DANIEL - Chapter 5 + Chapter 7:1-8 - YOU HAVE BEEN WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE
Daniel – Chapter 5 + 7:1-8
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
“YOU HAVE BEEN WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE AND FOUND WANTING”
June 23, 2026
(October 30, 2011; October 24, 2023)
Belshazzar was the Son of Nabonidus and grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. The inscriptions show that he was co-regent while his father went to meet Cyrus in battle. Chapter 5 follows chapters 7-8 in chronology.
The stories of Daniel 1-6 are set in the sixth century B.C. Historians do not always agree on the accuracy of the time sequence, but Wikipedia dates the fall of Babylon to the Persian general Gobyras Oct. 12, 539. King Cyrus entered the city 17 days later. Daniel had the dream of the four winds 14 years before the fall of Babylon.
Daniel belongs to a time when no national Israelite state existed. No Davidic ruler had to be recalled to covenant duties. The battle with Cyrus has already begun. King Nabonidas was captured by Cyrus and exiled.
“For as long as the earth stands, The Lord has set in order His divine plan for the government of the nations of the earth. God is preparing for a kingdom transcending physical limitation.
Because of the present battle (2026) in the spirit over Iran, the Middle East, and the Euro-Asia war (Rusia vs Ukraine), I will interject 7:1-8 which will bring some clarity to our present spiritual battle with the Prince of Persia.
The divine providence of the LORD took a young Hebrew boy from his native land and planted Daniel and his friends in Babylon. Through Daniel’s love and obedience to the Lord, at least three kings accepted God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I have a notion that Nebuchadnezzar, Dairus, and Cyrus will all be in heaven when we get there.
THE FOURTH BEAST – 7:1-5
Fourteen years (525 B.C.) before Babylon fell in (539 B.C.), Daniel received this dream and visions. Daniel saw by visions the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.
7: 1- 2: In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it. Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.”
The four winds of heaven are spiritual winds. Each wind, north, south, east, and west, performs a spiritual work of the Lord. In this vision of the night, Daniel saw all four winds were blowing. “The winds of heaven signified the providence of God and God’s sovereignty over human history. That the winds came from heaven meant that human history goes on within the boundaries of the divine will. Whatever rebellion the devil may raise, it will not change the course of human history” (Cho).
When the Spirit Winds of God blow, there is an upheaval of whatever is out of God’s order. Since all four winds have received the divine call to stir up the great sea, it would mean universal change.
(Notation: In 1 Enoch, he had a vision of the winds coming forth from open gates of heaven, north, south, east, and west (36:1-4.)
I can confirm this with affirmation that I have been blessed to have a vision of the East and South Wind. It was the Most Holy Presence I have ever experienced in my life. I wanted everyone I loved to be touched by this wind. However, everyone whose lives were touched changed course forever. The breaking was almost more than the flesh could bear.
Winds are a revelation of visitation of the Holy Spirit and of God. The power and supremacy of Jehovah emerges in the picture of him soaring on the “wings of the wind”.
Psalm 18:10: He rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.
Winds also picture the comprehensiveness of the Lord’s judgment as well as the blessing of His Holy Spirit.
The east wind will break us, but it will also deliver us. “Psalm 48:7: “You break the ships of Tarshish with the east wind.”
The North Wind brings discernment and Holy Ghost conviction (Jn. 16: 8-11; Song. 4;16). The only thing that can live in the presence of God is God. Everything outside of Christ is judged and removed by the north wind.
West wind: Strength, forgiveness, blessings, prosperity, a gentle breeze (Ez. 10:19).
South wind: Quiets the earth, soft warm or hot wind, whirlwind, comfort, growth, increase.
Throughout the Bible, the great sea often signifies the Mediterranean. However, metaphorically “sea” means unredeemed humanity. If this is literally the Mediterranean Sea, then it is prophetic of historic events by the providence of God which would unfold in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. If the meaning is metaphorical, then it would indicate unredeemed humanity in the whole earth.
7: 3,4: And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, a human mind also was given to it.
This corresponds to the statute King Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream (Ch. 2). The first beast refers to Babylon. Sculptures of such a creature stood before the gate of the Babylonian palace. An eagle is king among the birds of the air, while a lion is king among the animals on the earth. So, this creature reflected the absolute power of the Babylonian monarch and the perfect organization of Babylonian bureaucracy.
The Second Beast:
7:5: And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. It was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus, they said to it, “Arise, devour much meat!”
This beast represented the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, which was to rise through the conquest of Babylon and last about two centuries to 331 B.C. Like a bear, the Medes and Persians were stupid and tactless but strong. When they waged a war, they needed little strategy; they just pushed with the power of the sheer numbers in their enormous army, which ranged from a hundred thousand up to a million. They were also cruel, conquering many countries, trampling them under their feet.
“Raised up on one side” shows that although the Medes and Persians were a coalition of two kingdoms, the empire leaned to one side, the side of Persia; for Persia, which was built later than Media came to supremacy and eventually defeated the Medes.
The three ribs between its teeth signifies the strong nations conquered by the Medo-Persian empire: Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.
The voice which said, “Devour flesh, much” represented the divine grant given to the empire to have dominion over many neighboring countries. This empire lasted for more than two centuries, but the empire finally fell, and the third beast appeared.
7:6: After this I kept looking, and behold, another one like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
This creature referred to Alexander the Great, the Greek general who conquered Medo-Persia and gained control of much of the world. He was the greatest conqueror the world had ever seen, occupying a vast territory in a short time. Alexander rose from Macedonia in Europe and conquered large portions of Asia and Africa, sweeping like a storm all the way to the borders of India.
Legend has it that Alexander wept, sitting at the bank of the Indus River, because there was no more land to conquer. The Indus River originates in Western China (Tibet- the highest region on earth) and flows through Pakistan and India into the Arabian Sea. Soon after that he died of a fever in Babylon at the age of thirty-three.
The strongest spirit over any region will always occupy the highest tower or mountain. At the mouth of the Indus River is Tibet and is reported to be the highest region on earth. That this strong spirit in Alexander the Great was driven to this place indicates the strength of the demonic force driving him.
The Prince of Grecia is the satanic ruler prince of the Grecian Empire that caused Alexander The Great to be so successful in 13-years as to destroy the Medo-Persian Empire completely.
The Prince of Grecia is further identified as the Destroyer (the third part of the unholy trinity to kill, steal and to destroy.) The destroyer’s name is “Abaddon”.
Rev. 9:11: They had a king over them which is the angel of the bottomless pit, who name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon…and the sixth angel sounded his trumpet,
Abaddon is first mentioned in the Bible in Job 26:6 R.S. “Sheol (death) is naked before God and Abaddon (destruction) has no covering.” Abaddon is also named as destruction in Job 28:22 and Proverbs 15:11. He is further identified as the prince of Grecia in Daniel 10:20-21:
The fours heads of this leopard referred to the four generals of Alexander the Great; that is, the collective leadership system of his empire. After Alexander’s death they divided the entire Greek kingdom among themselves. These four kingdoms constantly warred against each other.
This beast refers to the Roman empire, which succeeded Greece and brought the whole known world under its sway. By the turn of the second century B.C., it had already conquered Spain and Carthage. Then it continued to further its conquests, adding Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Jerusalem, Great Britain, France, Belgium Switzerland, and Germany. Its power reached to the border of India. Rome succeeded in building the largest empire in human history. Yet even Rome fell to invading armies in A.D. 410. No human kingdom lasts forever. In the wake of the Roman armies, civilization was often reduced to ashes.
The description of the ten horns does not correspond to any known historical aspect of the Roman empire. This is believed to be the future extension of the Revived Roman empire. It has now been over 2000 years since the time of the Roman Empire. Interestingly all the other kingdoms only survived 200 + years. Since the time of the Roman Empire, (9) world empires have oppressed the Jews (counting Hitler) in the time of the Gentiles. However, it is believed by most scholars there will be ten kingdoms yet to arise.
So as chapter 5 opens, Belshazzar, grandson of Nebuchadnezzar has come to the sum of his days, and the end of the Babylonia empire.
5:1-4: Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, in order that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
It was sinful enough for such drinking to be going on, but to use the sanctified vessels from the house of God in Jerusalem in such a drunken brawl was going too far. In this sumptuous feast, he was in defiance of God’s judgments. Belshazzar’s city was now besieged by the Medes and still he shows no fear of God. His life and kingdom lay at stake. He should have proclaimed a fast, but as one in rebellion to God, he proclaims a feast.
5:5-6: Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him; and his hip joints went slack, and knees began knocking together.
Five-fold description of fear and terror:
1. The face grows pale.
2. The mind becomes agitated.
3. There is weakness in the whole frame.
4. The whole-body trembles and shakes.
5. A cry of distress is given.
Belshazzar followed the pattern of his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar in calling for the so-called wise men of Babylon. Again, those who are in sin and want to keep on sinning will not go to a man/woman of God. They want someone who will give them an easy message.
As with his grandfather, none of the astrologers, Chaldeans or soothsayers could interpret the handwriting. This was not an ordinary language from the empire. Had it been Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, many could have read and interpreted it.
We know what it means today because Daniel interpreted it for us. The original may have been a heavenly language of angels or in tongues. Whatever it was it took a man gifted by the Holy spirit, one possessing the gift of interpretation of tongues, to read and interpret it. It was interpreted by the Holy Spirit in Daniel just as the dream interpretations were.
5:9-12: Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed. The queen (mother) entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, ‘O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. There is a man in your kingdom in who is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the day of your father, illumination, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans, and diviners. This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge (power of knowing) and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of riddles, and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned, and he will declare the interpretation.
The merrymaking ceased, the revelry stopped, and a death-like silence came over the banquet hall because of the handwriting. The queen broke the silence by informing the king of Daniel.
Seven-fold Testimony (Reputation) of Daniel:
1. He had the Holy Spirit in him.
2. He had an excellent spirit.
3. He was full of knowledge (power of knowing).
4. He had great understanding.
5. He had the gift of interpreting dreams.
6. He could solve hard sentences (Wisdom)
7. He could dissolve all doubts.
Seven-fold Spirit of God: Spirit of the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might (power) Knowledge, and the Fear of God.
He also had the gift of interpretation of tongues.
The queen had absolute faith in Daniel for he had never failed. Men in their natural knowledge and understanding could not read the writing, nor show the interpretation.
Belshazzar greeted Daniel in a way which can be called “gracious” and/or “haughty”. He showed awareness of his past but was not concerned with anything but his present problem. Daniel replied with courtesy and courage refusing the reward to show his integrity and placed himself in a better position to denounce the king. He slights the offer of rewards, for he is not one of those that divine for money. Daniel preached to Belshazzar giving him the exact cause of his ruin. His sin was the same as that of Nebuchadnezzar.
Six sins of Belshazzar:
1. Did not humble himself in his heart.
2. Did not profit by the dealings of God with his grandfather.
3. Exalted himself against God.
4. Desecrated the sanctified vessels of the house of God.
5. Praised idol gods.
6. Refused to glorify the true God who gives life to all.
5:17-19b: Then Daniel answered and said before the king “keep you gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. O king, the Most-High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. Because of the grandeur which he bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him…
He then recounts to the king God’s dealings with his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar. He describes the great dignity and power to which the divine Providence had advanced Nebuchadnezzar. His ability was so strong that it was irresistible. His authority was so absolute that it was uncontrollable.
5:22-25: Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. You have exalted yourself against the Lord of Heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking from them. You have worshipped gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone which do not see hear or understand. But the God in whose hands is your life-breath and your ways; you have not glorified.
Our dependence upon God is as our Creator, preserver, benefactor, owner, and ruler. From his hand was our breath at birth, and in his hand our breath is until we leave this earthly body. He holds our souls in life and if he takes away our breath, we die. We must glorify him, devote ourselves to his honor and serve Him. We have all sinned and have come short of the glory of God.
Daniel now proceeds to read the sentence, as he found it written upon the wall. “Then” says Daniel when you have come to such a height of impiety as to trample upon the most sacred things, then when you were in the midst of your sacrilegious idolatrous, feast, then was the part of the hand, the writing fingers, sent from him, from God. He sent them. “If this be from the finger of God, what would happen with His arm laid bare?” (M.H.)
Then the hand was sent from Him, and this inscription was written out. Now this is the inscription that was written: “Mene, Mene, Tekle, Upharsin”.
Mene, Mene – means numbered, numbered--- repeated for the sake of emphasis. “God has numbered your kingdom and it is finished.”
Tekel – means weighed. “You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting.”
Upharsin or Pharsin is the plural of Peres--- means division. “Your kingdom is split up and given to the Medes and Persians.”
5:29: 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.
Satisfied with the solution, despite the note of doom, Belshazzar repeated his promise to honor the interpreter. He was unaware he would not see the dawn. Very few in the day of trouble will receive the Word of Truth by the Holy Spirit of Truth. Daniel spoke to Belshazzar by the power of the Holy Spirit of Truth. Belshazzar received the word as the true translation of the unknown tongue. Belshazzar rewarded him according to his word, but Daniel did not exercise third rulership over Babylon due to the fact that the Medes and Persians took over the kingdom that very night. Thus, ended the kingdom of Babylon after holding Israel in captivity for 70 years (Jer. 25; Dan. 9:2).
Chains of gold around the neck indicated political dignity.
5:30-31: That same night, Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. So, Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.
Historical writers speak of Cyrus’ taking Babylon by surprise, with the assistance of two deserters that showed him the best way into the city. Now from the head of gold, we now descend to the breast and arms of silver. Darius the Mede took the kingdom in partnership with, and by the consent of Cyrus, who had conquered it. A Babylonian text gives the date October 12, 539 B.C. Greek writers tell how Persian forces eventually captured Babylon by diverting the Euphrates and wading up its bed through the massive defenses, taking the defenders by surprise as they feasted.
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries, Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, Tx.
Scripture from N.A.S. K.J.V; N.K.J.V.; Quotes from Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible; F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary, A. R. Millard; Matthew Henry’s Commentary. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I entered into their labors.