Daniel: Remembering Who's King in the Chaosনমুনা

The Writing on the Wall

The author now skips forward on the timeline and places us in the middle of a scene that took place right before the fall of the Babylonian Empire. Here, we meet King Belshazzar, who is portrayed as an even more wicked ruler than the morally vacillating Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar throws a party at which he irreverently and flippantly uses gold cups taken from the Jewish temple to serve drinks. God doesn’t seem too happy about Belshazzar’s actions, so he has words written, in a supernatural manner, on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace. Once again, Daniel is employed as the interpreter of this divine message. His interpretation is simple: God’s not happy with you and your reign as king is about to end. Then, just like Belshazzar’s reign and life, the story comes to an abrupt and unsettling ending as the king is killed that very night. This story’s end doesn’t sit super well with me, and maybe it doesn’t sit well for you either. We might wonder “Couldn’t God have been more patient?” “Why didn’t God allow this to be more of a story of redemption like that of Nebuchadnezzar, who repented of his arrogance?” Likewise, you and I could swap personal stories of pain that end in ways that didn't sit well with us. Yet, this particular text teaches us the same thing that it taught everyone who witnessed the demise of Belshazzar and the Babylonian empire: God can do whatever he wants whenever he wants however he wants. I don't have to understand God's sovereign power right now, but I certainly can't deny it forever.