Daniel 5:16
And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
On the last night of Babylon, after the wise men had failed to read the mysterious writing on the palace wall, Belshazzar summoned Daniel and promised to clothe him in scarlet with a gold chain and make him third ruler if he could read it and explain its meaning, acknowledging his known power to interpret mysteries and untie difficulties. The offer was made in the midst of an idolatrous, drunken feast where the king and his lords profaned the golden vessels from God's temple to praise the gods of Babylon, forgetting God in prosperity and pride. A bloodless hand had traced unintelligible characters of doom that filled the revelers with terror, and doom was to be declared through God's servant. That defiant revelry reached the limit of God's forbearance, for God weighed Belshazzar's life and character in the balances of heaven and found him wanting because he disregarded the light already given. As Babylon fell in an hour of feasting and revelry, so it will be at the end of the world, while the failure of the king's advisers shows that heavenly wisdom cannot be bought or sold.
Setting and Royal Offer
This word was spoken near the end of Daniel's life, after Babylon had passed from Nebuchadnezzar to his successors and was in gradual decline. It belongs to Babylon's final feast, for the fall of Babylon came in that hour of feasting and revelry. The setting is the night when Belshazzar and his thousand lords profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah taken from His temple and in sacrilegious mirth praised the idols of Babylon. Prosperity had led Babylon's rulers to forget God and to credit human achievement for the honor and power of the kingdom.
The feast was idolatrous and drunken, when wine beclouded reason so that the monarch forgot God and dishonored Him. Belshazzar as absolute monarch had everything to flatter pride and indulge passion, yet was void of self-control, hasty and violent in temper, gracious to flatterers and cruel as the grave to opposers, molded as wax by flattery and ferocious as a tiger when provoked, with a self-indulgent, gluttonous, drunken and corrupt heart. He made the feast with music and dancing, feasting and sparkling wine and blasphemy, while flames of idolatrous sacrifices rose in insult to the God of heaven and praise was given to gods of gold and silver. He himself took the lead in riot and blasphemy and drank wine with his princes from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah, until reason was gone and nothing was held sacred.
In the midst of the feast an unseen, bloodless hand was seen tracing mysterious characters of destiny upon the palace wall, characters unintelligible to the king. King and courtiers were filled with terror as doom was pronounced through the servant of the Most High. After the kingdom's wise men and advisers could not read or explain the writing, Belshazzar called Daniel before him to ask for the interpretation.
The verse records Belshazzar acknowledging Daniel's reputation for making interpretations, resolving doubts and difficulties, and explaining mysteries. It records his promise that if Daniel could read the writing and make known its interpretation he would be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and be the third ruler in the kingdom. That offer of scarlet clothing, a gold chain, and place as third ruler was also extended to anyone who could read the writing and explain it, and Belshazzar made it while trying to assert his authority.
Judgment and Present Warning
Belshazzar's presumption and defiance in feasting reached the limit of divine forbearance, and his forgetfulness of God and insolent disobedience preceded his end. The coming calamity upon Babylon resulted from disregard of heaven-sent light, including the light given to Nebuchadnezzar, for neglecting and failing to practice the lessons God gives brings judgment. God Himself was witness of the unholy scene, and He weighed Belshazzar's character, motives, life and soul in the balances of His sanctuary and pronounced him wanting, and that record will stand when the books of heaven are opened.
The same hand that traced the mysterious characters upon the palace wall keeps a faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people, for God is witness of deeds done against the servants of Christ. Slander and falsehood against them profanes not soulless vessels but the characters of those whom Christ has purchased by His blood. The promised scarlet clothing, gold chain, and place as third ruler could not obtain the needed reading and interpretation from the king's advisers, showing that heavenly wisdom cannot be bought or sold.
Daniel stood in Babylon in a most critical and trying position as a statesman, doing his assigned civil work while plainly refusing any work that would militate against God. By God's providence that faithful course brought the idolatrous king into reasoning relation with him concerning prophecies against Babylon and other kingdoms, for God used that close contact with an idolatrous mind to give the king light. As Babylon's fall came in an hour of feasting and reveling, so it will be at the end of the world in this momentous period of peculiar importance, when only those like the wise virgins with oil in their vessels with their lamps are prepared to go forth to meet the Bridegroom. The same defiant spirit is repeated when modern winebibbers boast in wine and insult God in public.