The Writing on the Wall
In 539 B.C., the Neo-Babylonian Empire came to its end. The city that had conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and carried Judah into exile now faced its own judgment.
After Nebuchadnezzar’s death, Babylon passed through several rulers and periods of political instability. Nabonidus eventually became king, but during his long absence from the capital, his son Belshazzar governed Babylon as co-regent. This explains why Daniel 5 presents Belshazzar acting as king even though Nabonidus was still alive.
On the final night of Babylonian rule, Belshazzar organized a great feast for his nobles. In an act of deliberate contempt, he ordered that the sacred vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought into the banquet hall. The king, his officials, and their women drank from them while praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
The vessels had once represented Babylon’s victory over Jerusalem. By using them during the feast, Belshazzar treated that victory as permanent and mocked the God whose sanctuary Babylon had destroyed.
Then a hand appeared and wrote upon the wall.
The celebration stopped immediately. The king who had seemed confident and untouchable became terrified. None of Babylon’s wise men could explain the message. Only then was Daniel remembered.
Daniel was now about eighty-one years old. He had entered Babylon as a young captive in 605 B.C. and had lived through almost the entire history of the empire. He had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, witnessed his humiliation and restoration, and served through the reigns that followed. Yet the new generation at court had largely forgotten him.
Daniel did not flatter Belshazzar. He reminded him of what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar, who had been humbled when pride caused him to forget that human authority is limited. Belshazzar knew this history, but had learned nothing from it.
The inscription announced the verdict:
MENE — God had numbered the days of the kingdom and brought them to an end.
TEKEL — the king had been weighed and found wanting.
PERES — the kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
The message was not a warning about a distant future. It described what was already happening.
While the feast continued inside the palace, the Persian forces entered Babylon. The Euphrates, which passed through the city and appeared to strengthen its defenses, became the route through which the supposedly invulnerable capital was penetrated. Belshazzar was killed that same night, and Babylon passed into the hands of the Medo-Persian power.
The fall of Babylon confirmed the dream Daniel had interpreted decades earlier. The golden head of Nebuchadnezzar’s empire would not last forever. Another kingdom would replace it.
539 B.C. therefore marks more than a change of political rulers. It demonstrates that no empire can preserve itself through walls, wealth, religion, or military strength when its time has ended.
Babylon fell during a feast because its rulers could still celebrate while judgment was already at the gates.
The captive Daniel survived the empire that had taken him captive.