Belshazzar was the last “prince” of Babylon before its fall. He was merely a governor because he was not of the royal line, although he seemed to falsely claim that Nebuchadnezzar was his father. Earlier I wrote about Nebuchadnezzar’s “Jesus Moment” when he saw Jesus in the fiery furnace saving Shadrach, Meschach, and Ebednego (https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2019/12/your-jesus-moment_9.html). His Jesus Moment was not enough; he was on the Way but not fully there. Then, God humbled him by making him as the beasts. Daniel said, “His heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys” (Dan 5:21) because his heart had been lifted up unto himself and he was the glorious one. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride, although he saw Jesus, was still on himself. As such, God humbled him; he was no longer as God, but as the beasts!
Belshazzar claimed Nebuchadnezzar as his father, but unlike him, Daniel said, “You have not humbled your heart… and lifted yourself up against the Lord of Heaven” (Dan 5:22-23). Does that not ring true for so many who claim God as Father? God becomes our Father when we humble ourselves, not merely with a Jesus moment.
The name Nebuchadnezzar means, “Nebo, protect your servant.” Nebo was basically the Babylonian God of false wisdom. Nebuchadnezzar had asked to be protected by the god of wisdom. That was an affront to Jesus!
Belshazzar means, “Bel, protect the king.” Remember that Belshazzar wasn’t truly a king, but saw himself as such. He depended on Bel to elevate himself. Bel was probably Enlil, the “wind” god who did the creating. Belshazzar was perhaps an early evolutionist!
Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and became God’s useful servant. He was used to punish Judah and their false perception of who God really Is. His service changed from his own wisdom to serving God. Belshazzar should have learned from that, according to Daniel (Dan 5:22b), but he did not. Nebuchadnezzar saw Jesus face to face, but Belshazzar only saw Jesus’s hand.
God’s Face is symbolic of salvation. On the other hand (no pun intended), God’s Hand is symbolic of authority and judgment. Christians think of the Savior Jesus, but he is also Supreme Judge. The Face of God humbled Nebuchadnezzar, but the Hand of God revealed the crime and punishment: (1) The time of Belshazzar’s kingdom was limited, (2) it was to perish, (3) his worthiness was weighed with fair scales and he was lacking, and (4) his kingdom would not be his any longer… it would be divided to the Medes and Persians.
Historians know that the Medes changed allegiances – from Babylon to Persia. God doesn’t honor changes in allegiances. The Medes were doomed and were soon lost to history. They quickly perished from the face of the earth. Unlike them, as Iranians, Persians still flourish to this day, but will perish much later. I believe that Media and Persia, at that time, represented immediate and delayed destruction.
Unless people are humbled, can they not see God’s “handwriting on the wall?” Prideful people must humble themselves, albeit God humbled Nebuchadnezzar. For us, James wrote, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (Jas 4:10). For Nebuchadnezzar, he was humbled much as Saul was when he was struck blind. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Saul were humbled like we are meant to be. Saul means “questioning” but he was transformed into Paul which means “humbled.”
Nebuchadnezzar was persuaded by being diminished into a domesticated beast, and Saul was humbled by becoming a servant. Oxen and donkeys are servants to mankind as Adam-kind was to have dominion over them. Paul became a servant to Jesus because God had dominion over him.
In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, God put him down like a beast, and then lifted him up as a servant (ala Jas 4). In the case of us, we are to voluntarily humble ourselves because we are persuaded to see our status, and let Jesus do the lifting up. The Covenant of Grace is that we lift up God as we diminish ourselves, and then God elevates us as His adopted sons! Christians go from humbled servants questioning our allegiances to humbled but royal priests under God (1 Pet 2:9).
Royal priests serve God, and it is a privilege to do so. God picked Levites to be priests and provided them their own sacred land and nourishment with no work required other than dressing and keeping the House of God! That was a facsimile of Adam’s role, and as such, Adam was created to be a royal priest. However, like the Levites, he failed. Christians are to be Adam-like before he fell to original sin – or regenerated to how Adam was generated!
Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall by God’s hand. Jesus wrote that just as he wrote the “Ten Words” (Ten Commandments) with his hand (finger of God). The Ten Words provide the metrics and the handwriting on the wall is for those who fail to meet God’s precepts. My contention is that they are “Ten Prescriptions for Eternal Health!” The handwriting on the wall were “Four Prognoses to Eternally Dying:” (1) Our time is limited, (2) the prideful will perish, (3) our fate is evaluated by the Ten Words – the fair scale’s metrics, and (4) we will no longer be kings of our domain, but our destiny is as Medea or Persia – sooner or later! Like the Medes and Persians who perished or will perish, all the prideful will perish sooner or later.
Now let’s examine, Medea and Persia again. Medea perished immediately, but Persia and its harlot religion will die in the end. Those two nations are mentioned because of how people see time. For instance, Eve was to die, and when she didn’t immediately, Adam ate. Neither understood that we all die in God’s time, and His time is not ours. Surely Belshazzar thought, So what… I will live to govern for a long time. Sinners think the same way, I still live, so I surely will go unpunished! Each time that people under conviction sin, they think, I have sinned before and was not punished, so I will sin again. The “handwriting on the wall” is that the prideful who do not diminish their own worth will indeed go the way of the Medes and Persians in God’s time as all the prideful will someday perish!
I hate to leave the story there, but Isaiah wrote about God’s people would be comforted (Isa 40). For those who see the handwriting on the wall, I suggest reading that chapter. You see, there are choices; we can either choose to humble ourselves or be devastated in the end. Belshazzar’s prognosis came true immediately, “That very night, Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans, was slain.” He went the way of the Medes because he failed to hearken to the Word that the Hand of Jesus wrote. We have the gospels. They are about God’s physical Face and Hands on the Earth to save the damned. The four Gospels are our “Handwriting on the Wall,” and are the metrics for eternal life. Isaiah 40 is as valid for us as it was for Israel and is the same message as the four Gospels!
Why am I humbled? I saw the handwriting on the wall. It is much more than a cliché; it is the wisdom of the ages. And the figure below shows the eraser for God's handwriting. This clean eraser not only blots our the prognoses but erases them entirely for a clean bill of eternal health!
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