Most are familiar with these words. It happened during a feast held by the last King of Babyon, Belshazzar. The Bible states that Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:2). There is some dispute by scholars as to this meaning, with some believing this indicates that Belshazzar was a descendent of the great king. Regardless, Belshazzar knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar because of pride (as stated in 4:19-37), and refused to learn the lesson Nebuchadnezzar had learned.
In chapter 5, we have the details given by the prophet regarding Belshazzar’s feast. It was a great feast for “a thousand of his lords” (5:1). It was a pretentious display of the king’s wealth, and in verse 4 we read, “They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.”
At this feast, we are told, “the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote” (5). It is a simple description of what happened, but can you imagine the consternation it caused! We have people today who fancifully believe they see the shape of Jesus in the clouds, or in shadows on a wall, but the king actually saw a hand writing the inscription, and the inscription remained! We are told “the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other” (6).
This was so eventful that it is commemorated in several phrases we use today. If we refer to “the handwriting on the wall” we allude to this feast. If we talk about our knees knocking in fear” we describe the common sensation that may have first been mentioned in Daniel’s account of Belshazzar’s response to this sign from God.
Like Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Daniel 2, Belshazzar brought in all of the pagan astrologers and soothsayers to tell him the meaning of the words. And like Nebuchadnezzar’s advisers, they were unable to tell him. So, Daniel was again called. Because the writing was from God, and the interpretation was supplied to the prophet, he could and did give the sense of the words to the king.
Interestingly, the queen sought to help by asking Belshazzar to consult Daniel. Her intent was to soothe the king, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change” (10). But the message was dire, and the events which followed showed that good intentions do not always change matters. Though good intentions are necessary, they can not set aside sin!
So, what did Daniel tell the king the words meant? The words were: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. These words are given by Daniel in the Hebrew, and we have no other indications regarding their origin. However, while the words as we see them are derived from Hebrew words, we can know their meaning only as it was supplied by Daniel through God’s direction here in this text. We need not question their meaning in this context, as God revealed it specifically.
Mene, Mene. “God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it” (5:26). This indicated the end of the Babylonian kingdom. While I suppose Belshazzar’s honoring of Daniel (vs. 29) might have been to keep this end from coming, it had no effect on God’s judgment of Babylon.
Tekel. “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (5:27). This indicated the specific failure of Belshazzar to reign as a good king. God had seen his idolatry and pride, and condemned it. In Daniel’s interpretation he told the king, “And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven…And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His and owns all your ways, you have not glorified” (5:23). Belshazzar was guilty even though Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed the preeminence of God, and repented of his own pride (4:34-37).
Upharsin or Perez. “Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (5:28). We are told in verses 30-31, “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” The second of the four world empires of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Daniel 2 had taken the place of Babylon’s reign.
As we know, all four world empires: Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Alexandrian & Roman; fell one after the other. While seemingly impervious at the peak of their strength, God’s judgment was inevitable. As Paul proclaimed in Acts 17:26-27, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” The fall of the Babylonian empire was a just judgment of God. The kingdom was cruel, oppressing the nations round about. It was time for its fall, and Belshazzar’s punishment was well deserved from that same righteous and just God.
