Daniel Chapter 5
Daniel 5
The King sees the handwriting on the wall !
1Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 2While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
Daniel tells this story after Nebuchadnezzar had died. He was called in to the party when he got a distress call from Belshazzar the king who unfortunately was not the great ruler his father was. He found himself wealthy beyond anything he could understand. When you are rich and famous it is easy to be surrounded by friends who want only to share in your wealth.
The party had descended into the level of a drunken orgy and somebody suggested that the sacred golden vessels that had been taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. I am sure some of the drunken friends intended to steal the vessels and pitchures, after all they were of solid gold and were very valuable.
It is not hard for me to understand that actions like that are displeasing to God and if
He wanted to provide a miracle to illustrate the point I cannot think of a more dramatic thing than to hve a big giant hand appear out of nowhere and begin to write on the wall. So they put in a call for Daniel the wise servant of the king. RGS Jr.