In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Belshazzar was greatly troubled because he saw a hand writing on the wall, and when his wise men were unable to tell him what the writing said or meant, he called for Daniel who said, “this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; You are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting. PERES; Your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain”, and in chapter five and verse thirty-one of his book Daniel said, “Darius the Median took the kingdom” where we read,
And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
The verse reads, “And Darius the Median took the kingdom, …” Daniel began with the words, “and Darius” or “and Darius whose name means lord and was a Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, king of the Chaldeans, who succeeded to the Babylonian kingdom on the death of Belshazzar; probably the same as "Astyages" the last king of the Medes (538 BC)” “the Median” which means “the middle land‘ “took the kingdom” or “acquired and received the royal realm and reign”. Daniel shared how “Darius” from Media acquired the royal realm that was formerly Babylon.
The verse goes on to say, “being about threescore and two years old.” Daniel continued with the words, “being about” or “who was approximately” “threescore and two years old” which means “sixty-two years of age”. Daniel shared how “Darius” was approximately sixty-two years old when he acquired the royal reign.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel about the takeover of the royal realm by “Darius” who was from Media. The time for “Belshazzar” and the world empire of “Babylon” was now over, and even as Daniel prophesied, the “Medes and Persians” conquered him and his “kingdom”. God was at work behind the scenes even as He continues working this day. God loves people, and His desire is to have a personal relationship with everyone through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when He raised Him from the dead after three days, He made the way for anyone who believes and trusts in Him as their “Savior and Lord” to be forgiven of their sins, granted everlasting life and equipped with His Holy Spirit who will give assurance that He is always in control of the “kingdoms” of men.
Next time we begin a new chapter and see Daniel say, “it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes”, 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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