In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Belshazzar and those at his feast, “drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister 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, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another”, and in chapter five and verse seven of his book Daniel shared how, “the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers” where we read,
The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
The verse reads, “The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.” Daniel began with the words, “the king” or “the royal ruler and leader, Belshazzar” “cried aloud” which means “shouted and proclaimed” “to bring in the astrologers” or “to carry forth and lead in the conjurers, enchanters and necromancers”, “the Chaldeans” which refers to “the clod breakers or inhabitants of Chaldea who lived on the lower Euphrates and Tigris”, “and the soothsayers” or “and the determiners, seers, diviners, fortune-tellers or prognosticators”. Daniel shared how King Belshazzar shouted for the “astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers” to be lead in before Him.
The verse goes on to say, “And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon, …” Daniel continued with the words, “and the king spoke” which means “and the royal ruler and leader replied and responded”, “and said to the wise men” or “and uttered, declared and proclaimed to the learned men who were filled with wisdom” “of Babylon” which means “belonging to Babylon whose name means confusion (by mixing) and was known as Babel or Babylon and was the ancient site and/or capital of Babylonia (modern Hillah) situated on the Euphrates” the words in our next verse. Daniel shared how “King Belshazzar” responded and uttered the words in our next verse to the learned men within Babylon who were filled with wisdom.
Finally the verse says, “Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Daniel concluded this verse with the words, “whosoever shall read this writing” which means “whatever person will call out, proclaim and read aloud the delineated letters formed into words which was upon the wall”, “and show me the interpretation thereof” or “and explain, inform and declare to me, King Belshazzar, the meaning and rendering of the writing”, “shall be clothed with scarlet” which means “will exist as outfitted and dressed with red-purple or purple”, “and have a chain of gold about his neck” or “and possess and own a necklace made with gold metal surrounding his, the person who interprets the writing’s, neck of the body”, “and shall be the third ruler” which means “and will exist as the third in place domineer, one with power and master” “in the kingdom” or “within the royal reign and realm of Babylon”. Daniel ended this verse by sharing how King Belshazzar said whatever person read the inscription on the wall and declare to him the meaning would be dressed in purple, receive a golden necklace to wear around his neck and be the third domineer over the empire of “Babylon”.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how “King Belshazzar” shouted loudly to lead all the “wise men” in Babylon to him. After they arrived, he told them whichever of them “read and shared the meaning” of the writing on the wall would be dressed in royal purple, possess a golden chain to wear around their necks and become the third leader within “Babylon”. In other words, “King Belshazzar” was desperate to know what this inscription meant. God knew, and He would reveal it to Daniel in our next few verses. God knows us as well, and nothing is hidden from Him. When we believe and trust in His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and teach us by His Holy Spirit that He is always in control and knows every meaning of every inscription that has been or ever will be written.
Next time Daniel says, “then came in all the king’s wise men”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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