Nebuchadnezzar could be a ruthless king. After all, he was the one who conquered Judah and sent the exiles packing. And he was the one who ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace. But at times Nebuchadnezzar showed a different side, like when he saw the angel walking among the flames. On another occasion God made the king walk on all fours as a wild animal in order to teach him who was really in charge. By the end of his life, Nebuchadnezzar learned that it was better to be humble than to be proud.

The same cannot be said about the next king of Babylon.

King Belshazzar was enjoying a great feast with a thousand of his noblemen. The king and his wives and his officials were drinking wine together. And they were drinking that wine from the vessels of gold and silver that the Babylonians stole from the temple in Jerusalem. These were among the holy things that the priests had used to worship the Lord their God.

As they were partying, the fingers of a human hand appeared out of nowhere and started writing on the wall. The king went pale. His arms fell. His heart raced. His knees buckled. Belshazzar was very afraid.

The king summoned the wise men of Babylon to read the writing on the wall, but they did not know what it meant. The king and his nobles were frightened and confused. Just then the queen had an idea. “There is a man named Daniel. He used to interpret dreams and solve riddles for your grandfather. He will know what the writing means.”

So Daniel was brought in before the king. Belshazzar offered him honors and wealth if he could interpret the writing. Daniel said, “You can keep your gifts and give them to someone else. Nevertheless, I will tell you what this means.”

What Daniel said next must have been hard for the king to hear.

“God gave your grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, great success. But when he was proud, the Lord humbled him. The God of heaven taught your grandfather a lesson, but you have not learned this lesson. You are not humble before God. You even brought in the holy vessels for your drinking party. You have not honored God, and he will not honor you.”

Then Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall. “The words Mene, Mene mean that your days are numbered. The word Tekel means that you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. And the word Parsin means your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

The king was pleased that Daniel had interpreted the dream, but that night the king was killed and a new king took over. Belshazzar never learned one
of the most important lessons in life: God opposes the proud, but gives grace
to the humble.