Daniel
5:1-12 The
Writing on the Wall, Part 1
King
Belshazzar made a great festival for a thousand of his lords, and he was
drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.
Under
the influence of the wine, Belshazzar commanded that they bring in the vessels
of gold and silver that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple
in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines
might drink from them. So they brought in the vessels of gold and silver that
had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king
and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank the
wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
Immediately
the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the
wall of the royal palace, next to the lampstand. The king was watching the hand
as it wrote. Then the king’s face turned pale, and his thoughts terrified him.
His limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. The king cried aloud to
bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners; and the king said to
the wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever can read this writing and tell me its
interpretation shall be clothed in purple, have a chain of gold around his neck,
and rank third in the kingdom.’ Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they
could not read the writing or tell the king the interpretation. Then King
Belshazzar became greatly terrified and his face turned pale, and his lords
were perplexed.
The
queen, when she heard the discussion of the king and his lords, came into the
banqueting-hall. The queen said, ‘O king, live forever! Do not let your
thoughts terrify you or your face grow pale. There is a man in your kingdom who
is endowed with a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father he was
found to have enlightenment, understanding, and wisdom like the wisdom of the
gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief of the magicians,
enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners, because an excellent spirit, knowledge,
and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were
found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be
called, and he will give the interpretation.’
****
There are moments in my life, when I
knew I was about to do something wrong, but went ahead and did it anyway.
Internally there were all sorts of warning signs- I was overly nervous about
the decision, I was up at night, my gut alarm was going off, and I started self
justifying my decision. When we get to the self justifying stage, we know it is
going to get bad, don’t we?
Dare I say it? Even with the
handwriting on the wall that I was about to make a huge mistake, I did it
anyway. I know I am not the only one who has had that happen.
Belshazzar, in today’s reading is in
the midst of making a huge mistake. We can blame the alcohol and the party, but
in the end it still is Belshazzar’s fault as he made the choice. While
worshipping other gods in a giant drinking party, King B gets the bright idea
to grab the holiest vessels from the Temple and begin drinking out of those
instead. I am not going to write what the consequences of his mistake are as
that will come later this week, but I will write King B is about to make the
biggest mistake of his life and the writing was literally on the wall for him.
Now when most of us make these big
mistakes, it doesn’t turn out the same for us as Belshazzar, but it is kind of
worse because we have to live with the consequences of our choices sometimes for
the rest of our lives. As we are in the season of Advent, the theme of
repentance is present in our worship space and readings.
For me, repentance isn’t only about
the forgiveness of sins, but the recognition that I am completely capable of
doing the wrong things intentionally at times. I may blame other things, but if
I look inside, I know I am the one who made the choice. Repentance helps me
hold the mirror up to myself reminding me of what I am capable of, but also
that I have the opportunity to change through the grace of God. There are some
decisions I have to live with for my entire life, but knowing that through
Christ, I have new life and can change my ways, so that the next time the
handwriting is on the wall, I can make a better choice.
Rev. Justin Johnson is the pastor of Our Saviour,
Croton on Hudson. He has served in both Upstate and Metro NY Synods for the
last 18+ years. He is a self proclaimed nerd, enjoying a wide variety of
activities.
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