The Writing on the Wall

Anybody ever use the term “The writing’s on the wall.” It’s interesting because it’s a common phrase, but my guess is there are many who have no idea it’s a biblical phrase, taken from Daniel chapter 5. Today we get this fascinating scene played out as we continue this series titles “The Unseen Realm.” Making our way through Daniel, we have done through the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, seen the account of several dreams interpreted, as well as the fiery furnace, and now see one of the most unique ways that God communicated throughout scripture.

Daniel 5:1–4 NLT

1 Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. 3 So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

We have taken the last couple of weeks, looking at King Nebuchadnezzar and his arc in relation to this God of the Hebrews. We ended chapter 4 with the king giving praise to God and having been humbled. And now we have Belshazzar, which most scholars agree is Nebuchadnezzars grandson, although the term “father” is used. It’s a generic term more relating to ancestry, like the Jews saying our father Abraham, or how we have the founding fathers. But for him it’s like none of that ever happened. And scripture is full of people experiencing things, and then their children or the next generation acting as if it never happened. And that’s not hard for us to imagine. How many of us have had parents that had encounters with God, and yet we grew up and it was like it wasn’t real until we had our own experience. Or on the other side of that, when we have our own children, all of us who are parents know that wevcannot force our faith on our children, regardless of how deeply we know the truth.

And so we see that playing out yet again with this king. Now it doesn’t say why exactly he decides this moment to go and take the stuff that have been taken from the temple, but for some reason he does. Now I’m sure there have been other moments where this king. Has set himself up above God, but there is clearly a line crossed when taking these things from the temple, and this is the moment that God’s hand, literally, is revealed.

Daniel 5:5–6 NLT

5 Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6 and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

One of the most powerful things about the book of Daniel is the variety of ways in which God gets these kings attention. But in this case, it wasn’t simply writing appearing, but that they see the actual fingers writing it.

Daniel 5:7 NLT

7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!”

Don’t let me quickly summarize this next little section. Like his father before him, the king called in all of the wise people of the land, and none of them can tell him what the writing means on the wall. So the queen, mother, tells her son about Daniel, whom she would’ve known because she would’ve been around. At this point, my guess is Daniel is older and perhaps he’s retired which is why he wasn’t called there in the first place. Who knows. But Daniel is brought in yet again, to not interpret a dream this time, but to interpret. Four words that everyone can see.

So Daniel comes in, the king explains the situation and gives the offer of wealth, as well as power, that he would be the third highest ruler in the land. No don’t you think that that would be a helpful role to have? To have a position of authority, in this situation. Daniel was made chief of the Wiseman and he accepted that position. But this is a different sort of position. A ruler ship. Perhaps Daniel could have thought well this is God giving you an opportunity, but for whatever reason he did not feel that way. And so this is what happens.

Daniel 5:17 NLT

17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means.

This is my take on it. The reward undermines what God is actually doing. Anybody can say something or do something for a reward, but throughout all of this, Daniel remains faithful to God, for no other sake than that relationship. God, has for whatever reason, chosen Daniel, for this task of interpretation several times over. And to use that gift to gain power, would be the same mindset that the Babylonians have.

Daniel 5:19–24 NLT

19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. 20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them. 22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.

Daniel is there. He was there when Nebuchadnezzar was at his highest, and he was there when he was brought low, and he was there when he was restored. Daniel is bold to say these things to the king. He knows that with these powerful men, at any point, they could lose their temper and kill him, but he consistently speaks the truth and rises to the call that God places on his life. And now we get to the meaning.

Daniel 5:25–28 NLT

25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean: Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. 27 Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. 28 Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

No other warnings. Proclamation. It’s interesting after reading about Nebuchadnezzar and the multiple chances he was given, to get to this passage and all we get is this one moment, and judgment is passed.

This is where we can pretty safely look at the context surrounding this. This king would have grown up knowing the stories. Knowing about what his father called the most high God. Growing up in a time when his father sent out a proclamation, declaring the God of the Hebrews, the most high God. Growing up in a time when this man Daniel would have been the head of the Wiseman. And yet it is clear that he walked away and turned his back on the most high God. We don’t read about moments like this in scripture and assume this is a first offense. What we are seeing and reading is the end of what we can pretty safely assume is a long string of events, with this desecration of the temple artifacts being a final straw. All of these people had daily lives, and we read about isolated incidents. I think that this is a good warning in our culture for those who grew up in the Faith. Those that saw an experience. The goodness of God, and spent time in the word of God, and then at the end of all that choose to turn their back on it. God knows our heart in our circumstances, which is why I believe that when people have grown up outside of this, and who have only experienced terrible evil, while there is perhaps more grace and compassion when it comes to how people view Jesus. But to grow up and then walk away entirely, even going so far as to go out of your way to desecrate, the things of God, is a very dangerous thing.

And God clearly is speaking directly to this Babylonian king. Nowhere else in scripture do we find anything quite like this, and the idea of being “weighed.” Up to now, there is a sacrificial system in which to atone for sin, and it’s other religions that have this idea of “good” outweighs “bad.” But I read this as God communicating in a way that will be instantly understood.

Daniel 5:29 NLT

29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel himself did not make a play for power, and yet God is still using him, and he is given more authority in this land. There is a big difference between people who desire power for power’s sake, and people who are given authority by God.

Daniel 5:30–31 NLT

30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

That was indeed the final straw. There appears to be no repentance in contrast to the previous chapter. And that very day this king was killed.

The Writing on the Wall

Every day, we have the chance to follow Jesus, remain apathetic, or be hostile. There is only one option that brings forgiveness and freedom. Repentance and submission. Turning toward Christ and making him ruler of our life. We keep seeing these great Babylonian kings and their response to the one true God, even in the face of literal writing on the wall. And it always comes down to our response, regardless of our station in life.

So yet again, we are faced with that questions. The writing’s on the wall. How do we respond?