Daniel 5 - And How Babylon Fell To Cyrus
Daniel 5 opens with a feast held by foolish King Belshazzar for a thousand of the highest ranking lords. He decides that drinking from the gold and silver cups from the First Temple was a good idea. And, while they do this, they begin to praise other gods - of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.
That's when a hand appears and writes upon a wall. Belshazzar is absolutely terrified, and says that whoever tells him the meaning of this, he will be the third ruler of the kingdom.
That's due to the fact that Belshazzar shared the rule of Babylon with his father Nabonidas, who married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter and overthrew Nebuchadnezzar's sons in a coup. So, Belshazzar could only make someone the 'Third Ruler of the Kingdom' because there were already two. And, there's a fascinating discussion about Nabonidas, here:
The Last King of Babylon
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/458-2203/features/10334-babylon-nabonidus-last-king
However, no one could decipher the writing, so things got pretty desperate until the queen showed up.
Wait. The Queen wasn't there?
Well, she was his mother, but Belshazzar seemed to want to keep anyone associated with Nabonidas away from this special gathering, since he probably didn't want anyone to be reminded that his dad was still around. But, his mom tells him about Daniel, who has spiritual power and understanding from the Holy God.
By the way, Belshazzar's mom refers to Nebuchadnezzar as his father, when we would normally call him a grandfather. But, it seems customary for people to claim a grandfather as their father, if the grandfather is more prominent than the father. But, back to the story...
Daniel arrives and tells Belshazzar that he's been a complete moron, who did not remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, his 'father'. Daniel then goes on to interpret what was written on the wall:
FULL LONG ARTICLE AT: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7794359027023561253/2961269324150835822
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