By Laurence A. Turner
A Commentary on the Sabbath School Lesson for October 23–29, 2004
When reading Daniel 5 it is helpful to note that the Aramaic section of Daniel (chaps. 2–7) is structured concentrically, with chapters paired according to their basic content:
Ch 2: Vision: 4 metals/kingdoms
Ch 7: Vision: 4 beasts/kingdoms
Ch 3: Faith tested to death
Ch. 6: Faith tested to death
Ch. 4: Pride judged
Ch 5: Pride judged
So chapter 5 is not only related to chapter 4, but the two together take their place at the center of this section of the book. Like the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness (chap. 4), that of Belshazzar’s feast passes withering comment on human pride. Despite the glories of Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar gloated over from the roof of his palace, and the sumptuous party thrown by Belshazzar without a care in the world, each learned that things aren’t what they seem to be.
That lesson concerning the deceptive appearance of human achievement is repeated throughout the book. For example, the glorious human image of multiple metals is ground to dust by God’s humble stone (chap. 2); the "little horn" seems to achieve world domination, but the everlasting kingdom is inherited by the oppressed saints (chap. 7). However, the point is not that the political powers of this world are all irredeemably evil. They have their part to play in God’s purposes.
Nebuchadnezzar himself was reminded that "the God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all" (2:27–38). In Daniel, both the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God have the same author. The difference is that the kingdom of God will last forever (see, for example, 2:44; 7:27).
The distorted perspectives of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, that material glory confirms human autonomy (4:29–30) and that the author of human history may be blasphemed with impunity (5:3–4), meet spectacular ends. Nebuchadnezzar’s madness and Belshazzar’s last feast simply confirm the refrain found in these two chapters "that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes" (4:17, 25, 32; 5:21).
That it is God who gives is a major motif of the book. In Daniel 1, God was the subject of only this single Hebrew verb. God gave King Jehoiakim into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar (1:2); God gave Daniel favor with the court official (1:9); God gave wisdom to the four friends (1:17). Chapter 5 concludes with the death of Belshazzar. The arrival of his successor, Darius the Mede, uses an ambiguous Aramaic verb (qbl), which can be rendered either as he "took the kingdom" (KJV; NIV), or "received the kingdom" (NKJV, NRSV).1 The first possibility would confirm Nebuchadnezzar’s and Belshazzar’s illusions of human autonomy. Only the second does justice to the message of the book. Darius receives the kingdom, becomes someone else has given it.
This theme of God’s sovereignty is given further expression by the writing on the wall. Even before it is read and interpreted, we know as well as the assembled guests that it will not be good news. The assembly worship "the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone" (5:4). The sequence of metals recalls Nebuchadnezzar’s dream image (chap. 2), and the final reference to "stone" reminds us of its crashing fall. Therefore, we are not surprised by the appearance of a disembodied hand writing on the wall, just as the stone that demolished the image had been hewn "not by human hands" (2:34, compare 8:25).
These details telegraph to us that the mysterious words will be judgment. Although at first sight they may appear to be an innocuous list of weights—a mina, shekel and (two) half-shekel(s), Daniel’s interpretation reveals that they announce Babylon’s failure to pass the test of moral integrity, and thus its end of probation and final judgment (5:26–28). Once again, should it be needed, the author of this judgment is revealed to the discerning reader. The "mina" was worth 60 "shekels," so the total sum written on the wall comes to 62—which just happens to be the age of Darius the Mede when he "receives" the kingdom on the death of Belshazzar (5:31).2
Such a presentation of God’s sovereignty invokes many to search for evidence of human freedom in this grand scheme. We need not fear on that score, for the biblical apocalyptic tradition exemplified in the prophecies of this book, but reflected also in the narratives, does not advocate naked predestination. Rather, the overarching framework of history is set, the final judgment will definitely come, but the actual journey taken depends on human decisions as much as on God’s will. The very fact that the writing on the wall judges Belshazzar against an objective standard is evidence of that. Whether he passed or failed the test was entirely up to him.
And it is perhaps this human role within God’s scheme that should concern us more than God’s sovereignty. Adventists used to be much more wary than we are today about the role of the United States in particular in world politics, or about human politics in general. As Adventists, we would claim to be at home in the book of Daniel, but ironically seem increasingly to be at home in the secular kingdoms of this world whose end the book announces in no uncertain terms.
Notes
1. See Danna Nolan Fewell, Circle of Sovereignty: A Story of Stories in Daniel 1-6 (Sheffield, Eng.: Almond Press, 1988), 113.
2. John E. Goldingay, Daniel, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1989), 112.
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