Page 138 - Daniel

Belshazzar’s role of coregent with his father appears to have been
forgotten by the time of Herodotus. But Daniel not only identified
Belshazzar as the king ruling in Babylon, he also clearly implied his role
as coregent when he noted that Belshazzar could only offer him the
position as “third ruler in the kingdom” (5:16)—the position just below

that occupied by Belshazzar himself! The story reflects a detailed
knowledge of politics and history that points to someone writing during
the time of the events themselves—someone like Daniel.

Before we proceed to the exposition of this chapter, it is worth noting
that in the chiastic structure of Daniel 2–7, chapter 5 is parallel to
chapter 4. God’s revelation to Babylon’s last king mirrors His revelation
to Babylon’s first king. Nebuchadnezzar learned that “those who walk in
pride [God] is able to humble” (4:37). Sadly, “you his son, Belshazzar,
have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this” (5:22).

Following his time of humiliation Nebuchadnezzar “honored him who
lives forever” (4:34). But as for Belshazzar, “the God in whose hand is
your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored” (5:23).

BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST IN HONOR OF BABYLON’S GODS (5:1–4)

5:1–4 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords
and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted
the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that
Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem
be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines

might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that
had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and
the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron,
wood, and stone.

In the interpretation of the image in chapter 2, Daniel had predicted to
Nebuchadnezzar, “Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you”
(Dan. 2:39). Now this prophecy was about to be fulfilled.
Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliating experience in chapter 4 had been

followed by his death in 562 B.C. During the approximately twenty-three