I believe that God seeks to get people’s attention in a number of ways—some more dramatic than others. And in Daniel 5, we see God dramatically interrupting a party with some divine graffiti.
The king, Belshazzar, was entertaining a thousand of his lords. At the very time this feast was underway, the Medes and Persians surrounded Babylon. Knowing this, Belshazzar threw a party in hopes of boosting morale and distracting Babylon’s leaders from the coming attack.
During the celebration, he decided to serve wine from the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem.
“Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone” (vv. 3-4).
Now, drinking from these vessels was an absolute defiance of God. It was a calculated insult designed to show the superiority of the Babylonian gods. But a sobering event was about to take place.
“In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace” (v. 5). The words were “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (v. 25). The king was terrified; his knees were literally knocking. He called in all his soothsayers to interpret the writing, but they couldn’t.
Belshazzar’s fear was rooted in his guilt. When someone feels guilty, he sees all of life through that lens. The human conscience is able to make cowards of us all if we’re not walking right with the Lord.
Finally, he called in Daniel, who reminded him of how God humbled Nebuchadnezzar for his pride (see vv. 18-24). Then Daniel interpreted the words (see vv. 25-28), and they were words of judgment: Babylon was finished; the Medes and Persians would conquer. The key statement is in verse 27: “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.”
In a few hours, this king would be dead. His number was up.
I have a question for you: Could there be handwriting on the wall in your life? Has God been trying to get your attention, maybe through a crisis or struggle? Some of us need a shaking before God really gets our attention. Then we’re tempted to ask, “How can I get out of this?” But here’s what you need to ask: What can I get out of this? What is God trying to say to me?
Our days are numbered. Psalm 90 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). And Hebrews 9 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (v. 27).
There’s a last night for everyone—a last meal, their last words. There’s a last breath for everyone, and then eternity.
In the meantime, your life is being weighed in God’s balances. What does He find there? Because one day you will stand, not in a royal hall with handwriting on a wall, but in a judgment hall with handwriting in books (see Revelation 20:12, 15).
The good news is in Jesus Christ. “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).
Each breath we take, every heartbeat, is one of God’s gifts. Daniel 5 was Belshazzar’s time. Ours is coming.
