Ct – Belshazzar was Killed 5: 29-31

Belshazzar was Killed
5: 29-31

Belshazzar was killed DIG: What lessons from history do you think stand as particularly relevant reminders to us today? What fatal mistake did Belshazzar make? How did the Persian soldiers get inside Babylon if the walls were so high and thick?

REFLECT: What contemporary examples come to mind of people mocking God by demeaning sacred things, as Belshazzar did the Temple vessels? Then and now, does it seem that ADONAI is quick, or slow, to judge such irreverent behavior?

King Belshazzar was killed and Darius, viceroy to Cyrus, was appointed to rule over Babylon, a small portion of the vast Medo-Persian Empire.

Did King Belshazzar believe Dani’el’s interpretation of the writing on the wall (to see link click Cs – Dani’el Interpreted the Handwriting on the Wall)? We will never know for sure. In 5:17, Dani’el told the king that his services were not for sale. Nevertheless, at Belshazzar’s command, Dani’el accepted the empty gift, was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the empire behind the king himself and his coregent father Nabonidus (5:29). The Babylonian Empire would collapse that very night (October 12, 539 BC). Belshazzar made the fatal error of withdrawing the watchmen from their positions on the city wall. Therefore, when the final attack came, no one was there to defend the city. Because the Euphrates River encircled the city, the majority of the residents thought Babylon’s massive walls, being 320 feet tall and 80 feet thick, were impenetrable. However, the Persian army devised an ingenious plan to redirect the river further upstream, thereby reducing the water to a more manageable level. The Persian soldiers were able to cross the river and enter the city by wading into the riverbed underneath the wall during Belshazzar’s banquet.²⁷⁷

Therefore, Dani’el occupied his new position for only a few hours. Nonetheless, his appointment was anything but meaningless. As Chapter 6 will show, it paved the way for Dani’el’s significance to the Persians. When they captured the city, they left it intact. Those who held important positions in the Babylonian government were given equally high positions of authority under the Medes and the Persians. And because of his promotion in the final hours of the Babylonian Empire, Dani’el was among them. At this point he was 81 years old. And it is very likely that his position of authority in the Medo-Persian Empire enabled him to later influence Darius to issue the decree that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland (Ezra 1:1-4 and 6:3-5).

Dani’el described Belshazzar’s banquet, the king’s emotional response to the miraculous handwriting on the wall, and his own interpretation in twenty-nine verses. In contrast, the conclusion of the story is very abrupt. The fall of the Babylonian Empire is summarized in just two verses. For that very night, while the citizens of Babylon were occupied with dancing and feasting, Darius entered the city. King Belshazzar was killed and Darius (see Ag – Cyrus and Darius), viceroy to Cyrus, was appointed to rule over Babylon at the age of sixty-two (5:30-31).²⁷⁸ Darius ruled over the province of Babylon, while Cyrus ruled over the entire Medo-Persian Empire. Dani’el served in his role of governor of the province of Babylon at least until he was about eighty-five years old.

Belshazzar’s party is thus exposed as the ultimate act of folly: he was feasting on the brink of the grave and celebrating on the edge of extinction . . . and he never even knew it. With Belshazzar’s death, Babylon’s Empire was itself brought crashing to the ground. Like the sequence of weights in the oracle (see Aw – The King’s Dream), the once mighty Babylonian Empire became weak and was ultimately blown away by the judgment of Ha’Shem.²⁷⁹ The rule of the Medes and the Persians was the second phase of the times of the Gentiles (see Ao – The Times of the Gentiles), and was represented by the chest and arms of silver of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (see Az – The Second Empire: Chest and Arms of Silver). These events in Chapter 5 illustrate that ADONAI is sovereign and moves according to His predetermined plans. Those events also anticipate the final overthrow of all Gentile world powers that rebel against YHVH and are characterized by moral and spiritual corruption. Such a judgment, anticipated in Psalm 2:4-6 and Revelation 19:15-16, will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of  Messiah (see Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah).²⁸⁰

Dear heavenly Father, praise You that those who have faith in You can look to death with a joy at being with You eternally in Your perfect home in heaven. We do not need to fear death as Belshazzar feared. And if the Ruach of the One who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Ruach who dwells in you (Romans 8:11). Yes, an invitation to Your special party brings joy. When we receive death’s invitation to leave this land for our eternal destiny, it will be like receiving an invitation to an eternal party in heaven. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away.” And the One seated upon the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new!” Then He said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:4-5). Thank You so very much for paying the costly price to redeem for yourself a people (Second Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:16). I love You dearly and can’t wait to spend eternity with You, praising and exalting You forever! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen