 7. When the hand appeared andwrote on the wall, Belshazzar “shouted to bring in the mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners.” At least twice under Nebby’s rule, these charlatans proved unable to interpret messages from God. Yet, instead of calling for Daniel, the only one who was proven able to interpret such things, Belshazzar called for the charlatans again.
Notice also that Belly was not content simply repeating Nebby’s mistakes. No, he had to make more mistakes of his own. For example, five times in the first four verses of Caniel 5, we are told that Belshazzar was drinking wine. We know from chapter 1 that Nebby shared his wine, but we never see such an emphasis on him drinking it. And as if that was not enough, Belly then called for the gold and silver vessels Nebby had taken from the temple in Jerusalem so that he and his friends could drink from them and use them to worship their idols. It was wildly sacrilegious; a flagrant disregard for the respect Nebby had shown to Israel’s God from the day he brought these items from Jerusalem and put them on display in his own god’s temple; and a radical about face from Nebby’s resolve to praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens at the end of chapter 4.
What we discover, then, is that, while Belshazzar should have learned from Nebby’s mistakes, he deliberately forgot those lessons and compounded those mistakes instead, but the sad fact of the matter is that our world today will do the same thing. They will insist on repeating the mistakes of the past and making new ones of their own because the world will forget. Indeed, when it comes to learning some of the most important lessons in life, our memories are astonishingly short. We see it in the biblical book of Judges, where new generations were not taught what God had done for their ancestors. We see it in history: While World War 1 was once called “The War to End All Wars,” that did not stop us from waging World War 2 and several other conflicts since then. And we see it in ourselves.
The fact of the matter is that, while we would like to think that we will learn from the past and avoid the same mistakes for a better future, all too often, the world chooses to go even farther down the same old wrong road. The world will forget.
We must confront.
In all likelihood, this is not surprising to anyone. Yet, for people committed to loving God and neighbor, it does raise an important question: when the world is bound and determined to forget the lessons that it should have learned the first time, how will we respond? To answer that question, let us consider the way Daniel responded when Belly finally reached out to him starting in Daniel 5:10:
Because of the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen[h] came to the banquet hall. “May the king live forever,” she said. “Don’t let your thoughts terrify you or your face be pale.[i] 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has a spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your predecessor he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners. Your own predecessor, the king, 12 did this because Daniel, the one the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and intelligence, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems.[j] Therefore, summon Daniel, and he will give the interpretation.”
13 Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the Judean exiles that my predecessor the king brought from Judah? 14 I’ve heard that you have a spirit of the gods in you, and that insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men and mediums were brought before me to read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not give its interpretation. 16 However, I have heard about you that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around your neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts and give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription for the king and make the interpretation known to him. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, greatness, glory, and majesty to your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar. 19 Because of the greatness he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages were terrified and fearful of him. He killed anyone he wanted and kept alive anyone he wanted; he exalted anyone he wanted and humbled anyone he wanted. 20 But when his heart was exalted and his spirit became arrogant, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven away from people, his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over human kingdoms and sets anyone he wants over them.
22 “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens. The vessels from his house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in his hand and who controls the whole course of your life.[k] 24 Therefore, he sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
25 “This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Mene’[l] means that God has numbered[m] the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. 27 ‘Tekel’[n] means that you have been weighed[o] on the balance and found deficient. 28 ‘Peres’[p][q] means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”[r]
Daniel 5:10-28 CSB
After none of the wise men of Babylon could read the inscription left by the disembodied hand, Daniel was finally called, and immediately, he made clear that he was not messing around. Even the most casual reader of this passage will observe that there is a stark contrast between the gentle tone Daniel used when he admonished Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4 and the harshness in his words to Belshazzar in chapter 5. In a word, the prophet confronted Belly, and if we are going to live, work, and make a difference faithfully in a faithless world, then sometimes, we must do the same. We must confront. Before you run out to confront the heathens you know, though, notice how Daniel did it.
First, he rejected the king’s prize in verse 17. Belly offered royal purple robes, a gold chain, and the third highest position in the kingdom, right behind himself. That is, he offered fame, fortune, and power, but Daniel was interested in none of these things. Much less was he interested in these things from Belshazzar. Before we confront someone, we must ensure that we are not doing it for fame, fortune, or power.
Second, in verses 18-21, the prophet recounted the whole story of of how God humbled Nebby. That is, as terrible as Belly was, Daniel did not berate or belittle him. He did not call him names or reduce his humanity. He simply reminded Belshazzar of what he already knew to be true. Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God because he was wrong. When we confront someone in sin, we need not belabor the point. We have only to remind them of what they already know: this is wrong.
Then, in verses 22-24, Daniel put his finger in Belshazzar’s chest and called out specific sins. He had not humbled his heart (vs 22). He exalted himself (vs 23). He used the vessels from God’s temple to drink wine and worship false gods. That is, he committed blasphemy (vs 23). He worshiped these idols made of mere silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. That is, they were impotent and utterly worthless compared to the God that Belly knew could provide, discern, deliver, and humble. So also, before we confront a person, we must be able to confront specific sins. If we are unable to to that, then we had probably not be confronting the person.
Finally, in verses 25-28, Daniel pronounced God’s judgment. Belshazzar was found deficient, and his kingdom was about to end. Daniel even told Belly how it was going to happen: the Medes and Persians were coming. But before you think, “Oh, yeah! Daniel gave ol’ Belly the verbal beatdown,” it is imperative to understand why Daniel adopted this much harsher tone. In this text, we find at least four major reasons.
First, God clearly raised the bar. While in previous chapters, God spoke through the king’s dreams, in verses 5-9, he sent this disembodied hand for the king and all of his party guests to see. We do not raise the bar unless God does.
The second is found in verses 10-12. There, even before Daniel arrived on the scene, the queen entered the room. Well, actually, since we see in verses 2 and 4 that Belly’s wives were already in the room with him, this was probably either Nebby’s daughter (i.e., Belly’s mom) or widow. In either case, this queen had enough standing that she could enter the king’s presence uninvited, and when she spoke, everyone listened. And in these three verses, she spoke of a man who “has a spirit of the holy gods in him” and “was found to have an extraordinary spirit.” That is, there was something very different about this guy compared to everyone else in the kingdom. Something she could not explain. Something supernatural. Moreover, she said he “was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods,” along with “the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems.” That is, he was a man of unusual intelligence and insight, but more than that, he never stopped learning. As if all of that was not enough, she said he came with the endorsement of ol’ Nebby, the greatest king Babylon ever saw. By the time the queen was finished, Belly would have been a fool to ignore her advice: “Summon Daniel, and he will give the interpretation.”
Before you think Daniel could raise his voice because of the queen’s testimony, though, observe that the queen’s testimony was prompted by Daniel’s credibility. Even at 80 years of age, it was unimpeachable, and let me assure you that was a big deal. No doubt, we have all heard the stories of apparently godly leaders who crash and burn before they reach the end. In recent years, just off the top of my head, I can think of a half dozen. But not Daniel. He was still godly, still growing, and still being used by God. If we are going to confront someone when they should have already learned their lesson, we had better make sure we are credible, too.
A third reason Daniel’s harshness was justified is found in Belshazzar’s actions and words here in chapter 5. Despite Daniel’s prominent position in Nebuchadnezzar’s regime, Belshazzar excluded him from his party’s 1,000-person guest list, and when Daniel finally arrived, Belshazzar asked, “Are you Daniel, one of the Judean exiles that my predecessor the king brought from Judah?” The question was interesting because it suggested that Belly did not know who Daniel was even though, as we have seen, that was not really plausible. Belly was old enough to remember when Daniel was Nebby’s right-hand man. That should have been Daniel’s primary identification. Yet, Belly made a point to ignore the prophet’s accomplishments and point out that he was just a Judean exile. In verse 14, Belly hissed, “I’ve heard that you have a spirit of the gods in you,” and you can almost feel the disdain dripping from the text. The king was effectively saying, “They say you’ve got all these credentials, but I don’t care.” And in verses 15-16, Belly made a point to saythat, if none of his other, real wise men could interpret the writing, he surely did not believe Daniel could do it. In contrast to the queen’s confidence, he said, “If you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation…” By the time he was done speaking, it was clear that Belly intended to ignore Daniel’s accomplishments, trivialize his credentials, and scoff at his input. He only invited Daniel because the queen told him to.
Fourthly, both the queen in verses 10-12 and Daniel in verses 17-21 reminded Belshazzar of Nebby’s experiences and the humility that God taught him. In verse 22, Daniel put his finger square in Belly’s chest and delivered the ultimate indictment: “Even though you knew all this,” you failed to heed the lesson.
Let us pause for a moment to recap. Daniel confronted Belshazzar, but only after God raised the bar, Daniel’s credibility was impeccable, and Belshazzar completely discounted Daniel and his God. And perhaps worst of all, Belshazzar should have known better.
All of this is crucial! You see, too often, we go harsh with people who do not really know any better, and we go gentle on the people who do. This is especially true for ourselves! Yet, Daniel shows us that, in most cases, we need to be gentle, as he was with Nebuchadnezzar, and it is only in the most egregious cases that we should get harsh.
Yet, the fact remains that, sometimes, when the conditions are just right, we must confront.
God will judge.
These things are important, but before we can quit for the day, there is one more thing that we must see in verses 29-31:
Then Belshazzar gave an order, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed, 31 and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
Daniel 5:29-31 CSB
It is interesting that, in verse 29, Belshazzar did not express regret for his actions, heed Daniel’s warning and send soldiers to the walls to prepare for the attack, or even do anything other than what he was already doing. Instead, he went on with business as usual, utterly convinced that nothing could touch him. Indeed, it seemed unlikely that anything could. Babylon’s defensive walls were 300 feet tall and thick enough for two four-horse chariots could comfortably pass each other on the top. They had enough supplies amassed for 20 years, and they had one of the finest armies in the history of the world. Thus, even though the Persian army had recently conquered several key cities and was expected to arrive in Babylon at any time, Belly’s actions in verse 29 indicate an utter lack of concern.
What Belshazzar did not realize was that the Persians were already at Babylon. That very night, they would divert the Euphrates River and enter the city through the dried up riverbed. By morning, the people of Babylon would awake to find the Persians in charge without even a fight, and Belly would be one of the few casualties of the whole affair.
This is all important because it means that, even though Daniel confronted Belshazzar about his sin, the prophet was not the one who executed God’s judgment when Belly refused to repent. God did that through Darius the Mede, and we must always remember that, when it comes time to judge, God will judge.
More often than not, we do not get to be the one who delivers the smackdown. We do not even get to look down on them! We only deliver his message and let him take care of the rest. And what a job God did! In just two very short verses, God wiped out Belshazzar and what was once the most powerful nation on earth.
When it comes to living faithfully in this faithless world, it is imperative that we recognize where our responsibility ends and God’s begins. When this world forgets the lessons that it should have learned, it is our job to confront and then to allow God to judge.