Daniel Chapter 5 (The hand writing on the wall)

Last time we left off, Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled and proclaimed the living God as the one true God. Now his grandson, Belshazzar, is king. He was proud, and he loved to throw huge, fancy parties. One night, he decided to throw the biggest party yet, a party for a thousand of his most important friends and lords.

There was music, laughter, and mountains of food. Everyone was having a wonderful time. But then King Belshazzar had an idea that would turn out to be a very bad one.

"Bring out the golden cups!" he shouted.

Now, these weren't just any golden cups. Many years before, King Belshazzar's grandfather had conquered the city of Jerusalem. When his soldiers took over the great Temple there, the holy place where the Israelites worshipped God, they carried off beautiful golden and silver cups and bowls belonging to that Temple. These cups were sacred. They were never meant to be used for drinking wine at a party.

But King Belshazzar didn't care about that. He wanted to show off. So the golden cups were brought out, and the king, his lords, his wives, and everyone at the party began drinking from them, laughing and praising their own gods. These gods were made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Just statues. It was incredibly disrespectful. 

The very first commandment says: “You shall have no other gods before me. It's easy to say, "Well, at least I don't have any statues or idols that I worship." But do you know that anything we put before God is an idol? Even good things, or even ourselves.

And then, right in the middle of all the noise and laughter... everything stopped, and a hand appeared.

It wasn't attached to an arm. Not attached to anybody. Just a hand, floating in the air, and it began to write.

The hand moved slowly across the palace's plaster wall, leaving strange words behind it, glowing where the candlelight touched them.

The music and the laughter stopped. Every single person in that room turned to look, and every single face went pale with fear. King Belshazzar's knees literally began to knock together, he was so terrified. He watched the hand finish its writing and then... vanish, as if it had never been there at all.

But the words remained on the wall.

"Someone get me my wise men!" the king shouted, his voice shaking. "Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in royal purple, given a gold chain to wear around his neck, and made the third most powerful ruler in the whole kingdom!"

All the king's wise men, magicians, and fortune-tellers came rushing in. They stared at the strange words. They scratched their heads. They mumbled to each other. But not one of them could read it, and not one of them could explain what it meant. King Belshazzar grew more and more afraid. His face grew paler. His guests began to whisper nervously among themselves. Just then, the queen, the king's grandmother, who remembered something from long ago, walked into the banquet hall after hearing the commotion.

"Your Majesty," she said calmly, "don't be so frightened. There is a man in your kingdom who has a very special gift. Years ago, your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, discovered that this man has the spirit of the holy gods living inside him. He is full of understanding, wisdom, and insight — like nobody else. His name is Daniel. Send for him. He will tell you what this means."

So Daniel was brought before the king. Daniel was an old man now. He had lived in Babylon for many, many years, ever since he was just a boy, and he had always stayed faithful to God, even while serving many, many kings.

"Are you Daniel?" the king asked. "I've heard that you have the spirit of the gods in you, and that you're full of wisdom. My wise men couldn't read this writing or tell me what it means. If you can do it, I'll give you purple robes, a gold chain, and you'll become the third-highest ruler in my kingdom."

Daniel didn't care about the rewards at all.

"You can keep your gifts," Daniel said boldly. "Or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing for you and tell you what it means anyway."

Then Daniel looked the king straight in the eye and said something the king was probably not expecting.

"Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, a mighty kingdom, great glory, and honor. But when he grew proud in his heart, God humbled him until he learned that God, not any human being, is truly in charge of every kingdom on earth.

Daniel was talking to Belshazzar, but he is also talking to us. Jesus said in Matthew 23:12: "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." And James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." Humility is very important with God. It means that we place God where He belongs in our hearts. Way, way, way above everyone and everything else. The Bible, in Proverbs 16:18, says that pride comes before a fall. Out of all the stories in the Bible, this one about Belshazzar's pride illustrates Proverbs 16:18 perfectly.

David continued, "But you, Belshazzar,  even though you knew all of this, you have not humbled yourself. Instead, tonight, you set yourself up against the Lord of heaven! You had the cups from His holy Temple brought here, and you drank wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone,  gods that cannot see or hear or understand anything at all! But you did not honor the God who holds your very breath and your whole life in His hands.

"That is why He sent the hand to write these words."

Then Daniel read the mysterious writing aloud:

"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN."

And here is what it meant:

"MENE: God has counted the days of your kingdom, and it has come to an end.

TEKEL: You have been weighed on the scales, and you have not measured up.

PARSIN: Your kingdom is being divided up and given to the Medes and the Persians."

The room was silent. But true to his word, King Belshazzar ordered that Daniel be dressed in purple robes, given a gold chain, and announced as the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.

That very night — that same night — everything Daniel had said came true. The city of Babylon was attacked, and King Belshazzar was killed. His kingdom did not last one more day. Power passed to a new king, a Mede named Darius, just as the writing on the wall had foretold.

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So no matter how powerful or proud someone becomes, nothing is hidden from God. Every kingdom,  and every person, ultimately answers to Him. Being honest, humble, and faithful (like Daniel was, even in a scary moment) matters far more to Him than gold or fancy titles.

Nebuchadnezzar has another dream. (Daniel Chapter 4)

 Chapter 4 of the book of Daniel is a bit unusual. It is told from King Nebuchadnezzar's point of view, as if he were writing the story himself. So that is how I will approach this chapter as well. Let's begin:

  I, King Nebuchadnezzar, was sleeping very comfortably when I was awakened by a disturbing dream. I didn't even wait until morning. I summoned all my wise men in the kingdom to interpret this dream for me right then and there. I told them about the dream that had upset me so, but none of them could or would interpret it for me. Perhaps my ruthless reputation preceded me, and they were fearful for their lives. Nevertheless, I finally called for Daniel. He had already demonstrated that he could interpret dreams, although he said it was God who interpreted them and that he was just the messenger. When Daniel arrived, I told him about my disturbing dream. I saw a gigantic tree with beautiful leaves and many kinds of delicious fruit. It provided food for the wild animals resting in its shade and for the birds as well. Then I saw an angel descend from heaven and cut down the tree. The angel also removed all the branches and destroyed the fruit. Only a stump remained, but the angel instructed leaving it with the roots still intact. Now, here’s the really strange part; the stump, which previously had the mind of a man, has now been given the mind of a wild beast, and the angel declared that this would last for seven years!

 After I shared my dream, I looked up at Daniel. He appeared visibly shaken. I tried to calm him and told him not to let my dream cause him any fear. "Just tell me what it means," I said. Daniel finally responded, saying he wished this dream were about my enemies, not about me. He explained that the tree represented me, Nebuchadnezzar, and that my kingdom had grown strong and prosperous. However, you will be removed from your kingdom. You will be like an ox in the field, eating grass and sleeping on the ground. This will last for seven years, after which you will acknowledge that God rules over everything from heaven. Then you will be restored, and your kingdom will return to you. Daniel urged me to repent of my sins.

A year passed, and I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had long dismissed my dream as nothing more than a nighttime story, born out of fear and maybe something I ate before bed. In the last twelve months, nothing even close to what I dreamed about had happened. My kingdom was thriving, and I was living in the beautiful palace. I decided to go up to the roof and look over my kingdom. Once I reached the roof, a wave of overwhelming pride filled my heart. Look at all this, I thought. Then I shouted, "Isn't this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power, and all for my own glory?" Almost immediately, I heard a loud voice from heaven. "Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom has departed from you, and you will be driven out from among men. You will live among the beasts in the fields for seven years. Once you understand that the kingdoms of this world are ruled by Me, The Most High, and given to those whom I choose, then, and only then, will the kingdom be restored to you." I don't need to tell you, I felt fear like never before. 

 Before I knew it, I fell to the ground and started crawling on all fours. I tried to call out to my servants, but the words only turned into growls. My heart began pounding out of my chest! I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk, and I felt driven to leave the castle. I plodded past the guards. I really wonder what they were thinking as I went from an upright ruler to scurrying by them on my hands and knees. As I crossed the bridge connecting my castle to the second set of guards, I lost my shoes, and my knuckles bled from dragging them on the ground. My robe caught on a bush as I turned toward a nearby field. By the time I reached the field, my royal robes were tattered rags, and my braided beard looked like a mop.

 After seven years of living in the wild, eating grass like a wild ox, and being unable to bathe or groom myself, I became hideous to look at. My hair grew long and was so matted it resembled tattered eagle feathers. My nails grew long and grotesque, like ragged bird claws. Then, finally, after seven years, I lifted my eyes to heaven, and my senses returned to me. I praised and honored the Most High with my heart and my lips. (Romans 10:9) For once in my life, I realized that God is God, and I am not. He is in charge of everything. Nothing happens in the world that is not filtered through Him. My kingdom is not my own. It is His. All I have is His. Anything that I thought I accomplished was really His doing. (Colossians 1:16-17) Then it happened. My royal subjects, my counselors, and wise men sought me out in the fields. My kingdom was restored to me, and I spent the last years of my life constantly praising God for who He is, and continually thanking Him for all the blessings in my life. 

 Wow! What a story! We can learn many lessons from this chapter. Nebuchadnezzar himself highlighted a few of them, such as gratitude and praising God. Psalm 109:30 states this exact sentiment: "With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord, and I will praise Him." He also emphasized that God is in control of all things, so we must trust Him. We also see that being prideful is not Godly. James 4:6 says that God opposes the proud, and Proverbs 16:18 states that pride goes before destruction. Pride traces back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil, who said they could be as great as God if they ate from the fruit, and the rest is history. James 4:6 says God resists the proud. I don't know about you, but I’d rather have God on my side than against me! Next time, we will see if Nebuchadnezzar's son follows in his father's footsteps.