Daniel 5: 1-31
The Writing on the Wall:
King Belshazzar threw a large banquet for 1,000 nobles and drank wine with them. As they were tasting the wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver utensils which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought to him. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.
So the servants brought them and they all drank from them, and praised their gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, or stone.
Suddenly the fingers of a person's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster wall opposite the lamp stand of the royal palace. The king watched as the hand wrote. Then he turned pale, and his thoughts frightened him. His hip joints became loose, and his knees knocked against each other.
The king screamed for the psychics, astrologers, and fortunetellers to be brought to him. He told these wise advisors of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing and tells me its meaning will be dressed in purple, wear a gold chain on his neck, and become the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.
Why the "third-highest"? Was Belshazzar the second-in-command? The acting king while his father is away? Hmm.
All the kings wise advisors came, but they couldn't read the writing or tell the king its meaning. King Belshazzar was terrified, and his face turned pale. His nobles didn't know what to do.
The discussion between the king and his nobles brought the Queen Mother herself into the banquet hall. The Queen Mother said, "Your Majesty, may you live forever! Don't let your thoughts frighten you, and don't turn pale. There's a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the Holy God. In the days of your grandfather, he was found to have insight, good judgment, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.
"Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him head of the magicians, psychics, astrologers, and fortunetellers. This Daniel (who was renamed Belteshazzar) was found to have knowledge, judgment, and an extraordinary spirit. He has the ability to interpret dreams, solve riddles, and untangle problems. Now call Daniel and he will tell you what it means."
So Daniel was taken (out of retirement) to the king. The king asked him, "Are you Daniel, one of the captives that my grandfather brought from Judah? I've heard that you have the spirit of the gods and that you have insight, good judgment, and extraordinary wisdom.
"The wise advisors and the psychics were brought to me to read this writing and tell me its meaning, but they couldn't. I've heard that you can interpret such things and untangle problems. If you can read the writing and tell me its meaning, you will be dressed in purple, wear a gold chain on your neck, and become the third-highest ruler in the kingdom."
Daniel told the king, "Keep your gifts, give your gifts and awards to someone else. I'll still read the writing for you and tell you its meaning.
"Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, might, honor, and glory. People from every province, nation, and language trembled and were terrified by him, because God gave him power.
"Nebuchadnezzar killed whomever he wanted to kill, and he kept alive whomever he wanted to keep alive. He promoted whomever he wanted to promote, and he demoted whomever he wanted to demote.
"But when he became so arrogant and conceited that he became overconfident, he was removed from the royal throne. His honor was taken away from him. He was chased away from people, and his mind was changed into an animal's mind. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like cattle, and his body became wet with dew from the sky.
"This happened until he realized that the Most High God has power over human kingdoms. God puts whomever He wishes in charge of them.
"Belshazzar, you are one of Nebuchadnezzar's successors. You didn't remain humble, even though you knew all this. But you made yourself greater than the Lord of Heaven: You had the utensils from His Temple brought to you, and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, and you praised your gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. These gods can't see, hear, or know anything.
"You didn't honor God, who has power (authority) over your life and everything you do. So He sent the hand to write this inscription. This is its meaning:
Mene, Mene,
Tekel,
Upharsin.
Mene means Numbered--God has numbered the days of your kingdom and will bring it to an end.
Tekel means Weighed--you have been weighed on a scale and found deficient.
Upharsin (and Peres) means Divided--your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians."
Then Belshazzar ordered that Daniel be dressed in purple and wear a gold chain on his neck. He made him the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.
That night King Belshazzar of Babylon was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62.
Wow! God doesn't mess around. He is patient, but when people who know better go too far, He will step in and assert His authority.
Belshazzar knew his family history. He knew how God had dealt with his grandfather, yet he still refused to give God the honor due Him.
Darius was digging through the wall of the city as the king and all his nobles were getting drunk. In the middle of the night (when the party may have crashed in the party room) they broke through and murdered the reigning monarch and his nobles, but not Daniel.
God spared Daniel. He obviously left the party and went home to his own retirement apartment, wherever he was living by then, and wasn't found when they massacred the palace residents.
God still had a purpose for Daniel, even in his old age.
O my Father, thank You for showing us all these interesting stories of real people who lived so long ago. Thank You for all the ways You show Yourself to different people, because You made us all different, and we each respond to different kinds of promptings. Some of us only need a whisper. Others need a two-by-four up the side of the head!
And Jesus used different approaches with different people, also.
Father, You know each of us so intimately, and You love each one of us. I don't understand why You don't save everyone, or even the majority of people. But I don't need to understand, I trust that You know best for each of us, even those who steadfastly and stubbornly refuse Your love.
Your Plan of the Ages incorporates each of our personal stories, with all the choices we make, for good or ill. Even the things evil people do are fulfilling what You said would happen; and Your people are doing the things that promote Your Kingdom that we are living in now, inside us.
Father, I appreciate that You give warnings to give people a chance to make the right decisions. I pray for those people I know today who don't know You yet. I pray that the warnings You are giving them would be taken seriously, and that these people will recognize Your authority over their lives. That they will turn from their wicked ways and come to You.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
