Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
Belshazzar's terror and altered face, and the astonishment of his lords, came when a divine hand traced unintelligible characters of doom on the palace wall in the midst of his idolatrous feast, which the wise men of Babylon could not read or interpret. He was then an absolute, self-indulgent and wine-beclouded monarch, rioting in blasphemous presumption by drinking from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising gods of gold and silver. He had lifted himself against God though he knew how Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled and restored, letting pleasure and self-glorification erase the lessons he should have learned. In that writing God witnessed his sacrilege, weighed his motives, character and life in the balances of the sanctuary and pronounced him wanting. That sudden judgment overtaking careless revelry pictures the end of the world, warning those now reckless and heedless of sin whose danger they cannot yet read but soon must face.
Feast Setting and Terror
Daniel 5:9 belongs to the last chapter of Babylon's history, in its final decline after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and under the unwise rule of his successors. The kingdom fell while the king and his court were given to feasting and revelry, stricken with fear in the very hour of their mirth. Its end was complete desolation, swept with destruction until only ruined towers remained above a barren plain broken by marshes and pools.
Belshazzar was an absolute monarch with everything to flatter pride and indulge passion, yet he was void of self-control. Wine had beclouded his reason and taken away reverence and self-control, leaving him hasty and violent in temper, gracious to flatterers and cruel as the grave to opposers. He was self-indulgent, a glutton and a drunkard, corrupt at heart and swayed by the basest passions.
In mad revelry he made an idolatrous feast with music and dancing, feasting and sparkling wine and blasphemy, and himself took the lead in riot and blasphemous presumption. Drinking wine with his princes, he used the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the gods of gold and silver, thereby profaning the God of heaven. That profanation of the sacred vessels and praise of Babylon's idols is what turned his revelry to terror when judgment was made manifest against sacrilege.
He gloried in his power and lifted up his heart against God, though he had opportunities to learn God's will and knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar and then restored him. He let pleasure and self-glorification erase those lessons and neglected the means at hand for learning the truth. For Babylon's rulers forgot God and credited human achievement with the honor and glory of the kingdom, and for that reason Babylon passed away.
His being greatly troubled, his countenance changed, and his lords astonished came when an unseen witness traced his destiny upon the palace wall in characters unintelligible to him. The writing could not be read or interpreted by Babylon's wise men, and riches and authority and offers of reward could not obtain the heavenly wisdom needed to explain it. He recognized in it a power greater than his own, and with awakened conscience he recalled his privilege of knowing and doing God's will and the judgment that had come upon his grandfather.
Divine Judgment and Warning
The terror that seized Belshazzar and made his face change, leaving his lords astonished, came because his sacrilege was seen and judged even while he forgot God. In the midst of the sacrilegious feast he and his princes drank from the sacred vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the idols of Babylon, and the mysterious writing that appeared on the palace wall announced their doom. Though they could not read the characters, their awakened consciences recognized them as a denunciation, and the manifest presence of God turned their revelry into alarm.
In that writing his motives, character, life and soul were weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and pronounced wanting. That weighing stands as a permanent record that will remain when the books of heaven are opened.
The fall that overtook the troubled king and his astonished lords in that hour of feasting and revelry was the outcome of perverting the light given through Daniel concerning Babylon and the other kingdoms. The interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which was meant to exalt Jehovah above earthly kings, had been turned into idolatrous self-glorification. The coming calamity resulted from disregard of the light given to Nebuchadnezzar, for to neglect heaven-sent instruction is to forfeit its benefits, and to refuse to receive and practice God's lessons brings judgment.
The account shows that men may persist in blasphemy and disobedience in presumptuous defiance until they pass the limits of forbearance, and then God intervenes to put an end to their insolence. That sudden judgment overtaking careless revelry will be repeated at the end of the world, when the fall of Babylon in an hour of feasting and reveling is acted over again. The handwriting on the wall that troubled Belshazzar, changed his countenance and astonished his lords pictures a warning to those who are now reckless, insensible of the results of sin, and heedless of warning. To them the writing is still unintelligible, but soon it will be read, for like Belshazzar they cannot see their peril, and therefore a straight testimony must be borne to churches and institutions to arouse the sleeping ones.
Belshazzar's terror and altered face, and the astonishment of his lords, came when a divine hand traced unintelligible characters of doom on the palace wall in the midst of his idolatrous feast, which the wise men of Babylon could not read or interpret. He was then an absolute, self-indulgent and wine-beclouded monarch, rioting in blasphemous presumption by drinking from the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising gods of gold and silver. He had lifted himself against God though he knew how Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled and restored, letting pleasure and self-glorification erase the lessons he should have learned. In that writing God witnessed his sacrilege, weighed his motives, character and life in the balances of the sanctuary and pronounced him wanting. That sudden judgment overtaking careless revelry pictures the end of the world, warning those now reckless and heedless of sin whose danger they cannot yet read but soon must face.
Feast Setting and Terror
Daniel 5:9 belongs to the last chapter of Babylon's history, in its final decline after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and under the unwise rule of his successors. The kingdom fell while the king and his court were given to feasting and revelry, stricken with fear in the very hour of their mirth. Its end was complete desolation, swept with destruction until only ruined towers remained above a barren plain broken by marshes and pools.
Belshazzar was an absolute monarch with everything to flatter pride and indulge passion, yet he was void of self-control. Wine had beclouded his reason and taken away reverence and self-control, leaving him hasty and violent in temper, gracious to flatterers and cruel as the grave to opposers. He was self-indulgent, a glutton and a drunkard, corrupt at heart and swayed by the basest passions.
In mad revelry he made an idolatrous feast with music and dancing, feasting and sparkling wine and blasphemy, and himself took the lead in riot and blasphemous presumption. Drinking wine with his princes, he used the vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the gods of gold and silver, thereby profaning the God of heaven. That profanation of the sacred vessels and praise of Babylon's idols is what turned his revelry to terror when judgment was made manifest against sacrilege.
He gloried in his power and lifted up his heart against God, though he had opportunities to learn God's will and knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar and then restored him. He let pleasure and self-glorification erase those lessons and neglected the means at hand for learning the truth. For Babylon's rulers forgot God and credited human achievement with the honor and glory of the kingdom, and for that reason Babylon passed away.
His being greatly troubled, his countenance changed, and his lords astonished came when an unseen witness traced his destiny upon the palace wall in characters unintelligible to him. The writing could not be read or interpreted by Babylon's wise men, and riches and authority and offers of reward could not obtain the heavenly wisdom needed to explain it. He recognized in it a power greater than his own, and with awakened conscience he recalled his privilege of knowing and doing God's will and the judgment that had come upon his grandfather.
Divine Judgment and Warning
The terror that seized Belshazzar and made his face change, leaving his lords astonished, came because his sacrilege was seen and judged even while he forgot God. In the midst of the sacrilegious feast he and his princes drank from the sacred vessels consecrated to Jehovah while praising the idols of Babylon, and the mysterious writing that appeared on the palace wall announced their doom. Though they could not read the characters, their awakened consciences recognized them as a denunciation, and the manifest presence of God turned their revelry into alarm.
In that writing his motives, character, life and soul were weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and pronounced wanting. That weighing stands as a permanent record that will remain when the books of heaven are opened.
The fall that overtook the troubled king and his astonished lords in that hour of feasting and revelry was the outcome of perverting the light given through Daniel concerning Babylon and the other kingdoms. The interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which was meant to exalt Jehovah above earthly kings, had been turned into idolatrous self-glorification. The coming calamity resulted from disregard of the light given to Nebuchadnezzar, for to neglect heaven-sent instruction is to forfeit its benefits, and to refuse to receive and practice God's lessons brings judgment.
The account shows that men may persist in blasphemy and disobedience in presumptuous defiance until they pass the limits of forbearance, and then God intervenes to put an end to their insolence. That sudden judgment overtaking careless revelry will be repeated at the end of the world, when the fall of Babylon in an hour of feasting and reveling is acted over again. The handwriting on the wall that troubled Belshazzar, changed his countenance and astonished his lords pictures a warning to those who are now reckless, insensible of the results of sin, and heedless of warning. To them the writing is still unintelligible, but soon it will be read, for like Belshazzar they cannot see their peril, and therefore a straight testimony must be borne to churches and institutions to arouse the sleeping ones.