Interpret the Writing on the Wall

Belshazzar the king of Babylon threw a great feast during which he called for the gold and silver dishes which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem temple, that he and his friends could drink their wine from them.

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. (Dan. 5:4)

What, Belshazzar? What about your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, who gave testimony about the high God whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom?  What about his dream of a huge tree filling the earth, suddenly hewn down with only a stump remaining?  What about Daniel’s warning to him that this was to be his lot unless he broke off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor?  What about how after 12 months (Nebuchadnezzar’s space to repent), all these things came upon him and he went raving mad for 7 years, until he was sufficiently humbled and gave this testimony:

Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. (Dan. 4:37)

Belshazzar knew all this (5:22), and yet he praised created and temporal things, probably thinking in his heart that since he had the temple dishes, he had the better of Israel’s God.

Then into his vain revelries came a hand from heaven, writing holy words upon the wall–Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.  Belshazzar shook in terror, and no one could understand the words. Into this situation, Daniel–the man of God–was summoned, and he gave this interpretation:  God has numbered your kingdom and ended it, you have been weighed in God’s balance and found wanting, the kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.  That very night Belshazzar’s life ended, and his kingdom was given to Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Mede.  This author hopes that although Belshazzar himself was lost, some of his friends took warning from these events and turned from idols to God.

Christian, you will be summoned into situations like this, and your duty will be to cause the people to understand the holy writing.  Many people, like Belshazzar, have been exposed to prior testimony to the everlasting kingdom of God, the temporal nature of all earthly things, and their duty to repent and turn to God. In fact, all men have heard, at the least, the testimony of creation and are without excuse (Rom. 1).  Many SEE the writing of God but do not understand it. They have heaped up to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and turned their own ears from the truth until truth is a foreign language to them (2 Tim. 4:3-4).  Many will not hear the Words of God until they are terrified. Diverse horrors are falling on our land today–earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, fires, nuclear threats, wars, terrorist threats, debilitating disease and economic hardship. The writing is on the wall, and the kingdoms of men are falling. Possessing all the gold and silver in the world will not save anyone (it didn’t help Belshazzar.)

We must stand and deliver the meaning of the holy words,  the Holy Spirit in us convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). That which we hear in the ear we preach from the rooftops, not fearing those who can only kill the body, but fearing Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 27-28). We preach the everlasting gospel, saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. (Rev. 14:6-7)  We offer the perishing the hope of salvation in submission to Jesus Christ, and not a shred of hope in anything else.  

Psalm 2

 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

God bless you.