Divine Graffiti

King Belshazzar (son of Nebuchadnezzar) threw a feast where he ridiculed the God of the Hebrews by using the temple goblets. A human hand appeared and wrote on the wall - the message declared the king's arrogance and impending downfall.

We have a number of sayings that have their origin in these events:
- So-and-so "couldn't read the writing on the wall."
- "The words of the prophets are written on the subway halls"

The key thought of our text here is that in the midst of arrogance and evil, God speaks and He doesn't always speak in the ways we expect...

The interesting thing about the writing on the wall is that the words written on it were known, but the king and wise men could not read them! Was it a secret script? Maybe Hebrew writing? Or was it that "there are none so blind as those who will not see?"

The words were a judgement: "God has numbered your days, you've been weighed and found wanting and your kingdom will be divided and handed over."

What were Belshazzar's failures? He had seen what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar who had been humbled by God when he had lost his mind due to his pride and arrogance. Belshazzar, however, had not learned anything his father's mistakes but had desecrated the sacred goblets from the sacked temple in Jerusalem. To make matters even worse, he honored idols of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Before we're too quick to criticize Belshazzar, let's remember that current society seems to make the same mistakes: We don't learn from the past, we tolerate the trampling and ridiculing of values that are sacred and we bow our knees at the altars of materialism and consumerism.

But how do we communicate "the writing on the wall" to our society today? I believe the answer lies in credibility and influence. It seems Belshazzar had sidelined Daniel from the prominent position he held in Nebuchadnezzar's administration. So when no-one could read or interpret the writing Daniel had to be summoned. His good track record and credibility gave him a voice.

They say a prophet "brings God's comment on current affairs" and that preachers should preach "with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other." This, however, should be done in a way that earns respect, and should not deteriorate to ranting and raving.

If we are to influence society, we, like Daniel, will need to do it by serving faithfully and, when necessary, speaking the truth by explaining the writing on the wall.