Balshazzar’s Mother

King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of her lords. In order to impress his guests, he decided to serve the wine in gold and silver goblets his father had taken out of Jerusalem’s temple. They were having a wild time drinking and praising the gods of gold, silver, iron, wood, and stone, but then something strange happened.

The fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the wall of the king’s palace. The king was terrified. He called in all the wise men of Babylon and promised a great reward to whoever could read and interpret the writing on the wall. Unfortunately, none of them had a clue what it meant. The king was even more alarmed.

Then the queen mother came into the banquet hall and told him who to call.

“There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” (Daniel 5:11-12)

Though others had forgotten Daniel, this Babylonian queen had not. She knew that he had something the magicians and astrologers lacked. She may not have understood Daniel nor known much about his God, but she knew he was the one to call in time of trouble. 

Read about Belshazzar’s mother: Daniel 5:1-23

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