WAIT… THAT’S IN THE BIBLE? — DAY 29

A lighthearted look at some of the wonderfully unexpected things you discover when you actually read your Bible, context still matters!

“Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace…” Daniel 5:5

WAIT… A HAND JUST APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE AND STARTED WRITING ON THE WALL?!

Picture the scene.

King Belshazzar is throwing a massive feast.

There are a thousand guests.

Everyone is eating.

Everyone is drinking.

The king decides to bring out the sacred gold and silver vessels that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem and use them at the party.

And then…

SUDDENLY A HAND APPEARS.

Not a person.

Not an angel standing there holding a pen.

Just…

FINGERS.

And they start writing on the palace wall.

Modern Bible reader:

“EXCUSE ME?!

WHERE DID THE REST OF THE PERSON GO?!”

At this point, the party atmosphere changes rather quickly.

Daniel 5:6 tells us that the king became so terrified that:

“his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.”

In other words…

THE KING WAS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED.

Imagine being one of the guests.

One minute you’re enjoying dinner.

The next:

FLOATING HAND.

MYSTERIOUS WRITING.

PANICKING KING.

And nobody knows what the words mean.

WELL… THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.

Eventually Daniel is called in to interpret the message.

Context REALLY matters with this one!

This wasn’t a supernatural party trick.

King Belshazzar had deliberately dishonoured God by using the sacred vessels from the Jerusalem temple while praising idols.

The writing on the wall was a divine warning of judgment.

Daniel explains that Belshazzar had been weighed and found wanting, and that his kingdom was about to be taken from him.

That very night, Belshazzar was killed and Babylon fell.

So underneath one of Scripture’s most extraordinary supernatural scenes is a very serious warning:

God will not be mocked.

Human power can look impressive.

Kings can believe they are untouchable.

Empires can appear unstoppable.

But God is still sovereign.

And here’s something fascinating:

Our modern expression “the writing is on the wall” comes directly from this biblical story.

We still use it when the signs show that someone’s downfall or the end of something is approaching.

So thousands of years later, people quote Daniel 5…

WITHOUT EVEN REALISING THEY’RE QUOTING THE BIBLE.

But still…

Imagine being Belshazzar.

You’re halfway through your banquet when suddenly:

A HAND APPEARS AND STARTS WRITING ON YOUR WALL.

Forget calling someone to repaint it.

YOU NEED DANIEL.

Sometimes Scripture gives us unexpected details.

Sometimes it gives us supernatural ones.

And sometimes…

THE WRITING REALLY IS ON THE WALL.

Context still matters!