Daniel 5:1-12: The Handwriting Is On The Wall

Daniel 5 and the Feast of Belshazzar

Daniel 5 beginning with verse 1 reading to verse 12. Here now the inspired word of God. Belshazzar the king held the great feast for a thousand of his nobles and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.

When Belshazzar tasted the wine he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem. So that the king and his nobles his wives and his concubines might drink from them.

Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple the house of God which was in Jerusalem and the king and his nobles his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver of bronze iron wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. Then the king's face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together.

The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom.

Then all the king's wise men came in but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed. His face grew even paler and his nobles were perplexed.

The Queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles. The Queen spoke and said, Oh King, live forever. Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods and in the days of your father illumination insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him.

And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners. This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel whom the king named Belshazzar.

The Sovereignty of God Over Kings and Kingdoms

Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation. Let's pray. Father we bow before you once again as we look into this great book of Daniel and we would pray for discernment, for illumination and for insight into what you have to say to us.

That we would learn, that we would not be like the men who are described in this passage of scripture, but that father that we would seek you, your kingdom, your righteousness first, knowing that everything else will be added to us.

We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated. The English language is an interesting language, is it not? It's full of idioms and idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms. Some of them have been around so long that their origin is not even known by those who use them.

For example, you ever see something really impressive and call it that's a real doozy? Most people have no idea where that comes from. It actually comes from the automobile, the Duesenberg, because when it was manufactured it was so luxurious and so opulent that it became a byword.

So you say that's a doozy. Then there's another expression, give him the whole nine yards. And a lot of people have no idea where that came from. It was actually the length of the machine gun belt on a World War II aircraft gunner.

And the whole idea was give him all you got. So it was give him all the whole nine yards. Our text for this morning is the source of another idiom. He saw the handwriting on the wall. The meaning is that someone has understood that he was facing some serious problem.

For example, his firing came as no surprise. He'd seen the handwriting on the wall for months before. It's a typical use of the phrase. Reading Daniel 5, it's fairly easy to see the origin of the expression.

But the circumstances surrounding this event are very interesting. How does this writing on the wall come about? And what does the writing mean? Now those are only two of many questions that we're going to explore in chapter 5.

But first some context. And a question that struck me first was who is Belshazzar and how did he get on the throne of Babylon? Those are two very good questions and obvious questions. For when we finished chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar had been restored and he was on the throne.

His sanity had been returned to him. And he was converted to a servant of the Lord God Most High. So look at verse 37 of chapter 4. This is the last verse of chapter 4. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of Heaven.

For all his works are true and his ways just. And he is able to humble those who walk in pride. Now remember in the original there's no chapter divisions. The very next phrase is Belshazzar the king. So who is this Belshazzar and how did he get to be king?

Let me quote Sinclair Ferguson on this. The book of Daniel is not merely a record of the history of God's people in exile in Babylon. In fact, the author shows relatively little interest in chronology in the historical section of the book.

We must look elsewhere if we want to understand the events of Jewish or world history in the period covered by Daniel. Instead, as we have seen, the book is concerned with the spiritual conflict that underlies history and comes to the surface in dramatic form in particular events of crucial significance to the kingdom of God.

What is at stake in the exile is the threat posed by the kingdom of this world against the kingdom of God. That explains why Belshazzar comes on the scene with no introduction and no explanation on his place in Babylon or relationship to Nebuchadnezzar.

Also, you must keep in mind that the purposes of this book, which we have expounded on in previous sermons, the sovereignty of God is one of the keys to understanding the book of Daniel. Remember that Daniel revealed to the king Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2.

Remember what he said, that he was the one, that the sovereign God was the one who removes kings and establishes kings. We have to keep that in mind as we go through this book of Daniel. Through the visions, we've seen how God will preserve his kingdom in time and history until the emergence of the new covenant.

Remember that vision with the stone crushing the statue and then that stone becomes a whole mountain. The stone was not cut by human hands. Some background may help us to understand the events a little more clearly as well.

First, we know that Nebuchadnezzar reigned for about 43 years. The events of chapter 2, the division of the statue, took place in the second year of his reign. So the events in chapter 5 are at least 42 years from Nebuchadnezzar's vision.

So a good period of time between these two chapters. Daniel is no longer a young man. He's a man in about his 60s. That's still a young man, depending on your perspective. And Belshazzar is not the direct son of Nebuchadnezzar, but most scholars believe to be the son of another king of Babylon, Nabonidus.

Belshazzar was more than likely related through marriage to Nebuchadnezzar and rightly called his son, or Nebuchadnezzar, his father. We'll explain that a little bit more when we get to the Queen in verse 10.

But I believe that information will help in explaining Belshazzar's attitude later on. So let's get to our text for this morning. Look at verse 1. Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.

That's a very simple verse, but it tells us quite a bit about Belshazzar. Since we know that this is the day of his death, we know that as he is throwing this feast for a thousand nobles, the army of Darius the Mede is literally right at the gates of Babylon.

So this is no ordinary party. The city is about to be captured. Belshazzar is posturing for the benefit of his nobles, reminiscent of the young Nebuchadnezzar, his father, in the days of Babylon the Great.

And part of the show is he's a two-fisted drinker. He's drinking wine in the presence. With the fate of the kingdom at hand, he's throwing this party and drinking wine in the presence of his nobles. And part of the show is this attitude.

Nothing can touch us. We're Babylon the Great, so let's drink. The city of ancient Babylon was said to be near impregnable. It was able to withstand a siege for long periods of time. Ample food and water for the need.

So this feast had a definite purpose behind it, which will become more and more evident as we read further. Look at verse two. When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring gold and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.

Now this verse adds to our information. The king's wives and concubines are also included in the festivities. And as they commence drinking the wine, the king gives the order to bring out those vessels, the ones that my father had confiscated.

We read about that in chapter one of Daniel, remember? That he had brought in not only the captives, the slaves, but all the implements from the temple. Now the king's orders were obeyed, because we read further in verse three.

Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God, which was in Jerusalem. And notice when you see those phrases repeated, they're there for a reason. These are the vessels.

Where were they from? The temple, the house of God, Jerusalem. There's no mistaking what these vessels are. And the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. You know, when you first read this, it just sounds like something, well this is what a drunken man would do.

Yeah, let's get those vessels, let's drink from those. But I believe there's more going on here than just a party gone too far. Look at verse four. They drank the wine, and listen carefully, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

This is quite interesting. As they drank, they praised the gods which they believed were behind the vessels. Remember, the Babylonians were polytheists. They believed in many gods. We examine this when Nebuchadnezzar, remember, when he erected the statue of gold and commanded everyone to bow down and worship it.

They were syncretistic in their worship. They worshipped anything and everything, and sometimes even nothing. So Belshazzar brings out these gold and silver vessels, not only to drink from it, but to praise the gods behind it.

That is the way they thought. Now why would he do such a thing? Remember, the Medes are at the front door. They're ready to take the city. I believe from the text that this is one last-ditch effort to summon divine help from whatever God he could get help from.

If the Babylonian gods can't help them, well, maybe the God of the Hebrews can help. So let's drink from the silver and gold vessels. Let's praise those gods that's behind them. You may say, well, that's kind of speculation, isn't it?

I don't think so. Remember what we read this morning? Remember Isaiah 47? Isaiah 47 is the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon. I'm going to read two verses of that passage of Scripture. You may want to read that whole passage when you go home this afternoon.

But listen to verses 10 and 11. This is the Lord pronouncing judgment on Babylon. You felt secure in your wickedness and said, no one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you. For you have said in your heart, I am and there is no one besides me.

But evil will come on you, which you will not know how to charm away. And disaster will fall on you, for which you cannot atone. And destruction about which you do not know will come on you suddenly. Isn't that just what we're reading?

Too bad Belshazzar didn't have the prophecy from Isaiah. Because he once again acts in arrogance and blasphemes the Most High God. Once again, he completely misreads the results of his actions. For instead of garnering favor from the God of the Hebrews and preventing the Medes from conquering Babylon, he hastened the defeat as chastisement from God.

Remember, God takes worship very seriously. And those vessels that he is frivolously using in a drunken party were sanctified. They were sanctified by God for special use by the priests only. And even the priests were forbidden to drink the wine offerings in the Old Testament.

They could eat the bread, but they could not drink the wine. That's one of the benefits in the New Covenant. Being a nation of priests, the Church of Jesus Christ eats the bread and drinks the wine. So what Belshazzar is doing is sheer blasphemy.

He broke so many commandments and statutes that God didn't wait to reveal the consequences of his sin. Before we move on, I must point out the warning from the Apostle Paul before celebrating the Lord's Supper.

Non-Christians are cautioned, don't blaspheme by taking the part in the supper. It's only for believers. Then even believers are cautioned, examine yourself so as not to partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner.

And the result, Paul tells us in chapter 30 of 1st Corinthians 11, for this reason many among you are weak and sick and in number sleep, that is, die. Even in the New Covenant, there's a warning against taking the worship, especially the signs of the covenant, in a frivolous manner.

That's tantamount to blasphemy. And some people get weak, sick, and some have died. So we should not be surprised at what happens next to Belshazzar. For right after they start drinking up from these vessels, this is what we read in verse 5, suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

You know, the author of the book of Hebrews tells us that in the Old Covenant, God spoke to his people in many different ways. Just think about it. When Adam and Eve had sinned, God came to them in a whirlwind, tornado.

He spoke to Moses in a burning bush that wasn't consumed by the flames. Spoke to Balaam through a donkey. He spoke to Nebuchadnezzar in dreams and visions. Somebody's listening. And now, now there's a hand writing on the wall.

This was unprecedented, to say the least. And I dare say that this was enough to strike fear in anyone's heart who was drinking in that banquet hall that evening. The fingers were writing something, and all Belshazzar could do was see the back of the hand.

I would gather to say that I think some people sobered up pretty quickly at that point. But there's another part of the narrative we must address. The writing was on the palace wall, in a specific location behind the lampstand.

Now that is the lampstand that was made according to the blueprints from God given in Exodus chapter 25. That lampstand was made of pure gold and was designed to cast light on whatever was in front of it.

Let me read Exodus 25, 37. Then you shall make its lamp seven in number, and they shall mount its lamp so as to shed light on the space in front of it. In other words, the hand was writing on the wall with the lampstand watching over it, shedding light on what was written.

If not real light, at least symbolically. The point is, the handwriting on the wall was a public event, not meant to be hidden. There it is for everybody to see. The symbolism is quite clear. And so is the effect that it has on the king.

Verse six, and listen to this description. Then the king's face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him. His hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking together. That is one of the most graphic descriptions of fear you will find anywhere.

The king went from posturing himself as brave and arrogant, facing danger, a hard-drinking man posturing in front of his nobles and his harem, to one who is physically shaken, and fear expressed all over his body, his physical countenance, pale face, joint slack, knees began knocking.

You know that description? It's almost cartoonish, and it's that way to make the point. That's about one of the most serious reactions of fear you can describe without the person actually blacking out.

Yeah, this was an unprecedented occurrence, but why was Belshazzar so frightened of this vision? The text tells us his thoughts alarmed him. He is so frightened by his own thoughts that it manifests itself in these outward signs.

You know what's really interesting? He doesn't even know what it says yet, but his conscience is such that his mind runs away with all the possibilities of the things that he has done, and what this means.

And when the king regains his composure somewhat, what does he do? Just as his father had done, when he was perplexed and alarmed, he called for the Chaldeans, called for the magicians. Look at verse 7.

The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans, the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, any man who can read this inscription and explain this interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck and have authority as a third ruler in the kingdom.

It appears the king is still reeling from the effects of the handwriting on the wall, for he calls aloud. The implication being he's still alarmed and still physically affected by this end. So he wants to know the meaning of the handwriting.

So he calls for the counselors. Three different classes of counselors to the kings. Each group had their own different specialty of how they counseled, but none of them had any authentic power, and none of them was up to the task.

Each one was totally inept for any serious task. The best that any of these counselors could do was tell the king what he wanted to hear and hope for the best. But the king calls for them and makes them an offer.

If they were the real deal, there would be an offer they couldn't refuse, because they would be clothed in purple. That's a symbol of royalty and respect in the ancient world. It would be a sign of one who is favored by the king.

You see this throughout scripture. The priestly garments had purple in it. The woman, Proverbs 31 woman, she makes coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. So clothed in purple and a necklace of gold around his neck.

But the big prize elevated to number three in the kingdom. All they had to do is interpret the writing on the wall. That's it. No question. This king, Belshazzar, is seriously affected by the handwriting.

The wise men come in, and again, no surprises here. Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king. Well, you know my sense of humor by now.

As I was studying this, I couldn't help but think of the old nursery rhyme. Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.

Here King Belshazzar finds himself once again. All the king's men, all the king's counselors, the diviners, and the conjurers, they couldn't. They were not up to the task. That being said, the king knew it wasn't good news.

For look how the scripture describes him now. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed. His face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed. One can only imagine what was going through his mind. There is no one to help him, no one to read the writing.

They can't even read the writing, let alone interpret it. No one to comfort him. He was left to his own imagination, and all he had was a group of perplexed counselors. But then something else happens, something unexpected.

Look at verse 10. The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the kings and his nobles. Now who is this? The queen enters the banquet hall, and she captures the attention of the king and his nobles.

Now if you've studied the ancient royal culture at all, you know that this is a severe break in protocol. Remember how Esther approached the king with fear and trembling? Even though she was the favorite wife, she could have died just for daring to enter the king's court without being invited.

But this queen marches right into the banquet hall and takes over. So obviously this was no ordinary queen, no ordinary woman. So there's a few words of explanation I think we have to pause. Remember what we read in verse 2 concerning the guests at this blasphemous feast?

A thousand nobles, the king's wives and his concubines. This woman was not one of the king's harem, not a wife or a concubine, or she would have already been at the feast. And by her actions, she clearly was a woman of influence.

In all likelihood, based upon what she says and what she does, she was functioning as the title would be Queen Mother. While she has no official power in the monarchy, the Queen Mother carries a lot of weight.

Now we don't have the genealogical records to back this up, but it's not unreasonable to put forth that she was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, who married Naboditus and the mother or the grandmother of the king Belshazzar.

If that's not the case, it's something similar to that. We might not have it exactly right, but it's something similar to that. And we know that she had influence because look at what she does when she hears about the writing on the wall.

After the standard royal greeting, O King, live forever, the first thing she does is offer comfort. Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. That comes from someone who cares about Belshazzar.

She's also someone who has knowledge of the workings of the monarchy and who's who in the kingdom of Babylon. Because look at what she does, look at what her advice is right at the very beginning. Verse 11, there is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods and in the days of your father illumination, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him.

And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him the chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans, and diviners. Notice the first thing, this woman knows about Daniel. And she begins, I think this is a, she was masterful in how she presents this.

Listen carefully, if we can take a lesson on diplomacy from her. She begins by referring to as there is a man, I know a guy who knows a guy. That's the essence of what she's saying. There is a man in your kingdom.

She's familiar with the ways of kings. She doesn't just blurt out how you need to call Daniel. She knows her king as king, but she also knows him as a son or a grandson. So she treads gently with him.

There is a man who has a spirit of the holy gods. In other words, what she's saying is, I know a man and he may be able to help you in your dilemma. And then she relates how she knows this. She refers back to Nebuchadnezzar, not by name at first, which again is very, very insightful.

But she refers to him as father, your father. And she relates the credentials that make Daniel a person of interest here. Someone who might be able to read the writing on the wall. Why? Because in days gone by, he's proved himself to be different from all the other Chaldeans.

He showed, he demonstrated illumination. He showed insight and he was a man of wisdom. But not just any wisdom, wisdom of the gods. And now she begins to bring her advice to a close. She mentioned, and I love the way she brings in the big guy, Nebuchadnezzar.

And look how she does so. Because of his great wisdom, illumination and insight, King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king. Notice the emphasis. Remember who you are, Belshazzar. Your father appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.

But she's not finished yet. She continues with the words that indicate she had personal knowledge of the works of Daniel under King Nebuchadnezzar. Because if you look at verse 12, she says, this was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight.

And then listen what she says, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas, solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel. She knew that Daniel could interpret dreams. She probably knew more about the works of Daniel than we do.

Because we only have four chapters. She served 40 some years. We're only given the details that we need for the purpose of the Holy Spirit. But not all the works of Daniel. Remember Daniel was with Nebuchadnezzar for most of his 43-year reign.

And all we have is these four chapters. So the Queen goes on. She says, Daniel explained enigmas. He was a solver of difficult problems. I don't think it's far-fetched to say that she knew Daniel personally.

Remember as the chief counselor, Daniel had access to most of the palace. And most would be acquainted with him to some degree. Now she even names Daniel. She says, we were found in Daniel. And then adds, who the king, your father by the way, your father the king, gave him a Babylonian name, Belteshazzar.

Yes, she knew Daniel. She knew his abilities. And so she concludes with very strong words. Now she says, let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation. She knows. And if you doubt the influence of this Queen, if you doubt what I'm saying, just go to the next verse.

Then Daniel was brought before the king. Belteshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall. Too late. He was petrified. And rightly so because he, like his predecessor, demonstrated the sins of pride and arrogance.

And that brought him to the sin of blasphemy. And so he had good reason to be afraid. Now we're going to pick up our text next week, but a word of caution. The 19th century philosopher Hegel, and I'm not endorsing his work by the way, he once said that the only thing we learn from history is that we have learned nothing from history.

Belteshazzar did not learn from the past. He was unteachable. And he suffered, as you will see next week, he suffered the consequences for it. Christian, don't make the same mistake as Belteshazzar. You have the holy scriptures to guide your life and your decisions.

Don't ignore when God speaks clearly through his word. Paul tells that these things have been written for our instruction. Learn from them. If you're here today and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, you've heard the word of God preached once again.

Don't be presumptuous and ignore what you have heard. Don't be like Belteshazzar. Repent of your sin and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ because the handwriting is on the wall. Let's pray.