THE 'MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN'
PROPHECY



mene, mina

The Daniel Chapter 5 Prophecy

tekel, shekel





MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN(PARSIN)



The prophecy is found in Daniel chapter 5 and the surface meaning of the
handwriting of God incident is provided in the verses Daniel 5:25-28.


     Dan   5:25  And this is the inscription that was written:

                         MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

            :26  This is the interpretation of each word.
                 MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished
                 it;
            :27  TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and
                 found wanting;
            :28  PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to
                 the Medes and Persians.


Most prophetic scriptures clearly portray a time dimension. This prophecy
cleverly hides its prophetic nature behind the narrative.     


To fully understand this prophecy it is necessary to look at the meanings of
the words. 


             MENE     -  'numbered' or 'mina'
                         Mina is a measure of money

             TEKEL    -  'weighed' or 'shekel'
                         Shekel is a unit of money

             UPHARSIN -  ie 'Parsin' (singular Peres (verse 28)),
                         Parsin - 'to divide (into many pieces)'
                         Peres  - 'to divide (once)'



As can be seen the words 'mene' and 'tekel' carry meanings which indicate
a monetary value. (As a result of this observation many have felt the word
'upharsin' should likewise be understood as 'half mene' or 'half shekel'.
However, in this prophecy it is not necessary to render a monetary unit
to the word 'upharsin'.)  



To determine the time periods being suggested it is only necessary to
follow the instructions of the prophecy.



         NUMBER            

         NUMBER            

         WEIGH             

         DIVIDE            




Number twice by weight and divide!


In other words:    Number the 'mene' twice by shekel weight
                   and then divide into many pieces.


Conveniently a single text found in a prophetic book provides the critical
information.


    Ezek  45:10  You shall have just balances, ...

            :12  The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;
                 twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels,
                 and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.


This verse is commonly thought to be suggesting the mina of the sanctuary
was composed of 60 shekels. However, this view fails to explain why the
verse breaks the apparent 60 shekels into twenty, twenty-five and fifteen
shekels.


There have been a number of theories which have attempted to explain the
text and different renderings have been suggested.


A more literal rendering of the later portion of this verse yields the
following.



    Ezek  45:12  ... twenty shekels five and twenty shekels
                 ten and five shekel shall be your mina.


This can provide the rendering.


    Ezek  45:12  ... twenty shekels by five and
                 twenty shekels by ten and five,
                 shekel shall be your mina.


In other words:    '100'(20x5) and '300'(20x15) shekel
                   shall be your mina!



Now, notice the New Testament presentation of the mina by weight.


  1)  John  19:39  And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night,
                   also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh an aloes,
                   about a hundred pound(mina - Strong's 3046).


  2)  John  12:3   Then Mary took a pound(mina - Strong's 3046) of
                   very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet
                   of Jesus, ...
              :5   "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 
                   three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"   

                 
  [In both cases we encounter a mina weight, the first reference is
   associated with the number 100 and the second with the number 300.]  
    

GOLD - 100 SHEKELS PER MINA

The following verses although not conclusive on their own (the word
'shekels' not being found in the original Hebrew) do suggest this
conclusion.  

      1 Kin 10:17  He also made three hundred shields of hammered
                   gold; three mina of gold went into each shield.
                   And the king put them in the House of the Forest
                   of Lebanon.

      2 Chr  9:16  He also made three hundred shields of hammered
                   gold; three hundred shekels of gold went into
                   each shield. The king put them in the House of
                   the Forest of Lebanon.   


SILVER - 200 & 300 SHEKELS PER MINA

There are two types of silver shekel!  The shekel of the sanctuary is
the lighter of the two, 300 of these shekels compose a mina. Only 200
of the heavier shekel of the merchants/king are required to weigh a mina. 

The relative value and weight of the two silver shekels is reflected in
these verses.

HEAVY SILVER SHEKEL

       Neh   10:32  Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact
                    from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for
                    the service of the house of God.

LIGHT SILVER SHEKEL

       Exod  30:13  This is what everyone among those who are numbered
                    shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel
                    of the sanctuary ...
               :16  And you shall take the atonement money of the
                    children of Israel, and shall appoint it for
                    the service of the tabernacle of meeting, ...       



The presence of these two different shekels is reflected in Ezek 45:12
by the narrative 'twenty shekels ten and five'. 

              20 shekels by ten          = 200 shekels

              20 shekels by (ten + five) = 300 shekels 



The ongoing use of the number '20' in Ezek 45:12 draws attention to the
fact that a shekel of the sanctuary, whether it be of gold or silver,
has a weight equivalent to twenty gerahs.


    Ezek  45:12  The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; ...

    Lev   27:25  And all your valuations shall be according
                 to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs
                 to the shekel.



With this understanding it is now possible to derive the periods of time
being prophesied by the handwriting on the wall.


   NUMBER ONCE  (GOLD)

     - 100 shekels divided into gerahs(20 per shekel) = 2,000 gerahs

                               ie  2,000 years!            


   NUMBER TWICE  (SILVER)

     - 300 shekels divided into gerahs(20 per shekel) = 6,000 gerahs

                               ie  6,000 years!




These periods are counted backwards from the close of the age of man.


        ** 100 Shekels **          ** 300 Shekels **
              GOLD                      SILVER   

                                          -  6,000 yrs  (20x(10+5))  
                                          |  (Adam & Eve)
                                          |
                                          |
                                          -  4,000 yrs  (20x10) 
                                          |  (Abraham called)
                                          |
                -  2,010 yrs              |
                |  (Pentecost)            |
                |                         |
                |                         |
                -  10 yrs                 |
                   (Tribulation)          -  0 
                                             (Kingdom of God)



These periods of time are a predetermined warning!

    


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