BY DON LEO GARILVA
CTOBER 11, 539 B.C.,1 WAS A DAY like
any other. The sun rose, enfolding the air with its soft brilliance. I imagine
the sky was clear, the morning clouds bursting into golden flames.
Yet in another sense that day was unlike any other, for it wrote "finis"
to one empire and gave birth to another. That day paved the ground for a new
way of living, a new way of doing, a new way of thinking. That day forever altered
the annals of ancient history.
The props and players for the day's event were all in place.
The grandeur and majesty of Babylon were about to be displayed in all their
glory. Babylon. The unrivaled political, economic, and religious juggernaut
of the day, the powerhouse of the ancient world. The golden kingdom, the most
affluent of all ancient empires.
A Case of False Security
The Bible describes Babylon as "the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower
of Chaldean culture" (Isa. 13:19, NLT). And as if to defy the invading
Medo-Persian army of Cyrus the Great, Belshazzar held a feast to show Babylon's
readiness, to flaunt Babylon's greatness. The feast was also to showcase Belshazzar's
prowess to rise above the fear of an impending invasion and Babylon's subsequent
conquest. The risk was calculated, the danger estimated. Lords and concubines
in, fear and anxiety out. The mirth and revelry without were as intoxicating
and delirious as were the wine and spirits imbibed within. If there were any
doubt about safety and security, it was drowned out in the frenzy of the hour.
For, after all, Babylon's walls were high, the city shielded further by the
deep waters of the Euphrates. Food was abundant. Nothing to worry about.
But Daniel, chapter 5, records the event of that fateful day:
the transfer from one empire to another, the change from one world order to
another, the shift from one mode of thinking to another, the switch from one
ideology to another. It was indeed a day like no other day in ancient history.
And there at the apex of one of antiquity's most infamous days stood two of
Babylon's most famous men—men whose famous names sounded almost identical:
Belshazzar and Belteshazzar.
Similar and Yet So Different
So here we have them: Belshazzar the king—young, powerful, revered by all;
and Daniel, renamed Belteshazzar by an earlier Babylonian king.
"Belteshazzar" was, indeed, a variant rendering of
the current king's own name. Belteshazzar the prophet was old, perhaps forgotten
by the new regime—and not invited to the celebrations. Belshazzar was the
captor; Belteshazzar was the captive. One man stood for defeat, destruction,
death. The other stood for victory, security, life. The first will go down in
history in ignominy and oblivion. The other will walk the halls of fame for
time and for eternity. Their choices in life would spell the difference, and
the day that had just dawned would reveal the consequences of their choices.
It's possible that King Nabonidus, Belshazzar's father,2
meant to make his son, the heir apparent to the throne, a namesake of Belteshazzar.
It's possible that when Nabonidus saw Daniel's godly life, his impeccable character,
that he was inspired to "christen" his firstborn son "Belshazzar"!
It's possible that in naming his son after the venerated prophet, Nabonidus
desired him to become a leader par excellence and develop a sterling character
like that of Daniel.
As a child, Belshazzar must have grown up having the rare privilege
of seeing the prophet up close, a leader worth following, a hero worth emulating.
But the sad fact is, Belshazzar didn't follow; Belshazzar didn't emulate. He
turned while the prophet taught, he danced while the prophet dreamed, he reveled
while the prophet wrote.
Belshazzar leaned on Bel, the chief god of Babylon, instead
of learning of El, the God of Daniel and the supreme God of the universe. Belshazzar
the king chose a route littered with pomp and riotous living, a route far different
from that of his namesake. Had Belshazzar chosen otherwise, the day that dawned
could have been different, could have been one of victory.
His God Could Not Cut It
The name Belshazzar (meaning "Bel has protected the king [ship]")3
is in fact a prayer to Bel, the chief of the Babylonian deity, to protect the
king's life. How paradoxical, then, that Bel could not protect his life and
his tragic end. About this bankruptcy of Babylon's idols the prophet Isaiah
says: "The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away. . . .
The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods"
(Isa. 46:1, 2, NLT).
Daniel's name, on the other hand, is an affirmation that El,
the God of all gods, was his judge. Daniel means, "El is my judge,"
"God is my judge."
Arthur Keough aptly portrays the last day of Babylon with these
words: "It presents a sad story of indulgence when there should have been
watchfulness; of drinking when there should have been sober contemplation of
the seriousness of the times; and of impiety when there should have been the
greatest need to call upon God's help."4
Daniel 5:13-28 records the meeting between Belshazzar and Belteshazzar
for the first time (evidently), the last time, and the only time. One a profile
of fear and terror, of knees knocking together and of legs giving way (verse
6). The other a posture of complete confidence in a God who "ruleth in
the kingdom of men" (Dan. 4:25), a God who has promised, "Never will
I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb. 13:5, NIV).
I would like to propose that that eventful meeting between Belshazzar
and Belteshazzar is a forerunner of the meeting between the wicked and the righteous
at Christ's coming—both before and after the millennium. Belshazzar fits
the description of the wicked: drunken, fearful, unprepared. Belteshazzar is
a type of the righteous: sober, confident, and vigilant.
Specifically, their meeting prefigures the executive judgment to come in earth's
final hours. In that meeting, all the wicked from all ages and all the righteous
from all ages will meet for the first time, the last time, and the only
time. As Babylon's existence as an earthly kingdom came to an end that fateful
night, so Babylon as a type of God's enemies will finally be annihilated in
the end. Salvation for one group, damnation for the other.
Two Men, Two Destinies
Two lives, two worlds. Two men, two destinies. Two lives so close physically,
yet spiritually so far apart. Two men with almost identical names, and yet very
much different. One life a sad lesson of arrogance and independence from God,
the other a shining example of total dependence.
The Bible records the verdict on Belshazzar the king and the
reward of Belteshazzar the prophet: "That very night Belshazzar,
king of the Babylonians, was slain" (Dan. 5:30, NIV). What a sad commentary
on a life that could have been!
As regards Belteshazzar, the record says: "As for you [Daniel],
go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you
will rise to receive your allotted inheritance" (Dan. 12:13, NIV). What
a glorious promise for a man found faithful to the very end!
Tragic end or blessed destiny, death or life, the choice is
ours—as vital as it is urgent, and intensely personal.
That choice will decide your destiny and mine.
"Today I have given you the choice between life and death,
between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice
you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might
live!" (Deut. 30:19, NLT).
Were Belshazzar to narrate his life, he'd probably give us an
account of his feasts, a record of his fears, and a litany of his failures.
But were Daniel able to speak, his person would impress us, his passion would
inspire us, his predictions would encourage us.
_________________________
1 Leslie Hardinge, Jesus Is My Judge, American Cassette
Ministries Book Division (Harrisburg, Pa.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1996),
p. 63.
2 The references to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5 as the father of Belshazzar derive
from the Semite practice in which "father" stood frequently for "grandfather"
or "ancestor" (see Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary,
sv. "Belshazzar").
3 D. J. Wiseman, "Belshazzar," New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed.,
I. Howard Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman, eds. (Downers
Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996), pp. 127, 128.
4 G. Arthur Keough, God and Our Destiny, Leo R. Van Dolson, ed., Adult
Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Aids (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press Pub. Assn.,
1986), pp. 69, 70.
_________________________
Don Leo Garilva is the dean of the School of Theology at Mountain View College
in Valencia City, Philippines.
