Why Couldn't Belshazzar Read the Writing on the Wall

By Rev. Dr. Andrew K. T. Dibb

This affiliate begins with Belshazzar'south banquet for his friends. Belshazzar is presented in this chapter as the son of Nebuchadnezzar, male monarch of Babylon. His name tells us something well-nigh him, for Belshazzar in the original Chaldean language means 'Bel Protect the King.' 'Bel' was a Babylonian god, so this name is nigh the human relationship of the kingly, or ruling loves in a person, and the love of selfishness and rule from that described by the god of the Babylonians.

Belshazzar has a similar spiritual relationship to Nebuchadnezzar as the Lord Jesus Christ had to the Father. In the case of the Lord, His human set forth the Divine, making information technology present for all people to run into. In the case of Belshazzar, he fix forth the love of selfishness, Nebuchadnezzar, for all the world to come across. Belshazzar represents the external manifestation of the deepest feelings of selfishness, translated starting time into thoughts, then actions.

The story of Daniel is about the ability of truth changing u.s. from existence self-centered to beingness regenerated. Each person has a Nebuchadnezzar side, and likewise a Daniel side. In previous capacity, we run into Daniel's impact on Nebuchadnezzar. Then truth impacts our lives. When we begin the procedure of alter, nosotros follow the society given in chapters ii, three, four, and five. Truth is first an intellectual idea which, in time, affects our will. To alter, we must be willing to undergo the temptations described in chapter 4, but for this to happen, we need to guess our beliefs. This is the feast, where actions are judged and those incompatible with censor are cast out.

Belshazzar allowable the vessels brought so that the guests could drink from them. To drink wine from them means cartoon teachings from the Word that one needs to live properly (Apocalypse Explained 376). Before our minds are clear of selfishness, nosotros may go to the Give-and-take for guidance. Just we are not looking to exist lead to the adept of life, just to back up the selfishness inside. This is not unusual with people commencement introduced to the truths of the Word: equally they learn, they may notice that the teachings seem to support some of their attitudes, rather than undermine faults. We tin can run across this in Belshazzar'south use of the vessels: he did non treat them with respect, but profaned them. Sharing the vessels with his lords, his wives, and concubines shows the various thoughts and angel notwithstanding tied to selfishness which guided him.

As the king and his guests drank from the holy vessels, they showed their truthful fidelity: they worshiped gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone, compounding their profanation. Profanation is when the sacred and profane are brought together. One cannot believe the Word is holy, and mock it at the same time. No one can serve ii masters (Matthew half-dozen:24).

For a consummate explanation of the different materials of the profane idols, run into the explanation of the statue from Nebuchadnezzar'due south dream in Daniel 2. The differences between the two rests in materials of the legs and feet, just in the internal sense, these differences disappear.

Amid this debauchery, a vision took place: the fingers of a human's hand appeared on the wall and wrote words in an unknown language. Belshazzar's fear reflects our own when it suddenly dawns on united states of america that the activities of our life are in conflict with the very things we hold to be true. The conflict between skillful and evil within us is brought down to the level of our daily lives. The outcome tin exist frightening: information technology is the realization of our shortcomings. All the same ofttimes, before the issues go clear, we experience a sense of unease, a feeling of dissatisfaction at the manner our lives are going.

This vague feeling is Belshazzar's inability to read the words written upon the wall. They frightened him, but he did not know what they meant. Like u.s.a., he turned to the familiar, comforting voices which unremarkably explained the unknown to him: the astrologers, the soothsayers, and the Chaldeans. These 'wise men' represent the idea patterns we have when our lives are disturbed: nosotros look inwards to our usual justifications. Thus nosotros blame others for our land of heed, or credit information technology to misfortune, without ever really going to the source of what is bothering us.

Belshazzar promised his soothsayers three distinct things:

"Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its estimation, shall be clothed with imperial and have a chain of gold around his cervix; and he shall exist the 3rd ruler in the kingdom."

The angels of the celestial heaven wear crimson dress (Divine Love and Wisdom 380, True Christian Religion 686) as an expression of their honey to the Lord. Clothing signifies knowledge (Heaven and Hell 179, Arcana Coelestia 1073, 2576, 5319, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536) so 'habiliment of purple' represents knowledges about love to the Lord. But because Belshazzar is selfishness, the knowledge he offered represents re-establishing selfish beloved equally the ruling principle in our minds. In addition to the royal garments, he offered bondage of golden. As we take seen before, gilded represents goodness from the Lord. But in this case, the 'goodness' originates in selfishness. The final hope is power. The characteristic of the beloved of self is the animalism for power. Nebuchadnezzar extended his natural kingdom across the globe, equally selfishness extends its power throughout our lives.

Unsurprisingly, the 'wise men' could non read the writing on the wall. When nosotros are unhappy considering of our selfishness, no thoughts from selfishness volition set usa directly. If nosotros know that what we are doing is wrong, and withal make excuses for our beliefs, we will find petty or no condolement in these justifications—they are a part of the problem.

So the queen suggested to Belshazzar that he call Daniel. To convince him of Daniel's worth, she uses terms that describe the quality of a conscience formed from the truths of the Word. 'The Spirit of the Holy God' is the truth from the Lord (Apocalypse Explained 183), where conscience is formed. Divine truth in the mind brings spiritual calorie-free (True Christian Religion twoscore) giving first understanding, and then wisdom. Conscience draws its beingness from the Divine truths from the Lord. The Babylonian 'wise men' all represent the various thoughts of a selfish mind. Every bit the conscience is formed, it begins to take precedence over these thoughts, until it rules. And so a person regenerating intellectually thinks from truth, but may still act from selfishness.

The queen's pleas made an touch on on Belshazzar, and Daniel was brought before him. The king offered Daniel the aforementioned gifts he offered his wise men and astrologers. Daniel, of grade, could not accept these, in much the same mode, years before, he had been unable to accept food from Nebuchadnezzar's table. To accept the garments of purple, chains of gilded, and a position of power in the kingdom was meaningless to Daniel. He was already, after all, in a position of power. Conscience does non demand to be bribed: it stands firm and alone in our minds.

Daniel began his interpretation of the Writing on the Wall with a brief history of Nebuchadnezzar, as a summary of the progression of selfishness. He began with the fact that Nebuchadnezzar received his kingdom of from God. In affiliate 1, we are told that 'the Lord gave Jehoiakim into his hand.' This implies that not only was the Lord responsible for the siege of Jerusalem, but for all of Nebuchadnezzar's other victories. This verse reinforces that concept: Nebuchadnezzar's success was because of the Lord.

Daniel voiced the words of judgment eloquently: Belshazzar had non humbled his heart, he had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven. He used the vessels of the Lord's temple to worship gods of silver and golden, statuary and iron, wood and stone, notwithstanding he does not know that the Lord holds his life in His hand.

These well-spoken words of judgment are equally much an indictment on u.s. as they were on Belshazzar. Often nosotros know the truths of the Word, we wrestle with them in our minds, we allow them to direct our feelings, and however we exercise nothing about them. Spiritual procrastination is one of life's greatest dangers. As long as we put off spiritual progress, and wallow in the condolement of selfishness, as long as nosotros hang onto old prejudices and attitudes, and habitual thinking, we are using the Lord's Give-and-take as a fashion of worshiping fake idols. What needs to change in united states of america are our loves, our attitudes. As these change, our external behavior must exist brought into alignment with them.

Having chastised Belshazzar, Daniel began to explain the writing on the wall. He began by stressing that the fingers that wrote 'were sent by Him,' pregnant the 'Most High God' who gave Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom, majesty and celebrity. While Nebuchadnezzar had humbled himself before the Lord, Belshazzar had not. In the historical sense, information technology was important for Daniel to stress the relationship between what happened to Nebuchadnezzar and what would happen to Belshazzar.

The judgment, from the power of the Lord, lay in the words written on the wall: 'mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.' Four words in an unknown language that could but exist interpreted past Daniel. Thus we see how our conscience, drawn as information technology is from the teachings of the Discussion, is the root of our resistance to evil.

Daniel begins by explaining 'mene' saying: 'God has numbered your kingdom and plant it wanting.' To number means to know the quality of something. This is why Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem 'in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim,' and dreamed of the not bad statue 'in the second year' of his own reign.

The word 'mene' means the process of self-examination. There is no indication why the discussion is repeated twice; perhaps information technology indicates the need for an exam of acts flowing from both our volition and our understanding—our actions from an inner honey for them, and deportment from a sense of duty.

The third discussion on the wall is 'Tekel,' which Daniel told Belshazzar means: 'You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.' When we examine ourselves, it is from truth: we gauge how we compare to the truth. The adjacent stride is to assess our feelings. Thus 'one should exist found wanting.'

Daniel interprets the final give-and-take of the four to mean 'your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.' This literally happened to Belshazzar, but in the internal sense, to divide means to disperse and expel (Apocalypse Explained 373, Arcana Coelestia 9093). This is the third phase of repentance: when a person has examined self, plant one'southward self wanting, and is willing to change, the side by side step is to split up the evil from ourselves, and to expel it from our lives. It is just in this manner that we can be cleansed of evil.

This is an indication of how our lives should progress: no human being can serve two masters, the Lord said, we cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot serve cocky and exist ruled past the conscience at the same time. I must increment and the other subtract. By giving Daniel these gifts in the face of the imminent end of his kingdom, Belshazzar shows the states how the conscience must increment, while selfishness equally the root of our evil must decrease.

Thus information technology happened that on that very dark, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede received the throne, being about sixty-two years onetime.

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Source: https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/story/the-writing-on-the-wall/king-james-version/the-feast-of-belshazzar

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