The phrase “mene mene tekel upharsin” is found in Daniel 5 in the Old Testament. It’s an intriguing phrase that has significant meaning. Let’s explore what the Bible says about this cryptic saying.
The Background Story
In Daniel 5, King Belshazzar of Babylon held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles. At this banquet, the king and his guests drank wine from the gold and silver vessels that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem. As they drank, they praised their idols of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone (Daniel 5:1-4).
Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the king’s palace wall. Belshazzar watched the hand as it wrote. The Bible says that his face turned pale and he became so frightened that his hips went weak and his knees knocked together (Daniel 5:5-6).
Despite his fear, Belshazzar still wanted to know the meaning of the strange writing on the wall. So he called for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to come interpret it. But none of them could explain the meaning of the words (Daniel 5:7-9).
This is where Daniel enters the story. He was brought before Belshazzar to see if he could interpret the writing. Daniel reminded the king that his father Nebuchadnezzar had become arrogant and prideful. But when Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself before God, his sanity was restored. In contrast, Belshazzar knew all this yet had not humbled his heart. Daniel rebuked him for praising false gods and drinking from the vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem (Daniel 5:17-23).
The Four Cryptic Words
After laying out this background, Daniel interpreted the four words written on the wall:
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin
He explained to King Belshazzar that these words have the following meanings:
Mene – God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
Tekel – You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.
Parsin – Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
That very night, King Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two (Daniel 5:24-31). The strange writing on the wall foretold the end of Babylon. God’s judgment came upon Belshazzar for his pride, idolatry and desecration of the holy vessels from the temple. The four cryptic words signified the fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians.
A Message of Judgment
The phrase “mene mene tekel upharsin” communicates a sobering warning. In the immediate context, it signified God’s judgment against Belshazzar personally. More broadly, it foretold the judgment coming upon the Babylonian empire for its wickedness and defiance of God.
There are some key themes interwoven in this intriguing phrase:
- God is sovereign over the nations and rulers.
- He evaluates every person’s life and deeds.
- No one escapes His moral scrutiny.
- Pride, idolatry and defiance of God bring judgment.
- Even the mightiest empires are judged by God’s standards.
This mysterious writing on the wall reminds us that we are accountable before God. He weighs our hearts and actions. For Belshazzar, “tekel” meant he had been found wanting, his life not measuring up to God’s standards. The moral scales were tipped against him.
The message remains relevant today as a sobering reminder. God judges sin and rebels against His rule. The rise and fall of nations are in His hands. Even the most powerful rulers on earth cannot escape accountability before the throne of the Lord.
The Immutability of God’s Decrees
Another key truth in this passage is the immutability of God’s decrees. His purposes can’t be thwarted. What He declares will certainly come to pass. As Isaiah 46:9-10 declares, God is God and there is no other. He makes known the end from the beginning. His purposes will stand. His good pleasure He will do.
When that hand wrote on the wall at Belshazzar’s banquet, it represented the hand of God sealing the nation’s fate. Babylon’s days were numbered because the Lord had so determined it would be. No human schemes or power can override His sovereign plan.
Daniel conveyed this truth to Belshazzar, making it clear that he had been weighed and judged by the Lord Himself. The kingdom would be divided and given over to the Medes and Persians because God Almighty had so decreed it. The writing was on the wall – literally! God’s purposes would come to pass without delay.
A Lesson in Humility
The events in Daniel 5 provide a sobering lesson in humility for all who read the account. Nebuchadnezzar learned this lesson the hard way. His pride caused him to descend into madness for seven years, before he finally acknowledged God’s sovereignty (Daniel 4:28-37). In contrast, Belshazzar stubbornly refused to humble himself before the Lord. The consequences were swift and severe.
Pride blinds us to reality and hardens the heart against God. But recognizing our frailty and finiteness cultivates humility before the Lord. Our lives are in His hands. We must lean wholly on Him, not our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Otherwise, we are easily deceived.
When the fearsome warning appeared at Belshazzar’s banquet, no one but Daniel could interpret it. Why? Because a humble heart before God gives insight, while pride breeds only blindness. Daniel’s reliance on the Lord enabled him to understand the meaning that eluded all the king’s enchanters and astrologers.
The remarkable incident in Daniel 5 teaches a poignant lesson. May we have ears to hear what the Spirit says to us through this passage! Our strength is not in ourselves, but in humbly depending on the Lord our God.
An Affront to Holiness
Belshazzar’s defiant use of the holy vessels from God’s temple provides another key point of application. Rather than using the goblets and bowls with reverence to honor the Lord, he desecrated them to exalt his idols and glorify himself. In essence, Belshazzar took what was sacred and used it in a profane manner.
This action displayed irreverence toward the holy God the vessels were dedicated to. It points to a lack of fear of the Lord and sense of awe before Him. Belshazzar had no regard for the holiness of these special temple artifacts.
In our day, we must guard against being flippant toward what God has declared holy. All that pertains to the realm of worship must be handled with care and reverence by God’s people today, including the Lord’s Table and baptism (1 Corinthians 11:27-29, Hebrews 12:28-29).
When we treat lightly what God calls holy, it reveals a heart issue that must be addressed. Like Belshazzar, we may be blind to areas of irreverence that the Lord sees clearly and takes very seriously.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). As we grow in awed reverence of His surpassing holiness, we gain insight into what truly honors Him. And we become more sensitive to attitudes and actions that betray a lack of reverence for our holy God.
The Folly of Idolatry
Another important theme highlighted in Daniel 5 is the folly of idolatry. Scripture is replete with warnings against this grave sin that profoundly dishonors the Lord. Idolatry essentially exchanges the glory of the immortal God for images of created things (Romans 1:23). Jeremiah speaks scathingly of those who worship idols fashioned by human hands from wood, stone and metal (Jeremiah 10:1-16). Idols have no life in them; trusting in them is futile. Yet incredibly, people give their hearts to these impotent objects while forsaking the true and living God!
Belshazzar’s praise of the Babylonian gods displays the blindness of idolatry. While drinking from vessels dedicated to the Lord’s glory, he exalted lifeless idols of gold, silver and stone. What tragic irony! What foolishness to revere manmade images while scorning the glory of the eternal King who reigns over all!
Scripture gives this urgent warning: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). An idol is anything that usurps the place of God in our affections. In our hearts we must guard against idolatry, being careful to keep the Lord in His rightful place of preeminence.
The “handwriting on the wall” episode contains a sobering message for every generation. There are serious consequences for pride, irreverence, idolatry, and defiance of God. While His patience is great, God will not leave sin unjudged forever. All people and nations will be called to account on the day of reckoning.
Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy
The fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians was a notable fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Through His servants the prophets, God revealed key events that would take place centuries later. Specific details were given concerning Babylon’s overthrow by the Medes and Persians.
For example:
– Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 mention Cyrus by name and predicted he would subdue nations before him.
– Isaiah 13:17-19 foretells that the Medes would attack and plunder Babylon.
– Jeremiah 51 gives extensive prophecies of Babylon’s downfall. Verse 11 specifically names the Medes as those who devise plans against Babylon.
The book of Daniel itself contains dreams and visions revealing the succession of kingdoms from Babylon to Medo-Persia to Greece to Rome (Daniel 2, 7). The interpretation of the handwriting on the wall aligned perfectly with these earlier prophecies – God’s word through the prophets came to pass just as He had foretold.
Fulfilled prophecy powerfully confirms the truth and authority of Scripture. God reveals the end from the beginning because He alone is God, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done (Isaiah 46:9-10). Prophecy fulfillment builds faith that the words of the Lord endure forever and all His promises prove trustworthy and true.
God Rules the Nations
The dramatic scene in Daniel 5 highlights a central biblical truth: God sovereignly rules over the kingdoms of this world. The Most High is Ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes (Daniel 4:17, 25). No empire or monarch operates independently of the Creator’s rule and reign.
In Daniel 5 God makes clear that Babylon’s days are numbered because He has numbered them. Judgment comes because the Almighty has so purposed it. The kingdom passes to the Medes and Persians because God ordained it to be so. His will cannot be thwarted; there are no limits to His sovereignty!
Through this vivid episode, Scripture reminds us that God presides over the fate of nations. He transfers dominion from one kingdom to the next according to His divine timetable. Earthly rulers have only delegated authority from the throne of the Lord Most High.
How desperately we need this perspective today when the geopolitical landscape seems chaotic! World events are not spinning out of control. God remains on His eternal throne, sovereign over every human government. Even in times of tumult, we can rest secure in the promise that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 4:32).
God Judges According to Truth
A final insight from Daniel 5 is that God judges everything by the standard of truth. When Belshazzar was weighed in the balances, he was found wanting because his life did not line up with truth. He rejected the truth of God’s word, given through prophets like Daniel, and instead believed lies and worshipped false gods.
Because Belshazzar defied the truth, his days were numbered. In the same way, when the Antichrist is thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the age, Scripture says it is because he did not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
As these examples illustrate, truth is of paramount importance to God. Jesus declared that God’s word is truth (John 17:17). Those who respond rightly to the truth find life, while those who reject truth perish.
May this sober realization cause us to love truth, believe truth, speak truth and walk according to God’s eternal truths revealed in Scripture. For the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word that was preached to you (1 Peter 1:25).