From Splendor to Shadow

God's Restraining Hand Removed

In that last night of mad folly Belshazzar and his lords had filled up the measure of the guilt of the Chaldean kingdom. No longer could God's restraining hand ward off the impending evil. “We would have healed Babylon,” God declared of those whose judgment was now reaching unto heaven, “but she is not healed.” Jeremiah 51:9. God had at last found it necessary to pass the irrevocable sentence. Belshazzar's kingdom was to pass into other hands. SS 275.3

As the prophet ceased speaking, the king commanded that he be awarded the promised honors. SS 275.4

More than a century before, Inspiration had foretold that “the night of ... pleasure” (Isaiah 21:4), during which king and counselors would blaspheme God, would suddenly be changed into a season of fear and destruction. And now, while still in the festal hall, the king is informed that “his city is taken” by the enemy. Jeremiah 51:31. Even while he and his nobles were drinking from the sacred vessels and praising their gods of silver and gold, the Medes and Persians, having turned the Euphrates out of its channel, were marching into the heart of the unguarded city. The army of Cyrus now stood under the walls of the palace. The city was filled with the soldiers of the enemy, “as many as locusts” (Verse 14, RSV), and their triumphant shouts could be heard above the despairing cries of the astonished revelers. SS 275.5

“In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain,” and an alien monarch sat upon the throne. SS 276.1