The Handwriting on the Wall

Series on Daniel

II. The Conflict

C. Vanquishing of the Proud

2. The Finger of God, Text: Daniel 5

Title: The Handwriting on the Wall

Introduction

Chapters 4 and 5 of Daniel, as we have seen, have a common theme, the vanquishing of human pride at its zenith in the fall of the great kings of Babylon. However, in chapter 4 with the dignity of Nebuchadnezzar laid in the dust through his wandering for seven years like an irrational beast, we see in the end repentance and restoration while in chapter 5 we come down to the last ruler  of Babylon Belshazzar and we see only stubbornness and judgment. The idiom, “handwriting on the wall” is a portent of doom or misfortune. It originated in the book of Daniel, and has become proverbial for whenever we foresee an outcome of doom. There is kind of ironic slant to this story for the proud and stubborn never seem to be able to read the handwriting on the wall just like Belshazzar. but the people of God, the men of the covenant can always read it and they live in the light of it. So we have two lifestyles characterized here. These are the choices we all make. The faithful are victorious and the proud are vanquished because by the  grace of God the faithful read the handwriting on the wall while the proud ignore it. This contrast is found often throughout scripture but is epitomized in the first Psalm, Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stands in the way of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of scoffers: But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; And on his law he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also does not wither; And whatsoever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For Jehovah knows the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish. Let us look at three contrasts which appear in our text in Daniel. They are profanity versus piety, pride versus patience, and panic versus peace.

I Profanity Versus Piety

I suppose there were many reasons why God could have judged Babylon and its last king, Belshazzar, but one thing stands out in this passage. his utter and complete blasphemy, his irreverence and impiety, his mocking desecration of the vessels of the temple of the Lord as we read in verses 1-6, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. We also see the profanity as Daniel addresses the king in verses 18-24, “O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. “But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. Belshazzar lived in luxury and power and was no doubt guilty of all the attendant licentiousness and lust but the thing that tripped the scales was his profanity. Notice verse 5 says “In that same hour.” There is a connection between the activities of this feast and the handwriting on the wall. This is not only idolatry it is brazen disrespect for the name of the Lord. God allows wicked men to practice their wickedness just so far. This was the proverbial last straw. As you know television today compared to a couple of decades ago is full of violence, sex and filthy language, but what amazes me is when the censors go to work the first thing they take out are four letter words related to certain bodily functions, then they take out other profanity and no one knows why they think that some of that is preferable to the first category and then the last thing to go is the name of God. You can see shows in which most curse words have been removed but people take the Lord’s name in vain numerous times. Now isn’t that just like the world; they have it turned upside down. Ignoring God they think that the most acceptable form of profanity is impiety. Belshazzar made a similar mistake. The Bible says that the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. We’re dealing with very holy, quite inviolable territory here as Belshazzar discovered. Conversely the thing that distinguished Daniel and was remembered by the queen mother (Probably not Belshazzar’s wife, but maybe his mother or grandmother) is that Daniel is holy as we read in verse 11. This doesn’t simply mean Daniel was good or upright it means that the holiness of the true God, the respect, the worship, the fear, the honor of the true God was discerned in his demeanor. In the end, as Jesus said men will be brought into judgment for every idle word and certainly for the way they treat holy things. but there is another contrast,

II Pride Versus Patience

The Bible says that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a downfall. In other words the man is a fool who is not humble before the living God. Notice Belshazzar has to be told about Daniel, and obviously the humbling of his forefather recorded in chapter 4 was lost on him. The man was unteachable, and we read about it in verses 7-15, The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled. The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “O king, live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king, I say—appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.” So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. By the way, the Bible does not use the word grandfather or great grandfather, but Belshazzar was a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar not his immediate son. In fact Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus who was the last king of Babylon in secular history, and it is interesting that people could not explain Belshazzar until they learned that Nabonidus moved his capitol for ten years and set up his son Belshazzar as a regent in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar, the second ruler, later offers to make Daniel third ruler in the kingdom. The Bible’s right again which is a good reason to learn from the lessons of history. This was something Belshazzar was not about to do. In fact he fit perfectly the words of the philosopher Hegel who said that the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. The wise man is humble before the Lord, penitent, God fearing, and so was Daniel. By this time Daniel was an old man and he was waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise through Jeremiah that the captivity would end in 70 years. In order for this to happen we know that the Babylonians had to be conquered by the Medes and Persians. Daniel was patiently trusting in the Lord’s word of promise. He read the handwriting on the wall and he believed it and he lived humbly in the light of God’s sovereign and wise choice. Profanity and pride go hand in hand because they depend upon the same assumption that God is not there and doesn’t care. Daniel knew better.

III Panic Versus Peace

So we have seen the profanity and pride of unbelief both of which act like God isn’t there. Both of which behave as if he was unaware of our situation and therefore refuse to read the handwriting on the wall which is the same thing as ignoring the promises and threats of the Word of God in our time. The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain, pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction, but the third contrast is one which shows like the first Psalm the final result of a life without God. Belshazzar is coming apart at the seams. His whole world is tied up in the position, power and privilege he possesses. This is how he estimates his true worth. Notice the reward he gives to Daniel, exactly what he would want. But Daniel doesn’t want it at all as we see in verses 16 and 17, Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. Daniel is a man at peace in the most difficult of circumstances. His delight is in the law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted by the rivers of waters that bears fruit in season. In the end the only promotion that counts is that which comes from God, and that is something which comes by grace. Grace is a principle Belshazzar could not understand. His world was money and power, and so is the world we live in. We see Belshazzar’s fate in verses 25-30, “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin. “This is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two. Once God used Elisha to heal the leprosy of Naaman the general of the Syrian armies, by dipping seven times in the muddy Jordan river. When Naaman tried to pay with a gift Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives i will not accept a thing.” You can’t buy the gift of God. Those who know this are at peace. God’s servants, Elisha, Daniel, Paul and others do not work harder, speak better or give more pleasing messages for a price. Paul puts it this way, As we have been approved of God to be entrusted with the gospel even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but as God who tests our hearts. All the panic in the world comes from unrelieved guilt. Only the man who knows God can have peace, and that peace comes from the gospel as Peter summarizes it. For you know it was not with perishable things things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot.