When the gold and silver vessels taken from the house of God in Jerusalem had been brought in, and while the king, his lords, his wives and his entertainers were drinking wine from them, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
Suddenly, opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the wall in the king’s palace. When the king saw the wrist and hand that wrote, his face blanched; his thoughts terrified him, his hip joints shook, and his knees knocked.
Then Daniel was brought into the presence of the king. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel, the Jewish exile, whom my father, the king, brought from Judah? I have heard that the Spirit of God is in you, that you possess brilliant knowledge and extraordinary wisdom. I have heard that you can interpret dreams and solve difficulties; if you are able to read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be clothed in purple, wear a gold collar about your neck, and be third in the government of the kingdom.”
Daniel answered the king: “You may keep your gifts, or give your presents to someone else; but the writing I will read for you, O king, and tell you what it means. You have rebelled against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels of his temple brought before you, so that you and your nobles, your wives and your entertainers, might drink wine from them; and you praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, that neither see nor hear nor have intelligence.
But the God in whose hand is your life breath and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify. By him were the wrist and hand sent, and the writing set down. “This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, TEKEL, and PERES. These words mean: MENE, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it; TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28)
“…Suddenly, opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the wall in the king’s palace…” Spooky! The author of Daniel had an imaginative mind.
The “writing on the wall” is an often-spoken phrase. If we say that the writing is on the wall, we mean there are clear signs that a situation is going to become very difficult or unpleasant. For example, the writing on the wall is that climate change is going to forever change the face of the Earth, and mankind is responsible and unwilling to take steps needed to stem the tide of change, such as sea level rise.
For us and our beloved country we hope the writing that is inscribed is not: MENE, TEKEL, and PERES. Our “kingdom” is surely divided politically, and culturally. We can only hope the days of our country and our democracy is not “numbered.” We certainly are TEKEL when it comes to our not seeking the common good and refusing to get along with each other as political parties compromising and being true to our Constitution.
Too many of us “praise the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, that neither see nor hear nor have intelligence.” Daniel warned King Belshazzar and his thousands of lords. He warns us today that the fingers of a human hand will appear writing on our walls. Our thoughts will terrify us, our hip joints will shake, and our knees will knock. It's no wonder at this time of the year we talk about the end times.
The writing may be on the wall for us. But we have a champion – our Savior. Thank God our Lord Jesus Christ holds uses his eraser and then writes on our walls: “Do not fear; I am always with you. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. He might also write: "Kill Them With kindness."
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