Daniel 5:22 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And thou his son,’ – or grandson in this case – ‘O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven.’ You have mounted this great attack in the last moment of the empire when you should have been concerned about its safety and defence. You have conducted this great campaign against the Jews, but also against the God of glory. Yes, God allows even this. He allows those who are mortal and soon swept from the earth, and whose power has gone to their heads, to show contempt for him and for his worship and for his people. He lets them attempt to harm his cause and his people, knowing that they can do nothing of any real significance against him. He will reverse all the evil that is done against his true children, but he will expose the malice and pride and hostility of his enemies, so that they may be judged with a perfect exhibition of his justice.‘And they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know.’ The insanity of idolatry is highlighted by Daniel. Why do men call upon gods that are less than they are? What help do they expect to receive from them, when they cannot help themselves, when they cannot move, see, hear, or answer prayer? The instinct in men to worship a god is strong, but they choose for themselves anything other than the true God on high. Worse than this, they make comparisons between the true God and their own worthless invented gods and express their preference for the idols. They could not more forcefully denigrate the true God. It is as if they are trying to provoke him to anger, and as if they are taunting him to do anything about it. ‘And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.’ You have praised gods that have no power, that can do nothing, that do not exist; and the God on whom your every breath depends, who puts food on your table and causes it to strengthen your body, who gives you life and determines how long that life lasts; that God you have ignored and even insulted. You have treated him as nothing, instead of coming and bowing before him in godly fear, you have not glorified him, worshipped him.Daniel does not show the same care to speak respectfully to Belshazzar as he had done to Nebuchadnezzar, for this descendant of Nebuchadnezzar was not a noble man as his father. Worst of all, he had deliberately insulted God and taunted him by drinking wine from his holy vessels to dead gods and ignored the God who gives life, and so he was about to be judged by God as the writing on the wall announces. The part of the hand that you saw, says Daniel, was from him and this writing was written to announce your doom. Soon Daniel will get down to business and explain the writing, but before he does he preaches this sermon. He holds Belshazzar in suspense, guaranteeing that the king and all present listen with rapt attention to the reproof. He says these solemn things to him, but it is the truth. He risks the bad reaction of Belshazzar, because God has told him to rebuke this arrogant man. Daniel is personally outraged at what this so-called king has done.‘And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.’ The words were very brief, as if this pagan man did not deserve the full sentence and must grope in the dark for a meaning that would pronounce his doom. ‘MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. ²⁷ TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. ²⁸ PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.’ What did he think? There were many occasions when he had a chance to repent, but there was to be no starting now.