ARCHAEOLOGIST'S SPADE CONFIRMS BIBLE

The Bible comes out with flying colours whenever its historical details can be compared with archaeological discoveries. Sometimes however, there is no evidence to support a Bible story, so sceptics jump to the conclusion that the Bible is wrong. Take the case of 'The writing on the wall' story in the book of Daniel [Chapter 5].

We read that Belshazzar, king of Babylon, made a great feast for a thousand lords and drank wine from the sacred vessels brought by Nebuchadnezzar from the temple in Jerusalem. Soon there was a drunken orgy with his lords and ladies drinking wine and praising false gods. Suddenly fingers of a man's hand appeared near a candlestick and wrote some mysterious words on the wall. Belshazzar was terrified so at the Queen's suggestion Daniel was called to interpret the writing which meant, "You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting." That very night Belshazzar was killed and his kingdom passed to Darius the Mede.

The problem is that the name Belshazzar had not been unearthed by the archaeologist's spade! In 1850 a sceptic even wrote that Belshazzar was simply a figment of Daniel's imagination! But they had not caught up with Bible history! In 1854 several clay cylinders were dug up in southern Iraq. They were inscribed with a prayer for King Nabonidus and his eldest son Belshazzar! But there was still a problem. If Belshazzar was king, why did he offer Daniel the reward of being only the third ruler in the kingdom? [v16] The cylinders give the reason. For much of his reign king Nabonidus lived miles away in northern Arabia and "entrusted the kingship to Belshazzar." So Belshazzar was indeed king and the Bible's mention of, "the third ruler" shows its great accuracy and confirms we are all 'weighed and found wanting' and in need of God's forgiveness.