By: Judy Doudoukjian
Nebuchadnezzar has passed off the scene now, and Belshazzar is at the helm. As we read this chapter, we should not be surprised to learn that Belshazzar is a poor imitation of his ancestor, Nebuchadnezzar. This story has become so well-known that it should be no great surprise to us that the saying “handwriting on the wall” has come to mean a timely warning that we have crossed the line and there is no turning back. I will begin this chapter with a passage from Isaiah that speaks graphically of their dilemma (and might I add, ours). The following is taken from Isaiah 44, in which Isaiah fully describes the folly of serving other gods.
Isaiah 44:6 says:
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.’
In Isaiah 44:12, it is explained:
The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry and his strength fails: he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man to dwell in a house.
He goes on to describe the cutting down of a tree, which he uses to fashion his ‘god,’ and using the rest of the tree, he makes a fire to cook his food and warm himself. He closes out this section by saying of the man:
‘Shall I fall down before a block of wood? He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’ (Isaiah 44:20)
Belshazzar is having a drunken orgy, and he has invited everybody who is anybody to the party. Looking for a further amusement, he brings out the vessels of silver and gold that were taken from the house of God in Jerusalem, and has his invited guests to drink wine from them while he praises the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood , and stone.
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. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. (Daniel 5:6)
As we have seen is the custom, he brings in all the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and astrologers to try to interpret this strange handwriting, promising them all kinds of riches and prominence in the kingdom; and as we have also seen before, they are unable to deliver.
The queen (we think likely the queen mother, someone who is familiar with Daniel’s history) enters the banquet hall. Obviously, she has not been part of the party. She tells him about Daniel and his dream interpretations for Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel is brought in. He is promised all the gifts and places of honor that were told to the others, and this is his answer:
‘Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him….’ (Daniel 5:17-18)
He goes on to tell how the Lord humbled Nebuchadnezzar when he overreached himself. Then Daniel chastises Belshazzar very directly, with none of the respect that we saw in him when he ministered to Nebuchadnezzar. We are all very familiar with the story, how the words Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin were there inscribed on the wall. This is the interpretation Daniel gives by the word of the Lord:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end
Tekel: you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting
Peres: your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom.
This should be a very grave lesson for us in our troubled times. Remember the character of the Lord. Write it on your heart. He explains it to Moses in Exodus 34. Remember that He passed before Moses on Mount Sinai, covering Moses’ face so that he would not die, and as He passes, He proclaims:
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6,7)
Has our time come? How much longer will He bear with our willful disobedience? It is not about political parties or race or gender. It is about recognizing who God is, and acknowledging that without Him we are doomed as surely as King Belshazzar. May this difficult story bring us to our knees and keep us fervent in prayer, diligent in studying the Word of God, and courageous to be able to speak it when we are called upon to make answer. May we be like Daniel, lest we find that the handwriting on the wall is for us.