The Lord’s Message:  The Writing is on the Wall

The Lord’s Message:  The Writing is on the Wall
Date:  July 28, 2024
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  Daniel 5

            Are you aware that some of the colloquial phrases that we say every day have origins in the Bible? For instance, set your teeth on edge, by the sweat of your brow, a drop in a bucket, a leopard cannot change its spots, by the skin of your teeth, like a lamb to the slaughter, bite the dust, forbidden fruit, as old as Methuselah, fire and brimstone, nothing but skin and bones, at wit’s end, there’s nothing new under the sun, fly in the ointment, sour grapes, feet of clay, sign of the times are just a few of the examples.  Just think, when you and others are saying these phrases, you, and they, are quoting from the Bible.   Now of course, we should educate ourselves on where the origins are found in scripture.  That is what we are going to do for the phrase, “the writing is on the wall.”

            Let us pray.

            More than 20 years have passed between chapter 4 and chapter 5 of the book of Daniel.  King Nebuchadnezzar is dead.  He reigned for 44 years and died of natural causes.  His son, Evil-merodach succeeded him, but only reigned for 2 years and was murdered by his brother-in law Neriglissar.  Neriglissar married King Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter.  Neriglissar reigned for only 4 years and was killed in battle.  His son, Labosoar-chad, succeeded him.  He only reigned for 9 months and was murdered by his stepfather Nabonidus who married Neriglissar’s widow.  Nabonidus reigned for 16 years but went into hiding from the Medes and Persians.  His son, Belshazzar became a co-king and reigned for 5 years with his father.  Thus, we start chapter 5 with Belshazzar in power in Babylon and Daniel now about 80 years old.  At this time, the Medes and Persians have joined forces when King Cambyses 1 of Persia marries the daughter of King Astyages of the Medes, Queen Mandane.  Their son, Cyrus, who would later on be called Cyrus the Great, is commander of the combined armies of the Medes and Persians.  King Darius is the king of the Medes and Persians at this time.

            The Medes and Persians have defeated the Babylonian King Nabonidus, and he is in hiding.  They have surrounded the city of Babylon and are preparing to attack.  Now, the city of Babylon was the most fortified city at that time.  The city was essentially a square.  14 miles each way.  The city of Babylon has two great walls that protect it.  The outer wall is 311 feet high, 87 feet thick, and 56 miles long.  There was a road on top of the wall.  It was wide enough for six chariots to ride side by side.  There were 250 towers on top of that wall.  Each tower was manned with troops.  There was also a moat around the city.  The Euphrates River kept this moat full.  The river also flowed freely under the walls.  There were several hundred acres inside of the city for growing vegetables and cattle for the inhabitants.  The drawbridges were raised.  The gates closed.  Sentinels were posted on the ways and a great army was entrenched ready for battle. 

What should a king do?  King Belshazzar threw a party.  In verse 1, it says that he “gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and he drank wine with them.”  As the evening wore on the king became more comfortable and bolder, he thought about the golden goblets, the sacred vessels, that his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, had taken out of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.  He decided to defy God, who is sovereign over all kingdoms, and had allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Jerusalem, because the Hebrew people had not obeyed Him.  He defied God by pouring wine into these goblets, sacred vessels, and in verse 4, it says as they drank, “they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron wood, and stone.”  The gods who were no gods.  American Baptist evangelist and author, Oliver B. Greene, says “the God of heaven is great in mercy and slow to anger.  He is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But there is a deadline, even with the God of divine compassion.  When Belshazzar and his guests poured wine into the sacred vessels and lifted those vessels to drunken lips, the cup of iniquity was filled to the brim!  In that second, Belshazzar stepped across God’s deadline and plunged into eternal doom.”

God does not wait any longer.  The Bible says, “Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace,” verse 5.  Everyone could see this hand.  The lampstand provided the light, so that there was no one who could not see the hand of God writing on the wall. 

To say that this made the king’s knees knock would be an understatement.  The Bible says in verse 6.  The color drained from his face.  He began to tremble.  His knees started knocking and his legs gave way.  Ed Young says, “why did Belshazzar respond with such staggering fear when he knew a message from God was coming his way?  I’ll tell you why.  It was because he had a guilty conscience.  Guilt makes cowards of us all.”  Belshazzar knew he was guilty of idolatry and blasphemy.  Ignorance is no excuse. 

The king calls all his wise men, just like his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had done.  The results are the same.  None of the wise men are able to interpret what has been written on the wall.  In verse 10, it says that the queen remembered Daniel.  Now this queen, who is the mother of Belshazzar, wife of Nabonidus, daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, says, “O king, live forever!  Don’t be alarmed!  Don’t look so pale!”  She goes on to say in verses 11 and 12 that there is man named Daniel who was able to interpret the dreams and visions for King Nebuchadnezzar and he can do this for you. 

So, Daniel is brought in.  Daniel has been forgotten by all the kings that have succeeded King Nebuchadnezzar.  Daniel has been praying to God three times a day in his room.  He has remained faithful to God.  The king offers him gifts and all kinds of rewards, but Daniel tells the king that he can give his gifts and rewards to someone else. “Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.”

The writing is in Aramaic, a language that Daniel knows very well, but the Babylonians do not.  Mene – means to number.  Tekel – means to weigh.  Parsin is the singular of Peres which means to divide.  Daniel correctly interprets the writing as God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.  You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.  Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.  By using “Mene” twice, it shows that it was final.  This could not be changed.  The end was near for King Belshazzar and the kingdom of Babylon. 

History records that Commander Cyrus of the Medes and Persians’ army has started to prepare for the invasion two weeks before the party.  He divided up his army and sent thousands of troops to the south side of the city.  It was their job to stay in place and out of sight.  They were to watch for the Euphrates River to stop flowing.  When they observed this, they were to go under the great walls and attack the city from within.  There was another group of troops stationed on the north side of the city.  They were to do the same thing.  Both groups of troops were to let down the drawbridges, so that the remaining troops could storm in. 

How do you stop a flowing river?  Cyrus had a plan.  About ten miles north of the city there was a very large swamp, not far from the river.  Cyrus had his troops dig a channel from the river to within feet of the swamp.  He also piled up dirt on the banks of the river. So, that he could dam it up.  On the night of the invasion, the soldiers complete digging to the channel into the swamp.  The other soldiers pushed the dirt into the river and the river was dammed up.  When the river stopped flowing into the city and dried up and the moat was drained.  After seeing this, the soldiers stationed to the south and north of the city went under the walls and stormed into the city.  They let down the drawbridges for the other troops to join them.  The once great and mighty fortified city of Babylon was captured. 

Talk about a rude awakening!  This caught King Belshazzar and his nobles off guard.  They thought they were secured in their heavily fortified city.  So much so that they could indulge in drinking wine, even from the sacred vessels of the temple of God.  As a result, they were unable to command their army.  The once proud, unrepentant pleasure seeker, Belshazzar, was living under a false sense of security.  He provoked God, and in one night his empire fell.  He failed to consider the power of God and was killed, verse 30. 

If we remember the vision of the statue in Daniel 2, the head was made of gold.  That was the kingdom of the Babylonians.  The arms and the chest were made of silver.  This is the kingdom of the Medes and Persians.  There will come two more kingdoms, the Greeks, and the Romans.  All of these kingdoms will come to an end.     If you remember there was a rock uncut by human hands that struck the statue and caused it to fall.  In Daniel 2:44, then the rock grew into a huge mountain.  That rock is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  The Kingdom that will crush all other kingdoms.  The Kingdom that will never end. 

            There are three principles in the writing on the wall which are applicable to all of us believers.  Let me define a believer.  First, a believer is a person that knows that they need a savior.  Their only savior is Jesus Christ.  Second, a believer confesses their sins to Jesus and asks Him to forgive them of their sin.  Third, a believer wants to continue learning, growing, and applying what they learn about Jesus into their daily lives.  This is done through the gift of God, the Holy Spirit.  Fourth, this results in the believer worshipping God every day in the good times and the bad. 

First, Mene – our days are numbered.  In Job 14:5, Job tells us our days are numbered.  We will all die.  God knows the length of time that we will live on the earth.    I believe that those days can be shortened by events that happen to us and by unhealthy lifestyles, such as smoking, overeating, and addictions.  If God wants to lengthen our days, that is God’s prerogative.  God makes the decision on how long a person lives. 

Second, Tekel – we will all face judgment.  The Bible confirms this in Hebrews 9:27.   For those that believe in Jesus, we will not face the judgment of not believing in Jesus, but we will face the judgment of how we live our life for Jesus.  How did we spend our time, our money, and our talents?  What words did we say or not say?  What did we do or not do?  For believers, we follow the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Third, Parsin- a believer must keep their lives in balance with God and not be divided by the pursuits of the world, Colossians 3:1-4.  All of us can easily be distracted by this world.  I have to answer my emails or my social media posts.  A gentleman called me and asked if I could unlock the door, because he had left his phone at church.  Sure enough, there was his phone.  He said that last night was the best night’s sleep that he had in a long time, because he was not on his phone.  There are days when we need to turn off our electronics and spend the time focusing on God.  We need to live our life in balance for God and not divide by the world. 

The everyday colloquial phrases, such as the writing is on the wall, that we should remind each one of us of the importance of our walk with God. Amen.