Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin Part 1

During the days of Nabonidus, his travels forced Belshazzar into viceroy or co-regent in Babylon. Belshazzar was a man who loved his office’s perks. Those perks included time to party with elites and with his wives and concubines.

Unfortunately for him and the Babylonian kingdom, which his forefather put together (with the blessings of God), it would all come to a tragic end because of his “kingdom perks.” The scriptures by the prophet Daniel says that Belshazzar threw a great party or banquet for his lords. There were upwards of a thousand lords who attended this banquet, they drank wine with the king.

Belshazzar took to wine and got himself a bit indulged in the liquor and lost his mind. He ordered his servants to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem years ago, during the siege.

Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin of Belshazzar

Recap: The Lord of the earth sent Nebuchadnezzar into Jerusalem on a mission because of the Jews (Judahites). The Lord’s people were in complete rebellion against the Lord.

The Lord was fed up with the Jew’s behavior and said, “if you will serve a strange god in my land, I’ll have you removed to serve a strange people in a strange land.”

Enter Nebuchadnezzar.

However, Nebuchadnezzar was simply a tool to perform the Lord’s will on His rebellious people. The gold and silver vessels belonged to the Lord, as they were blessed and dedicated so by the Lord’s righteous kings and priests.

Belshazzar ignored this and used the vessels like they didn’t have any significance and importance. He and his princes, wives, and concubines drank out of them having a good old drunken time. In addition to their good old time, they drank out of the vessels brought out of Jerusalem all the while praising the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone.

In other words, these were the gods of the nations of the earth, specifically, the Gentile nations. The sons of Japheth, like most the sons of Adam, really got off into material possessions. Materialization and wealth is the primary god of the Gentiles (even today).

Tekel… the Drunken king Sobers Up

Jesus Christ even lightly addressed this when teaching that the Gentiles seek after what they will wear, drink, eat, and they lord over positions, people, and titles, etc., but the thing to truly seek is the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:31-33).

Then came the fingers; the sobering fingers of the Lord. A party is going on, people are laughing, telling stories, and enjoying the king’s party when the fingers of a man’s handwriting on the wall of the king’s palace.

The drunken king sobers up immediately, like a gun fired into a crowd, no matter how many drinks you may have had, fight and flight will resume command. This is what happened to Belshazzar, his countenance was visibly changed. Anxiety spread itself over his face, he became greatly worried and noticeably scared.

The Infamous Handwriting on the Wall

The king was so scared, it was noted that his knees were weak, as if he were going to faint. Then he shouted for help. He didn’t shout for protection but for his astrologers, Chaldeans, wizards, and soothsayers. The hand wrote on the wall and he needed to know what the hand wrote.

He made an announcement that whoever could transcribe what was written on the wall and what it means will be clothed in the king’s garment, with the royal chain, and will be the next ruler of the Babylonian kingdom.

To be continued…

Selah

Thank you for joining us today. It’s always a pleasure to have you. BibleStudyMinistry.com (BSM), believes the Bible is one assimilated account leading and pointing to Jesus the Messiah. Also to His Kingdom on the Earth, and His Royal Family.

BSM also believes the Bible has a lot of profound and practical wisdom everyone can use in the journey of life; and towards the Kingdom of the Lord.

You’ll find we blog and vlog on different study topics, chapter studies, current events, biblical interludes, and all things pertaining to scripture. We do all of this so we can share this story the best we can with you.

We appreciate and are grateful for all your love and support in all ways possible… even something as simple as leaving a cool or encouraging comment. Blessings to you.