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Context No. 893 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 5:7-12: in context

7The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and shows me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8Then all the king’s wise men came in; but they could not read the writing and couldn’t make known to the king the interpretation. 9Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled. His face was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed. 10The queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house. The queen spoke and said, “O king, live forever; don’t let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your face be changed. 11There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light, understanding, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. The king, Nebuchadnezzar, your father—yes, the king, your father—made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers 12because an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting of dreams, showing of dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

This is Belshazzar's feast, the night the writing appears on the wall. The terrified king calls in all his enchanters and wise men and promises purple robes, a gold chain, and third place in the kingdom to anyone who can read the writing and interpret it. None of them can. The king's face goes pale, his lords are baffled. Then the queen mother comes in and reminds him of a man he had forgotten: Daniel, in whom is the spirit of the holy God, who in his father's day was found to have light, understanding, and wisdom. Call Daniel, she says, and he will interpret.

The scene is a study in a certain kind of forgetting. Daniel had once been the most trusted interpreter in the kingdom, made master of the wise men by Nebuchadnezzar. But a generation has passed, a new king reigns, and Daniel has been shelved and forgotten, remembered only by an old woman when disaster strikes. The wisdom Babylon needed was in the building the whole time, set aside because the new regime had no use for it until the wall started writing. It is a familiar pattern: the truth-teller ignored in good times, suddenly sought when the party turns to terror. Belshazzar wants the interpretation but, as the chapter will show, not the repentance it demands. He is glad to summon Daniel for information; he has no interest in the God Daniel serves. You can call for the man of God in a crisis and still refuse the only thing he actually offers.

Do I only reach for God and his truth when the writing is already on the wall, wanting information from him but not the change he asks for?

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