*** dp chap. 7 Four Words That Changed the World ***
A RIDDLE SOLVED!
17 The aged prophet now proceeded to do what had proved impossible for all the wise men of Babylon. He read and interpreted the handwriting inscribed on the wall. The words were: “ME´NE, ME´NE, TE´KEL and PAR´SIN.” (Daniel 5:24, 25) What do they mean?
18 Literally, the words mean “a mina, a mina, a shekel, and half shekels.” Each word was a measurement of monetary weight, listed in descending order of value. How puzzling! Even if the Babylonian wise men were able to make out the letters, it is still little wonder that they could not interpret them.
19 Under the influence of God’s holy spirit, Daniel explained: “This is the interpretation of the word: ME´NE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has finished it.” (Daniel 5:26) The consonants of the first word allowed for both the word “mina” and a form of the Aramaic word for “counted out,” or “numbered,” depending on the vowels supplied by the reader. Daniel well knew that the exile of the Jews was drawing to a close. Of its foretold 70-year duration, 68 years had already passed. (Jeremiah 29:10) The Great Timekeeper, Jehovah, had numbered the days of Babylon’s reign as a world power, and the end was closer than anyone at Belshazzar’s banquet thought. In fact, time had run out—not only for Belshazzar but also for his father, Nabonidus. That may be the reason why the word “ME´NE” was written twice—to announce the end of both of these kingships.
20 “TE´KEL,” on the other hand, was written only once and in the singular form. This may indicate that it was directed primarily to Belshazzar. And this would be appropriate, for he had personally shown gross disrespect for Jehovah. The word itself means “shekel,” but the consonants also allow for the word “weighed.” Thus, Daniel said to Belshazzar: “TE´KEL, you have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient.” (Daniel 5:27) To Jehovah, entire nations are as insignificant as the film of dust on a pair of scales. (Isaiah 40:15) They are powerless to thwart his purposes. What, then, could one arrogant king amount to? Belshazzar had tried to exalt himself above the Sovereign of the universe. This mere human had dared to insult Jehovah and ridicule pure worship but had been “found deficient.” Yes, Belshazzar fully merited the judgment that was swiftly approaching!
21 The final word on the wall was “PAR´SIN.” Daniel read it in the singular form, “PE´RES,” probably because he was addressing one king while the other was absent. This word capped off Jehovah’s great riddle with a threefold play on words. Literally, “par´sin” means “half shekels.” But the letters also allow for two other meanings—“divisions” and “Persians.” Daniel thus foretold: “PE´RES, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”—Daniel 5:28.
22 Thus the riddle was solved. Mighty Babylon was about to fall to the Medo-Persian forces. Though crestfallen in the face of this pronouncement of doom, Belshazzar kept his word. He had his servants clothe Daniel with purple, bedeck him with a golden necklace, and herald him as the third ruler in the kingdom. (Daniel 5:29) Daniel did not refuse these honors, recognizing that they reflected the honor due Jehovah. Of course, Belshazzar may have hoped to soften Jehovah’s judgment by honoring His prophet. If so, it was a case of too little too late.
THE FALL OF BABYLON
23 Even while Belshazzar and his courtiers were drinking to their gods and ridiculing Jehovah, a great drama was unfolding in the darkness outside the palace. Prophecy that had been spoken through Isaiah nearly two centuries earlier was undergoing fulfillment. Concerning Babylon, Jehovah had foretold: “All sighing due to her I have caused to cease.” Yes, all of that wicked city’s oppression of God’s chosen people was to come to an end. By what means? The same prophecy said: “Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media!” Elam became part of Persia after the prophet Isaiah’s day. By the time of Belshazzar’s feast, which had also been foretold in the same prophecy by Isaiah, Persia and Media had indeed joined forces to “go up” and “lay siege” against Babylon.—Isaiah 21:1, 2, 5, 6.
24 In fact, the very name of the leader of these forces had been foretold, as had the main points of his battle strategy. Some 200 years in advance, Isaiah had prophesied that Jehovah would anoint one named Cyrus to come against Babylon. In the course of his onslaught, all obstacles would be smoothed out before him. Babylon’s waters would “dry up,” and her mighty doors would be left open. (Isaiah 44:27–45:3) And so it was. The armies of Cyrus diverted the Euphrates River, lowering the water level so that they could move through the riverbed. Doors in Babylon’s wall had been left open by careless guards. As secular historians agree, the city was invaded while its inhabitants reveled. Babylon was taken with hardly any opposition. (Jeremiah 51:30) There was, though, at least one notable death. Daniel reported: “In that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed and Darius the Mede himself received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.”—Daniel 5:30, 31.
LEARNING FROM THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
25 The inspired account in Daniel chapter 5 is rich in meaning for us. As a center of false religious practices, ancient Babylon is a fitting symbol of the world empire of false religion. Pictured in Revelation as a bloodthirsty harlot, this global conglomerate of deceit is called “Babylon the Great.” (Revelation 17:5) Heedless of all warnings about her God-dishonoring false doctrines and practices, she has persecuted those preaching the truth of God’s Word. Like inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem and Judah, the faithful remnant of anointed Christians were effectively exiled in “Babylon the Great” when clergy-inspired persecution virtually closed down the Kingdom-preaching work in 1918.
26 Suddenly, though, “Babylon the Great” fell! Oh, it was practically a noiseless fall—just as ancient Babylon fell almost noiselessly, in 539 B.C.E. But this figurative fall was devastating nonetheless. It occurred in 1919 C.E. when Jehovah’s people were freed from Babylonish captivity and were blessed with divine approval. This ended the power of “Babylon the Great” over God’s people and marked the beginning of her public exposure as an unreliable fraud. That fall has proved to be irreversible, and her final destruction is imminent. Jehovah’s servants have thus been echoing the warning: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins.” (Revelation 18:4) Have you heeded that warning? Do you share it with others?
27 So the handwriting is on the wall today—but not for “Babylon the Great” alone. Remember a vital truth central to Daniel’s book: Jehovah is the Universal Sovereign. He, and he alone, has the right to set up a ruler over mankind. (Daniel 4:17, 25; 5:21) Anything standing in opposition to Jehovah’s purposes will be removed. It is only a matter of time before Jehovah acts. (Habakkuk 2:3) For Daniel, such a time finally came in the tenth decade of his life. He then saw Jehovah remove a world power—one that had been oppressing God’s people since Daniel’s boyhood.
28 There is undeniable proof that Jehovah God has established upon a heavenly throne a Ruler for mankind. That the world has ignored this King and has opposed his rulership is sure evidence that Jehovah will soon wipe out all opposers of Kingdom rule. (Psalm 2:1-11; 2 Peter 3:3-7) Are you acting upon the urgency of our times and placing your confidence in God’s Kingdom? If so, you have really learned from the handwriting on the wall!
[Footnotes]
In an ancient inscription, King Cyrus said of Belshazzar: “A weakling has been installed as the [ruler] of his country.”
Even this fine detail of Daniel’s account has proved accurate. Archaeologists have found that palace walls in ancient Babylon were made of brick coated with plaster.
Babylonian superstitions probably made this miracle all the more terrifying. The book Babylonian Life and History notes: “In addition to the number of gods which the Babylonians worshipped, we find them much addicted to the belief in spirits, and this to so great an extent that the prayers and incantations against them form a very large portion of their religious literature.”
Notes the journal Biblical Archaeology Review: “Babylonian experts catalogued thousands of ominous signs. . . . When Belshazzar demanded to know what the writing on the wall meant, the wise men of Babylon, no doubt, turned to these omen encyclopedias. But they proved worthless.”
Lexicographers note that the word used here for “perplexed” implies a great commotion, as if the gathering was thrown into confusion.
See pages 205-71 of the book Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand!, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
WHAT DID YOU DISCERN?
· How was Belshazzar’s feast interrupted on the night of October 5/6, 539 B.C.E.?
· What was the interpretation of the handwriting on the wall?
· What prophecy about Babylon’s fall was being fulfilled while Belshazzar’s feast was in progress?
· What meaning does the account of the handwriting on the wall hold for our day?
[Study Questions]
1. How extensive was the impact of four words written long ago on a wall?
2. (a) What happened in Babylon following the death of Nebuchadnezzar? (b) What ruler now held power?
3. What was Belshazzar’s feast like?
4. (a) Why might it seem strange that the Babylonians were feasting on the night of October 5/6, 539 B.C.E.? (b) What evidently made the Babylonians confident in the face of invading armies?
5, 6. What did Belshazzar do under the influence of wine, and why was this a gross insult to Jehovah?
7, 8. How was Belshazzar’s feast interrupted, and what effect did this have upon the king?
9. (a) Why was Belshazzar’s terror not the same as godly fear? (b) What offer did the king make to the wise men of Babylon?
10. How did the wise men fare in their efforts to interpret the handwriting on the wall?
11. Why might Babylon’s wise men have been unable to read the writing?
12. What did the failure of the wise men prove?
13. (a) Why did the queen suggest that Daniel be called? (b) What kind of life was Daniel living?
14. What was Daniel’s predicament upon seeing the handwriting on the wall?
15, 16. What vital lesson from history had Belshazzar failed to learn, and how common is similar failure today?
17, 18. What were the four words written on the wall, and what is their literal meaning?
19. What was the interpretation of the word “ME´NE”?
20. What was the explanation of the word “TE´KEL,” and how did it apply to Belshazzar?
21. How was “PAR´SIN” a threefold play on words, and what did this word indicate for Babylon’s future as a world power?
22. How did Belshazzar react to the solution of the riddle, and what may have been his hope?
23. What ancient prophecy was undergoing fulfillment even while Belshazzar’s feast was in progress?
24. What details regarding the fall of Babylon had Isaiah’s prophecy foretold?
25. (a) Why is ancient Babylon a fitting symbol of today’s global system of false religion? (b) In what sense were God’s modern-day servants held captive in Babylon?
26. (a) How did “Babylon the Great” fall in 1919? (b) What warning should we ourselves heed and share with others?
27, 28. (a) Daniel never lost sight of what vital truth? (b) What evidence do we have that Jehovah is soon to act against the wicked world of today?
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