King Belshazzar was throwing a big party or feast to which he had invited a thousand of his lords (and ladies), when suddenly a hush fell on the crowd; something happened to bring the festivities to a halt. The king became frightened and his face grew pale, and his knees started shaking, and his legs became weak (Dan. 5:6 CEV). A frantic terror overcame him. There appeared on the wall of the palace three flaming words written by a bloodless hand (3BC, p 1170). This was the same bloodless hand that tore the temple veil from top to bottom when Christ died (5BC, p 1109). The three Aramaic words, MENE, TEKEL, PERES (or UPHARSIN) meant numbered, weighed, and divided. No one was able to decipher what they meant so they called for Daniel, and God enabled him to reveal the meanings. The king's days were numbered, he had been weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom would be divided.
"Weighed in the balances" is no doubt a metaphor, but it brings to my mind the analytical balances we used in chemistry lab. These consisted of two circular pans supported by a beam that was delicately balanced on a knife-edge fulcrum. A pointer extended down to a scale with a central zero mark. With equal weights on both pans, the beam would be level and the pointer would be on zero. If one pan had less weight, then that end of the beam would be higher, and that weight would be "found wanting." Weight is often confused with mass, but actually weight is a measure of the gravitational attraction or force on an object, and it can vary with altitude, or latitude. or geographical location. One would have a different weight when descending or ascending in an elevator, or floating in a pool, or orbiting the earth, or standing on the moon. According to Newton's third law of motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, if the earth is pulling on you, then you are pulling on the earth with an equal force, and the earth weighs just as much as you do.
Metaphorically speaking, king Belshazzar was "weighed" against a heavenly standard of character and performance and fell short. Just who was doing the weighing is not stated. Perhaps at that time there was some kind of heavenly court such as pictured in Job 1:6 when the "sons of God" met together. A similar metaphor is used to describe the spiritual condition of the paganistic Chaldeans who predated Israel's occupation of the promised land. They were said to have filled up their cup of iniquity. These words of doom condemn all those who oppose God's plan and neglect to appropriate His blessings. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him" (2 Cor. 5:10, NIV). On that divine balance we shall all be found wanting unless we accept the weight of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Only thus can we be certain that we will measure up to the heavenly standard when we are "weighed in the balances."
