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Suddenly
the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite
the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s
palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.
Then the king’s face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed
him; and his hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking
together. (NASB) Daniel 5:5-6 |
The The king panicked when he saw the fingers of a man’s hand
appear out of nowhere. A riddle was written on the plaster wall. Archaeology
has found a massive sixty-three foot by one hundred and seventy-three
foot (nineteen meters by fifty-three) white plaster wall in the king’s
palace in Babylonian ruins. Did the writing fill this wall?
In his panic, the king called for the
“wise guys” of the kingdom to come and explain the writing.
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The
king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and
the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon,
“Any man who can read this inscription and explain its
interpretation to me will be clothed with purple, and have a
necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as third
ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men
came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known
its interpretation to the king. Then King Belshazzar was greatly
alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed.
(NASB) Daniel 5:7-9 |
But these magicians, conjurers, sorcerers and Chaldeans - wise men
- did not understand. In Aramaic the words seem to refer to money.
That would have been confusing and would have made no sense. It is
not surprising the king was over powered by fear. God had stepped
in once more.
A Messenger
of God. In walked the queen, Belshazzar’s mother with
help. Apparently, she did not want to join this party. Did the queen
not respect her son?
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The
queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king
and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, “O king, live
forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be
pale. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of
the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination,
insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in
him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king,
appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans,
and diviners. This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge
and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas,
and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel,
whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned,
and he will declare the interpretation.” (NASB) Daniel
5:10-12 |
She
had heard about the writing on the wall and she offered her advice,
call for Daniel! The fearful king summoned Daniel.
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Then
Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said
to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles
from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? Now
I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you,
and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have
been found in you. Just now the wise men and the conjurers were
brought in before me that they might read this inscription and
make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare
the interpretation of the message. But I personally have heard
about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve
difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription
and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed
with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and
you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.”
(NASB) Daniel 5:13-16 |
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