THE WRITING ON THE WALL DANIEL 5: 1-12

THE WRITING ON THE WALL   DANIEL 5: 1 - 12

Rembrandt's Belshazzar's Feast (1635)

   (1) King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.  (2) While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.  (3) So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.  (4) As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

   (5) Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace.  The king watched the hand as it wrote.  (6) His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.

   (7) The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

   (8) Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.  (9) So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale.  His nobles were baffled.

   (10) The queen, hearing the voices of the king and  his nobles, came into the banquet hall.  "O king, live forever!" she said.  Don't be alarmed! Don't look so pale!  (11) There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.  In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods.  King Nebuchadnezzar your father--your father the king, I say--appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.  (12) This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems.  Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.   (NIV)

LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE COMMENTARY



    From the first of the Book of Daniel to the 5th chapter, 66 years have elapsed.  After Nebuchadnezzar died, his son, Evil-Merodach ruled for two years; his brother-in law

Neri Glissar reigned for four, Labashi-Marduk for two months, then it was Nabonidus, who reigned with his son Belshazzar.  When Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as Belshazzar's father, that means his ancestor.

   The queen was not one of Belshazzar's wives.  She was either Nabonidus' wife or the wife of one of the other rulers before them, possibly even Nebuchadnezzar's.

MY THOUGHTS

   After reading the book, The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn last year, the Book of Daniel is frightening to me.  If you did not read it last year, it may still be available at wwwtheharbinger.com.  My eyes are wide open to current events and to the ways of my God.  I pray His forgiveness upon this Nation daily but I also await His judgment.

What about you?  Have you been delivered from sin?  Have you accepted the gift of salvation given freely by Jesus?  There is still time.  Visit our "Path to Salvation" page by clicking here:  https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.   None of us are promised tomorrow.

What are your thoughts?

You are invited to visit with Oma at http://omaslife.blogspot.com and http://omaspolitics.blogspot.com.