v.
5a: “Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged…”
“Suddenly…” Note the striking parallels
to Daniel 4:30-33!
o
Even
as Nebuchadnezzar finds himself stricken by the powerful Hand of Divine
Judgment for unduly assigning the credit for his great prosperity and imperial
achievements—which rightfully belonged unto God—unto himself
(4:30), so too is the arrogant Belshazzar judged for misascribing Babylon’s political
and military triumphs unto the power its false deities and unto the genius of
its royal house (5:4, 23).
o
Like
Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar had crossed a line of no return—a
spiritual Rubicon that rendered judgment inevitable!
o
“Suddenly…” As with Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar’s judgment
was sudden and immediate!
4:31: "While the word was in
the king's mouth…”
4:33: “Immediately the word
concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled…”
The Aramaic term shâ‛âh (translated
variously as “suddenly,” “in the same hour,”
or “at that moment”) is employed in both 4:33 and 5:5, inviting
comparison between the two accounts.
The immediacy of God’s response serves to clearly
& unmistakably connect the act of judgment unto the offending deed, establishing
a cause/effect relationship that might otherwise have been lessened in the eyes
of men had there been a significant time interval. Thus, the mysterious
handwriting appears immediately—as soon as the sacred vessels are
dishonored by the Babylonians.
o
Both
Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar became the beneficiaries of obvious and
unmistakably supernaturally-directed special revelation with regard to the
matter of their judgment: Nebuchadnezzar, through the means of the audible and
disembodied heavenly voice, and Belshazzar, via the strange phenomenon of the spectral
hand and its message.
Dan. 4:31 (ISV): As the words
were being spoken by the king, a voice came forth from heaven: "King
Nebuchadnezzar, this is declared to you: 'The kingdom has been taken from
you!’”
Dan. 5:5 (ESV): Immediately the
fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the
king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.
“…the
fingers of a man's hand emerged…”
o
A
night of revelry is suddenly transformed into a night of horror!
The strange and transcendent phenomenon of the disembodied portions of a
human hand was deliberately designed by God to instill terror and instantly sober
the profane and riotous assembly.
v.
5b: “and began writing opposite the lampstand…”
o
“and began writing.” The precise form or manner in
which the written characters manifested themselves (e.g., engraving, dark
lines, glowing light, etc.) is left unspecified—and is ultimately irrelevant.
The significant fact is that the letters were conspicuous and seen by
all!
o
“the lampstand.” While some have speculated that this may have
been the sacred Menorah of the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:31-40) that was housed
within King Solomon’s Temple, or perhaps the sacred Lamps constructed by
Solomon (2 Chron. 4:19-22; Jer. 52:19), there can be no definite confirmation
of these proposals. Others would counter that these suggestions are improbable
owing to the fact that the sacred articles were brought in after the
feast’s commencement as opposed to its outset, when provisions for
proper lighting would have already been made.
o If the sacred Menorah was
in fact utilized, it would indeed be most ironic that the desecrated article
would be employed as an instrument to better illuminate the message of the
king’s impending doom!
v.
5c: “on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace…”
o
Recall
that we had previously observed that modern archeological excavation has unearthed
the probable site of the Great Hall within the king’s palace where this event
occurred, confirming its huge dimensions (see notes on 5:1c). Archeology
has also served to confirm the details supplied by Daniel concerning the application
of plaster upon walls of the Royal Throne Room! Note this
comment from Walvoord regarding this great hall:
“Midway in the long wall opposite the
entrance there was a niche in front of which the king may well have been
seated. Interestingly, the wall behind the niche was covered with white plaster
as described by Daniel, which would make an excellent background for such a
writing.”—John Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation
o
The
illumination supplied by the lampstand and the white gypsum background provided
by the wall-plaster would present the ideal conditions for the clear
revelation of the Divine Message of certain doom!
“When the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against unrighteousness, he would have it to be well noted and noticed
by all.”—John Trapp commentary on Dan. 5:5
o
The
handwriting on the gypsum-coated wall (the plaster being thus constructed of
ground stone) has also been viewed by some commentators (e.g., Tony Garland) as
a reminder of the Ten Commandments—a standard of Divine evaluation which
in like manner was written by the finger of God upon tablets of stone (Ex.
31:18), and which functions as a bill of indictment against a sinful humanity
that has failed to meet its inscribed requirements. Note this function of the
Law as described in Col. 2:13-14:
Col. 2:13-14: And you, being dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting
of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken
it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
