After the wise men fail to interpret the words on the wall, Belshazzar's face becomes as white as a sheet. He is really terrified and deeply concerned, quite sober by now.

Daniel 5:10-16

Now the queen, hearing the commotion of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet house. The queen said, "O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, and don't look so pale.

There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father, insight and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him. King Nebuchadnezzar your father -- your father the king, I say -- made him chief over the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and diviners;

This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain hard riddles and solve difficult problems. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the meaning."

Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel, of the exiles brought by my father out of Judah?

I have even heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that intelligence and insight and excellent wisdom is found in you.

Now the wise men, the astrologers, were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me the meaning of it. But they could not explain it.

I have heard that you can interpret such things, and solve difficult problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me the meaning of it, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."

The queen is a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. Obviously she wasn't at the party. She is very respectful of Daniel, which suggests that she does not support her son's cavalier attitude about the state of the empire.

The term "father" simply means "ancestral relative" which can include "father-in-law" and even "grandfather."

Belshazzar meets Daniel face-to-face for the first time. Isn't it interesting that Belshazzar hasn't even bothered to meet the guy who was in charge of all the wise men of Babylon?

Daniel 5:17-24

Then Daniel answered the king, "Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another. Even so I will read the writing to the king, and tell him what it means.

O king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty and glory and honour.

Because of the high position that he gave him, all people, nations and languages trembled before him and feared him. Those he wanted to kill, he killed. Those he wanted kept alive would live. He promoted whomever he wished to promote, and he humbled those he wanted to humble.

But when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.

And he was driven from people. His heart was made like that of an animal, and he lived with the wild beasts. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the most high God ruled over the kingdom of men and set up over it whomever he wanted.

But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this;

Instead, you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels of his house brought before you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines, drank wine from them. And you praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see nor hear, nor know. And you have not glorified the God who holds your breath in his hand, and who has power over all the things you do.

Therefore he sent the part of the hand that wrote this inscription.

Daniel doesn't care for the trappings offered by the king. But he agrees to interpret the words because their appearance had a purpose beyond simply scaring the king. They are a message from God, meant to be understood, meant to demonstrate the sovereignty of God.

Before he goes into the explanation, Daniel reminds Belshazzar of the experience that Nebuchadnezzar went through as a result of his prideful heart. He claims that Belshazzar was well aware of this lesson, another suggestion that Nebuchadnezzar's conversion was very real.

Except for the mention of Nebuchadnezzar's prideful heart getting him in trouble, Daniel is generally quite positive in his description of the former king. He explains that he was an absolute monarch who was given his power and authority as a gift from God.

Daniel 5:25-28

This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN

This is what these words mean: { Mene } : God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.

{ Tekel } : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

{ Peres } : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

The inscription was "Mene Mene Tekel Peres." There were no vowels in the language of that time, they were implied. This means only consonants were visible on the wall by the lampstand. Depending on how you placed vowels, the words could have been viewed in a variety of ways that would mean different things. Some Bible scholars also suggest that the words may have been placed vertically or backwards, either of which would have been even more cryptic.

You may be confused by the use of "Upharsin" or "Parsin" used in verse 25 as compared to "Peres" used in verse 28. This is simply the plural form of Peres. Daniel was referring to its double meaning as he explained the writing, including both references in the single word.

Daniel 5:29-31

Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, and a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.

And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Daniel's interpretation must have troubled Belshazzar, but he followed through with his promise to honor him. Perhaps he thought that God would relent if he treated him well. But it was too late for repentance.

Cyrus enters the city

It is now past midnight in the early hours of 16th Tishri. At the very time that all these events were taking place, Cyrus' general Ugbaru, with the help of Babylonian priests wanting to overthrow Nabonidus, had diverted the Euphrates river into a channel dug about eighty years earlier. This caused the moat around Babylon to drop to a level halfway up a man's thigh. Cyrus' men slipped quietly into the city underneath the huge gates all around Babylon (there were about 100 gates).

Cyrus would boast for years that he had conquered Babylon -- the world's strongest fortress city -- without a battle. The inhabitants of the central part of the city didn't know they had been conquered for about three days.

General Ugbaru died just a month or so later. Cyrus appointed a man named Gubaru as governor over Babylon. The names are similar and thus cause much confusion. Though there is some disagreement about Darius, it appears most likely that this was the name given to Gubaru. The name Darius is actually a title as well meaning "the royal one." A Babylonian tablet from 535BC contains an inscription that reads "the guilt of a sin against Gubaru, the Governor of Babylon and the district beyond the river... (the area west of the Euphrates)."

In just a few hours, an empire has changed hands and a new king sits on the throne of Babylon the Great, the pride of the Chaldeans.

next: Politically Incorrect

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