This morning, we have the privilege of consider the actual historical and Scriptural event that resulted in our proverbial saying, “And I saw the handwriting on the wall.”
Obviously, the biblical story has made such an impression on people of our culture that 2600 hundred years later we still use the expression to communicate the idea that we saw a sign, or came to mental clarity, about some impending doom that would certainly come upon us with respect to some kind of relationship or our immediate future.
We often giggle when we hear the expression. Yes, it’s clever. But it was anything but a funny situation when the literal handwriting was placed on that wall in a Babylonian banquet hall so many eons ago. It signaled a final, sudden, immediate, this-life judgment of God that changed the fortunes not only of a king, but his own kingdom.
A question a wise man might ask is what was the recipe for such a disaster? What exactly was it that King Belshazzar did that resulted in such a sudden change in fortune—such a sudden, this-life kind of judgment? Surely the Bible tells us that there will be a day of judgment of one sort or another for us all, but as Hebrews 10:27 indicates, that judgment, whether it’s a judgment for reward or a judgment with regard to our eternal destiny, for most of us takes place after our physical deaths. Many great sinners are portrayed in the Scriptures, and most of them are judged in eternity as well. But there are some, like, Belshazzar, for whom judgment came suddenly in this life, as though God could no longer wait. The question for us this morning is determine how we can avoid such a fate for ourselves and for those we love. And so this morning, we’re going to examine this story from the perspective of what you don’t want to do if you want to avoid an immediate, this-life kind of judgment like the one Belshazzar experienced.
But before we get to that, a little background is necessary. First, who was this Belshazzar? Daniel introduces him without much explanation other than that he is now the King of Babylon the Great. There is no explanation of what became of King Nebuchadnezzar, the great king who we’ve just been told in Daniel 4 finally became a worshiper of the God of Daniel and wrote his testimony for his whole kingdom to consider. For that information, the pages of history will need to be consulted.
King Nebuchadnezzar had continued to be the great king of Babylon for a generation, for 43 years, until he died in 562 B.C. Five kings from his family succeeded him over the following 23 years. Two of their reigns were shortened by assassination, in one case, by members of the same family. It’s now 539 B.C., and two kings of Babylon, grandsons or great-grandsons of Nebuchadnezzar, are ruling. One is not mentioned here. His name was Nabonidus. He was out of town for these events. And had given co-regency, or shared his royal rule, with his son Belshazzar. During the reign of these five kings, amid all the changes and chaos, Babylon’s greatness had deteriorated, and its hold on its satellite nations had suffered. It is now October 12, 539 B.C. The great city of Babylon has come under siege by two of its formerly subjected peoples who had formed an alliance. The Kingdom of the Medes, today knowns as the Kurds, and the Persians, today known as Iran, had laid siege to the great city. So it would seem to have been a very strange time for the King of Babylon to be throwing a huge drinking party for all his officials, but such was the pride and bravado of the king. He perhaps wanted to show just how confident he was in his ability to maintain his own power. After all, Babylon was surrounded by two walls for 14 miles of its circumference. The walls were more than 100 yards high and had 250 towers another 100 feet higher. And archeological excavations actually revealed that the outer walls were thicker than the Greek historian Herodotus had reported. The outer wall was 133 feet thick for all that 14 miles. More than that, 20 years of provisions had been stored within the city and so it appears that the grandson or the great grandson of Nebuchadnezzar shared in his grandpa’s pride—the pride Nebuchadnezzar had before his conversion. This drinking party was perhaps an act of bravado, an attempt to demonstrate that the Kingdom really was in no danger after all. How could anyone, no matter how great, invade such an incredibly fortified city—Babylon seemed impregnable, as secure as man could make it.
So Daniel in the first few verses mentions several key details about this great banquet. A thousand nobles, their wives and their concubines attended. Alcohol was served, and upon tasting the wine, Belshazzar ordered the wine be served in the most excellent vessels that were available, those that consisted of gold and silver and had been imported from Solomon’s great temple of God in Jerusalem. And as they drank from these holy vessels, Belshazzar and his guests praised the idols of Babylon. The fact that women had been invited to such a drinking party promised that all sorts of pagan debauchery and immorality were to follow. But it was as the idols of every kind were being praised that the “signature” event occurred. God Almighty crashed the party with a mysterious message that completely unglued the previously carefree and arrogant king. This was the recipe for disaster, spiritually and every other way for Belshazzar. The handwriting suddenly and ominously appeared prominently on a wall in the sight of everyone attending the party—written by a disembodied hand!!! Whoa!!! What in the world was going? Who had interrupted the time of great revelry with such an ominous sign???
We now begin to dissect how it came about by examining the events that followed beginning in verse 7.
In verses 7-12, the now petrified king does what any good Babylonian king does when he’s in crisis. As Nebuchadnezzar had always done before, he called for all the wise men of Babylon to come to attempt to read and interpret the inscription. Though Daniel is clearly alive, even though he is now in his 80s, what is notable is that he is nowhere to be found among these wise men. He had once been in charge of all the wise men in Babylon. Somehow, in the course of all the changes in kings that had taken place between Nebuchadnezzar’s death and this day 23 years later, it is clear that he had lost his position of authority. In fact, he had somehow even lost his place as one of the wise men. More than that, despite his unique abilities to interpret dreams, he had been entirely forgotten by the king and his wise men. We don’t know what had happened. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the obviously ungodly rulers of Babylon, involved in assassinations, drunkenness and idolatry as they obviously were, no longer wished to be advised by a godly man. They did not appreciate his godly counsel. So he may have been demoted or somehow summarily or conveniently dismissed. The very wisdom of God that had had guided Nebuchadnezzar in his administration of the kingdom went with Daniel. Those consulted now were the charlatans of the occult world and it’s no wonder that the kingdom had suffered. But there was now a crisis, and once again the so-called wise men of Babylon failed a Babylonian king. And here we find our first point in the recipe for disaster. Belshazzar as well as other kings had dismissed and forgotten the wisest spiritual advisor they had: Daniel. Why, because darkness hates the light. And so they suffered and were now about to suffer ultimately for their folly.
First point this morning in the recipe for spiritual disaster: Beware of dismissing and forgetting wise spiritual counselors. Beware of dismissing and forgetting wise spiritual counselors.
Why? Another great king, Solomon, provides us with the answer in Proverbs 10:17: “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, but he who ignores reproof goes astray.” When we dismiss and ignore godly counsel and counselors, we go astray from wisdom.
Who in your life has given you godly counsel? Who has put you on the path of life? Maybe a precious friend, a pastor, or a co-worker. Have you separated from them because you came to a point you no longer appreciated their counsel? Have you forgotten them? Think again. This was Babylon’s and Belshazzar’s first step toward the doom they were now about to experience.
Finally, the Queen, probably signifying the Queen Mother, is brought in as we read in verse 10. Belshazzar’s wives and concubines were already there. Perhaps this is his mother, or his grandmother—historians suggest she was Nebuchadnezzar’s own daughter and they have an historical name for her. She is asked for wisdom regarding the circumstance and she, and she alone, remembers Daniel. She even quotes her father’s comments about Daniel, one in whom is the spirit of the holy gods and who can interpret all kinds of dreams and riddles. She implores the King that the now-remembered Daniel be consulted, and he is ushered into the King’s presence. The King offers Daniel the same great reward he has offered any of his wise men for an interpretation of the handwriting. But Daniel, knowing the outcome, refuses the gifts, though he agrees to interpret the handwriting. However, before he does, he reviews for Belshazzar his father or his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar’s experience with the Most High God—how God had granted Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and great grandeur over all the peoples of the earth, but when Nebuchadnezzar’s heart had grown proud, exactly how God had humbled him, by giving him the mind of the beast so that he was driven from among men for seven years until he acknowledged God was the source of all his blessings—until he was humbled before God. And then in verse 22, he gets to his point: “Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this:
Point #2 in avoiding spiritual disaster: Beware of blowing off a rich spiritual heritage. Beware of rejecting your parent’s or your grandparent’s spiritual teachings and wisdom, when they have experienced and known God. Belshazzar was well acquainted with all the facts that Daniel shared with him about his father. No doubt he among all the peoples of Babylon had also read, or heard read, the testimony about his Father’s humbling and conversion to worship of the Most High God which we find in Daniel 4, the previous chapter. But he had rejected that for Himself. He had not humbled himself before the Most High God. Quite the opposite. The banquet was a testimony to his rebellion. He had flaunted his folly by calling upon all the leaders of Babylon to join him in drunken debauchery, immorality and idol worship, returning like a dog to its own vomit, a nation that had been given the gracious revelation of the true God through it’s great King Nebuchadnezzar.
If you have such a rich spiritual heritage--the obvious intervention of a gracious God within your family through faith in Jesus Christ--don’t reject it. Down blow off a mother’s faith, a father’s example. Don’t trade their wisdom for the folly of your culture. A wise son follows his father or his wise grandfather’s instruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge fools despise wisdom and instruction” So said Solomon as the theme of his book of Wisdom, in Proverbs 1:7.
Don’t blow off a rich spiritual heritage, if you are privileged to have it in your family. It can end badly. It can result in the same kind of spiritual disaster that Belshazzar is now experiencing--a day when God finally says his patience is past, enough is enough, the day of reckoning has come.
And then we come to Daniel’s second revelation of Belshazzar’s rebellion against God. He had arrogantly, brazenly and defiantly exalted Himself against the God of Heaven.
We’ll read starting in verse 22 again: “Yet you, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven.”
Instead of appropriately humbling himself before God, Belshazzar had defiantly exalted himself against the Lord of Heaven.
Now Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather, had done many terrible things. And at times he had also opposed God. So what was the difference between his opposition and Belshazzar’s opposition to God? The difference is that Nebuchadnezzar’s opposition was done largely in ignorance as a thorough-going pagan. His people had little experience with Daniel’s God. He had to learn. However, Belshazzar’s opposition was done in defiance of God. He knew full well what had happened to his father. He knew all about the power and authority of the true God. His choices were based on an arrogant, defiant attitude toward God rather than an ignorance of God. And that’s a whole ‘nother ball game when it comes to how we relate to God, and how He relates to us. He knew of God, and rather than humble himself before God, he chose to defy God. The man who chooses to defy God, no matter how great, as Goliath himself discovered, will come to a terrible end.
Wisdom #3: Don’t defiantly exalt yourself against the Lord of Heaven.
Now we might ask this question. How does someone defy God? The answer is seen in Belshazzar’s actions here, even as it is seen in Goliath’s words and actions in his encounter with David. Someone who defies God requires God Himself to act to defend his own glory and honor. He so profanes God’s name and honor that God feels compelled to personally intervene to defend His own name. And so it was with Goliath, who defied the armies of the living God by telling the world what he would do to David who came at him in the name of the living God. And Belshazzar defamed God’s name by using the holy vessels of the temple for a drunken orgy in which idols were praised. He was literally daring God to act.
This is where things got really serious for Belshazzar. It began with an attitude, an attitude of arrogant defiance against the Lord. He seems to have been devoted to showing everyone how no man or god could depose him in a time of crisis—that he was above them all. After all, despite his continued rejection of the things of God, and his involvement in drinking and idolatry, he had still come to the throne. He was doing well enough apart from God, so why not just show the world that he didn’t fear God or need God to be a success. And so he threw caution to the wind and used the very holy things of God to serve, honor and praise the detestable gods that he worshiped.
That’s where he crossed the line of no return, the line in the sand in my opinion. This attitude then resulted in the action of defying and defaming the Most High God by arrogantly using the most holy vessels of the temple, intended for the true God’s service, in his drunken and immoral idolatry.
Verse 23, Daniel still speaking once again: This is where you crossed the line—this is the ultimate recipe for disaster, says Daniel: “But you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.
Warning #4: Don’t dare God to act to defend the honor of His name. Belshazzar dares God to act to defend the honor of His name by misusing the most holy items of the temple for his drunken, immoral and idolatrous purposes. If God had not acted, He would have been exposed before all those people to have been subservient to the very idols they worshiped—a lie that could not be tolerated.
Now, you might ask, are there other times in biblical history when God intervened so dramatically in similar circumstances. You bet! It seems there is a unique connection between the mix of immorality, idolatry and the manifest presence of God and God’s immediate and sudden judgment. Remember Israel right after they had heard the Ten Commandments from God and Moses went up on Sinai to receive them? While he was delayed on the mountain, what did they do? They erected a Golden Calf Idol, then sat down to eat and got up to play—drunken immorality and idolatry in the very presence of Almighty God on Mount Sinai resulted in immediate judgment—3,000 died on that day!
Remember also how the people of Israel sinned in immorality and idolatry with the Moabite women in Numbers 23, as God manifested His presence among them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. What happened then? 23,000 died in one day! Defy the living God by participating in immorality and idolatry in His manifest presence, and you have a recipe for disaster. The vessels of God’s temple here represented God’s holy presence in the Babylonian orgy.
And has this sort of thing ever happened in New Testament times? Well, the Apostle Paul speaks of some who had fallen asleep, that is believers who had physically died, because of their participation in the Lord’s Supper—the New Testament holy of holies—was characterized by selfishness and drunken debauchery.
Don’t your dare to dare God to act to defend His holy name!
Finally, don’t deny the reality of God’s inevitable judgment.
I’m sure by this time in his life, Belshazzar had gotten away with rejecting the God of heaven for so long that he thought he could get away with anything. I think he knew what He was doing. I think he knew he was pushing the limit. He knew of the power of the Most High God. Otherwise, why did he respond with such overwhelming terror when the handwriting appeared on the wall. He recognized that He had finally come face-to-face with the God of his grandfather, His Creator and judge, and had made a fatal miscalculation—that he could arrogantly defy and defame God without consequence. And now the day of reckoning had come.
It was time for Daniel to interpret the words. Mene, Mene—numbered, numbered were the days of Belshazzar’s Kingdom and they had been completed. Tekel—Belshazzar had been weighed in the God’s balance and found wanting. Therefore, Upharsin—the Aramaic means divided, distributed. His kingdom had been divided and distributed to another. And verse 30 tells us what happened that night: That same night the formerly arrogant and defiant king was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of 62.
History fills in the details. We’re told by history that on the night a festival was being held in the center of the city the Medes and the Persians diverted the waters of the Euphrates upstream into a nearby lake. Their soldiers entered the city under the walls on the riverbed, and took Babylon without a fight, even while the party-goers in the center of the city continued oblivious.
A New Testament verse provides us with this final tidbit of wisdom that Belshazzar could have used: “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that he shall also reap.” Galatians 6:8.
Don’t dare God to act by defying or defaming His name.
Beware of using His name or anything associated with His holiness in an unholy or profane manner. The Lord will not hold him guiltless who does so.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
