THE BOOK OF DANIEL (Session 6B, Daniel 5:18-31; Class 12)
ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS, WINTER-SPRING, 2015
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL: BABYLONIA IS GIVEN TO MEDIA & PERSIA
By Jim Babcock
Church of the Redeemer, Bowie, MD 20715, March 22, 2015
 Our 2 Study Guide Books: LifeGuide: Daniel (abbreviated “LG”; library copies are available to guests, or can be
ordered) and A Deeper Look at Daniel (abbreviated “DL@D”; may be available or can be ordered; ask me).
 My Bibliography on Daniel is available on request.
 Timeline: this week we are all the way down to 539 BC, the fall of Babylon to Medo-Persia.
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600 597
590 586 580
570
560 556
550
540
605
N
a
b
Nebuchadnezzar
605-562 BC
15? 20?
30?
40? Daniel 50?
60?
Belshazzar
?553/2-539
70?
Cyrus
539-530
80?
 Opening Prayer.
 [LG 6; DL@D 6]. Session 6 continues this week with “The Handwriting—what was written—on
the Wall”. (Last week: “The Hand—in fact, a disembodied hand—writing on the banquet hall’s
wall.”)
 GROUP DISCUSSION: What one person has had the most influence of you? Has the influence
been negative or positive?
 Daniel Chapter 5 can be outlined in ten sections, in yet another “chiastic” (X-pattern)
A-B-C-D-E-E'-D'-C'-B'-A'—substantially adapted from Lucas’s Daniel, p. 124). This week D'-C'-B'-A'.
A Introduction (vv. 1-4)
B The omen appears (5-6)
C The wise men fail to read and explain
the words of the omen (7-9)
D The queen’s confidence that Daniel can
and will interpret the omen (10-12)
E The king seeks Daniel’s help, and
E'
D'
C'
B'
A'
promises rewards and 3rd place in the kingdom (13-16)
Daniel refuses the king’s offers (17)
Daniel rebukes the king (18-23)
Daniel vocalizes, reads and interprets the words (2428)
The king rewards Daniel’s success (29)
The conclusion: the fulfillment of the omen (30-31)—
transition from the gold to the silver kingdom (Dan 2:39).
1. To get the context, let’s start with v. 16. Let’s read Daniel 5:16-31, one volunteer aloud at a time,
an NIV paragraph at a time. Paragraphing in other translations may vary; notice how closely the
NIV paragraphs (or your translation’s, if different) do correspond (or don’t) to the verse references in
the A-B-C-D-E-E'-D'-C'-B'-A' analysis above.
2. [LG 6, #5; DL@D 6, Pt. 1 #5]. Daniel 5:18-23. Observation/Interpretation. What insights into the
nature of Belshazzar’s sins can you find in these verses?
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Daniel 5:18-31 (Class 12)
3. Research. Daniel 5:22-24. For those of you using A Deeper Look at Daniel, what discoveries did you
make in Session 6, PART 2, CONNECT Scripture to Scripture that you’d like to share regarding
REBUKING THE KING—OTHER EXAMPLES OF PROPHETS WHOM GOD SENT TO DO JUST THAT, p. 80f.?
4. Research. Daniel 5:18-22ff. Nebuchadnezzar … But you …! For those of you using A Deeper
Look at Daniel, what discoveries did you make in Session 6, PART 2, CONNECT Scripture to Scripture
that you’d like to share regarding RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD—STUDIES IN CONTRASTS, p. 81f.?
5. [LG 6, #7; DL@D 6, Pt. 1 #6]. Daniel 5:18-24. Application. How can Daniel’s words to Belshazzar
help us become more humble and thankful to God?
6. [DL@D 6, Pt. 4 #6]. Application. In what ways can the church, even our little church, play a prophetic
role in our culture as “the conscience of the king,” speaking God’s truth to our political, business, and
cultural leaders?
Should it? And what happens if we don’t agree what the prophetic role is?
7. [DL@D 6, Pt. 4 #1]. 4:23. Application. Daniel said to Belshazzar, “you have set yourself up against
the God of Heaven.” Think of some present-day examples of people who mock God by their words
or actions. Does God seem slow to judge their mockery?
How can you explain God’s “slowness”?
8. [DL@D 6, Pt. 4 #2]. 4:23, continued. Application. What might it look like today for a person to set
him/her-self up against the God of heaven—and what consequences can that person expect?
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9. [DL@D 6, Pt. 4 #4]. 4:23, continued. Application. Daniel believed that our lives were in God’s
hands. How does King Belshazzar reflect a different world view?
Which worldview is reflected in your actions or attitudes? Give an example to demonstrate whether
you tend to follow Daniel’s example or Belshazzar’s.
10. [Jim:]. 5:25. Observation. What did Daniel say that the 4 words on the wall were?
NOTE: KJV and some others have “upharsin” as the 4th word. But in Hebrew and Aramaic the
prefixed vowel û is just how the “and” is spelled if it occurs before a spirantized consonant like our
“f” or “ph” (as in phone); otherwise, it’s written “we-” (wuh-). So it is better just to omit the u and
leave only a series of 4 words. The only other accurate choices are these, but the “and” just confuses
the issue: mene mene tekel and parsin or this “mene,” “mene,” “tekel,” and “parsin.”
11. [Jim:]. 5:25. Observation. What did Daniel give as the interpretation of the 4 words on the wall?
mene
tekel
parsin
See the NIV (or your translation’s) footnotes to see what they tell you about the 4 words, which are
pretty confusing since they can be nouns, verbs, participles, and weights or amounts of money! See
the “Table of Weight and Measures”—the first page after Revelation 22 in the NIV translation.
mene
tekel
parsin
12. Research. For those of you using A Deeper Look at Daniel, what discoveries did you make in Session 6,
PART 2, CONNECT Scripture to Scripture that you’d like to share regarding WEIGHED IN THE
BALANCE (BELSHAZZAR WASN’T THE ONLY ONE; GOD WEIGHS OUR LIVES TOO!) p. 84.
13. Reading. For those of you using A Deeper Look at Daniel, what discoveries did you make in Session 6,
PART 3, REFLECTION that you’d like to share regarding MAKING CHOICES, pp. 85-87.
14. [LG 6, #8; DL@D 6, Pt. 1 #7]. Daniel 5:30. Interpretation. Why do you think Daniel emphasizes
that “that very night” the city of Babylon fell and Belshazzar was killed?
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Daniel 5:18-31 (Class 12)
15. [LG 6, #9; DL@D 6, Pt. 1 #8]. Daniel 5. Interpretation. How does this chapter demonstrate that
seventy years of life under Babylon’s influence had not broken down Daniel’s convictions? How does
it fulfill what was stated in Daniel 1:21?
16. [LG 6, #10; DL@D 6, Pt. 1 #9]. Daniel 5. Application. What can we learn from Daniel’s example
that will help us resist pressures to compromise our convictions?
17. [DL@D 6, Pt. 4 #7]. Application. Since Daniel 5 is “prophetic history”—an account that emphasizes
enduring principles—what abiding moral or spiritual lessons do you take home from this chapter?
18. Research. Comparing Daniel chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. For those of you using A Deeper Look at
Daniel, what discoveries did you make in Session 6, PART 2, CONNECT Scripture to Scripture that
you’d like to share regarding HERE WE GO AGAIN (SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES AMONG CHAPTERS
1-5), p. 78?
19. Research. For those of you using A Deeper Look at Daniel, what discoveries did you make in Session 6,
PART 2, CONNECT Scripture to Scripture that you’d like to share regarding VISIONS OF JUDGMENT—
TARGETS AND PROPHETS (PHARAOH & ABRAHAM. PHARAOH & JOSEPH. BALAK & BALAAM). p. 82f.

Closing. David’s Prayer from Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Amen.
ASSIGNMENT FOR CLASS 13
Daniel 6:1-16—THE 1ST PART OF SESSION 7—DANIEL AND THE LIONS’ DEN
LifeGuide, Session 6, questions ##1-5.
or A Deeper Look, Session 6, Part 1, ##1-5, Part 2— PRAYING TOWARD JERUSALEM THREE TIMES A
DAY, pp. 92-93. GOD’S LAW AND DARIUS’S LAW, p. 94. Skip: Part 3—REFLECT. Part 4 in class.
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