Page 127 - The Prophet-statesman a Drama of Daniel

oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high
God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all

this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the
vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy
concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and
gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God

in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then
was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.”

Before all of his favorites, before the lords and ladies of the court, habitually

sycophants of the king, the elderly prophet reviewed what most of them knew, and
thundered out his denunciation of Belshazzar as fearlessly as though he were talking
to a commoner. Every ear could hear his words.
“Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God

hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; Thou are weighed in the balances
and art found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and
Persians.

The alteration from the “Upharsin” as originally written, to the “Peres” which the
prophet employed in the interpretation, is greatly significant. It is the difference
between a future tense and a past-participle.

Unknown to any but the inspired prophet, that which THE HAND had written less
than two hours before, had already become an accomplished fact when Daniel
interpreted the mystic words. To save his face and redeem his promise, Belshazzar
ordered Daniel to be clothed in scarlet, a gold chain to be draped about his neck and a

proclamation to be issued concerning him that he should be third ruler in the kingdom,
lesser only than Nabunaid and Belshazzar. Daniel submitted under gentle protest.

But after being arrayed in all his royal apparel, he sought the first opportunity to

make his exit from that place of sin, and which he knew would soon be a place of
judgment. Down the corridors he moved with firm and even rapid step and out of the
great doors of the palace back to his humble abode. He barricaded the doors of his

house as best he could and doffed the royal regalia and laid it away. He knew he would
never wear it under Belshazzar’s regime again. He knew that the time had come for
the fulfillment of the dream of the great image, once forgotten by Nebuchadnezzar but
restored to him by the Revealer of Secrets-“Another kingdom shall arise after thee,
inferior to thee…” Though well over half a century had elapsed, the prophecy was as

vivid to him as the day he uttered it.