Between Daniel 4 and Daniel 5, much has happened in history. Nebuchadnezzar is no longer king. He died in 562 BC. His successor was Evil-Merodach (or: Amel-Marduk). He did not reign for more than two years. The successor of Evil-Merodach is Neriglissar. His reign lasted for three years. Neriglissar is succeeded by Labashi-Marduk who is assassinated after three months. And so we come to the year 556 BC. Then Nabonidus becomes king of the Babylonian Empire. At that time he is seventeen years old. He is officially the last king of the Babylonian Empire. After his reign, the Persians and the Medes take over. In Daniel 5 we read about the last days before the city of Babylon also falls completely into the hands of the Medes and Persians.

In this verse we read about King Belshazzar. If we look in the list of kings of the Babylonian Empire, we do not find the name Belshazzar. There the name of the last king is Nabonidus. How is this possible? Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus. During the reign of Nabonidus, this king penetrated into the south of Arabia with his army. He stayed for more than ten years and did not return to Babylon. One of the reasons for this was that he was actually no longer all that welcome there. Nabonidus no longer recognized the Babylonian gods Bel and Marduk as the most important gods. He had become more of a follower of the god Sin, the moon god who was worshipped there in the south. He felt more at home there, so he stayed. Officially Nabonidus was still the king of Babylon. The actual power was given to his son Belshazzar. He was the de facto king of the Babylonian Empire. In our chapter, this actual situation is shown.

The Medes and Persians have already conquered almost the entire Babylonian Empire at the time of which we read in Daniel 5. They have even already entered the city of Babylon. They have not yet taken control of the area surrounding the royal palace. Belshazzar is effectively trapped in his own palace. And yet he celebrates a great feast there. More than 1,000 important people of his court are with him. The wine from the royal cellars flows abundantly. It is extraordinary that we read that Belshazzar is among his servants. The Babylonian kings had the custom of celebrating a great feast in a separate room with a few intimates. King Belshazzar is laying aside some of his royal dignity here. In this predicament he prefers to celebrate with all the others. He wants to drown all the worries about tomorrow. He does not want to think about what will happen when the Medes and Persians invade his palace. Those worries need to be partied away. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we are to die.