Chapter 5
In five, we have skipped ahead in time. Belshazzar is now king of Babylon. MSB says this is about 20 years later, in 539 BC.
Belshazzar is having a feast for 1000 of his "lords". He gets drunk, and orders that the gold and silver vessels stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in, so they can drink wine from these vessels dedicated to God while praising the gods of Babylon. They are using vessels possibly made at the direction of Solomon specifically for use in the Temple to praise God for pagan worship of idols. An affront to God.
2022 - Why were these vessels even on his mind? 20 years later, one wouldn't expect him to even remember them. Someone or something planted this idea in his head. God, so that he would understand why his kingdom fell in a day, or Satan or one of his angels just wanting to reduce the respect in Babylon that Daniel had gained through Neb? This second would imply that Satan did not know there was a foreign army nearby, nor that they would find their way into the city and conquer it that very night. Satan is limited.
A hand writes something on the wall. Apparently the writing persisted because the King is so frightened by this that his knees knock together. He calls in all the wise men of Babylon and says that whoever can read and interpret this writing will be made third most powerful in the kingdom. None are able to read it. The Queen comes in, and tells Belshazzar about Belteshazzar, and the dreams he has interpreted in the past for Nebuchadnezzar, who is Belshazzar's father. She says Daniel is very gifted in such matters, and was once made chief of the magicians.
Daniel is brought in. The King tells Daniel that he has heard of him, and heard his reputation. Apparently, Daniel had faded form prominence after Nebuchadnezzar, but was still living in Babylon. Belshazzar makes Daniel the same offer if he will interpret the writing. Which must still have been there on the wall. Daniel says he doesn't want any gifts, give those to someone else. But, he will interpret the writing.
He starts off telling Belshazzar that it was the Most High God who made Nebuchadnezzar great. Daniel relates that God humbled Nebuchadnezzar by making him insane, so that he lived like a beast, and tells Belshazzar that the reason for all this is so Neb could know that it is God who determines the fortunes of all men. Daniel tells Belshazzar that, though he already knew of these events, he had not humbled himself at all, but "...lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven." Then the interpretation.
The words were Mene mene. Tekel. Peres. The meaning:
Mene - God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. Note that this was written twice.
Tekel - You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting. (this well known saying, from the book of Daniel. How many who invoke it know its source?)
Peres - your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
In the MSB, which is NASB, it isn't Peres, it is Upharsin. This is the plural of Peres. There are notes on how these words all sound like similar words in Aramaic. It is a good note to read. (If you look at the notes from the last time I read this, it says one of the higher criticisms of the time of the writing of Daniel is that it uses Aramaic, a language which did not exist in Daniel's time. I was thinking the Chapter Intro in MSB mentioned that Aramaic is used in the book but did not comment on it further. The above says it is no longer a problem, but gives no further explanation as to why it isn't. This would be a good study.)
Once Daniel has interpreted, the King makes good on his bargain. Daniel gets purple clothing, a golden chain and is made 3rd highest in the kingdom. Just before King Belshazzar is killed, that very night, as Babylon falls, and Darius the Mede receives the kingdom. Daniel is not 3rd for very long...
The inclusion of extra-Biblical information in the MSB is very interesting. It seems that history records no particular man as being named Darius. It is a name used of 5 different Persian Kings. Further, the city fell on Oct 29, 539 BC, and it was Cyrus who was King of Persia at the time. Cyrus was there, and himself entered the city on this date. The story is that a Persian General named Ugbaru had his men dig a diversion channel that stopped the flow of water into the city of Babylon and diverted it around it instead. With the water level down, Ugbaru and his men invaded, and reached the city center/palace area without being seen. They began their attack very possibly by killing the King. There is also a man named Gubaru, that Cyrus appointed to be King of the Babylonian sector of his empire. Some say Gubaru's second name was Darius. There is a chart on Ezra 4-6 that shows several guys named Darius...so probably there's a doctoral thesis for someone here. Note also that it says the particular "Darius" the Mede who received the kingdom that night, was about 62 years old. An interesting detail, and I believe details are there for a reason.