What Daniel's Boldest Moment Teaches Us About Pride
There is a moment in the book of Daniel that feels almost cinematic. A human hand appears out of nowhere and begins burning letters into the plaster wall of a royal banquet hall. King Belshazzar, mid-celebration, watches as his face turns pale. He sobers up instantly. His knees knock together, his legs give way, and when the hand finishes its work, four words in an unknown language are seared into the wall. No one in the room knows what they mean.
A King's Desperate Search for Answers
Belshazzar is scared to death. He calls in his wisest and most trusted advisors, his magicians, astrologers, and fortune tellers, and makes them a grand offer. "If you can interpret those words, I will give you a purple robe, a gold necklace, and you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom." But nobody could do it. Nobody knew what the words said, and nobody could interpret them. Scripture tells us that everyone in the room was even more shaken by this failure.
Then the queen mother hears what is happening and comes in, because mom is going to fix it. She looks at Belshazzar and says, "Don't be so pale and frightened. There is a man named Daniel in your kingdom." She reminds him that Daniel had helped Nebuchadnezzar on several occasions, and listen to how she describes him: "Within him is the spirit of the holy gods," and she says he "possesses wisdom like that of the gods." In verse 12, she adds that "this man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means."
Daniel's Remarkable Response
So Daniel is brought before the king, and Belshazzar promises him the same rewards: purple robes, a golden chain, and the position of third highest authority in the kingdom. You can see Belshazzar's pride showing here. He is offering what he thinks are the most important things in the world, the things he himself seeks after. There is no greater reward in the kingdom than what he is offering.
But Daniel's words carry a weight and gravity that fills the room. He says, "Keep your gifts, or give them to someone else. I don't care."
You can already tell what is most important to Daniel, and it is not a purple robe, a golden chain, or being the third highest ruler in the kingdom. By this time, Daniel was probably around 80 years old. He could have easily said, "I'm an old man. I don't know what those words mean. I'm just going to go back to my room." But instead, he speaks God's message and interprets the four words. And it is a hard message for this king to hear.
It is amazing what happens when God meets a man or a woman. When you have an experience with God, when you have a relationship with Him, look at how it changes your priorities. Anyone else would have jumped at the robes, the gold, and the authority. But Daniel is faithful, and he says, "Give it to somebody else. I don't want it. I will interpret these words for you, O King."
A History Lesson the King Should Have Already Known
Before giving the interpretation, Daniel offers a history lesson. He tells Belshazzar that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, was given majesty, glory, and honor by God. God made him great among all the peoples of the earth. He killed who he wanted to kill. He spared who he wanted to spare. But when Nebuchadnezzar became puffed up, God stripped it all away. He lived among wild donkeys and ate grass like a cow. He was even covered with the dew of heaven because he was so out of his mind that he did not seek shelter. This continued, Scripture says, "until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone He desires to rule over them"(Daniel 5:21).
Then Daniel turns the weight of the moment directly onto Belshazzar. In verses 22 through 28, he says, "You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from His temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny."
If you look into the life of Nebuchadnezzar, it is amazing how many times he speaks of worshiping the God of the Jews, because God did extraordinary things in his life. But one thing about pride is that it blinds us from learning from others. "That's not me. That won't happen to me. I'm better than that." Have you ever said those words?
The Four Words and Their Meaning
So God sent a hand to write this message, and Daniel gives the interpretation. The four words are: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.
Mene means "numbered." God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel means "weighed." You have been weighed on the balances, and you have not measured up. Parsin means "divided." Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.
Belshazzar knew history, and yet he did not pay attention. He knew the story of his grandfather. His father had married one of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters, so Belshazzar would have known the story of Nebuchadnezzar's mental lapse. He may have heard the stories of God intervening in the lives of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But he chose to defy and taunt God, thinking God was defeated and gone. Pride overflowed from his heart as he acted in rebellion.
The Courage It Took to Speak
Consider how difficult it would have been to deliver this message to a king. We do not fully grasp this in our culture. In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, and he was afraid to let the king see his face looking downcast, because it was very easy to die in the presence of a king. Give bad news, you could die. Let your expression fall, you could be cast away. But Daniel does not even hesitate. He says, "This is a message from the Lord."
We do not even see Belshazzar push back. He commands Daniel to receive the robe, the gold necklace, and the promotion to third highest ruler. Unfortunately, it does not matter. That very night, Belshazzar was killed, and the Persians invaded Babylon. The greatest empire the world had perhaps ever seen fell in a single night. His father had already been beaten by the Persians and driven back, and now the way to the city was wide open.
Every earthly kingdom falls. Power is temporary. The parties are temporary. The influence is temporary. But God's kingdom is solid, sure, and steady.
The Writing on the Wall for You and Me
Part of the writing on the wall may be for you and me as well, just in a slightly different way. Consider those four words again, especially if you do not yet know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
The first word meant numbered. Your days are numbered. This is no secret. We all know this. There will come a day when I breathe my last, and when you breathe your last.
The second word means weighed. You have been weighed and found wanting. Again, no secret. I know I do not measure up. I know I do not measure up to the holiness of God. I have been weighed and found wanting. I know my sin. I know how easily I mess up. I know that I cannot obtain the perfection that God's Word requires for us to be with Him in heaven.
The third word means divided. God will divide those who have let their pride rule their lives from those who have humbled themselves and asked Jesus to be Lord of their life. These are physical and spiritual realities about every one of us.
We all need what only God can give: a Savior, grace, and acceptance into the family of God. The Bible talks about us being adopted into His family, and you are not adopted because you are good enough or because you can act right or because of how many times you come to church. That is not what saves us. The truth is that we have to look to God and accept His free gift of Jesus Christ.
