Daniel 5:5

"In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothesayers. The king spake and said unto the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed."

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

"Excavations in Babylon have uncovered a great hall more than 50 feet by 160 feet;[14] and, "Robert Kildewey's excavations at Babylon have uncovered just such a large banqueting hail with walls of white plaster."[15] This is mentioned to emphasize the minute accuracy of everything mentioned in this chapter. Therefore, there cannot be any excuse for Jeffery's comment that, "The fact that this chapter does not agree with actual history is of no importance."[16] It is our contention that such a remark is irresponsible, inadmissible, and unacceptable to a believer. The critical proposition that, "Such stories were not written to teach history, but to teach a religious lesson,"[17] and that the authors were totally unconcerned with historical accuracy is a base falsehood. It is our conviction that, at last, the critical community have totally over-reached themselves by accepting a premise so false and ridiculous.

If Biblical writers tried to teach religious lessons by relating false stories, they themselves were fraudulent, dishonest, and untruthful. One cannot help wondering if Biblical critics themselves are guilty of alleging "falsehoods" in order to teach religious lessons. After all, the critical approval of such methods surely raises the question. Thus it is clear that allegations like the one just cited actually tell us far more about the critics than they tell us about the Bible.

"The third ruler in the kingdom ..." (Daniel 5:7). This, of course, implied that Belshazzar himself was only the second ruler; and, "This is a mark of accuracy such as would be almost inconceivable if the Book of Daniel were a product of the 2century."[18] As Culver stated it, "No Jew of Palestine in the 2century could possibly have written a thing like this."[19]

It is important to note that Belshazzar's actions were especially wicked because of the contempt he showed by his actions against the true God. The sacred vessels dedicated to the service of Jehovah and robbed out of the Temple by Babylonian conquerors were used by this arrogant and lustful king as instruments of his sensuous pleasure, while at the same time he was praising the idol gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone.

The Jewish opinion to the effect that Belshazzar had deliberately decided to insult Jehovah because of a miscalculation on his part is quite interesting. Jeremiah had prophesied that the Jewish captivity would end in 70 years; and it is alleged that Belshazzar mistakenly calculated that the 70 years were ended, that the victory over Jehovah and his people was complete, and that it was at that time perfectly safe for him to insult and blaspheme Jehovah. Below is given the possible manner of his miscalculation:

"Belshazzar figured on the basis of Jeremiah's statement that Belshazzar had been in the kingdom some 23 years at that time (though not king all of that period), that the extent of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was 45 years, and that Evil-Merodach had been king two years, thus making up the full seventy."[20]

Belshazzar, however, made the same mistake some make today in counting Israel's captivity from the beginning of Israel's deportation instead of from the completion of it.

"Bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothesayers ..." (Daniel 5:7). "Once more these monumental frauds appeared. Not only did they not know God (1 Corinthians 1:21) in "their wisdom", they knew little else."[21]

THE QUEEN-MOTHER'S SUGGESTION