Daniel Ch5

Daniel 5:1

Daniel 5:2

Cf. 2 Kings 20:14-18 / Dan 1:2

Daniel 5:3-4

4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

Daniel 5:5-6

6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

This would be enough to ruin anyone’s party! This writing didn’t just appear on the wall in any old place, it appeared by the candlestick – the brightest spot in the room so all would see. It is easy to understand why the king’s face was changed, and indeed why his thoughts troubled him. However, in case you are unclear as to the King James phrase ‘his loins were loosed’ – lets just say he needed the bathroom but didn’t make it in time!

There is an undeniably humorous side to this situation as we look on; imagine being the only man in scripture of whom it is recorded that they wet themselves (or worse)! And remember that “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever”!

(Isaiah 40:8)

Daniel 5:7-8

8 Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.

As we saw in chapter two with Nebuchadnezzar, people are quick to turn to ‘religion’ when problems arise and seek answers from the ‘professional’ religious leaders. However just as we see here, they can seldom give the answers. Much is made in our day of ‘ordained ministers’ and so often these are the ones the world will turn to in the event of a tragedy or problem, even if only to seek their opinion. But is it not also true that so often these are the ones we see undermining the word of God and compromising in order to be seen to be politically correct? This should come as no great surprise, for those ordained and appointed by men will forever be answerable to men. In God’s kingdom it is very different. We read nothing in scripture of being ordained by the Bishop, but rather we read: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” (John 15:16) Thus, for any believer in Christ, it is the Lord Himself who has ordained us, we are answerable to him. Paul tells us: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are” And why is this so? “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Cor 1:26-29)

Early in the book of Acts we read of the boldness of Peter and John, yet these were unlearned and ignorant (see Acts 4:13). They did not have their theology degree from a ‘Bible’ college, accredited by a secular university that is rooted in humanism and evolutionary thinking. These were just two simple fishermen who would have struggled to get a job in many churches today, yet we read that they had been with Jesus – and that was all the qualification that was necessary!

Daniel 5:9

In verse 6 Belshazzar was troubled and his countenance changed. Now he is really worried (Aramaic = exceedingly terrified) and it is obvious. It would appear from the word ‘astonied’ = shebash (Aramaic), that his lords were ‘perplexed’ because of the kings reactions. Wasn’t this the king who had thrown a party to demonstrate his invincibility? Now he has not only wet his pants in public, but has turned white as a sheet because no one can explain what this writing means.

• Overconfidence/Pride (verse 1)
• Open defiance of the God of Heaven (verse 2)
• Drinking to excess (verse 3)
• Worshipping false gods (verse 4)

Daniel 5:10

Daniel 5:11

Daniel 5:12

Daniel 5:13

Daniel 5:14

Daniel 5:15-16

16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 5:17

Daniel 5:18-19

19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

Daniel 5:20-21

21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

Daniel 5:22

Daniel 5:23

Just picture this situation: In the middle of his big party, with a thousand of his lords present, a hand out of nowhere writes on the wall. The king has an ‘accident’ and turns as white as a sheet. The best men of the land are unable to help him. By now word has got out about what has happened (the whole city has probably heard about his ‘bathroom problem’) His mum hears about it, comes in and embarrasses him yet further; eventually an 81-year-old man is called who, in front of a thousand lords, gives him a right telling off – and we haven’t even got to the interpretation of the writing yet!

Daniel 5:24

Daniel 5:25

Rabbinic tradition says that this writing was in the form of an encrypted Hebrew code called ‘Atbash’, if so it would have looked something like the following:

This is not the only time that encrypted words are found in the Bible. In Jeremiah 25:26 there is another example of Atbash (the word Sheshach is an encrypted form of ‘Babylon’), and in Isaiah 7:6 there is an example of another form of encryption called Albam (there the word Tabeel is an encryption of Remaliah). Both of these forms of encryption are fairly simple forms of transposition, where one letter is consistently used to replace another. (See diagrams/explanation on next page).

Hebrew / Aramaic reads right to left – all languages flow toward Jerusalem! If you look at a globe with Jerusalem in the centre, all countries west write right to left, all those east write left to right – this may be a coincidence, but then again.

Albam works by laying the second half of the alphabet alongside the first half; thus in the English alphabet it would be the equivalent to replacing every ‘a’ with an ‘n’ and vica-versa, ‘b’ with ‘o’ etc. The name ‘Albam’ derives from the first pair of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; Aleph (‘a))) replaces the Lamed (l)), and Bet (B) replaces the Mem (m), hence ALBaM.

Atbash works in a very similar way except the alphabet is wrapped around on itself so the Aleph (‘a))) becomes the Tav (t)), and the Bet (B) becomes the Shin (m), hence ATBaSh.

It would appear that Daniel was familiar with this form of encryption, as he has no difficulty in interpreting it before the king:

Note: Initially this may strike us as simply interesting, however when we stop to consider who the author of scripture actually is, the fact that God has placed hidden codes in the Bible is staggering. This is what the ancient Rabbis would call a ‘remez’ – a hint of something deeper.

Much has been written and said about the ‘Bible Code’, some of which is completely fictitious. However, with the help of modern computers, we have been able to clearly demonstrate that there are hidden codes in the Bible that point unquestionably to a supernatural author who knew the end from the beginning. The hidden codes in the Bible have also gone to demonstrate that every letter is there by deliberate supernatural design, and simply removing a single letter (from the original text) can corrupt a code that is hidden underneath. Thus we begin to see that Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:18 were not a colourful exaggeration, but literally every yod (the smallest Hebrew letter) and tittle (a decorative hook on letters like the dot we place above an ‘i’ or j’) will not pass until all has been fulfilled. The warning that John was given in Revelation 22 also ‘comes to life’ as see that adding and subtracting anything from the ‘book of this prophecy’ (i.e. the Bible being the book in which the prophecy of Revelation is found) or the ‘prophecy of this book’ (specifically Revelation itself) has serious consequences. Thus any who add or subtract anything from either the Bible or Revelation are warned that their part in the ‘Book of life’ will be taken away or the plagues described in Revelation will be added to them.

Could it be, that based on this warning, the Bible itself is the Lamb’s Book of Life, and all those who are saved actually have their names written within it? If this is so, and our names are written in code form in the pages of the Bible, what a powerful deterrent to adding or subtracting to a portion of scripture because it is difficult or unpopular, when, by altering the surface text (as many liberal and politically correct ‘Christians’ are wont to do) they may in fact corrupt the code underneath that contains their name – thus by subtracting from the Bible they inadvertently remove their own name from the Book of Life!

Proverbs 30:5 states that “Every word of God is pure. Do not add to His words lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar”.

David echoes in Psalm 119:160 “Thy word is true from the beginning”

Daniel 5:26-28

27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Thus king Belshazzar’s worst fears are realised, his time of playing games with the God of Israel is over, in the most dramatic fashion.

From this verse come two phrases that are still used today ‘you’re number’s up’ and ‘weighed and found wanting’. It is incredible the number of words and phrases that people use every day that originate from the Bible, yet most people have no idea, and worse still, no regard, for this most incredible book.

Daniel 5:29

Daniel 5:30-31

31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

So Belshazzar, as all proud people will be, is cut down. David said in Psalm 7:9 “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God tries the hearts and reins.”

Psalm 37:7-13 says:

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.” How true this was for Belshazzar who was made a public spectacle in front of his one thousand lords yet was humiliated by the God of heaven whom he had rejected.

Thus God sweeps aside the mighty Babylonian kingdom, the head of gold (cf Daniel 2); and in comes the Medo-Persian empire – the chest and arms of silver (cf Daniel 2).

There is some debate over the identity of Darius, but we will deal with that in chapter 6; what we do know is, that he was about sixty-two when he became ruler of Babylon in 539 B.C. It should be noted, that the first actual year for a Babylonian king was reckoned as their ascension year. What we would consider their 2nd year would therefore be their first regal year. Thus 539-538 = Darius’ ascension year / 538-537 = Darius’ 1st year etc.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.