In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
In that night Belshazzar was slain in the midst of his sacrilegious feast while the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered unguarded Babylon, ending his life and rule and the Chaldean dominion as Darius the Mede took the kingdom. God had witnessed his defiant desecration, weighed his motives and life and found him wanting, and that judgment stood written for the final accounting. In pride and love of pleasure he reckoned without God and ascribed the glory of the kingdom to human achievement, ignoring the light given through Nebuchadnezzar and through Daniel's exalting of Jehovah. He and his kingdom filled the measure of guilt and his probation ended, so protection was withdrawn and sentence was suddenly executed as the result of his chosen course. The fall thus fulfilled divine prophetic warning in that same generation, and its sudden judgment in the midst of careless reveling shows how it will be at the end of the world for those who neglect God's lessons instead of practicing them unto reform.
Babylon's Final Night
The night of the verse fell while Cyrus was besieging Babylon with his combined Medo-Persian armies, yet Belshazzar felt secure behind massive walls and brass gates, with the Euphrates and abundant provisions seeming to make the city impregnable, and gave himself to revelry. While hostile armies approached, he held his final feast with his nobles and his thousand lords in drunken, idolatrous mirth, drinking from the sacred vessels of Jehovah and praising idols and gods of gold and silver. In the midst of that mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, and terror filled the king and courtiers as their doom was pronounced and their consciences recognized judgment against them.
While the feast went on, the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered the unguarded city. In that same night Belshazzar was slain suddenly in the midst of feasting and revelry. No display of Babylonian power, wealth, palace, defenses, and confidence in its own greatness could keep doom out or save him. His life and rule were ended that night, Chaldean rule fell, and Darius the Mede, an alien and foreign monarch, took the kingdom, when in 538 B.C. the great empire passed under the weaker rule of Nabonadius and his son.
Why Belshazzar Was Slain
In that night Belshazzar was slain because God Himself had witnessed the king's defiant desecration at his sacrilegious feast. While he and his thousand lords in drunken, idolatrous mirth profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah and praised gods of gold and silver, the God whom they defied looked on the unholy scene. In the midst of their revelry a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, terror seized the king and courtiers, their consciences recognized judgment, and they heard their doom pronounced by the servant of the Most High. God weighed his motives, character, life and soul and found him wanting, and that judgment stood written as a record for the final accounting. His fate warns that sacred things and powers dedicated to God must not be devoted to lust or human worship and self-exaltation toward earthly pleasures.
The same witnessing God who marked making light of what He had chosen as sacred marks slander and falsehood against the servants of Christ. Such acts are worse than profaning soulless vessels, because they profane the character of those whom Christ purchased by His blood. The hand that wrote on Belshazzar's wall keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people. Belshazzar's folly and weakness, pride, love of pleasure and self-glorification led him to reckon without God. In prosperity he and the rulers of Babylon regarded themselves as independent of God, forgot God, and ascribed the glory and honor of the kingdom to human achievement.
By following his own judgment as though he possessed all wisdom he received the result of his folly. He ignored the lessons and opportunities God had given him and disregarded the light given through Nebuchadnezzar. That light had come through Daniel's interpretation exalting Jehovah above earthly kings, which Nebuchadnezzar had perverted into idolatrous self-exaltation in the golden image. By rejecting that heaven-sent instruction Belshazzar lost the benefits obedience could have brought, illustrating that when God's lessons given to lead to reform are neglected instead of received and practiced, judgment follows.
He and his lords had filled the measure of their guilt, and the Chaldean kingdom had filled the measure of its guilt. His evil works had reached their full measure and his probation ended, so God's sentence was suddenly executed that night. God's protection and restraint were withdrawn, he was no longer shielded from the consequences of his chosen course, his kingdom passed into other hands, and he fell. His death was the result of his actions, not an arbitrary act, showing that God warns and seeks to correct but leaves men free and does not miraculously prevent every harmful choice. His presumptuous defiance while feasting and forgetting God reached its limit, illustrating that God's forbearance has boundaries where judgment ends insolence and disobedience.
Prophecy and Warning
That night records the fall of proud Babylon as the literal fulfillment in the history of nations of the divine prophetic warnings against Babylon and other kingdoms presented through Daniel. The judgment pronounced upon the king and his kingdom was fulfilled after his sacrilegious feast, when the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered the unguarded city while he and his nobles profaned the sacred vessels and praised their gods. Babylon was at last shattered and broken and passed away because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement. The light given through Daniel's interpretation exalting Jehovah above earthly kings had been perverted by Nebuchadnezzar into idolatrous self-exaltation in the golden image, and the fall came in an hour of feasting and revelry. It came in the same generation in which its revelation and warning had been given, when in 538 B.C. the great empire passed under the weaker rule of Nabonadius and his son and an alien monarch took the throne.
Belshazzar's power and wealth, his palace and defenses, could not save him or keep doom out. He was slain that very night after feasting and praising idols while hostile armies approached his palace, and his life and rule were ended when a foreign ruler took his throne. His fate illustrates the ruin that comes to those who choose earthly gain and selfish gain over spiritual life and who trust in earthly treasure.
Belshazzar with his thousand lords profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah and praised the idols of Babylon in sacrilegious mirth, turning worship toward himself and earthly pleasures, but the God whom they defied was a witness of the unholy scene of defiant desecration. In the midst of their mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, and filled with terror the king and courtiers heard their doom pronounced by the servant of the Most High, while their consciences recognized judgment against them. His death that night warns that sacred things and powers dedicated to God must not be devoted to lust or human worship and self-exaltation. He had reckoned without God and received the result of his folly, showing that those who follow their own judgment as though they possess all wisdom reap the consequences of their course. The same witnessing God who marked making light of what He chose as sacred marks slander and falsehood against the servants of Christ, which is worse than profaning soulless vessels because it profanes the character of those whom Christ purchased by His blood, and the hand that wrote on the wall keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people.
The calamity came upon Babylon after Belshazzar disregarded the light God had given through Nebuchadnezzar, rejecting heaven-sent instruction and losing the benefits obedience could have brought. Neglecting God's lessons instead of receiving and practicing them to lead to reform brings judgment. The fall came at an hour of feasting and reveling, when sudden judgment struck in the midst of careless celebration, and so will it be at the end of the world. In the present period of peculiar momentous importance, students of God's Word must work away from the customs and appointments of the world's great counselors, must not say the Lord delays His coming nor that all things remain as they were since the fathers fell asleep from the beginning of creation, and must be like the wise virgins prepared with oil in their vessels with their lamps to go forth to meet the Bridegroom.
In that night Belshazzar was slain in the midst of his sacrilegious feast while the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered unguarded Babylon, ending his life and rule and the Chaldean dominion as Darius the Mede took the kingdom. God had witnessed his defiant desecration, weighed his motives and life and found him wanting, and that judgment stood written for the final accounting. In pride and love of pleasure he reckoned without God and ascribed the glory of the kingdom to human achievement, ignoring the light given through Nebuchadnezzar and through Daniel's exalting of Jehovah. He and his kingdom filled the measure of guilt and his probation ended, so protection was withdrawn and sentence was suddenly executed as the result of his chosen course. The fall thus fulfilled divine prophetic warning in that same generation, and its sudden judgment in the midst of careless reveling shows how it will be at the end of the world for those who neglect God's lessons instead of practicing them unto reform.
Babylon's Final Night
The night of the verse fell while Cyrus was besieging Babylon with his combined Medo-Persian armies, yet Belshazzar felt secure behind massive walls and brass gates, with the Euphrates and abundant provisions seeming to make the city impregnable, and gave himself to revelry. While hostile armies approached, he held his final feast with his nobles and his thousand lords in drunken, idolatrous mirth, drinking from the sacred vessels of Jehovah and praising idols and gods of gold and silver. In the midst of that mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, and terror filled the king and courtiers as their doom was pronounced and their consciences recognized judgment against them.
While the feast went on, the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered the unguarded city. In that same night Belshazzar was slain suddenly in the midst of feasting and revelry. No display of Babylonian power, wealth, palace, defenses, and confidence in its own greatness could keep doom out or save him. His life and rule were ended that night, Chaldean rule fell, and Darius the Mede, an alien and foreign monarch, took the kingdom, when in 538 B.C. the great empire passed under the weaker rule of Nabonadius and his son.
Why Belshazzar Was Slain
In that night Belshazzar was slain because God Himself had witnessed the king's defiant desecration at his sacrilegious feast. While he and his thousand lords in drunken, idolatrous mirth profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah and praised gods of gold and silver, the God whom they defied looked on the unholy scene. In the midst of their revelry a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, terror seized the king and courtiers, their consciences recognized judgment, and they heard their doom pronounced by the servant of the Most High. God weighed his motives, character, life and soul and found him wanting, and that judgment stood written as a record for the final accounting. His fate warns that sacred things and powers dedicated to God must not be devoted to lust or human worship and self-exaltation toward earthly pleasures.
The same witnessing God who marked making light of what He had chosen as sacred marks slander and falsehood against the servants of Christ. Such acts are worse than profaning soulless vessels, because they profane the character of those whom Christ purchased by His blood. The hand that wrote on Belshazzar's wall keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people. Belshazzar's folly and weakness, pride, love of pleasure and self-glorification led him to reckon without God. In prosperity he and the rulers of Babylon regarded themselves as independent of God, forgot God, and ascribed the glory and honor of the kingdom to human achievement.
By following his own judgment as though he possessed all wisdom he received the result of his folly. He ignored the lessons and opportunities God had given him and disregarded the light given through Nebuchadnezzar. That light had come through Daniel's interpretation exalting Jehovah above earthly kings, which Nebuchadnezzar had perverted into idolatrous self-exaltation in the golden image. By rejecting that heaven-sent instruction Belshazzar lost the benefits obedience could have brought, illustrating that when God's lessons given to lead to reform are neglected instead of received and practiced, judgment follows.
He and his lords had filled the measure of their guilt, and the Chaldean kingdom had filled the measure of its guilt. His evil works had reached their full measure and his probation ended, so God's sentence was suddenly executed that night. God's protection and restraint were withdrawn, he was no longer shielded from the consequences of his chosen course, his kingdom passed into other hands, and he fell. His death was the result of his actions, not an arbitrary act, showing that God warns and seeks to correct but leaves men free and does not miraculously prevent every harmful choice. His presumptuous defiance while feasting and forgetting God reached its limit, illustrating that God's forbearance has boundaries where judgment ends insolence and disobedience.
Prophecy and Warning
That night records the fall of proud Babylon as the literal fulfillment in the history of nations of the divine prophetic warnings against Babylon and other kingdoms presented through Daniel. The judgment pronounced upon the king and his kingdom was fulfilled after his sacrilegious feast, when the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered the unguarded city while he and his nobles profaned the sacred vessels and praised their gods. Babylon was at last shattered and broken and passed away because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement. The light given through Daniel's interpretation exalting Jehovah above earthly kings had been perverted by Nebuchadnezzar into idolatrous self-exaltation in the golden image, and the fall came in an hour of feasting and revelry. It came in the same generation in which its revelation and warning had been given, when in 538 B.C. the great empire passed under the weaker rule of Nabonadius and his son and an alien monarch took the throne.
Belshazzar's power and wealth, his palace and defenses, could not save him or keep doom out. He was slain that very night after feasting and praising idols while hostile armies approached his palace, and his life and rule were ended when a foreign ruler took his throne. His fate illustrates the ruin that comes to those who choose earthly gain and selfish gain over spiritual life and who trust in earthly treasure.
Belshazzar with his thousand lords profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah and praised the idols of Babylon in sacrilegious mirth, turning worship toward himself and earthly pleasures, but the God whom they defied was a witness of the unholy scene of defiant desecration. In the midst of their mirth a bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, and filled with terror the king and courtiers heard their doom pronounced by the servant of the Most High, while their consciences recognized judgment against them. His death that night warns that sacred things and powers dedicated to God must not be devoted to lust or human worship and self-exaltation. He had reckoned without God and received the result of his folly, showing that those who follow their own judgment as though they possess all wisdom reap the consequences of their course. The same witnessing God who marked making light of what He chose as sacred marks slander and falsehood against the servants of Christ, which is worse than profaning soulless vessels because it profanes the character of those whom Christ purchased by His blood, and the hand that wrote on the wall keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people.
The calamity came upon Babylon after Belshazzar disregarded the light God had given through Nebuchadnezzar, rejecting heaven-sent instruction and losing the benefits obedience could have brought. Neglecting God's lessons instead of receiving and practicing them to lead to reform brings judgment. The fall came at an hour of feasting and reveling, when sudden judgment struck in the midst of careless celebration, and so will it be at the end of the world. In the present period of peculiar momentous importance, students of God's Word must work away from the customs and appointments of the world's great counselors, must not say the Lord delays His coming nor that all things remain as they were since the fathers fell asleep from the beginning of creation, and must be like the wise virgins prepared with oil in their vessels with their lamps to go forth to meet the Bridegroom.