The Handwriting On The Wall Series

I bet you noticed it like I have. People have changed from just two years ago when the fear of a virus swept our world. People are not the same. Half of us are angry, and we are irritated. People are quick to say things, and they are quick to split partnerships and even friendships. People are not the same. People are so quick to pick a fight. The other half of us shrug our shoulders like we just don't care. The first half of us are preoccupied in worry, while the second half of us are engrossed in apathy.

We need an Unshakeable Hope! We need an Unshakeable Hope for our day when everyone is wringing their hands in worry. We need an Unshakeable Hope for our day when everyone is shrugging their shoulders in apathy. We continue our series, Unshakeable Hope, by examing the book of Daniel.

Find Daniel 5 with me if you will (page 881 in your pew Bibles). Now, Daniel 4 closes with these prophetic words: "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right, and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble" (Daniel 4:37). As Daniel 4 closes out with a lesson on pride, we turn to Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, a young monarch named King Belshazzar.

Nebuchadnezzar is one of three monarchs the book of Daniel shows us. We see how each one of the three responds to Almighty God. Now, there's a long step in time to take from Daniel 4 to Daniel 5. Without any warning, the story leaps forward to October 12, 539 BC and the biggest event in town is a huge banquet thrown by King Belshazzar. The Handwriting on the Wall is one of the most well-known stories in the book of Daniel.

Today's Scripture

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, "O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.

Daniel steps before the king and tells him the story of how his grandfather was humbled.

22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.