This week's Bible Study - September 30, 2007
Reading the Handwriting on the Wall
 Background Scripture:
Daniel 5
Quote of the Week:
“The Bible give us a list of human stories on both sides of the ledger. One list of human stories is used examples -- do what these people did. Another list of human stories is used as warnings -- don't do what these people did. So if your story ever gets in one of these books, make sure they use it as an example, not a warning.”
-- Jim Rohn
Chances are that you've heard the phrase 'handwriting on the wall'. Have you ever thought about where that came from? The website wikipedia.com refers to it as the following: The writing on the wall (or sometimes 'handwriting on the wall') is an expression that suggests a portent of doom or misfortune. It originates in the Biblical book of Daniel - where supernatural writing fortells the demise of the Babylonian Empire, but it has come to have a wide usage in language and literature.
While it does have its origination in the Bible, it is certainly used in many ways. Often, folks will speak about the writing on the wall that precedes some sort of doom. Some will talk about the writing on the wall as some events that occurred that led them to make a decision that may have seemed inevitable. People leave jobs or relationships or churches or other things when they have seen things that made them lose hope. Is there handwriting on your wall - and if so, what should you do?
King Nebuchadnezzar was no longer the king and one of his descendants had become king. By the end of his life, Nebuchadnezzar had learned many lessons, paid a large price and had eventually grown close to God. However, this didn't guarantee the same result for his offspring. Belshazzar was now the king and he was having a great banquet for as many as a thousand of his nobles. While his city may have appeared to be under attack, it had large walls and was considered impenetrable - and to top that off, he was having his party, holed up in an interior area with no access from outside the city. The party seemed to border on some sort of drunken fest and as they drank more and more, the king started becoming more and more bold. He gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem when king Nebuchadnezzar had taken Judah captive. He believed that he and his guests should start drinking from them.
These golden goblets from the temple in Jerusalem were brought in and they began to drink wine from them. As they drank and lost more of their senses, they began to praise the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. In any church, you'll find differing views on the issue of drinking. Some choose to drink nothing at all and insist that nobody else ever partake of a drink, while others see no problem with a glass of wine every now and again, while others may see no problem in all types of drinking. However, all believers should understand the dangers associated with drinking. I've talked with different people that I have worked with and some have tried to convince me that people become more open and honest when they've had a few drinks. This may be somewhat true - at least the open part. I know that often people will say or do things that they would never have said or done had they not been drinking. The effect of alcohol can open the door for many bad things to happen, and this appears to be the case here.
You may think that there was really nothing wrong with what they did - they were only goblets! However, these were associated with the temple. Do you remember the story of the moving of the ark of the covenant in the book of 1 Samuel? The ark represented the very presence of God and there were very specific procedures involved in moving. One was that no hand was to touch the ark. King David was transporting it to Jerusalem, following the procedures. En route, however, the oxen pulling it stumbled, and when Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark, he died immediately. At first blush (and maybe longer), this seems like a pretty harsh punishment. However, this was what God had said was to happen. The lesson to be learned was that you don't mess with what God has said, unless you are ready to pay the consequence.
Obviously, the king either didn't know enough to not touch the goblets, or he had drunk enough wine that he really didn't care. Either way, this act of defiance, followed by the act of praising the gods of materials - gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone - greatly displeased God. As stated before, the king believed that the group was safe in the confines of the room. Perhaps it was well guarded - at any rate you wouldn't have expected to see any body or anything that didn't enter in conventional means. However, what they did see was a large human hand that began writing on the plaster wall. Stunned, the king watched as the hand wrote and he became very pale. Why a hand? Was it because that the king and his company had defiled God's possessions with their hands? Perhaps. Regardless of the reason, this hand was very much unexpected and a cause of very much grief for the king.
The king needed to know what the writing was and what it meant. So, he followed the example of King Nebuchadnezzar by calling for the enchanters, astrologers, diviners and other wise men of Babylon. He told them that whoever read the writing and told him what it meant would receive royal treatment, becoming the third highest ruler in the kingdom. These men came in and were baffled. They could not read the writing or give its meaning. The king became more and more terrified and his face was more and more pale. He and his guests were baffled.
The queen, who had seen what king Nebuchadnezzar had gone through, heard the voices of the king and the nobles. She came into the banquet hall and tried to comfort the king. She didn't know what it all meant, either, but she knew that there was a man in the kingdom who had been found on previous occasions to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Daniel had interpreted dreams, explained riddles and solved many difficult problems. Daniel was the one who could explain this one, as well.
Daniel was called for and the king told him much of what he had done in the past. Others could not answer the king and explain the writing, but the king had heard that Daniel could read the writing and say what it meant. He was offered the same reward that had been offered to the others. Daniel told the king that he was not interested in any of the gifts - or the 'prize'. He wasn't explaining the writing for any gain, but he was willing to read the writing and tell the king the meaning.
Before getting to the explanation, Daniel took a few moments to tell the king a thing or two. The Most High God had given Nebuchadnezzar everything that was needed to be a great king. Because of what God had given the king, all the peoples and nations had dreaded and feared him. God gave Nebuchadnezzar the ability to rule as he desired. However, when Nebuchadnezzar had become arrogant and hardened with pride, he lost the glory of the crown. Only when he acknowledged the Most High God did he retain his crown.
King Nebuchadnezzar had learned (through many mistakes) that the secret to being a successful king was to humble himself and to acknowledge God. However, Belshazzar had not learned that lesson, even though he very well knew of the history of Nebuchadnezzar. He had seen his stint as the successful king and had also seen Nebuchadnezzar lose his mind and his crown. Even though the current king knew all of this, he deliberately set himself up against the Lord of heaven. His act of defiance in bringing the goblets that were taken from the temple of God and drinking wine from them - followed by praising of these other 'gods', which man could not hear or see or understand - was the reason for this writing.
By praising the gods that could do nothing for him, Belshazzar did not honor the God who holds the king's life and all of the king's ways in his hands. It was a deliberate act of the will against the Lord of all. Therefore, God had sent the hand that wrote the inscription on the wall. The inscription was four words - Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin. The meaning of the words was that God had numbered the days of the king's reign and had brought it to an end. The king had been weighed on the scales and found wanting. The kingdom was to be divided between the Medes and the Persians. This was not the message that the king desired to hear.
Daniel had interpreted the writing on the wall. Even though this likely infuriated or scared the king, true to his word, the king had Daniel clothed in purple, with a gold chain placed around his neck and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night, the meaning was fulfilled, as king Belshazzar was slain, and Darius the Mede became the ruler of the kingdom.
Closing
It would seem that there are several lessons that we can learn from this passage. As always, the Bible tends to speak to each of us in a timely manner, often specific to our situation. I don't know what you situation is, but perhaps even now, God is writing on your wall, as he has written on mine.
The new king (Belshazzar) had become very smug, and must of thought of himself as exempt from the lessons he should have learned from Nebuchadnezzar. The king had thought that he was safe from any harm, as he partied in an interior room that had very little access. Regardless of what he may have learned from earlier generations, he perhaps thought that he was in a place that was safe from enemies, causing him to drop his guard. This can often be us, disregarding the lessons that others have learned before us. History tends to repeat itself. Have you become smug?
As Christians, one of our biggest issues, I believe, is thinking that we are exempt from things happening to us. How many times have you seen a prominent Christian leader fall into sin and, maybe have said - aloud or not - that could never be me? When we point to others who have fallen and think ourselves so much above them and are so sure of ourselves that we would not fall, we need to be very careful. Many of us tend to drop our guards and become less sensitive to things, thinking that they could do us no harm. That is the first step to big time failure in our lives. Those who have fallen, if they were honest, would not say that they just woke up one day and said "Wow, how did I get here". We certainly don't need to be paranoid about everything - that would lead to a very legalistic life, but we do need to have some sort of edge that alerts us when we've gone too far.
There are plenty of examples of folks who have fallen who would have said it would never happen to them - causing loss of jobs, financial ruin, relationship failure (problems with friends, alienation with children or parents, divorce), loss of respect, etc. At some point, a guard was dropped and something very improbable (they thought) became more possible and later becomes more and more likely to cause failure. It doesn't happen overnight - it could take weeks, months or years. But, if we were honest, each of us most likely has some kind of sinful tendencies, that, if nurtured, could bring ruin upon our lives.
Are there are any areas in your life where you have dropped your guard and have been toying with self destructive tendencies. For some, it may be the internet. The internet is a great tool, with which to learn many things and to do many other good things. You can read Bible Study lessons, you can find out what is happening in the world, follow your favorite sports team on the other side of the world and so on. However, it is a pipeline into all sorts of evil. Many folks have fallen because they allowed themselves to become addicted to all sorts of things. For others, it may be alcohol. For a long time, they have argued that an occasional glass of wine with dinner is okay, but they have found that they occasionally have a couple of drinks at home, and then occasionally more and more. Alcohol has contributed to loss of many innocent lives in automobile accidents, as well as loss of jobs and relationships - and death to the drinker. There are truly many examples where people have fallen - they never thought they would, but they allowed something into their life which ended up taking root and more or less controlling them for a period of time, wreaking all sorts of havoc.
God has given some clear cut commands which we are to follow. Obviously, none of us can follow them completely, but that doesn't mean that we just give up on following them. We don't often see immediate judgment on those who disregard God, but how might that change how you live? I know that I've made terrible choices in my life that have been out of God's will at times. On occasion, it has been because I have dropped my guard and allowed something into my life that have led me to outcomes in my life that I never thought I would experience. It started small - I thought I could handle it. What we learn is that we are very weak on our own - but God wants to give us the strength that we need. Even with failures in life, that doesn't mean that I can just quit on what God wants me to do. There is that standard of life that God has called us to, and regardless of our past, we, as believers, need to follow.
We may have seen the writing on the wall, but, unfortunately, we are more accustomed to dry erase boards. We end up erasing it, acting if those words were never really there. God is such a gracious God - he gives us many chances. When the "writing on the wall" appears to you, don't give up. God wants to get your attention and enact some change in your life. It is not the time to give up. It does not have to be impending doom, so don't take it as an out.
God is always speaking to us through the Holy Spirit, who indwells us. There is a verse in Ephesians 6 that says "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption". Be aware of the Holy Spirit's guiding in your life and pay attention to the writing on your wall.
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