BELSHAZZAR

Belshazzar is described in the book of Daniel as the last great ruler of Babylonian Empire.
Belshazzar the King. Some claim that Daniel is in error when it says Belshazzar was king (Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:1
  1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.). In fact, Belshazzar was the son of King Nabonidus and Babylonian records indicate that his father was often away from Babylon and staying at the city of Tema. During these times Nabonidus entrusted the kingship to Belshazzar (from B.C. 553-539).
Belshazzar, Son of Nebuchadnezzar. Since Babylonian records say that Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus, critics claim the book of Daniel (5:15:1
  1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.) is wrong to call Nebuchadnezzar the father of Belshazzar. Yet, the term "son of" and "father" were often used of a person′s connection to a forefather (his mother is thought to be Nebuchadnezzar′s daughter).

Two of Daniel′s visions are mentioned as taking place during Belshazzar′s reign (Dan. 7,8). But the most memorable mention of Belshazzar is a very vivid story in Chapter 5. The king had made a feast for a thousand nobles. In Belshazzar′s revelry, he ordered his servants to bring the holy vessels that Nebuchadnezzar′s armies had taken from the Temple when Jerusalem was destroyed.

As they drank wine from these vessels in honor of their false gods, a hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall. Belshazzar′s face grew pale and his knees knocked as the ominous message was written: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." Daniel interpreted the strange words: "God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."

Even as Belshazzar had feasted with his thousand nobles, the Persian armies of Cyrus were nearing. When they arrived, the city put up no fight, and we are told actually opened the gates to the invaders. Daniel 5:30Daniel 5:30
  30. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. tells us that that same night Belshazzar was slain. Babylon had fallen just as Daniel had predicted.