THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

The Handwriting on the Wall - Part 1
Daniel 5:1-31

(V1) "Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand."
(V1) King Belshazzar prepared a huge feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine with them out of those holy vessels from the temple of Jerusalem.

(V2) "Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein."
(V2) After drinking much wine, Belshazzar commanded that the golden and silver vessels that his father (or grandfather) Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the temple in Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his princes, his wives, and his concubines could drink wine from them.

(V3) "Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them."
(V3) The king and those that blindly followed him drank until they all got stoned (drunk) on wine.

(V4) "They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone."
(V4) As all drunks know, drinking too much wine or alcohol in any form can alter good judgment and impairs driving skills that too often proves disastrous or fatal.  Over the years I've seen many crying drunks start talking about God, but these sots started worshiping the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone.  Now what they were about to witness sobered them up instantly and struck terror in every heart.

(V5) "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote."
(V5) In the midst of the drunk fest with his mouth probably full of wine soaked food, the evil king's attention was drawn toward a candlestick upon the plaister of the palace wall as fingers of a man's hand began to write.  The king saw the hand that wrote.

(V6) "Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another."
(V6) At that time the expression on the king's face changed and he was no longer thinking about his kingdom or those that catered to him for his thoughts now troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote together.  What the hand wrote on the wall shook the king far beyond the fleshly temple, robe, and crown.  The message went beyond the temple of flesh completely bypassing the robe and crown and shook the skelton beyond.

(V7) " The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.  And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
(V7) Then the king desperately cried out and said, " bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers".  The king spoke to the wise men of Babylon and said the one among you that can both read and interpret this writing shall be arrayed in scarlet, and a chain of gold around his neck, and shall be the number three man in the kingdom.

(V8) \"Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof."
(V8) The offer made by the desperate king quickly brought in all of his wise men, but they couldn't read, neither could they make know to him the interpretation.  The same thing is true of today's fortune tellers, crystal ball gazers, palm and tea leaf readers.  They and the ones who go to them should be reading the writing on the wall.

(V9) "Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied."
(V9) This verse lets us know that it was not only the king that was greatly troubled and astounded.  All of his lords were greatly troubled also.  This clarifies and greatly establishes the truth in what my ole daddy used to tell me that, "if you run with the wolves you'll howl".

(V10) "Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O King, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:"
(V10) By this time the queen had overheard the words of the king and came into the banquet house.  Not understanding anything about the situation, she cries out "O king live forever, let not thy thoughts trouble thee."  Like many people today she didn't believe the writing on the wall was by the same finger that wrote the laws on tables of stone at Mt. Sinai.

(V11) "There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;"
(V11) The queen reminded the king that there was a man in his kingdom that was indwelt by the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of his father light and understanding.  Wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him so much that King Nebuchadnezzar made him master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. (Daniel 1:4; 2:46-49)

(V12) "Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation."
(V12) God always has a man or woman standing in the wings that He has filled with great wisdom, knowledge and understanding, but much too often they are overlooked and their great well of wisdom goes untapped.  This reminds me of the way modern day churches treat old men and women of the cloth.  They are put on the back burner to simmer while some young upstart tries to get a fire lit in the pulpit.

(V13) "Then was Daniel brought in before the king.  And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daneil which art of the children of the captivity of Judah whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?"
(V13) At that time Daniel was rushed into a question and answer session with the king.  The first thing the troubled king asked was if Daniel was the same Daniel who was captured by his father and brought there from Judah?

(V14) "I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee."
(V14)  Then the king told Daniel that his reputation preceded him and the spirit of the gods were in him.  He also told Daniel that he was aware of the light and understanding, and excellent wisdom that was found in him.

(V15) "And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:"
(V15) Belshazzar told of the failure of the wise men and the astrologers that had been brought before him and could neither read the writing on the wall nor make known the interpretation to him.

Conclusion of Part 1