The Writing is on The Wall

Did you know that many sayings you hear today originated in scripture? It’s true!

Here are just a few: 

“By the skin of the teeth” (Job 19:20)

“Fallen from Grace” (Galatians 5:4)

“My brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9)

“Forbidden fruit” (Leviticus 19:23)

And finally…

“The handwriting is on the wall” (Daniel 5:5)

While we may throw around these phrases, they were more than mere words to those who were living in ancient times. Take King Belshazzar. This prideful man didn’t seem to care that outside the massive walls and solid bronze gates that guarded his kingdom, there was a war going on. It seems the king had a bit too much confidence in walls. How interesting then, that God used a wall to get his point across! 

Here’s the scene: King Belshazzar had a massive feast for a guest list of 1,000. He tasted the wine, then sent for goblets that had been stolen out of the Temple of the Lord, so that he and his wives (yeah, plural) and concubines (because wives- plural- wasn’t enough) could drink from them. That wasn’t debaucherous or bombastic enough, so then, the people drank wine and praised the gods (plural) of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. The dude was seriously drunk on wealth, fame, and power. Sound familiar? And you thought Washington D.C. was bad! 

Then it happened. “The writing on the wall”. Whenever I heard this phrase as a kid, I just figured it was in the context of a past tense scenario, like, “Oh look, there’s the writing on the wall.” Not the case. Imagine being part of this large group of degenerates and, “Immediately, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand” (Daniel 5:5). Though the text doesn’t tell us, it’s quite likely there was live music and dancing, and you can almost hear the needle across the record as these fingers show up out of thin air and start writing on the wall. Can you imagine? Probably scared some people sober in a hurry! We are told that “the king’s color changed”. As in, the blood likely rushed out of his face.

You gotta love it when God messes with people. As if the fingers manifesting and writing weren’t terrifying enough, the words were written in a language indiscernible to the king. So he called for his enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to interpret this cryptic text. They were unable to crack the code, so Daniel was called forth and was promised all kinds of material things and status that wouldn’t matter a few hours later when God destroyed King Belshazzar. Daniel was not allured or impressed but did interpret the handwriting, which foretold the king’s demise. We are told in verse 30, “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.” From what we can tell, he kept his word, adorning Daniel with a purple robe and a chain of gold, and made him number 3 in the kingdom. There’s no repentance, however, no change of heart, and it’s likely that the party continued, even after the warning of impending doom. 

While it’s easy to read this story and scoff at the king, don’t we all have pride that we need to deal with on a daily basis? Most of us aren’t wealthy or powerful enough to be so bold, but we can still make idols of ourselves in an attempt to dethrone God (as if we could). Our pride, left unchecked can lead us away from the righteousness God calls us to, down a dark path of self-worship, lustful pleasures, and empty living. We all have blind spots. We all have the capability to harden our hearts toward God. 

Lord, we exalt Your name. You are the one and only true God- worthy of all praise! Please walk with us and show us how to follow you in a way that blesses you, protects us from sneaky pride, and loves others well. May we heed your warnings, God, and not grow hardened in our hearts toward you or others in this lost and increasingly dark world. May we shine the light of your gospel in our communities. Lord, just like the king, we don’t know the number of our days. May we live them out in devotion to you, boldly proclaiming the truth, that Jesus died to pay for the debt we could not pay. We all fall short of your glorious standard, God. Thank you for bearing with us in love and calling us to holiness. May we embrace that today. In Jesus’ name, amen.