The Handwriting on the Wall
The city of Babylon is where Daniel 5 takes place. And now we know the emperor. His name is Belshazzar. The Euphrates river runs underneath the wall of the city. Now, I want you to imagine these walls. They were almost impossible for an enemy to attack the city of Babylon. They were 30 feet high, and they were surrounded by more than a hundred strategically placed walls and towers. The walls had more than a hundred of these towers around them. The Euphrates river ran right underneath the wall and provided constant flow into the city. It was said that the king had stockpiled food so well that if an enemy were coming after them and would cut off the food supply, the city would be able to stand for at least 20 more years without any food being given to the city. So, they felt pretty secure. We’ve got a big wall. We’ve got food. We’ve got everything we need.
But this even in Daniel chapter 5 was a night of revelry. They were having a party. Daniel 5:1-6 says, “King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine in their presence. Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them. So they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
“At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing, his face turned pale, and his thoughts so terrified him that he soiled himself and his knees knocked together.”
So we can say it had a physiological response. Something was dramatically going on. And so what started off as just a party became a drunken orgy. They had their wives, their concubines. Now, typically, a wife and a concubine were not invited to these banquets. But for some reason, they were invited to this banquet. Maybe it was because Belshazzar knew this was the last party he would attend as he realized the Babylonian empire was about to come to a total end. The city of Babylon was now going to go away and become a part of the Medes and the Persians.
So now you're seeing the situation. A thousand nobles, leading men, wives, and concubines. The king was setting the pace for a drunken behavior. What happens in this situation, you can see the behavior, you can see the consequences, and you can see the turmoil that took place in Belshazzar's party. He was setting the pace. He was so drunk, he was losing his sense of decency. When he lost all logical thinking, what did he do? He called the servants. “Go get the gold goblets, those precious goblets, those goblets that were taken from the temple where the Jehovah God, the God of Genesis 1:1, and bring them in here.
And so he began to deface and humiliate God. “The multiple gods that we worship, they are so much superior to the God of Israel, to Jehovah God.” And so that whole event was taking place for the degradation and disrespect of God. So, they bring them in and they begin to drink.
And I think the only thing we need to understand at this point, it takes us back 65 years when Daniel was taken captive. He was brought into Babylon. And these sacred tools or instruments that were in the temple of God in Jerusalem, they were used to defame Jehovah, and they were used as if they were just paper cups. But God had established this process. And you know what, my friends? When God establishes something, you and I need to be respectful. We need to be respectful for that which God has established.
We learn that it was also a night of rebellion. This was an act of rebellion against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the phrase, “You’re either for God, or you’re against him.” These drunks were praising the gods of gold, silver, wood, bronze, iron, and stone. You know what? There's no God in those cups. So why were they doing it? They were showing disrespect for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's God. No respect at all.
Now, Satan does not want us to see the glory of Jehovah. I'm going to repeat that. Satan does not want us to see the glory of God. When you can see the glory of God, you can join in singing as we do here every Sunday morning. We can lift up God's name. We can smile on our faces and raise our hands and scream Hallelujah. But you see, they don't want to do that. They wanted to discourage and make fun of Jehovah and the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Satan doesn't want that.
Those at the party become out of touch with reality, and then the finger of the human hand appears. Now, I want you to notice something here. You didn't see an arm. You didn't see a body. All you saw was a finger writing on the plaster wall. Now, I want you to catch this. There was a lamp stand over there. You know why that is? They wanted to make sure they see that God is saying, ”I want you to make sure that if you see anything in this party tonight, you're going to see that handwriting on the wall. You're going to see the presence of God. You're going to see that God is doing something here right now.” So in the midst of the destruction of our country, in the midst of the discretion of people going away from God, I want you to know God's still writing and God's still shining a light on his truth. God's still shining a light on you. He wants the world to see you. That deep inside you there is an avalanche of love for God. He wants the world to see the action that what we think and what we feel and what we do is shining out for God in this moment.
This is a sobering event. Belshazzar sobered up really quick. He had lost the ability to think clearly because of his intake, but now he's suddenly sobering up, at least to know what's going on. Crises have taken a way of sobering people up. Belshazzar saw what was happening. The blood drained from his face. He sobered up. He literally turned pale. He was so pale, he was frightened. His knees knocked. They said the words written in Babylonian Alphabet was unintelligible to the king. He calls for help. He gets his wise men, his enchanters, the diviners. He brings them up. He offers them amazing things. I said, I put a purple robe on you, which is a sign of royalty. I'm going to put a gold chain around your neck, and I'm going to make you third in power to this Babylonian kingdom. I want you to see all that. And you know what? No matter what he offered, the world didn't have an answer.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.