Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The writing is on the Wall

Daniel 5v5 “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall … the king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened …”  (NIV)

In Daniel 5, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonian Empire is holding a huge feast. At the feast, his hostility towards God climaxes when he uses the gold goblets from the temple in Jerusalem in praise of the Babylonian gods.

A miraculous hand appears and starts writing on the wall, but no one can tell what it says. The queen mother recalls Daniel’s gift in interpretation from years before, and so the king calls Daniel.

Daniel reminds King Belshazzar of how his predecessor was humbled by “the Most High God” until he acknowledged that God is “sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.” He then turns to Belshazzar, “you have not humbled yourself though you knew all this … you did not honour God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.”

Daniel then reads the inscription, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin” and explains its meaning,

“Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians”

As a thank you, the king proceeds to make Daniel the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Did the king not understand what God has said through Daniel?

That very night the Medes and Persians broke into Babylon and King Belshazzar was slain.

It is from this piece of history that we get the expression in English, “The writing is on the wall.” I am sure you can draw some parallels to current circumstances in places, but the main points which always apply are:

  • God is always sovereign, even over secular nations. Human powers rise and fall.
  • God always knows both what is happening and what is going to happen. Our security, our hope, our future is in his hands.
  • God uses his people to bring his word even in secular situations. That takes courage.

With love and blessing,

Roland