A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

may have often heard her father speak of Daniel in this way and had probably witnessed
firsthand the prophet’s ability to resolve this kind of problem.
Daniel was summoned by Belshazzar and asked to interpret the writing that had appeared
on the wall. As a reward, Daniel was offered the position of “the third ruler in the kingdom”
(5:16). Belshazzar himself was only the second ruler, reigning with his father. Therefore, this
offer would place Daniel next to the kings in power.
Normally, Belshazzar’s reward would be an attractive offer. But in light of the contents
of the handwriting, being third ruler of a kingdom God was about to judge did not have a great
appeal to Daniel. Daniel offered to interpret the writing but urged the king to keep his reward. He
began by reminding Belshazzar about God by using the title Most High God to describe Him (v.
18). The emphasis of this particular name of God is that of His possession of heaven and earth.
The glory of Babylon had been given to Nebuchadnezzar by God and was about to be taken
away by the same God. Then he addressed the matter of the inscription on the wall.
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN
The message God had sent the Babylonians consisted of three Aramaic words. The word
mene was repeated twice for emphasis and means “to number.” The word tekel is based on the
verb tekal, meaning “to weigh.” The final word in this writing was a plural form of the verb
Peres, meaning “to divide.” God’s message to Babylon was that the kingdom had been morally
evaluated by God and found lacking. As a result, the kingdom would be removed from them and
given to the Medes and Persians.
Belshazzar was satisfied the message had been accurately interpreted and gave Daniel the
reward he had promised him. A gold chain was placed around the prophet’s neck and a royal
purple robe was draped over his shoulders. A proclamation was issued making Daniel the third
ruler of the nation. But his term of office would be extremely short. That same evening, a sixtytwo-year-old
general named Darius the Mede led his troops into the city and took control of the
greatest nation on earth. Other accounts of the fall of Babylon confirm the Euphrates River had
been temporarily diverted to a new channel allowing Darius and his army to enter the city
underneath the wall by way of the riverbed. Because of the great size of the city, those in the
outer parts were overcome before others in the center of the city even realized an invasion was
taking place. According to Herodotus, the festivities continued at Belshazzar’s feast as the city
was conquered.
Despite the fact that Daniel had been promoted to the position of third ruler of the
kingdom by the time of the fall of Babylon, Darius chose to include him in a major
administrative position in his new government. The new kingdom was divided into 120
provinces with rulers responsible for the administration of each. These 120 individuals were
accountable to three governors of whom Daniel was the first. “Then this Daniel distinguished
himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king
gave thought to setting him over the whole realm” (6:3).
As is often the case, Daniel’s finding favor with the new administration resulted in others
becoming jealous. A group of governors and satraps conspired together in an attempt to discredit
Daniel before Darius, but they were unsuccessful. His faithfulness to his superiors was beyond
question. Because they could not find fault with Daniel, they chose to create a situation in which
Daniel would be bound to offend his superiors.
This group suggested to King Darius the writing of a special law to demonstrate the great
admiration and respect they had for their ruler. The law called for a total ban on making petitions