We are told that he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and
drank wine before them. In those days a feast would sometimes last for
six months in Eastern countries. How long this feast had been going on
we are not told, but in the midst of it, he "commanded to bring the
golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken
out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his
princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they
brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the
house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes,
his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and
praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood,
and of stone."
While this impious act was being committed, "in the same hour came
forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick
upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw
the part of the hand that wrote." We are not told at what hour of the
day or the night it happened. Perhaps it was midnight. Perhaps nearly
all the guests were more or less under the influence of drink; but
they were not so drunk but that they suddenly became sober as they saw
something that was supernatural--a handwriting on the wall, right over
the golden candlestick.
Every face turned deathly pale. "The king's countenance was changed,
and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were
loosed, and his knees smote one against another." In haste he sent for
his wisest men to come and read that handwriting on the wall. They
came in one after another, and tried to make it out; but they could
not interpret it. The king promised that whoever could read it should
be made the third ruler in the kingdom; that he should have gifts, and
that a gold chain should be put round his neck. But the wise men tried
in vain. The king was greatly troubled.
At last, in the midst of the consternation, the queen came in, and she
told the monarch, if he would only send for one who used to interpret
the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, he could read the writing and tell him
the interpretation thereof. So Daniel was sent for. He was very
familiar with it. He knew his Father's handwriting.
"This is the writing that was written, _Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin_.
This is the interpretation of the thing: _Mene_--God hath numbered thy
kingdom and finished it. _Tekel_--Thou art weighed in the balances,
and art found wanting. _Peres_--Thy kingdom is divided, and given to
the Medes and Persians."
If some one had told the king an hour before that the time had come
when he must step into the balances and be weighed, he would have
laughed at the thought. But the vital hour had come.
The weighing was soon over. The verdict was announced, and the
sentence carried out. "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the
Chaldeans slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom." Darius and
his army came marching down those streets. There was a clash of arms.
Shouts of war and victory rent the air. That night the king's blood
mingled with the wine of the banquet hall. Judgment came upon him
unexpectedly, suddenly: and probably ninety-nine out of every hundred
judgments come in this way. Death comes upon us unexpectedly; it comes
upon us suddenly.
Perhaps you say: "I hope Mr. Moody is not going to compare me with
that heathen king."
I tell you that a man who does evil in these Gospel days is far worse
than that king. We live in a land of Bibles. You can get the New
Testament for a nickel, and if you haven't got a nickel you can get it
for nothing. Many societies will be glad to give it to you free. We
live in the full blaze of Calvary. We live on this side of the cross,
but Belshazzar lived more than five hundred years on the other side.
He never heard of Jesus Christ. He never heard about the Son of God.
He never heard about God except, perhaps, in connection with his
father's remarkable vision. He probably had no portion of the Bible,
and if he had, probably he didn't believe it. He had no godly minister
to point him to the Lamb of God.
Don't tell me that you are better than that king. I believe that he
will rise in judgment and condemn many of us.
All this happened long centuries ago. Let us get down to this century,
to this year, to ourselves. We will come to the present time. Let us
imagine that now, while I am preaching, down come some balances from
the throne of God. They are fastened to the very throne itself. It is
a throne of equity, of justice. You and I must be weighed. I venture
to say this would be a very solemn audience. There would be no
trifling. There would be no indifference. No one would be thoughtless.
Some people have their own balances. A great many are making balances
to be weighed in. But after all we must be weighed in God's balances,
the balances of the sanctuary. It is a favorite thing with infidels to
set their own standard, to measure themselves by other people. But
that will not do in the Day of Judgment. Now we will use God's law as
a balance weight. When men find fault with the lives of professing
Christians, it is a tribute to the law of God.
"Tekel." It is a very short text. It is so short I am sure you will
remember it: and that is my object, just to get people to remember
God's own Word.