Two weeks ago, we began a new teaching series around the supernatural. We discussed the idea that Jesus' presence and works 2000 years ago represent an orderly working of the world many don’t recognise nor do they understand, so they call the events - supernatural.
Supernatural by definition is: (a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.
Science generates solutions for everyday life and helps us to answer the great mysteries of the universe. ... It has a specific role, as well as a variety of functions for the benefit of our society including better relations between people, improving education, increasing the quality and even quantity of our lives while on earth.
However, just because science can not define or systemize an event doesn’t change it or its significance in the world in which we live. The scriptures share hundreds of stories science has yet to fully explain.
Have you ever heard or said the idiom, “The writings on the wall?” The meaning is simple - the event, the action is going to happen. For example: The Chicago Bears will get another quarterback next year. The governor will propose another taxing solution. The media will misrepresent a good idea as bad or vice versa.
Did you know the origin of the phrase? It comes from the scriptures. Specifically, it comes from the book of Daniel, Chapter 5
Today’s supernatural moment comes via Daniel. You remember Daniel.
He was plucked from his family and forced into Babylonian service by the King
He refused to succumb to the beliefs of the society around him.
He would not eat the food of his captors but would still grow strong. .
He would not bow down to the king or any other God.
A little background for the time period, Daniel's life took place during the sixth century before the birth of Jesus. During this period:
- Construction on the Acropolis in Athens began
- Mayan civilization flourished in Mexico
- Aesop wrote his fables
- Confucius and Buddha lived
- Greek art began to truly excel
- The Phoenicians made the first known sea journey around Africa
- The Greeks introduced the olive tree to Italy
The book itself details a number of supernatural moments and more fulfilled prophecies than any other Old Testament book. It offers an incredible story of God’s favor for those who surrender their life to Him and refuse to succumb to both society’s justifications and man’s declarations.
Today’s supernatural moment comes from Chapter 5 of Daniel's book. May God give us ears to hear, a mind to understand and an open heart to assimilate the truth.
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. 5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. 7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers[b] and diviners.
Imagine seeing the writing on the wall. It’s definitely something out of a horror movie but it happened. Truth is stranger than fiction. How would you have reacted? And the story goes on with everyone unable to tell the king the meaning so he calls on Daniel. Daniel once again proves his connection to God by sharing the only truth a frightened king could hear. Take a listen of Dan’s words:
22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[d] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
25 “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin
26 “Here is what these words mean: Mene[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. 27 Tekel[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. 28 Peres[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,[h] was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.[i]
What a moment! A supernatural moment that teaches us a number of memorable concepts:
The supernatural should be expected. There is a world beyond our five physical senses. As a follower, we must be ready to be challenged to have our understanding of “what is” happening in and around us.
Daniel shows that the purity of heart and faithfulness to God come before enlightenment in divine mysteries. Daniel was taken to Babylon when he was 16. He would be challenged from the beginning and continue to be faithful. His love of the Lord through word and deed would be returned time and time again.
Once enlightenment is established, we must expect uncomfortable opportunities to share truth. Daniel, like Jonah in Nineveh, would be called on to offer warnings and calls for repentance before judgement would be determined. When God warned Nebuchadnezzar about his pride and lack of concern for the poor, he would give him a year to repent and seek forgiveness. (Dan 4:28-33). Similarly, Daniel would be asked to share the truth with a drunken king because he was a dedicated follower of God.
Our God will not be mocked. It is sinful to believe our God is powerless. The use of the goblets was not the crime for which the king would be put to death. It was placing the created object above the creator and worshipping it.
We recently did a set of video shorts about relics. It was 11 videos about the ideas the western church has lifted as sacred that God never ordained as such. Everything from the buildings we worship in to the clothes we wear. To be upset about any of these things reveals a heart not focused on God’s will but man’s. The fifth chapter reminds us - Our God will not be mocked.
God is in control of this world and the next. Nothing escapes his purview nor his divine right to act. He is omniscient, omnipotent, all-loving and sovereign. His will is going to happen whether you choose to participate or not.
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