In the fifth chapter of Daniel, King Belshazzar gave a great
banquet for his nobles.
Heavily influenced by wine, King Belshazzar ordered that the
vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in.
Once this was done, all present drank wine from them and in
their drunken state praised gods of metal, wood and stone.
At that moment, a hand appeared and began writing on the
wall.
This sight greatly disturbed the king.
Even more disturbing to the king was the fact that he was
unable to read the inscription.
The king was frightened to the core of his being.
He summoned the wise men of his kingdom to come interpret the
inscription.
Despite promises of wealth and power, not one of his wise men
could interpret this writing.
At this point Daniel was brought in and King Belshazzar
promised him wealth and power in return for his interpretation.
Daniel rejected the king’s offer but agreed to interpret the
writing left behind by this mysterious hand.
Daniel first reminded the king that he failed to humble
himself before God.
He then reminded the king that he made matters worse by
exalting the false gods made of metal, wood and stone.
Then Daniel interpreted the inscription.
Daniel 5:25-28 (NET) - “This is
the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Teqel, and Pharsin. This is the
interpretation of the words: As for mene—God has numbered your kingdom’s days
and brought it to an end. As for teqel—you are weighed on the balances and
found to be lacking. As for peres—your kingdom is divided and given over to the
Medes and Persians.”
That same night, King Belshazzar was killed and Darius the
Mede took control of the kingdom.
This account gave rise to a phrase we utilize today, namely
that the ‘handwriting is on the wall’.
It has come to mean a premonition of failure or disaster.
Today’s headlines point toward failure or disaster.
Fortunately for us, there is still time.
We still have time to love God with all our being and to love
our neighbor.
We still have hope.
Must we wait until we see the actual handwriting on the wall
for ourselves?
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
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