The Hand Writes on the Wall for Belshazzarby G0_For_G0d1
5:24Daniel 5:24
Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
The part of the hand was sent by God himself and appeared in the palace during Belshazzar's drunken feast, when consecrated vessels were profaned and lifeless idols were praised, tracing living characters of awful significance on the wall that struck the revelers with terror though they could not read them. It was sent in judgment because Belshazzar reckoned without God, refusing to humble himself though he knew how God had humbled and restored Nebuchadnezzar, forgetting God, dishonoring Him with the sacred vessels, and failing to glorify the God in whose hand his life was held. That night his defiance filled the measure of his evil and exhausted forbearance, so the writing declared his kingdom numbered and ended, himself weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom divided to the Medes and Persians and passing into other hands. The unseen witness who sent the hand keeps faithful record for the judgment, writing every act, word, motive and character in the books of final account, and sees even what is thought hidden from every eye. The same sudden judgment that ended Babylon in the midst of revelry will come at the end of the world upon unpreparedness and rejection of heaven-sent light.
Context and Divine Judgment
The verse belongs to the decline of proud Babylon toward dissolution under the unwise rule of Nebuchadnezzar's successors, culminating in its coming fall under Belshazzar. Belshazzar had opportunity to learn from Nebuchadnezzar's God-given humiliation and restoration, but he let pleasure and self-glorification erase those lessons and neglected the truth. The hand and writing appeared in the palace during his sacrilegious feast, an hour of drunken revelry and mirth with his thousand lords. It was an hour when God was forgotten, when consecrated vessels were profaned to licentious use, and when lifeless idols of gold and silver were praised. The fall of Babylon came in that very hour of feasting and revelry.
The part of the hand was sent by God Himself as an unseen, ever-present witness and messenger watching every movement. The mysterious, bloodless hand with fingers guided by unseen power traced characters on the wall over against the king. A lingering light like lightning followed each letter as it formed, making them living characters of awful significance. The writing was unintelligible to the revelers, yet it struck king, princes and courtiers with terror, suspicion, fear and alarm. Their aroused consciences read it as denunciation against them, and a witness records false statements and misrepresentations for deeds to appear in their true character in the judgment.
The writing was sent in judgment because Belshazzar reckoned without God. Though he knew how God had humbled and restored Nebuchadnezzar, he refused to humble himself, neglected the truth, let pleasure and self-glorification erase those lessons, and disregarded heaven-sent light. He forgot God, credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor, dishonored God with the sacred vessels, praised idols, and failed to glorify the God who held his life and all his ways in His hand. That night his presumption and defiance exhausted God's forbearance and filled the measure of his evil works. Protection and restraining power were therefore withdrawn, so he was no longer to be protected and shielded by God and the restraining power was no longer to ward off evil from him.
The inscription declared that God had numbered and ended his kingdom, weighed him and found him wanting, and divided it to the Medes and Persians. He fell with his body slain, his kingdom passing into other hands. Babylon, shattered and broken, passed away because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement.
Prophecy and Present Warning
The sending of the hand and the writing of the writing mark the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy in the history of nations. The end they mark is the end of Babylon, which was shattered and broken and passed away because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement. That fall came at an hour of feasting and reveling, when judgment fell suddenly in the midst of revelry.
The same sudden end amid worldly revelry and unpreparedness will come at the end of the world. Belshazzar's impending judgment resulted from disregarding the light God had given Nebuchadnezzar, for rejecting and failing to practice heaven-sent instruction brings judgment. The handwriting announcing Babylon's calamity came from God Himself.
God Himself sent the hand as witness of the unholy scene when Belshazzar and his thousand lords profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah and praised the idols of Babylon in sacrilegious mirth. While the wine-besotted king led the riot in drunken blasphemy with the consecrated vessels and praise of gods of gold and silver, God as unseen witness sent part of a hand that traced his destiny on the wall over against him. The bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, filling the king and his courtiers with terror as their doom was pronounced by the servant of the Most High. Those characters were unintelligible to the king, making a history to testify against idolatrous feasting to the close of time. The same hand keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people.
Slander and falsehood against the servants of Christ is not profaning soulless vessels but profaning the characters of those whom Christ purchased by His blood, and God is witness of it. The same witnessing presence records blasphemous words spoken in modern revelry, passing them from lips to the books of final accounts where weighed character, motives, life and soul are pronounced wanting. A witness records false statements and misrepresentations, and deeds will appear in their true character in the judgment.
The hand was sent from the God of heaven as an unseen witness who had heard the idolatrous praise and seen the desecration of consecrated vessels put to profane and licentious use. It appeared in the very midst of revelry when God was forgotten and carnal senses were inflamed, and its sudden tracing of characters sent terror through every soul. The hand was mysterious and bloodless, its fingers guided by an unseen power, and a light like lightning followed the forming of every letter and lingered there, making the letters living characters of awful and terrible significance. The writing was unintelligible to the revelers, yet their aroused consciences read it as denunciation against them, filling king and princes with suspicion, fear, and alarm. God was ever present at that godless, sacrilegious feast as a silent witness, and His hand traced the characters upon the wall.
That same ever-present God is present where sin is thought hidden from every eye, seeing secret impurity of soul and body while the Judge stands before the door and every case must pass in solemn review. The same witness is present when hearts and God-given powers solemnly consecrated to sacred service are turned to debasing lust and man-and-woman worship, with praise and affection belonging alone to God bestowed on a sinful human being. The hand that wrote Belshazzar's sentence on the palace wall was the same divine hand that tore the temple veil from top to bottom when Christ died. That rending revealed the most holy place and signaled that God's presence no longer overshadowed the earthly sanctuary.
The part of the hand was sent by God himself and appeared in the palace during Belshazzar's drunken feast, when consecrated vessels were profaned and lifeless idols were praised, tracing living characters of awful significance on the wall that struck the revelers with terror though they could not read them. It was sent in judgment because Belshazzar reckoned without God, refusing to humble himself though he knew how God had humbled and restored Nebuchadnezzar, forgetting God, dishonoring Him with the sacred vessels, and failing to glorify the God in whose hand his life was held. That night his defiance filled the measure of his evil and exhausted forbearance, so the writing declared his kingdom numbered and ended, himself weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom divided to the Medes and Persians and passing into other hands. The unseen witness who sent the hand keeps faithful record for the judgment, writing every act, word, motive and character in the books of final account, and sees even what is thought hidden from every eye. The same sudden judgment that ended Babylon in the midst of revelry will come at the end of the world upon unpreparedness and rejection of heaven-sent light.
Context and Divine Judgment
The verse belongs to the decline of proud Babylon toward dissolution under the unwise rule of Nebuchadnezzar's successors, culminating in its coming fall under Belshazzar. Belshazzar had opportunity to learn from Nebuchadnezzar's God-given humiliation and restoration, but he let pleasure and self-glorification erase those lessons and neglected the truth. The hand and writing appeared in the palace during his sacrilegious feast, an hour of drunken revelry and mirth with his thousand lords. It was an hour when God was forgotten, when consecrated vessels were profaned to licentious use, and when lifeless idols of gold and silver were praised. The fall of Babylon came in that very hour of feasting and revelry.
The part of the hand was sent by God Himself as an unseen, ever-present witness and messenger watching every movement. The mysterious, bloodless hand with fingers guided by unseen power traced characters on the wall over against the king. A lingering light like lightning followed each letter as it formed, making them living characters of awful significance. The writing was unintelligible to the revelers, yet it struck king, princes and courtiers with terror, suspicion, fear and alarm. Their aroused consciences read it as denunciation against them, and a witness records false statements and misrepresentations for deeds to appear in their true character in the judgment.
The writing was sent in judgment because Belshazzar reckoned without God. Though he knew how God had humbled and restored Nebuchadnezzar, he refused to humble himself, neglected the truth, let pleasure and self-glorification erase those lessons, and disregarded heaven-sent light. He forgot God, credited human achievement with the kingdom's honor, dishonored God with the sacred vessels, praised idols, and failed to glorify the God who held his life and all his ways in His hand. That night his presumption and defiance exhausted God's forbearance and filled the measure of his evil works. Protection and restraining power were therefore withdrawn, so he was no longer to be protected and shielded by God and the restraining power was no longer to ward off evil from him.
The inscription declared that God had numbered and ended his kingdom, weighed him and found him wanting, and divided it to the Medes and Persians. He fell with his body slain, his kingdom passing into other hands. Babylon, shattered and broken, passed away because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement.
Prophecy and Present Warning
The sending of the hand and the writing of the writing mark the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy in the history of nations. The end they mark is the end of Babylon, which was shattered and broken and passed away because in prosperity its rulers regarded themselves as independent of God and ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement. That fall came at an hour of feasting and reveling, when judgment fell suddenly in the midst of revelry.
The same sudden end amid worldly revelry and unpreparedness will come at the end of the world. Belshazzar's impending judgment resulted from disregarding the light God had given Nebuchadnezzar, for rejecting and failing to practice heaven-sent instruction brings judgment. The handwriting announcing Babylon's calamity came from God Himself.
God Himself sent the hand as witness of the unholy scene when Belshazzar and his thousand lords profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah and praised the idols of Babylon in sacrilegious mirth. While the wine-besotted king led the riot in drunken blasphemy with the consecrated vessels and praise of gods of gold and silver, God as unseen witness sent part of a hand that traced his destiny on the wall over against him. The bloodless hand traced mysterious characters upon the palace wall, filling the king and his courtiers with terror as their doom was pronounced by the servant of the Most High. Those characters were unintelligible to the king, making a history to testify against idolatrous feasting to the close of time. The same hand keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people.
Slander and falsehood against the servants of Christ is not profaning soulless vessels but profaning the characters of those whom Christ purchased by His blood, and God is witness of it. The same witnessing presence records blasphemous words spoken in modern revelry, passing them from lips to the books of final accounts where weighed character, motives, life and soul are pronounced wanting. A witness records false statements and misrepresentations, and deeds will appear in their true character in the judgment.
The hand was sent from the God of heaven as an unseen witness who had heard the idolatrous praise and seen the desecration of consecrated vessels put to profane and licentious use. It appeared in the very midst of revelry when God was forgotten and carnal senses were inflamed, and its sudden tracing of characters sent terror through every soul. The hand was mysterious and bloodless, its fingers guided by an unseen power, and a light like lightning followed the forming of every letter and lingered there, making the letters living characters of awful and terrible significance. The writing was unintelligible to the revelers, yet their aroused consciences read it as denunciation against them, filling king and princes with suspicion, fear, and alarm. God was ever present at that godless, sacrilegious feast as a silent witness, and His hand traced the characters upon the wall.
That same ever-present God is present where sin is thought hidden from every eye, seeing secret impurity of soul and body while the Judge stands before the door and every case must pass in solemn review. The same witness is present when hearts and God-given powers solemnly consecrated to sacred service are turned to debasing lust and man-and-woman worship, with praise and affection belonging alone to God bestowed on a sinful human being. The hand that wrote Belshazzar's sentence on the palace wall was the same divine hand that tore the temple veil from top to bottom when Christ died. That rending revealed the most holy place and signaled that God's presence no longer overshadowed the earthly sanctuary.