13Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king answering and saying to Daniel, “You [are] him Daniel who from the sons of the exiles of Judah whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14I have heard upon you that [the] spirit of [the] gods [is] in you and illumination and insight and wisdom extraordinary are found in you. 15And now, before me were brought in the wise men [and] the conjurers that this writing they might read and the meaning of it to make known to me and not ones able to declare the meaning of the word, 16and I have heard upon you that you are able meanings to interpret and problems to solve. Now, if you are able the writing to read and its meaning to declare to me, [with] purple you will be clothed and the necklace of gold upon your neck and third in the kingdom you will rule.”
For whatever it’s worth, I think Belshazzar is lying. He’s acting like he has no idea who Daniel is. What he says about him here is almost word for word exactly repeating what Nitocris told him—as if that is his only source of knowledge concerning this Daniel. I strongly suspect rather his problem is he knows the apparition is a judgment for desecrating the temple vessels from Jerusalem. His boisterous insolence had been very directly intended as a mockery against the God of the Jewish people, and he knows it, and so does everyone else in the room. Yet, here he is asking one of those very Jews to interpret it for him.
When Nitocris advised Belshazzar to call for Daniel, everyone in the room knew who she was talking about. Everyone in the room knew he was one of the Jewish exiles. Even the fact that she calls him Daniel (his Jewish name) reinforced the obvious connection between him and the Jewish temple vessels they had all just desecrated. All of this has created a situation where they all are more than happy to join Belshazzar in this ridiculous pretense that “no one knows this Daniel guy.” No doubt that under such a wicked, profligate sovereign Daniel has been ignored and obscured, but I refuse to believe the Babylonian people (and especially the Babylonian court) have forgotten him. People don’t soon forget such dramatic events as Daniel’s previous interpretations of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams or the whole affair of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s deliverance from the fiery furnace.
Also, note, later in chapter 8:1,27, we read, “In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision…then I got up and went about the king’s business…” Here we have Daniel “going about the king’s business” in the third year of his reign. I suppose someone could suggest that Daniel could have done “the king’s business” without necessarily interacting with the king himself, but I think, once again, the more obvious explanation here is simply that Belshazzar is lying. He knows very well who Daniel is, and so does everyone else.
However, just like today, if it serves their purpose, people will all join in a common and sudden pretense of amnesia. It’s the same idea behind the old children’s fable of “the emperor’s new clothes.” In a sense, what has shocked me as an adult was to realize that wasn’t just a silly “children’s fable.” It is a depiction of what people are more than ready to do, if it is what we today call “politically correct.”
Anyone who works and lives in the real world is intimately familiar with this little charade our lost world loves to play. I remember seeing this early in my career. In that case, the company kept records of how much corn they processed every day. They called it the “Grind.” One particular night, they wanted to set a new “record,” so they just left the meter running for an hour or two after midnight. The next day, the plant was all abuzz with this amazing new “record” we’d set. The company had to bring in cake and hand out hats and turned it all into a big celebration. However, the joke was that everyone knew exactly what they’d done. Everyone knew it was all a lie. But then, hey, if the company wants to serve me cake and give me a hat, I’m all in, right?
Then another time, they announced they were installing new “energy efficient” motors all through the plant. That was a huge deal as there were motors everywhere one looked in that large expansive production facility. One day I passed one of the maintenance guys changing out a motor. Trying to infuse a little positivity, I remarked to the man, “It’s a lot of work, but if it really does save energy, that will be great!” He glumly replied, “Whether it does or it doesn’t, they’ll say it did.” The man was himself probably around 60 by that time and an excellent worker, but he’d been around long enough, he knew the games they played.
Now here I am, some 40 years later watching all the same games. Frankly, I find it all sickening. Maybe it’s because I’m an engineer and my whole career is built on truth. Engineering is nothing more than applied science—taking the laws of science and turning them into useful products and services to accomplish various tasks. The key to us is that, in our world, it had better work! There is no place for lying to each other, then pretending we succeeded. The pump either works or it doesn’t. On the other hand, maybe it’s because I am a believer, constantly studying the Bible and trying to build my whole life on truth. It is an almost constant affliction to live in this swirl of blatant lies and politically correct chicanery.
The little game Belshazzar is playing here is nothing new, nor should it come as any surprise to anyone who knows their Bible and is trying to live and work for the Lord in this twisted, evil world. One can only imagine how hard it has been for Daniel. He is now probably 80-90 years old, so he’s “seen it all.” What should encourage the rest of us, however, is to realize he did it. Daniel did it. He managed to live his entire life and career as a servant of the Most High God, even in the same fallacious world you and I must live in today.
Though you and I must live and work in this swirl of lies, and though we see through them and they sicken us, yet we, like Daniel, can go on being faithful, speaking the truth, sincerely trying to do good to the people God has called us to serve. Though Daniel is completely aware of the charade Belshazzar (and the whole crowd) is playing, yet, when they call for him, he comes. There is our Daniel, standing in the court of Babylon, with a king lying to his face, and yet here he stands—humble, faithful servant who everyone knows will tell them nothing but the truth. Here he stands amongst a people who have belligerently mocked his God, yet here he stands, ready to serve.
As always, our Daniel provides you and me with an example well worthy of our emulation, though we live some 2,600 years and half way around the world from him. May we all learn well from him!
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