Daniel answered…Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet will I read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty…thou, Belshazzar, his son… hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of the heavens…the God in whose hand thy breath is…hast thou not glorified.

(Daniel 5:17-18,22-23)

PROPHETS AND THEIR PROPHECIES—DANIEL (6)

Daniel is now an old man. Nearly seventy years have flown by since he was brought to Babylon. Another king, Belshazzar, is on the throne. The Medo-Persian army is at the gates of Babylon. Belshazzar, feeling quite secure, is throwing a huge party for his nobles, wives, and concubines at which they are drinking wine from the golden and silver vessels taken long ago from God’s temple at Jerusalem. Their revelry suddenly stops as a strange hand writes mysterious words on the plaster of the palace wall. The king and all his nobles are dumbfounded.

What to do? Magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans are unable to help. The queen mother comes in and recommends that Daniel be called: an excellent spirit is in him, the spirit of the gods, and light and understanding and excellent wisdom. He is offered a tremendous reward if he can read and interpret the writing.

Things have gone too far, Daniel tells the king. Your rewards are useless. You paid no attention to the lessons God gave you through His dealings with Nebuchadnezzar. Numbered, numbered, weighed, divided! God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. You, Belshazzar, are weighed in the balances and found wanting. The kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked”! Everyone challenging Him loses. That night Babylon was taken and Belshazzar was slain!

E. P. Vedder, Jr.