The King's Desperation and the Prophet's Authority Text: Daniel 5:13-16
Introduction: The Bankruptcy of Pagan Wisdom
We come now to a scene of high drama, a moment where two kingdoms collide in a Babylonian banquet hall. On the one hand, you have the kingdom of Belshazzar. It is a kingdom of gold and silver, of wine and women, of arrogant boasts and blasphemous revelry. It is a kingdom built on the sand of human pride, and the tide of God's judgment is coming in. On the other hand, you have the kingdom of God, represented by a single, elderly man, a prophet who has outlasted empires. Daniel represents a kingdom that cannot be shaken, a kingdom whose authority is absolute, and whose wisdom is ultimate.
The scene is one of stark contrasts. Belshazzar's party has come to a screeching halt. The music has stopped, the laughter has died, and the bravado has evaporated. A disembodied hand has written a message of doom on the palace wall, and the king's face is white with terror. He has summoned all the intellectual and spiritual firepower of Babylon, the wise men, the conjurers, the astrologers. These are the men with the PhDs from Babylon University, the experts, the talking heads. And they are utterly useless. They are struck dumb. Their wisdom is a sham, their power is a pretense, and their counsel is worthless. This is always the case when the wisdom of the world comes face to face with the Word of God. It is exposed as bankrupt foolishness.
So, in desperation, the king sends for the forgotten man, the prophet of the Most High God. The queen mother remembers him, this man Daniel, who had a reputation in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. And so Daniel, now an old man, is brought out of retirement, as it were, and ushered into the presence of a terrified king. What we are about to witness is not a negotiation between equals. It is a confrontation between a creature and the spokesman for his Creator. It is a demonstration of where true authority, true wisdom, and true power actually reside.
The Text
Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you. Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this writing and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message. But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will rule with power as the third ruler in the kingdom."
(Daniel 5:13-16 LSB)
The King's Interrogation (v. 13-14)
We begin with the king's opening words to Daniel:
"Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, 'Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.'" (Daniel 5:13-14)
Notice the king's posture here. Even in his terror, there is a hint of condescension. "Are you that Daniel... one of the exiles from Judah?" He identifies Daniel not by his character or his God, but by his status as a captive, a piece of political plunder brought from a conquered nation. Belshazzar is trying to establish the pecking order. "You are the exile; I am the king." He is reminding Daniel of his place. This is the way of the world. It always measures a man by his worldly credentials, his origins, his social standing.
But the king's fear forces him to acknowledge something more. He has heard the reports. This is not just any exile. In this man is "a spirit of the gods." The pagan mind cannot comprehend the Spirit of the one, true God, so he pluralizes it. He files Daniel's gift under a familiar pagan category. He is trying to fit the supernatural power of Jehovah into his idolatrous worldview. He speaks of "illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom." He sees the fruit, but he is utterly blind to the root. He acknowledges the power, but he cannot name the source. This is the best the world can do. It can see that there is something different, something powerful about a true man of God, but it cannot and will not confess the Lordship of the God who makes him so.
The Failure of Worldly Counsel (v. 15)
Belshazzar then confesses the utter impotence of his own trusted advisors.
"Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this writing and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message." (Daniel 5:15 LSB)
This is a crucial admission. The entire brain trust of the Babylonian empire, the men who were paid to have the answers, the purveyors of occultic and worldly wisdom, were rendered speechless. God did not write in some obscure, mystical language. He wrote in Aramaic, the language of the court. The problem was not one of literacy, but of spiritual blindness. They could see the letters, but they could not read the message. God's truth is not a puzzle to be solved by human ingenuity; it is a revelation to be received by humble faith.
This verse is a permanent monument to the failure of all godless intellectualism. Our modern world is filled with its own conjurers and wise men. They are in our universities, our halls of government, and our media outlets. They offer interpretations of reality, they diagnose the world's problems, and they propose their solutions. But because they refuse to begin with God, because they will not read the writing of His law and His gospel, they are always, ultimately, struck dumb. They can describe the symptoms of our cultural decay, but they cannot read the diagnosis of sin. They can see the shadows on the wall, but they cannot interpret the coming judgment.
The Desperate Bribe (v. 16)
Finally, the king makes his desperate offer, attempting to buy the wisdom he cannot find.
"But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will rule with power as the third ruler in the kingdom." (Daniel 5:16 LSB)
Belshazzar operates on the only principle he knows: bribery. He thinks God's wisdom is a commodity that can be purchased. He offers Daniel the trifecta of worldly success: honor (purple robes), wealth (a gold necklace), and power (third ruler in the kingdom). He is trying to hire God's prophet as a court consultant. He wants the interpretation, but he does not want the Interpreter. He wants the benefit of the truth without submitting to the authority of the truth.
This is the perennial temptation offered to the church. The world is always trying to bribe us. It says, "Tone down the hard parts of your message, make it more palatable, be a little less dogmatic, and we will give you a seat at the table. We will give you cultural influence, tax-exempt status, and a measure of respectability." The world wants to clothe the church in its purple, hang its gold around our necks, and make us a junior partner in its enterprises. It wants us to interpret the writing on the wall in a way that doesn't upset the party.
But as we will see, Daniel is not for sale. A true prophet of God cannot be bought, because he already serves a King whose riches are unsearchable and whose kingdom is everlasting. Daniel's authority does not come from a royal decree; it comes from the throne of Heaven. He does not need Belshazzar's purple because he is already clothed in the righteousness of God. He does not need Belshazzar's gold because he has treasures laid up where moth and rust do not destroy. And he does not need to be the third ruler in a doomed kingdom, because he is a citizen of a kingdom that will crush all other kingdoms and stand forever.
Conclusion: Whose Report Will You Believe?
This scene sets the stage for the thunderous proclamation of judgment that is to follow. But in these few verses, the lines are clearly drawn. On one side stands the terrified, godless king, surrounded by his failed experts, trying to use his wealth and power to manage a crisis that is utterly beyond his control. On the other side stands the calm, faithful prophet, a man whose citizenship is in heaven, and who possesses a wisdom that the world can neither understand nor purchase.
Every one of us is in this story. We are confronted daily by the babble of the world's wise men who cannot read the most important truths. They offer us their interpretations of life, of meaning, of morality, of the future. And like Belshazzar, the world will try to entice us to join their ranks, to wear their purple and their gold. It offers us power and prestige if we will only trim the Word of God to fit the fashion of the age.
But God has sent us a greater Daniel, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate interpreter of reality. He alone can read the writing of God's law and satisfy its demands. He alone can solve the difficult problem of our sin. The world tried to bribe Him with all the kingdoms of the world, and He refused. They clothed Him in a purple robe to mock Him, but He is the King of Kings. They offered Him the sour wine of their rebellion, but He offers us the new wine of the kingdom.
The choice before us is the same one that was before that banquet hall. Will we listen to the bankrupt wisdom of the conjurers, or will we listen to the authoritative Word of God? Will we accept the cheap trinkets of a doomed kingdom, or will we, like Daniel, stand firm in the service of the King whose kingdom will never end? The writing is on the wall for our civilization, just as it was for Babylon. The question is, who will you ask to read it?