King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. – Daniel 5:1

Today's Scripture Reading (August 7, 2020): Daniel 5

Edward Gibbon, in "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," writes that "they soon experienced, that those who refuse the sword must renounce the sceptre." The idea seemed to be that those who ruled over the land must also be willing to fight for the nation. It is a concept that has found its way down through history. In many cultures, kings and leading politicians have all spent some time, even if just nominally, in the military of the nation. If you were willing to defend the country as a soldier, then maybe you would be less likely to betray it as its leader.  

Daniel's comment here of "Belshazzar the King" has confused historians. For a long time, there was no evidence that Belshazzar, the oldest son of King Nabonidus, ever reigned as King himself. Historically, the decline of the Babylonian Empire went like this. At the height of the Empire, Babylon was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar II for forty-three years. After Nebuchadnezzar, his son Amel-Marduk incompetently reigned over the Empire for two years before he was assassinated by his brother-in-law Neriglissar.

Neriglissar reigned for four years and died of natural causes. His son, Labashi-Marduk, replaced him on the throne, but he was only a child at the time. He reigned for only nine months before he was beaten to death by a gang who had conspired to take the throne. This band of conspirators set Nabonidus as the King over the Empire, and he would be the last monarch to rule over the Empire. Belshazzar was his son.

Late evidence points toward the fact that at the end of the reign of Nabonidus, he co-reigned with his son, Belshazzar. But maybe what is most significant about the reign of Nabonidus and Belshazzar is this scene which Daniel describes at the end of the Empire. Likely, Nabonidus was not in Babylon at this moment when the city was about to fall. Nabonidus was out fighting against the forces that had attacked his Empire. The Medo-Persian army may have already captured him. But he had placed himself in harm's way to try and save his Empire. However, Daniel says that Belshazzar, the King, at this incredibly important moment, threw a party, drinking wine with the nobles of the country, apparently unwilling to stand to defend either the city or the Empire over which he desired to rule.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 6