Page 155 - Daniel

Marduk, the great lord, a protector of his people/worshipers, beheld
with pleasure his (i.e., Cyrus’) good deeds and his upright mind (lit.:
heart) (and therefore) ordered him to march against his city
Babylon…. He made him set out on the road to Babylon … going at
his side like a real friend. His widespread troops—their number, like

that of the water of a river, could not be established—strolled along,
their weapons packed away. Without any battle, he made him enter
his town Babylon, … sparing Babylon … any calamity. He delivered
into his (i.e., Cyrus’) hands Nabonidus, the king who did not worship
him (i.e., Marduk). 26

Daniel himself recorded with simplicity the fulfillment of his
prophecy: “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed” (v.

30). The concluding verse of the chapter records how Darius the Mede
became ruler of Babylon at the age of sixty-two.
The long chapter devoted to this incident that brought the Babylonian

Empire to its close is undoubtedly recorded in the Word of God for
several reasons. First, there is the historic fulfillment of the prophecies
relative to the Babylonian Empire. Second, this chapter is also an
illustration of divine dealing with a wicked world. The downfall of
Babylon is in type the downfall of the unbelieving world. In many
respects, modern civilization is much like ancient Babylon, resplendent

with its monuments of architectural triumph, as secure as human hands
and ingenuity can make it, and yet defenseless against the judgment of
God at the proper hour.

Contemporary civilization is also similar to ancient Babylon in that it
has much to foster human pride, but little to provide human security.
Much as Babylon fell on that sixteenth day of Tishri (October 12) 539
B.C., as indicated in the Nabonidus Chronicle, so the world will be
27
overtaken by disaster when the day of the Lord comes (1 Thess. 5:1–3).
Babylon’s disaster, however, did not overtake the servant of God. Daniel
survived the purge and emerged triumphant as one of the presidents of
the new kingdom.

NOTES