Daniel 5:5-9 “Power”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁵In that moment appeared fingers of a hand of a man writing to the opposite of the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king and the king [was] one seeing the palm of the hand which [was] one writing. ⁶Then the king, his countenance changed it and his thoughts alarmed him and the joints of his loins [were] ones loosened and his knees [were] ones knocking one to this. ⁷The king [was] one calling in strength to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and ones counseling. The king answering, one saying to the wise men of Babel, “All of a man who reads this writing and declares to me its meaning, he will be clothed [with] purple, and the necklace of the gold upon his neck, and third in the kingdom he will rule. ⁸Then ones coming in [were] the all of the wise men of the king, ones not able to read the writing and to make known the meaning to the king. ⁹Then the king Belshazzar [was] one being greatly alarmed and his face [was] one changing on him and his nobles [were] ones being perplexed.

One last thing I want to ponder on before I leave these verses. Isn’t it interesting that this is how the Lord chose to reveal Himself to Belshazzar? The Lord very specifically chose to use this image of a hand writing on the wall to get Belshazzar’s attention.

I guess my point is that He could have done this in a thousand different ways. If it were me, I would have thought perhaps a thundering voice along with an earthquake would do nicely. Or perhaps, how about a giant shining angel who sweeps the room with his sword and wipes out all these profaning revelers? Or what if the floor of the whole hall just opened up and swallowed them all alive?

If you think through your Bible, at different times and in different places, the Lord used all those methods, and many more. But not here. Out of all His revelations, as far as we know, this is the only time He ever used this image of a man’s hand writing on a wall.

It certainly got the job done. By verse 9 we have a terrified king, answerless “wise” men, and a thousand baffled nobles. At least two things are clearly established: the Lord is present and they are clueless. The Lord has been present all along, of course. He has been watching and listening ever since the party began. He heard Belshazzar call for the temple vessels. He watched their arrogant sacrilege as they drank their wine from those holy vessels. He listened as they praised their idols. He heard it all. He saw it all. Their problem was they didn’t see Him.

Because He wasn’t visible, it was easy for them to pretend He doesn’t exist. But in an instant, the hand appears and all of a sudden they know they’re in trouble! At that point, once again, it would have seemed like a great time for a thundering voice.

But that isn’t what the Lord did. My mind goes immediately to Elijah who found out the Lord is not in the wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire, but rather in a still, small voice (I Kings 19:11,12). The Lord certainly can and has expressed Himself to the world in great displays of power, as in the case of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. However, I’ve been thinking lately how sometimes a still, small voice is almost more impressive than loud, explosive displays. It seems to me another way to express power is not to use it! It’s like a boss calling you in to quietly fire you! He could yell at you and throw you out on the street, but, because he has the power, he can simply, quietly tell you your services are no longer needed and dismiss you. What if you throw a tantrum and threaten to sue the company and he still just quietly reiterates that your services are no longer needed and dismisses you? I’m thinking, in a sense, that quiet calm demeanor can be more impressive than a loud, angry voice.

I’m also reminded of a story I read once of a group gathered for a barbecue. At some point, one of the men (probably drunk) started asserting to everyone there that God does not exist. To prove his point, he stood and shouted to God to send a lightning bolt and kill him. After nothing happened for several minutes, the man scoffed and turned to get another brew or something. As he turned, his heel landed on a pea someone had dropped. His feet slipped out from under him, his head hit the concrete, and there he died. Case in point. Which is more impressive, that the Lord in fact send the lightning bolt, or that He kill the arrogant man with a pea?

When Jesus returns to the earth, He will come riding a white horse, with eyes like a blazing fire, leading the armies of heaven, and with a sharp sword going out of His mouth “wherewith to slay the wicked” (Rev. 19:11-16). Yet, the first time He came, He let Himself be born a helpless baby in a stable in a little town and it was said of Him, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out” (Isa. 42:3,4).  

Sometimes He does. Sometimes He doesn’t. Of course, you and I will probably never know why the Lord one time chooses to reveal Himself in displays of awesome power, then the next time turns around and speaks in a still, small voice. Maybe that is itself an expression of power—that He chooses.

I think the takeaway is first of all that we should all notice it is definitely true that the Lord can and may display His power precisely by being very quiet. I would guess the world as a whole would assume any expression of divine power should be awe-inspiring. However, people who truly know their God will also see Him in His quiet expressions of power.

The second takeaway might be a “Go and do thou likewise.” Perhaps we all need to realize how much power can be displayed simply by being quiet? There may be times to yell and scream, but perhaps we should be more aware of those times when, if we know we have the power, we choose not to use it? I find a sort of strange comfort in just knowing that is an option!

 

Daniel 5:5-9 “Truth”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁵In that moment appeared fingers of a hand of a man writing to the opposite of the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king and the king [was] one seeing the palm of the hand which [was] one writing. ⁶Then the king, his countenance changed it and his thoughts alarmed him and the joints of his loins [were] ones loosened and his knees [were] ones knocking one to this. ⁷The king [was] one calling in strength to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and ones counseling. The king answering, one saying to the wise men of Babel, “All of a man who reads this writing and declares to me its meaning, he will be clothed [with] purple, and the necklace of the gold upon his neck, and third in the kingdom he will rule. ⁸Then ones coming in [were] the all of the wise men of the king, ones not able to read the writing and to make known the meaning to the king. ⁹Then the king Belshazzar [was] one being greatly alarmed and his face [was] one changing on him and his nobles [were] ones being perplexed.

There are so many lessons we can take from these verses. Another perspective we could consider is the whole problem of truth. Belshazzar illustrates for us one of the many fatal problems that comes from thinking we don’t need God. It is this stubborn problem of truth. Truth is a granite wall which we face in a thousand different ways every day. Whether we like it or not, whether we even realize it or not, the truth is the truth. If we live according to the truth, things can go fairly smoothly for us, but to whatever extent we base our lives, our values, our decisions on what is not true, we’re simply going to get hurt.

Wow does Belshazzar get hurt. He believes he doesn’t need God. He imagines he’s a very strong, very powerful man. He proves it by seating 1,000 nobles at his big party. However, in all likelihood, even as these events are transpiring, the Persians are already in his city. He’ll be dead shortly. The man who didn’t need God will suddenly become a helpless captive whose head, it turns out, isn’t all that well attached to his shoulders. A man is just a man. And no matter who that man is, he lives in a world swirling around him with forces completely beyond his control. Rather than the Persians, it could have been a heart attack or a brain aneurism. It could have been something as simple as a chicken bone stuck in his throat. It could have a been a chunk of the ceiling dropping on his head, or it could have even been the thousand nobles themselves that stopped this man’s heart from beating. As Daniel will tell him later, it is the Lord who holds your very life in His hand.

The simple truth is that I do need God. I am a squishy, fragile creature living in a world that can smash me in a moment. If I’m going to live, if I’m going to succeed, if I am to be or do or accomplish anything, I need Someone in my life who is bigger than all those threats, Someone who laughs at what to me are insurmountable obstacles. Belshazzar thought he could spit on this truth and still prevail. He’s about to hit that granite wall.

He's a man who thinks he can buy anything he needs. That fact becomes immediately obvious. He thinks just by offering riches (a purple robe, a gold necklace, and power), he can have the people he wants tell him what he wants. However, as Daniel observed back in chapter 2, it is God who gives wisdom and power. We should all pause and notice, here is a man who has the wealth and the human authority to offer whatever it takes to get what he wants. But does he get it? No. And why not? The truth is, Belshazzar is not in control. He does not get whatever he wants. At this moment, his money cannot buy him the one thing he desires above all else.

And then consider the people whom he wants to tell him what he wants. Where does he go when he needs truth? He calls loudly for the “Astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the Counselors.” Once again, we face this problem of truth. The sad fact is, these guys don’t know. Here is a group of men who have embraced some kind of truth system for how to interpret stars and animal entrails and such as that. They’ve convinced their world they’re smart guys who can guide even kings.  They get paid to discern truth. Yet, when their king is shaking like a leaf, desperately needing truth from them, what does he get? Nothing. Why nothing? Because they don’t know. They themselves are men without God and so it follows they are men without truth.

It's always been somewhat of a wonder to me that these guys could actually make a living. What I mean is, they are complete frauds. You’d think it would be obvious very soon their advice stinks. Back in chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar told them, “You tell me the dream first, then I’ll know you can interpret it.” He was a brilliant man. I find it hard to believe he didn’t know these guys were frauds. How could it be that everyone didn’t realize they were frauds?

Fast forward to 2021. Oh. It is utterly amazing how much people like to be told what they want to hear! They’ll let politicians lie to their faces and then elect them because they like their lies. The big cry right now is, “Follow the science!” Yet “science” is based not on real research, but rather its goal is to tell their wealthy sponsors exactly what they want to hear. We live in a world completely immersed in its own lies and no one cares that their lies aren’t working, that every week they have to come up with new lies because that stubborn little thing called truth keeps showing its face. And yet they go on.

This brings us back to truth. There is only one place to get true truth – from God’s Word. In a world swirling in untruth (and its inevitable failure), the Bible stands as a granite pillar. It is the granite wall of truth. This is exactly why Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!” To whatever extent my head is full of untruth, I’m going to face nothing but disappointment and failure. To know the truth grants me the freedom to make good decisions, to have right values, to live a life where things actually fit together.

The Bible is that granite pillar. That is precisely why I study it. I want to know the truth. I want to be free. I want to live. I am soooo thankful for every single time the Lord teaches me something, every time He shows me what is really true. Invariably I find that what is true is the absolute opposite of what we all naturally seem to think. It’s no wonder we all spend our days crashing headlong into rock walls. But we don’t have to. If we will turn to the Word, not to our “wizards who peep and mutter,” we can learn what is truly true and then order our lives accordingly.

I’d like to insert here that I fully realize people may object, “But there are so many different interpretations of the Bible!” May I say that I have been studying the Bible now for over 40 years, and by “studying” what I mean is actually taking the time to carefully determine exactly what it does (and does not) say. Having determined what it does (and does not) say, then one has to slow down and just ponder on it, pray over it, and genuinely seek to know the mind of the Lord with regard to whatever it is He’s saying. It is important to sincerely try to understand whatever the rest of the Bible teaches on the same subject. Having considered all of that, may I humbly assert I don’t think the Bible is “subject to interpretation”? It says what it says. If people disagree, I would suggest most of the time it is because either one or both of them hasn’t really spent the time studying.

Most of what goes on today is that people read each other’s books and write more books. That isn’t “studying,” and it isn’t honoring the Lord by taking His Word seriously. If these feeble scratchings of mine fall into anyone’s hands, can I please encourage you that you can know the truth? You can study the Bible and gain real truth from it. You don’t have to be like Belshazzar and shipwreck your very existence because you’ve believed and built your life on lies.

Make it your goal to know God, to know His heart, to see the world through His eyes, to value what He values, to live a life of constant communication with Him, a life built on truth.

Daniel 5:5-9 “It Matters”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁵In that moment appeared fingers of a hand of a man writing to the opposite of the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king and the king [was] one seeing the palm of the hand which [was] one writing. ⁶Then the king, his countenance changed it and his thoughts alarmed him and the joints of his loins [were] ones loosened and his knees [were] ones knocking one to this. ⁷The king [was] one calling in strength to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and ones counseling. The king answering, one saying to the wise men of Babel, “All of a man who reads this writing and declares to me its meaning, he will be clothed [with] purple, and the necklace of the gold upon his neck, and third in the kingdom he will rule. ⁸Then ones coming in [were] the all of the wise men of the king, ones not able to read the writing and to make known the meaning to the king. ⁹Then the king Belshazzar [was] one being greatly alarmed and his face [was] one changing on him and his nobles [were] ones being perplexed.

Isn’t this interesting? Here is a man named Belshazzar. He has lived many years, made many, many choices, engaged in thousands of activities, and yet the Lord sees fit to record only the night of his death. It would seem the sum total of this man’s existence was only to provide the world with a glaring example of a bad man and his inevitable doom. The man himself is not only a king, but the son of a king and the grandson of possibly the greatest king in human history—Nebuchadnezzar. The man has lived his life in a palace, enjoyed all the privileges of essentially unlimited wealth, partook of every pleasure known to the human race, no doubt made many administrative decisions, maybe led some great projects, had people executed, and on and on and on.

Yet the Lord would see fit to simply tell us about the night he died. In a sense, the entire rest of his life “didn’t count.” As the Proverb warns us, “The name of the wicked shall rot.” The sad reality is that without the Lord, we really are just overgrown amoebas in a universe which exists and continues on nothing more than blind chance. Without the Lord, our lives really are pointless. Nebuchadnezzar himself did repent of his pride and he gets four chapters of this book to tell his story. Daniel was a good man and he wrote the book! Both men are admired to this very day some 2,600 years later. But what about Belshazzar? He’s a bad man who died in his arrogance. Period.

One of the things I have greatly enjoyed about knowing the Lord is how He makes my life matter. What I mean is, we can all ask the question, “Why should I?” Why should I get up and go to work? Why should I work hard even if I may be unappreciated? Why should I love people who may not love me in return? As a Christian, I already have an answer. I do it for the Lord. “And whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as to the Lord, for you know that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23,24). God cares. God cares if I mow my grass. He cares if we change the baby’s stinky diaper. God cares. My life matters. Every single minute of every single day.

Without the Lord, it occurred to me one day that I didn’t really know if I even exist. I thought about how, at night, I dream and create entire worlds that don’t exist. “What if my whole life is just a dream?” I asked myself. What if I’m just a point source of intelligence in the universe and this whole world is just a fantasy I’ve created for my own amusement? My next thought was, “Yeah, but I’m not amused. If the merry-go-round of this world is just a dream, it’s a bad dream, and I want off!” The utter futility of it all was miserably unsettling. And the truth was, I had no answer for it all. No one does. How do you know?

Again, when we allow the Lord into the equation, suddenly everything changes. We’re here because we were deliberately created. There is an intelligent, wise, and loving Creator God running all of this. I’m here specifically for the purpose of knowing Him, to live a life that matters all day every day specifically because He cares. This world is no fantasy, and it was created not in my mind but in His. I exist because He exists. And my life matters because He cares.

Poor foolish Belshazzar. In a sense, he spent his entire life trying to “matter,” but in the end left behind nothing but a bad example.

There is certainly a lot more to learn from these five verses, but I wanted to start just by noting the very, very big picture of what is happening here. Belshazzar’s example would blast the futility of our lives without God. He was a man who obtained everything this world could offer, all the pleasures, all the possessions, and all the applause, yet all we know of him is that he was foolishly arrogant and he died.

May you and I treasure the relationship we enjoy with our God. May we let Him make every minute of every day matter. May we rise to live in the dignity and honor for which we were created—the dignity of people created to be and to do good in our world, to love God and love people…and then die!