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Daniel 5:25-29 — The Interpretation

Daniel read, translated, and then interpreted the handwriting. Someone has said that the reason that Daniel had no difficulty in reading it was that he knew his Father’s handwriting. “Mene” may be translated numbered, “Tekel” may be translated weighed, and “Peres” may be translated divided.²⁴ Daniel said God had numbered the days of Belshazzar’s reign and brought it to an end. The king had been weighed on the scales and didn’t measure up. The kingdom was to be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

God weighs every person: “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3). Measured in the light of God’s standards, we are all deficient. The Bible’s teaching is clears: if nations and individuals persist in their selfish, sinful, God-denying ways, a fearful fate awaits them. King Belshazzar and his nobles were completely unaware of the imminent tragedy and disaster. One moment they were feasting and drinking as if they had forever to enjoy their kingdom. But “that very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain” (Daniel 5:30).

The drift of societies to destruction is so imperceptible that they are at the brink before they know it. “It can’t happen here” is the prelude to inevitable disaster. The breakdown of moral standards, sexual promiscuity, blatant lawlessness and drug abuse can bring the most proud and powerful nations to their knees in defeat and tragedy. People do not consciously choose to allow their nation to plunge over into the abyss. They edge toward the precipice little by little, ignoring God and His righteous demands. Until they are already falling they aren’t even aware of the danger. The final disaster always seems like a sudden unexpected affair. Until the very last moment they are feasting without an awareness that the enemy stands at the gate. The story of King Belshazzar shows us that military might does not bring safety and that there is not as much time as we think!

Although we may not be able to turn the tide of our nation’s ways, we are each accountable for our own personal response to God. The message of the Bible is: “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2, italics added). Now is the time to get right with God!

The apostle Peter tells us how we can receive salvation after we have realized our need: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:18-21).

We have all been weighed in the balances and found wanting (see Romans 3:23). Will you receive by faith the forgiveness for sin God freely offers and for which He has fully paid?