"The Handwriting is on the Wall"

The Frog Who Thought He Could Fly

Once upon a time there was a frog who lived in the north and wanted to go south for the winter as the swans did. Each year that frog watched the swans fly south while he shivered in the snow and cold. Then he got an idea. He went to the swans and asked to go with them. "You can't fly!" they responded.

"I know," the frog said, "but I have a wonderful idea. Let me get a stick and if two of you will help me, I can go with you. Two of you could keep the ends of the stick in your beaks and I could hang on to the middle of the stick and get out of this miserable cold weather."

So two of his swan friends agreed to help and it worked beautifully for many miles. However as they were flying low over the farmlands of North Carolina, a farmer looked up and saw the frog holding onto the stick. "Look at that!" he shouted to a friend, "That's amazing! Wonder whose idea that was?"

The frog, quite proud of his incredible idea, opened his mouth to tell them. That's when he fell to his death.

"Pride and self-righteousness are the most dangerous places for a Christian to live."

Daniel 5:1–9 ESV

1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

The book of Daniel is largely concerned with the underlying spiritual battle that underlies history and comes to the surface in a dramatic way particularly in events of crucial significance to God’s Kingdom.

This will explain the abrupt way that Belshazzar appears in chapter 5 without introduction. There is no explanation of succession to the the throne of Babylon. This short term king appears and disappears in one short chapter, apparently with the sole purpose to further illustrate the sovereignty of God and His ability to pull down kings from their thrones.

Luke 1:52 ESV

52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;

The head scratcher to scholars who find no mention of Belshazzar in the sequence of Babylonian kings. There was however, a Belshazzar who - certainly from the point of the Jewish exiles - was king (v.1). Belshazzar is the eldest son of Nabonidus, and the last king of Babylon. Nabonidus sought to exalt the moon God, Sin, as the chief deity among the Babylonian pantheon, replacing Marduk.

Apparently Nabonidus set up his royal residence in Teiman, southeast of Edom, and for a decade left his son, Belshazzar, serving as regent. So unpopular was Nabonidus - and perhaps Belshazzar - seem to have been that when the city was later captured, the even was welcomed by the people of Babylon.

Belshazzar seems to have been virtually co-opted as monarch for practical purposes. Notice in verses 7, 16, and 29. Belshazzar offers not the second in command but the third place in the realm to anyone who can interpret the writing he has seen on the palace wall. (contrast with Joseph being exalted to the second place in the realm)

Note: Nebuchadnezzar is called the “father” of Belshazzar. It is widely recognized that in Scripture, and in the ancient near east generally, “father” denotes a variety of relationships - from natural fatherhood to simple ancestry, (the same way that the Jews referred to Abraham as their father).

What does this contribute to the unfolding of God’s sovereign dealing with us?

Belshazzar’s encounter with God stands in stark contrast with that of Nebuchadnezzar to whom God displayed such remarkable patience. Belshazzar was suddenly and swiftly cut off. The kingdom was dramatically taken from him.

The book of Proverbs speaks of the sudden judgement that is coming on the wicked: “His calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy” (Prov. 6:15).

This is a reminder that we dare not presume upon the grace that God has shown to others. To know that God is gracious and yet not turn from sin in the light of that grace is to fall under His righteous judgment.

19th Century philosopher G.W.F. Hegel

“The only thing we learn from history is that we have learned nothing from history”

Note: Belshazzar exhibited one of the ugliest sinful traits; he was unteachable.

Do you have a teachable Heart?

Apparently the record we read today of Belshazzar’s last few hours reveal that his city must have already been under siege when he threw “a great feast for a thousand of his Lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.”

Ancient authors who record the taking of Babylon, suggests that the city was magnificently well protected against a siege and had stores of food that would last for years. Belshazzar felt he could take pride in his security. He was doubtlessly ignorant of Isiah’s words concerning the ultimate humiliation of Babylon. Had he known there is little likelihood that he would have tempered his arrogance.

Big Idea: Have you come to your senses with a Heart of Repentance?

What does Belshazzar’s situation teach us about our sin and response to God?

1. God sees our sins

God see’s our sins when we mock the Glory of God

Have you ever asked yourself how many times you are photographed in a day? When you walk into the bank or return your cart to the corral in the parking lot, somewhere there is a camera marking your every move. Our world is full of blue lights on street corners and whirring cameras mounted on walls. Yet David tells us here in Psalm 139 that at every moment of the day, we are under a much higher scrutiny. He reveals that the secret to understanding ourselves is to know the God who knows us. We shouldn't be surprised

Isaiah 47:10–11 ESV

10 You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” 11 But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.

Note: There is no human wall so high or accomplishment so great that it is hidden from God’s Judgement.

Traits of the Babylonian Downfall

Secure in your wickedness

Wisdom and knowledge led you astray

Agents of the Babylonian Downfall

Evil will come that you you will not know how to charm.

Disaster will fall on you that you are not able to atone for.

Ruin will come upon you suddenly which you no nothing about.

*Sin awakens our conscience to the reality of God’s judgment

Note: There is no such thing as a secret sin before God. Psalm 139 tell us that he knows where we go when we lie down at night and when we rise up, he is acquainted with all our way’s. He is all around us - in front - and behind he hems us in. Where can I go from His presence, where can I run from Him?

My conscience has been taken captive by the Word of God, and to go against conscience or Scripture is neither right nor safe.

-Martin Luther

Cultural Context:

Today how is our world secure in their wickedness? How do people rely on their own wisdom and knowledge for the answers? How does disaster evil come in way’s that we cannot find answers for and before we know it our lives are completely wrecked and broken left in ruins.

How do many people imagine life after death to be like. Almost without exception many people imagine a life of comfort and pleasure. Without exception most people do not even mention the presence of God. They wanted a heaven that was Godless. This is most likely an indictment on their present state of Godlessness. If only one fraction of scripture is true, people are in for a rude awakening similar to what Belshazzar experience: “The king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. The king cried aloud...” (v. 6-7).

*Before a Downfall Man’s Heart is Proud

Belshazzar treated the things that God had made holy as common place utensils suitable for his own purposes. Belshazzar was in a drunken state of power on the world and all that he could enjoy from the world. Was this just an error in judgement or was it a calculated mocking of the God of the Jews. To call this as a party is putting it mildly this is animal house of the Babylonian world.

What may have started as a foolish act he decided to add blasphemy, mockery, idolatry, and sexual immorality to the list. No doubt Belshazzar wanted to make his banquet special, and the best way to do this was to make a spectacle of Judah’s God.

HOW DO WE TAKE WHAT GOD HAS MADE HOLY AND DESECRATE IT TODAY?

DESECRATION: desecration takes place when the holy is replaced by the profane and impure

Sacrilege: is irreverent toward a sacred person, place, or thing. Sacrilege occurs when someone purposefully and willfully misuses a consecrated object, desecrates a holy place, or speaks in an irreverent manner of something related to God or religion.

Forms of Sacrilege Today

Profaning of God’s Holy Name: We are commanded to not take the name of the Lord in vain or let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth which certainly includes using God’s name in an unworthy manner.

All Believers are being Built up into a Spiritual House: 1 Peter 2:5 tells us that we are being built up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood with Christ as the cornerstone. 1 Cor. 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells inside of you. Our culture today is vandalizing over and over the temple of God.

The Adoration of Icons or Relics: When we foster reverence towards physical objects such as praying to historical figures such as saints. Physical objects may have historical significance or meaning but they should never be knelt before, or sought out as a means of procuring our grace.

*Sin loves to hang out with its sidekick - Excuse

There is a great sorrow and sadness from not knowing our sin and owning our sin. We are all painfully aware of the deadly nature of sin, but we are often unaware of its subtle sidekick - the Excuse. The sidekick moves the seriousness of sin into the realm of shoulder shrug. “It was just a mistake on a tired night.” No big deal. Not my fault. And just like that, we downgrade our greatest offenses against God into something light and meaningless.

Instead of owning our sin, we excuse it. Instead of killing our sin, we explain it away. Our sin’s become nothing worse, on our minds, than kind of errors kids make playing soccer.

Remember Adam made the first excuse in the garden (Genesis 3:12 “The woman you gave me made me do it.”) Aaron left the blame for the golden calf on the people (Exodus 32:21-24). Saul tried to excuse his unlawful sacrifice on Samuel being late (1 Samuel 13:11-12).

Every excuse has a toxic formula called Apathy. Many of you here today have become apathetic towards your sins. Situations do not cause people to sin, we choose to sin.

2. God Confronts our Sins

God confronts our Sins and we should tremble when He does.

We read that Belshazzar was in a numbing state of drinking when he called for the vessels from the Lords house to be brought to him. Obviously he knew about the vessels and how they were taken by King Nebuchadnezzar. The divine intervention was an immediate response in a terrifying way.

Belshazzar is now totally detached from reality. Remember last week we talked about how sin is a form of insanity, because it keeps you from seeing reality, thus, making it impossible to determine what is real and what is a fantasy world.

Transformation of Belshazzar

Just moments before Belshazzar was proud, arrogant, and confident in himself. Now he is terrified, loosing color in his ghostly face, and looking for answers. Belshazzar follows the protocol that has been previously used to get answers,

1st He turned to the wisdom of the world. (Similar to peoples response today).

In the wisdom of the world it neither knows God nor understands his revelation.

1 Corinthians 1:21 ESV

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

*Confronting sin does not always bring repentance.

Awareness of the reality of our sins God’s judgement does not mean that a person is having a true conversion experience.

Johnathan Edwards

A work [of God’s grace] is not to be judged by any effects on the bodies of men; such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies of body, or the failing of bodily strength. The influence persons are under is not to be judged of one way or other by such effects on the body; and the reason is because the Scripture nowhere gives us any such rule. We cannot conclude that persons are under the influence of the true Spirit because we see such effects upon their bodies, because this is not given as a mark of the true Spirit…

I have seen countless people show an immense emotional reaction to the reality of God and His presence only to later have little or no evidence of true conversion. This could be much the same effects we read about in Hebrews 6 where the writer alludes to those who have appearances of experiencing God (tasting the goodness of God) but have fallen away from the faith.

Jesus Parable “The Rich Fool”

There was this wealthy land owner who produced plentiful crops, and he thought to himself what should I do, I have nowhere to store my crops so he tore down his barns and built bigger ones.

The man then said to himself I have plenty of good laid up for some time I will therefore, relax, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to Him fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who stores up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God.

Blinded by the pursuit of lust both the rich young ruler and Belshazzar are oblivious to the threat that lay at their doorstep.

IMMEDIATELY: Belshazzar came to his senses, probably set the record time for the fastest someone could sober up. verses 5-7 go from a break from reality to back to reality.

The same hand that wrote the ten commandments for the Hebrew people is now appearing to write Belshazzar’s doom.

Imagine being confronted with your sin by a Holy and omnipotent God. the same God that spoke the Universe into existence, the same God who parted the red sea, the same God that sent all the plagues on Egypt, the same God who cause the Catholicism flood to rain down on the earth, and the same God who now sustains and holds all life together.

Bill Murray on Being 'Ugly'

Inside Comic genius Bill Murray's made his mark on film from SNL and Groundhog Day, to quirky Wes Anderson flicks. But Murray, one of the most recognizable actors working today has failed to find lasting relationships. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Murray shares his underlying issue in confronting his difficulties with commitment. What keeps him from committing? "What stops [any of] us is we're kinda really ugly if we look really hard. We're not who we think we are. We're not as wonderful as we think we are.

Sin is ugly, inside and out. It does not matter how much you try to dress it up and make it look more appealing.

*We have a responsibility to Confront Sin

Note: Notice that Daniel has to take a minute before telling the king what the writing on the wall say’s. Daniel knows the implications of what he is about to share and how it will affect the kingdom.

Who are we to Judge

God confronts all sin in our lives.

We do not confront all sin in the world (your are not called to spend 18 hours a day policing the world of their sin behavior.)

It is those in the Church that we are to judge. (first how serious is the sin? Is the person in our sphere of influence?)

Galatians 6:1–2 ESV

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

We must insure that we do not have a log hanging out of our own eye. (Matthew 7:3 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brothers eye and not notice the log in your own.”)

Use Spiritual discernment and spiritual wisdom.

The queen, probably his mother comes in and addresses him in a formal manner, basically telling him to get a grip and then shares of someone who can help him in his panic.

“There is a man in the kingdom who has the spirit of the Holy Gods inside of him.” Daniel is brought in before the King, Belshazzar let’s him know about the rewards for interpreting the writing, however Daniel tells him to keep his rewards.

The most high God gave your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom with all the glory and privileges that went with it.

Nebuchadnezzar became arrogant and prideful so God took him down and caused him to live like a wild animal. God did this so that he would know that the most High God is ruler over all earthly kingdoms and will set up whoever he chooses to rule them.

He tells Belshazzar that he is just like him and should know better. You have mocked God with your idolatry and have not glorified God who holds your life and breath in His hand and controls the whole course of your life.

The Most High God has exposed your sin and weighed your evil actions and have found you wanting.

Daniel 5:24–30 ESV

24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.

3. God Exposes our Sins

God Exposes our sins and we are found wanting.

Notice the Repetition used throughout Daniel to Emphasize the Books two main themes.

1). God is superior to all earthly powers.

2). We are to remain loyal to God.

As difficult as it is to expose others sin’s it is God who ultimately exposes the sin’s of our hearts.

The following details serve to indicate the revelation of God’s character and ways which Belshazzar should have known about and acted upon what he knew. On this basis the accusations followed by the pronouns ‘you’, ‘yourself’, ‘your’ occur 15 times in vs 22-23. He knew God but he did not glorify him or give thanks to him. Romans 1:21

Romans 1:21 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The three words refer to weights and therefore worth or value (Mene = mina; Tekel = shekel; Parsin = parts.

Belshazzar’s kingdom had been weighed and valued; it would be shared out between the Medes and the Persians.

*Knowing God exposes the sin of the human heart

Jesus teaches us that sin does not originate outside of ourselves. Its haven is the human heart. Martin Luther came to see this and it caused him to say, “I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals.”

If this is our condition, then the remedy must be radical. Making a new list of do’s and don’ts or adding to the old one will not help. Neither will simply changing our external circumstance.

My problem is this: wherever I go, there I am!

The only way to make the stream pure is to purify the fountain. We must go tot he source and the only way to deal with our sin is by having our hearts engaged. This is what the gospel does. WE are not called to merely stop sinning or try harder to avoid sinful behaviors.

This is the new birth that Jesus talked about in John 3. The Lord does not treat only the symptoms. He addresses the root cause of our problems. By the power of His Spirit and word, He changes us so that we become new creations (2 Cor. 5:17). Sin is not yet completely purged from the human heart, though one day it will be)

Note: We may assume that our sin is unimportant or trivial, however, God is not slow as some count him slow in fulfilling his promises. Remember that one day every kingdom, every tongue, every nation, every evil dictator, every fornicator, every adulterer, every child molester, every drunkard, every murder, will bow before the most High God! Philippians 2:10-11

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Spiritual Disciplines Expose our Sinful Tendencies

The spiritual disciplines … are so easy that any adult human being can do them. There are no particular skills required to be alone, to be silent, or to abstain from food. Yet on the other hand, they are so difficult, and so perfectly calibrated to reveal the true condition of our hearts, that no one can "succeed" at them. Indeed, the secret of the classical spiritual disciplines, and all disciplines that tame power, is how reliably they lay waste to whatever sense we may have of ourselves as competent agents in the world.

*Knowing God exposes my depravity

REPENTANCE IS A POSTURE

Note: Turn out the lights the party’s over. Send everyone home they do to need to come back every. The most high God is taking Belshazzar out and setting up a new Monarch, Cyrus identified as Darius the Mede. Notice that chapters 2,3, and 4 all end with some sort of confession. But there is no confession at the end of chapter 5.

TO know GOD IS TO EXPOSE THE INTERIOR OF YOUR HEART

Most of us tend to look at the inside of our heart with a bad flashlight. We all have been decorating the interior of our heart with our rule-following, our self-righteousness, our down playing of sinful habits. When all the time black mold has invaded our heart and we hardly even realize the depth of our sin anymore.

Isaiah see’s God seated on His throne in Isaiah 6, remember the first words that Isaiah uttered to God, “Woe is me, for I am lost, I am a man of unclean lips, for my eyes have now seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Something happens when we are exposed and laid bare before the watching eyes of God. He understood his shame and despair.

Remember when Josiah finds God’s law, he tears his clothes and weeps.

Peter watches Jesus sink his boat with a miraculous catch of fish, his own sin sinks him down at Jesus’s feet in shame.

To know God is to be exposed as a hopeless sinner. And to be a hopeless sinner before the living God is to take up the posture of repentance: turning from sin by embracing him.

Being exposed before God is not a one time thing it is a daily rhythm we must foster.

Drawing near to God exposes any false hopes I have in my own righteousness. AS my self-absorbed, be-good-on-my-own sin nature comes into focus, a choice emerges: Will I sling to self or cling to Him.

Note: The problem is that we really love ourselves. We have convinced ourselves that if we try hard enough we can produce stellar fruit from my own soil. The problem is that Jesus keeps pulling out my soil and replacing it with His own.

MY LOUSY SOIL

When I daily humble myself before God he plants things in my life, he waters them, and he grows them. And it is beautiful. I love his fruit and enjoy it. But sometimes, I pull up one of those Jesus-grown plants and bring it to what remains of my soil. I try and replant it in the ground of my own self-sufficiency and dream of how bit it will get.

Not only does the plant wither and die, but bit, ugly, thorny weeds grow up and choke it out threatening to take over the whole garden.

The problem comes when we see fruit in our lives sometimes it gives our flesh false hope, that maybe all my fruitfulness has something to do with me. Surely this is a sign that I am a good Christian. But the presence of fruit is not a statement about me, but a sign that the Holy Spirit is present in me. It’s his fruit, not mine. Apart from Him I cannot bear any fruit of any value.

POSTURE BEFORE ACTION

We must remember that true repentance is more a posture than an action. God has exposed our permanent brokenness apart from him and offers us repentance as the highway back to himself.

Posture Speaks

How you hold your body - often called body language - can tell more about you than your words. Sitting up straight or standing straight when speaking are more powerful positions than slouching or stooping posture. Good body posture indicates that you are confident, have self-respect and respect your audience. Straight posture also “says” you are interested in what the other person is saying, and you value the conversation. Slouching indicates a lack of interest in the other person and their words, or that you do not care how they think about you. Poor posture can also indicate a lack of self-esteem.

Across all religions, people generally pray or meditate by standing, sitting, kneeling or prostrating, often raising their hands or lowering their heads.

I believe our outward expression can reflect an inward reality. Look at King David the innovator of music in corporate worship, wrote hundreds of songs for the purpose of engaging the mind, heart, and body in worship. He understood that posture outwardly expresses an inward reality. Our body naturally acts the way our heart feels.

When we look all through scripture, when people are confronted with their sin their body posture changes.

REPENTANCE IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE FLEEING FROM BUT WHOM YOU ARE FLEEING TO

The greatest threat to true repentance is our tendency to trust in ourselves. This was the Pharisees problem: they preferred their own efforts at righteousness over the perfect righteousness of Jesus.

Both Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar had a self identity problem. When push comes to shuv we all bet on ourselves every time. Self-sufficiency no matter what the reason is at the heart of sin.

Satan’s Biggest Weapon

Satan’s biggest weapon is you! If he can get you to downplay sin in your own life and trust in your own self-sufficiency he wins the battle for your affections.

If I am not actively, persistently, and daily clinging to God in repentance, I am clinging to my own strength. Repentance is the only acceptable posture for the believer, because it is only through repentance alone that we can truly know about Him.

CONCLUSION

God See’s your sin - God confronts your sin - God exposes your sin

2 Peter 3:8–10 ESV

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

How does God want to confront and expose the sins in your life today?

What do you think God see’s when he see’s you?

Does he see an arrogant, self-sufficient, Apathetic person. Someone who denies their own sin problem and refuses to humble themselves before His mercy.

Real Repentance

Repentance is not a popular word these days, but I believe that any of us recognize it when it strikes us in the gut.

Repentance is coming to our senses, seeing, suddenly, what we've done that we might not have done, or recognizing ... that the problem is not in what we do but in what we become.

Make no mistake my dear friends the Most High God is not playing games and will not be denied your Hearts affections.