“The hand-writing on the wall”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Daniel 5:1-31 (Forward, p. 87) CEV p. 899

Many are the expressions that we use in common everyday speech that are actually derived from the Bible. ‘By the skin of my teeth’, for instance, comes from Job 19:20, and ‘to turn the other cheek’ and ‘go the extra mile’ comes from Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:39,41). And, of course, the derogatory nicknames of calling someone a Jezebel or a Judas come from the Biblical characters of that name. So, likewise the expression ‘the hand-writing on the wall’ comes from the Hebrew Scriptures, from today’s passage in fact.

The Babylonian king, King Belshazzar, was one of the many rulers throughout history that didn’t learn from history. A particular preceding king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had learned the hard way that God alone ruled the earth and God alone deserved honour and praise and worship. God had blessed him with much power, honour and glory, and yet he had become proud and stubborn, and allowed all of this ‘to go to his head.’ As a result, God inflicted him with a curious mental disorder, a kind of paranoia known as monomania, in particular, a form called ‘boanthropy’ where the sufferer imagines himself to be a cow or a bull. Ancient writers never mentioned this condition explicitly, perhaps not wanting to broach a rather sensitive subject, but however, do mention quite explicitly that something strange or unusual happened during the final years of his reign, such that he left off attending to his usually strenuous building projects and his ardent devotion ‘to the gods’. That something was dreadfully wrong with him is evidenced by the fact that these sources mention that he neglected even the routine upkeep and maintenance required of civic facilities during this period. Even apart from the meticulous record-keeping of the reigns of the Babylonian kings, we can be quite sure that the gossip mill of the royal courts and administration would have kept this story very much alive. So, basically, Belshazzar was ‘without excuse’ for profaning the sacred vessels of the Temple and using them to worship their heathen gods. All this simply underlined the fact that he was not honouring or worshipping the one true God.

And so, this prophetic and unsettling message was brought up him, forced upon him, by this unseemly and unexpected ‘writing on the wall’. As

interpreted by Daniel, it read, ‘mene [numbered], tekel [weighed], parsin’ [divided]. God had numbered the days of his reign and brought it to an end, had weighed him in the scales and found him wanting, and had henceforth decided to divide his kingdom between the Medes and the Persians. And indeed, that very thing happened that night. The city was taken without a fight, occupied by Darius the Mede, and king Belshazzar was killed.

So, then, what are we to take away from this? I would suggest just one thing, something that was exemplified by both Daniel and Belshazzar, Daniel in a positive fashion and Belshazzar in a negative one. Both of them were endowed with great and gracious gifts by God. On the one hand, Daniel chose to make proper use of these gifts, and to do so, for the glory of God rather than for his own benefit, disavowing even the king’s rewards. However, Belshazzar, while still using his gifts, did so to the aggrandizement, the advancement, of his own honour and glory. In fact, going one more step downward, he failed to honour and worship God but to worship pagan gods, idols, instead.

What this puts me in mind of is the various gifts, abilities and experiences that God has given each of us? So, the question then becomes: ‘are we making use of these gifts, and if so, are we using them to the glory of God and to the upbuilding of His kingdom. To me, then, today’s story is a bit of a wake-up call, to our leaders and to those in authority, but indeed to all of us, to look at our gifts and how we use them, and see whether they are indeed being used for God’s glory and purposes, rather than just our own. Hopefully, we won’t need our own particular ‘hand-writing on the wall’ to remind us of this. Amen.

Forward notes: “Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall” (verse 5).

“We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘the writing is on the wall.’ It’s shorthand for something obvious that must be accepted. But I wonder how often we resist seeing the writing on the wall. In my case, it took 25 years for me to admit that I needed to get divorced because my marriage was no longer sacramental. All the signs were there, but I ignored them. I did not want to be a failure in marriage, like my parents had been. That’s when a priest friend told me that sometimes ‘til death do us part’ can also mean the death of a relationship. I know not everyone reading this will agree. We each

have our own journeys. But I believe God did not want me to live a life of misery.

“Is there writing on the wall in your own life today? Is there a change you need to make but are scared to do so? Know that God is with you even during those times of transition. While we can ignore the writing on the wall, it doesn’t go away. We need not fear whatever the writing says, because Jesus has promised us the Holy Spirit as comforter.”

Moving Forward: “What in your life needs your attention?”