The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
February 23, 2025 :: Daniel 5:1-31
Daniel chapter 5 is about the Lord of Heaven.
I hope that I’m beginning to sound a bit like a broken record. Because each Sunday as we’ve delved into the Book of Daniel, I’ve been starting each message in the Aramaic section of the book by saying something like:
And that’s kind of obvious–the Book of Daniel is about God–but it’s also something that can be easily missed in these wild and wonderful stories!
Daniel chapter 5 is not primarily about Daniel. Though he does show up in this chapter. An old man, forgotten by many, but still faithful and providing us with a brilliant example. Dare to be a Daniel! But this chapter is not primarily about him.
And Daniel chapter 5 is not about Daniel’s friends. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah have probably all died by chapter 5. They escaped the flames of the fiery furnace in chapter 3, but they still died of at least natural causes at some point later. This chapter is not about them.
And Daniel chapter 5 is not about King Nebuchadnezzar. He is mentioned in this chapter. Daniel recounts the story we studied last Sunday from chapter 4 when Nebuchadnezzar was humbled before the King of Heaven and then restored by the King of Heaven. Nebuchadnezzar’s disturbing tree dream came true, and he learned that humility is sanity. Pride is insanity, and humility is sanity.
But this chapter is not about King Nebuchadnezzar. In this chapter, King Nebuchadnezzar is dead. He’s been dead now for a couple of decades!
As powerful as Nebuchadnezzar was and as long as he reigned (more than 40 years) he still died, and his kingdom has changed hands. In fact, it’s changed hands like 3 times since the last chapter. And it’s now in the hands of a man named “Belshazzar” in this chapter.
And Belshazzar thinks that this story is all about him.
Church, is this story all about King Belshazzar?
No. This story is all about the Most High God whom Daniel calls in verse 23, “The Lord of Heaven,” which is, interestingly, the only time that particular title is given to God in the whole Bible.
A few places, He’s called, “The Lord of Heaven and Earth,” but this is the only one that’s just “The Lord of Heaven.” And we would do well to remember it.
This story (and the story we are all living in) is all about the Lord of Heaven. Let’s see what we learn about Him as we study it together.
Daniel chapter 5 tells the story of a great party that was a complete disaster. Listen to verse 1.
“King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.”
Wow! That’s a big party!
One thousand guests at the party. Every single one of them being fed by the king and provided with wine from the king. That’s like six times as many people are in this room right here. Can you imagine?!
Some archeological excavations of Babylon have uncovered massive halls where feasts like this could have been held. And King Belshazzar is living it up with 1,000 of his closest friends.
Now, we don’t know that much about King Belshazzar from historical sources outside of the Bible. In fact, for many years, we didn’t know anything about him from outside of this chapter! But a little bit over a century ago, there were some major historical discoveries that verified his identity and confirmed the Bible’s reliability.
One thing that was confusing to many was that historical records show that the official High King of Babylon at this time was a man named “Nabonidus.” And King Nabonidus had probably been married “Nitocris” the daughter of King Nebuchadnezzar. So he would be his son-in-law.
But historical records also tell us that King Nabonidus was not living in Babylon at this time. He was still the High King of Babylon, but for a bunch of reasons Nabonidus was living in what we call “Saudia Arabia” at the time, and he had left his son in charge of Babylon itself.
Guess what his son’s name turned out to be? Belshazzar! So King Belshazzar is like the number two king in the Babylonian kingdom, but he is reigning in and over the city of Babylon itself. And he’s throwing a massive party.
But, before you get too impressed, you need to know something else.
You need to know that Babylon is under siege. They have ruled the world for decades, but there is another kingdom on the ascendancy. It’s a double-kingdom with two major peoples in it that have teamed up to take over the world. Does anybody know what that kingdom is? It’s the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.
And their high king is named Cyrus. And Cyrus has been chipping away at the kingdom of Babylon for a few years now, and he’s now sent an army to attack the city of Babylon.
The date of this party is October 12, 539 BC. Isn’t that amazing that we know the actual date of the feast?
Now, why was King Belshazzar throwing a party when the Medes and the Persians were outside the city walls? We don’t know, but we can make some guesses.
One guess is that Belshazzar just liked to party. And nothing was going to stop him. He might have felt pretty safe behind the walls of Babylon. Remember last week, we learned how big and thick they were? Maybe he thought his city was impregnable.
And maybe this was a pep rally! Maybe they were living it up tonight because tomorrow they were planning to run out there and bust some heads.
Or maybe Belshazzar was having this party because he was secretly scared. He was trying to put a good face on it in front of his guests. Whistling through the graveyard. Getting drunk because he’s on edge.
We don’t know. What we do know is that he thought that everything was all about him, and he decided to dishonor the Lord of heaven.
Look at this shocking thing he does at this party in verse 2.
“Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone “vv.2-4).
Do you see how shocking this is? How arrogant and blasphemous and aggressive and transgressive this is?
Do you remember these gold and silver vessels from chapter 1?
I know it’s been over a month since we were in chapter 1. Do you remember what happened? Remember that God of Judah gave the King of Judah to the King of Babylon. The reason why Nebuchadnezzar could defeat Jehoiakim of Judah was because the LORD allowed him to. And the LORD also allowed Nebuchadnezzar to cart off Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to Babylon in 605 BC. And at that time, He also allowed him to take these supposed-to-be-holy golden and silver vessels that belonged in the temple of the LORD to the temple of Marduk. And that’s bad enough.
But 66 years later, Belshazzar says, “Hey! I know what we should do. We should raid the temple of Marduk (“Bel” for whom I’m named) and bring in the gold and silver cups that belonged to Yahweh and drink from them ourselves! Not the priests. Us!”
“What do you say, guys?”
“Bring Yahweh’s cups!”
“Bring Yahweh’s cups!”
“Bring Yahweh’s cups!”
And as they are downing their drinks, they are praising (v.4), “the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
“The gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
“The gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
“The gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
Those gods aren’t even real! They are lifeless and empty and powerless. This is insanity! This is idolatry, and it is insanity. And the LORD will not have it. Look at verse 5.
“Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together” (vv.5-6).
How scary!
How spooky!
How funny!
How strange!
You and I are supposed to be amazed at this. This is not normal. As far as I know, this is the only time God has ever done this.
He sends a hand! Not a whole a body. Just a hand. This isn’t a dream, this time. Everybody there can see the hand, especially the king. And everybody there can see the writing on the wall.
Some archeological excavations of Babylon have even found plaster walls like this one described here. None with this message on it! But plaster walls nonetheless.
This hand appears and writes on the wall, and it scares the living daylights out of the king!
Yes, you’re supposed to laugh.
“The king's color changed.” Did he turn blue? Did he turn all white?
“...and his thoughts alarmed him...” I’ll bet they did!
“...his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.”
I’m not sure exactly what that means in the Aramaic. It might mean that he couldn’t stand. He was shaking so much. It might actually mean that he lost control of his bodily functions.
This king is frightened. And rightly so.
And he starts shouting. Calling for help. He calls in the current top team of magi. Verse 7.
“The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.’”
Notice that he says “the third ruler?” That’s probably because he was actually the number two ruler under Nabonidus. So “third ruler” is the best he could offer. Belshazzar is willing to give up just about everything to find out what the writing on the wall means. He’ll give them the royal treatment. Purple and gold and king number three in Babylon. “Just tell me what it means!”
And what do you think the wisemen can tell him about the writing on the wall? What have we come to expect from the wisdom of the world? Not very much, I’m afraid. Verse 8.
“Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed” (vv.8-9). Kind of put a damper on this party.
And then in walks the queen. Verse 10.
“The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, ‘O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father–your father the king–made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation’ (vv.10-12).
We don’t know which queen this is. Daniel doesn’t name her. It’s probably not Belshazzar’s wife. Not any of Belshazzar’s wives. Verse 3 says that he had many, but they were all there drinking with him from Yahweh’s cups. This queen came in after the writing was on the wall.
Could be his mother. This word “queen” can also mean “queen mother.” Just like the word “father” can mean grandfather or “predecessor.” And it could be his grand-mother. This might have been a wife of King Nebuchadnezzar. She might remember Daniel. She remembers Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. The dreams of chapter 2 and chapter 4.
Remember the dream in chapter 2 of that statue with several different metals to it? What metal was the head? Gold. What metal was the chest and arms? Silver. What metal was the belly and thighs? Bronze? What metal was the legs? Iron. And the feet were iron and clay.
Each level was less valuable but maybe more dangerous. And none of the levels were forever. One day the whole statue was going to be knocked down by a rock thrown from God which blasts the statue to dust, and then the rock would grow and grow and grow into a mountain that fills the earth.
And each metal level was a successive kingdom. What kingdom was the head of gold? It was Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. And this queen remembers it all.
Nobody would know what that dream meant if it wasn’t for Daniel.
So the queen says, “Get Daniel in here if you know what’s good for you. Only he can help you.” So the king calls for Daniel. Verse 13.
“Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, ‘You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom’ (vv.13-17).
I don’t think that Belshazzar was happy to see Daniel. Notice how he talks down to him? He doesn’t call him “Belteshazzar” maybe because it’s too close to his own name, but maybe because he wants to emphasize Daniel’s Jewishness. And his kingly power over Daniel.
“You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah. One of my servants. One of the hostages that my granddaddy Nebuchadnezzar brought from Judah. (I’m better than you. I rule over you.) Just a few minutes ago, I was drinking from one of the golden cups from your old temple. Are we clear on who is who here? Well, I have little problem. It’s got me a little worried. And I hear that maybe you can help. And even though you are just a little old Jewish man that we’ve all forgotten, if you can help me, I will make you the third most powerful man in the whole kingdom of Babylon. Would you like that?”
And there stands Daniel. How old is Daniel in 539 BC? He was stolen from Judah in 605. He’s been living in Babylon now for 66 years. He’s what, 80 years old? 81?
And he’s been forgotten, but he has not forgotten His God!
Dare to be a Daniel and be faithful for 66 years in Babylon!
Dare to be a Daniel and take insult and disrespect for 66 years and stay faithful to your God no matter what.
Dare to be a Daniel and speak the truth to power.
Dare to be a Daniel and remember that your story is not about you, but about the Lord of Heaven!
Listen to what Daniel says in verse 17.
“Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.”
Daniel is no-nonsense here. He’s not in it for the money. And he’s not as courteous as he was when he was a young man before Nebuchadnezzar. As prideful and dangerous as Nebuchadnezzar was, he wasn’t as foolish and arrogant this Belshazzar has been. And Belshazzar should have learned from the lessons of his grandfather. Daniel gives it to him straight. Verse 18.
“O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. [There’s that word “gave” we heard last week.] And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. [He was the king of kings in his day.] But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.
[This is the story that Nebuchadnezzar told us last week in chapter 4.]
He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will” (vv.18-21).
I have three points this morning of things we learn about the Lord of Heaven in this chapter, and here is number one. And it’s the whole point of the whole book:
#1. THE LORD OF HEAVEN RULES US.
He rules us.
That’s what Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way last week. Right? #HeavenRules
God is God, and we are not. Even if you are the most powerful person in the world, that power comes from God. And it can and will be taken away by God. Our God rules. He is the King of Kingdoms.
And we all agree with that, but we all lose sight of it. And we all start to think of ourselves as something much more. And we begin to value other things above Him, too.
We begin to worship other “gods.” The Babylonians worshiped “the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone” (v.4). And we worship the gods of sex, money, popularity, nation, sports, and family. And we let them rule us.
Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that it’s the Lord of Heaven that rules.
His is the kingdom that is the rock cut out “not with human hands,” and His is the kingdom that will grow to fill the earth. He is King Forevermore!
And you and I can take great comfort in that. The original Jewish readers of the Book of Daniel were so comforted by this book. Because the enemies of God were all losers. No matter how powerful they seemed, God kept showing how weak they really were. Even by writing these words on the wall.
The Lord of Heaven rules us. He is in charge. He is sovereign. He is in control. His throne does not budge (Psalm 93). I don’t know about you, but I need to hear that every single day. Because when I lose sight of that, I live in fear and worry and anxiety. And at the very same time my head gets too big. And I forget why I’m here and Who’s story I’m living in.
And that’s what Belshazzar had done. That’s what Daniel tells him in verse 22.
“And you his son [Nebuchadnezzar’s successor], Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored” (vv.22-23).
I don’t know what are the most haunting words in this chapter, but I think that verse 22 is in the running with the words, “though you knew all this...”
Belshazzar knew better. He should have read Daniel chapter 4. He should have memorized Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony in Daniel chapter 4. He was aware. He was warned. He should know this story. He should have been the most humble man on the planet. Belshazzar had no excuse. He foolishly disregarded the truth. But he ignored it all and did not humble his heart. Instead, he (v.23, also haunting words), “lifted up [himself] against the Lord of heaven.”
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
You know what Belshazzar did? He “counted Yahweh out.” He just decided that the Lord didn’t matter. He wasn’t worth honoring. [I can’t remember which of the excellent commentaries gave me that “counted out” idea and phrase.]
That’s a scary (but easy) thing to do. And it’s so insane! Because the Lord rules everything, and holds everything in His hand!
That’s point number two.
#2. THE LORD OF HEAVEN HOLDS US.
Do you see that language in verse 23?
“And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.”
Your breath right now? It’s in the Lord’s hands. He holds your breath. The very hand maybe that wrote those words on the wall? Holds your breath. If He lets it go, there goes your breath. Our lives are in His hands.
How do we forget that? We know this! He holds us. And because we know this, we should humble ourselves and honor Him.
Did you do a little “kingdom inventory” like we talked about last week? Think up all the little domains that you have some authority in? Some of us have very little and some of us have (for a time) quite a lot.
Did you do a “kingdom audit” where you thought about your little kingdoms and how you are ruling them? If you are being kind and caring for the people in your domain?
Are you serving them or using them?
Are you living in pride or in humility?
And are you honoring the Lord above all?
Because our very breath is in His hands.
And we will have to give an account for everything we did with everything He’s given us. Including every breath.
That’s our last point. Point number three.
#3. THE LORD OF HEAVEN WEIGHS US.
Belshazzar has mocked God, and God will not be mocked. So Daniel says (v.24), “Then from his presence [from the presence of the God you have not honored...] the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.”
You can see how this would be difficult for anyone to understand that doesn’t have an inside track with the Lord.
But Daniel does know what it means.
The hand wrote four words. The first two are the same word repeated, probably for emphasis.
MENE, MENE. With one set of vowels, that spells the Aramaic word for “mina” a heavy weight which is worth a good bit of money.
TEKEL, with one set of vowels spells the Aramaic word for “shekel,” another weight which is less than a mina.
And then PARSIN with one set of vowels spells the Aramaic word for “half” or “half shekel,” an even smaller weight worth the least of these.
They are all weight words. There might not have been any vowels up on the wall.
But Daniel, with his prophetic gift, says that these words should be considered verbs. With a another set of vowels, they all sound like Aramaic words that are verbs.
MENE looks and sound like the Aramaic verb for “Numbered” or “Counted.”
“Numbered, Numbered!”
TEKEL looks and sounds like the Aramaic verb for “Weighed.”
“Numbered, Weighed.”
And PARSIN looks and sounds like the Aramaic verb for “Divided.”
And if your version has an U before “Parsin,” that’s just the word for “and” tacked on it.
So “Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.”
“Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.”
That’s what Daniel sees on the wall. And that’s what he explains to the king. Verse 26.
“This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’”
What a moment that must have been!
This was not a warning. This was not like Nebuchadnezzar’s tree dream. This was simply a judgment. And it was given to Belshazzar in public so that the people of God could see that God was bringing the judgment.
What was going to happen was not random chance or even “fate.” It was God’s judgment and the fulfillment of God’s Word.
“Hey, King! MENE MENE.
You counted me out? I’ve counted you out.
‘God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.’
Hey, King! ‘TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.’
I’ve put you up on a balances, and you don’t have enough weight. You devalued me when you got out my gold cups and drank from them while praising your gods. I now devalue you.
Hey, King! ‘PERES.’ That’s the singular of ‘PARSIN’ so it’s double meaning. It not only means ‘divided,’ but it sounds like the word for ‘Persian.’
Belshazzar, ‘your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’ It’s broken in two and given to the double-kingdom.”
The silver kingdom, right? From the statue dream in chapter 2? The prophecy of chapter 2 is starting to be fulfilled in chapter 5! The head of gold is no more.
This party is over.
And that’s exactly what happened. Not one day, but that day. Belshazzar was the last king of Babylon. And this was the last day of the kingdom of Babylon. Look at verse 29.
“Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old” )vv.29-31(.
Boom. No wonder Daniel didn’t care about the king’s royal robe and chain! He only got to wear it one night. That very night, October 12, 539 BC, the forces of the Medes and the Persians re-directed the waters of the Euphrates that flowed into the the city and they came in through the water gates (according to Herodotus).
And there was no real battle! There was no real resistance. Maybe everybody was too drunk. And they killed Belshazzar. His days were numbered, and his number was up.
What do we learn from this?
We learn that the Lord of Heaven weighs us. There is a judgment coming. And we need to live our lives now accordingly. We need to humble ourselves and honor the Lord of heaven not raise ourselves up against Him. We need to learn from the stories of others like King Nebuchadnezzar. “If we will not humble ourselves, the Lord will do it for us.” Humility is sanity. We need resist the allure and idiocy of idolatry. We need to live our lives now as ones who will give an account to the Lord of Heaven. Because He weighs us.
And that should put a healthy fear in us. We should not just do whatever we feel like, but instead live to please our Lord.
But let me give you some good news in case that really scares you:
King Jesus was also weighed in the balances, and was NOT found wanting. King Jesus not only humbled Himself like we talked about last week, but He was judged by the Lord of Heaven as worthy of being brought back from the dead. He took on Himself all of our failures. All of our sins and errors. All the of the times when we have lifted ourselves up. And or all who repent and put their faith in Him, we get His perfect track record.
Belshazzar would never do that. He was too proud and full of himself to repent. But you and I can repent right now and be found in Christ.
The writing was on the wall for Jesus because He took on our sin, but that was not the end. Three days later, King Jesus came walking out of the tomb!
And “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” )Dan. 7:14(.
He is the King of Kingdoms and the Lord of Heaven.
And this story is all about Him.
***
Messages in This Series:
01. The King's Service - Daniel 1:1-21
02. The God of Heaven - Daniel 2:1-49
Bonus Message: "No Matter What" - Daniel 3:1-30 from Family Bible Week 2012
03. The God We Serve - Daniel 3:1-30
04. The King of Heaven - Daniel 4:1-37
