“I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.” (Psalm 25:2)
Our main reading is Daniel 5, the origin of the phrase, “The writing is on the wall.”
Advent is a time when we remember that God will ultimately win. Whoever seems victorious in the present will face God’s judgement in the future. Advent is a chance to remind ourselves to keep trusting in Christ, so that we will not be put to shame.
As recorded at St. Luke’s
Daniel 5 – Dare to Explain
Idioms
An idiom is a group of words, that have a meaning that cannot be worked out from the words themselves. A great example of an idiom is, ‘the writing is on the wall.’
As an idiom it means that the end is near and there is no way out.
So, this week, we might have said “that the writing was on the wall for Michel Barnier”, the French Prime Minister, because it was clear he was going to lose a vote of no confidence in the French parliament.
Or a few weeks ago, when pressure was mounting on Justin Welby in wake of the report on the abuse of John Smyth and the archbishops failure to do enough to report him, that the writing was on the wall for Justin – and so it proved, he was forced to resign.
More dramatically, we could look back to 1945, as the allied forces were closing in on Berlin. It was clear that the ‘writing was on the wall’ for Hitler and the Nazi high command. They knew it and committed suicide before the fall finally came.
But, why does the idiom, ‘the writing on the wall mean this’? Because that is what happens in Daniel 5. The night before the Babylonian empire comes to an abrupt and surprise end, whilst King Belshazzar is feasting, a mysterious hand appears and writes some words on the wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. Writing appears on the wall and withing a day, the king is dead and Babylon has fallen. So now we say, ‘the writing is on the wall,’ when someone’s power is about to come to a tragic end.
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Before we look at the story in a bit more depth, it is worth explaining the historical context.
539BC – A Major Moment in Ancient History of the Near East
The year is 539 BC, around 70 years since Babylon, under the great king Nebuchadnezzar first captured Jerusalem and Daniel was exiled to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar the great king has been dead 23 years. Nabonidus is now the actual king of Babylon, but he has left his son, Belshazzar in charge of the city of Babylon itself.
Meanwhile, the Persian Empire, under Cyrus the great has been expanding. It has already conquered a huge region to the East and North of the Babylonian Empire, including all of modern day Turkey across to Iran and Afghanistan.
However, both Nabonidus and his son, Belshazzar, had become increasingly unpopular and Cyrus was waging a propaganda campaign to show how lenient a king he was in the Babylonian empire.
Then on 27th September 539, there was a decisive battle with the Babylonians at the strategic crossing point of the Tigris river, Opis. The Persians completed destroyed the Babylonian resistance and marched on to Babylon. They crossed the Euphrates at Sippar on 6th October and arrived at Babylon on 12th October, entering unopposed and according to the Persians welcomed by the residents.
The much later Greek versions of the fall of Babylon suggest that its rapid fall to the Persians was a surprise and happened as the Babylonians were celebrating a religious festival. They suggest that the reason Cyrus was able to take the city so quickly, was because he diverted a river that lay between his army and the city, so that the army could cross quickly and without warning into the city and take it by surprise.
This seems to agree with the impression given by Daniel 5, which takes place just before Cyrus’s arrival in Babylon. The focus of Daniel 5, however, is not on the military manoeuvres going on outside the city, but the events in court at the heart of government. In particular, the focus is on Belshazzar, the son of the king.
Daniel does not reveal was Belshazzar knew about the situation or what he was expecting. Perhaps he hadn’t heard the bad news of the defeat at Opis or didn’t understand how bad it had been. Perhaps he hoped his armies would resist and turn back the Persian advance. That there would be a siege that Babylon could survive. That the Persians would be unable to cross the river. Perhaps he just didn’t care anymore and wanted to eat drink and be merry, because tomorrow we die.
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The DECADENT KING – 5:1-4
Whatever, the truth Daniel 5, describes the king taking place in a shocking display of decadence, especially considering the perilous situation the empire was in.
The banquet may well have been part of the religious celebration that the Greek historians mention, but the description in Daniel emphasises the decadence of the king.
This scene is extravagant (vs. 1): 1,000 nobles invited to the banquet, a vast amount spent on partying at a time of national crisis.
It is also a drunken scene (vs. 1-3). Notice that verse 1 emphasises the main thing they did was to drink wine, and drinking is mentioned in verses 1,2,3 and 4.
The scene also emphasises the sexual greed (vs. 2-3) of Belshazzar twice mentioning all his wives and concubines (vs. 2,3), who were present at the feast.
But, the decadence is not just a moral one, it is also a spiritual one. His behaviour is blasphemous (vs. 2-3). He takes the gold goblets captured from temple of Jerusalem (cf. 1:2) made to be used in the worship of the God of Israel, a God that Nebuchadnezzar, the former great king had come to praise at the end of chapter 2, chapter 3 and chapter 4 and used them for his own banquet. Finally, he was idolatrous (vs. 4). He praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. Rather than worshipping the creator God, he worshipped created things.
The whole description is one of utter decadence. There is no sense of purpose, meaning or higher good. “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” seems to sum up his attitude. He was just living for his own pleasures and desires. Worse than that the way he used the goblets of gold from the temple showed that he valued the God of Israel at zero.
- It’s worth reflecting how much the attitudes of Belshazzar mirror the attitudes of much of our society. Is our society increasingly decadent?
Or indeed, do you find in the description of Belshazzar one that echoes some of your own traits.
Are you extravagant with your money?
Do you drink more than is healthy or use drink or drugs to cover up your worries? Or do you just live to drink at the weekend?
Or are you sexually greedy? Constantly after sexual gratification, through porn, or relationships that are not a lifelong faithful marriage?
Do you despise God, or rave about technology or your latest purchase more than you worship God?
Belshazzar is a warning to us. If we find we are like him we need to do something about it. Before it is too late. Because Belshazzar was in for a shock.
The WRITING on the WALL
Suddenly, the kings decadence is transformed into utter terror. A hand appears on the wall and writes some words. The feasting ends, now the king is desperate to find the meaning. But none of his advisers are able to tell him.
Then the ‘queen’ or more probably ‘queen mother’ is called. She knows of an old adviser, who has a reputation of being able to interpret these things: Daniel. So, Daniel is called.
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The REPUTABLE ADVISER – 5:11-17
By this stage, Daniel would have been very old, probably in his eighties.
But, he had lived a life where he had stayed true to God, and always sought to speak the truth to those in power. Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon had respected him and promoted him as a result.
But, now Daniel had been retired off, side-lined and forgotten. But not by all. His lifetime of faithful service, had meant he had built up an amazing reputation. So at this moment of spiritual crisis, even the decadent king comes to him in desperation. He calls Daniel before him and says, Daniel, no-one else can interpret these words, but I have been told you can! Please tell me, I’ll give you the most powerful position in government I can!
- It’s worth reflecting for those of us who want to live for God, whether we follow Daniel’s example in this way? As Christians we may not have many opportunities to talk to family members, work colleagues or friends about our faith. Certainly, if we constantly go around trying to shoehorn an evangelistic message into every conversation, we will probably soon be shunned and avoided.
But, if like Daniel, we can build up a reputation as someone to go to for advice about spiritual matters, then we may have opportunities to speak for Christ at key moments in people’s lives.
This involves playing the long game like Daniel. Building a reputation as someone dependable and honest, open about your faith, but not pushy with it. So, that when people have moments of spiritual crisis, they know who to turn to and then you have the opportunity to give an explanation.
Yet, even in such situations giving an explanation of the truth still takes courage and daring. Will you like Daniel, dare to explain.
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The DARING EXPLANATION – 5:22-28
I imagine that one of the hardest things for doctors is to give a patient bad news about their situation. To tell someone for example that the diagnosis is cancer and that it is incurable. To do so must take real courage.
Daniel is called into explain the writing on the wall and in a way he has to do the same for Belshazzar. For Daniel this is going to be a daring explanation, as he gives Belshazzar a diagnosis and a prognosis.
- The Diagnosis:
The Diagnosis comes first. And in verses 22-23 Daniel goes to the Spiritual heart of the matter:
“You have not humbled yourself”,
but “set yourself up against the Lord of heaven.”
This is the diagnosis that explains the symptoms: extravagance, drunkenness, sexual greed, blasphemy and idolatry are all just symptoms.
Like Daniel, when we are asked to explain our faith, we need to dare to give the fundamental diagnosis. We shouldn’t get stuck on the rights and wrongs of extravagance, drunkenness or sexual greed, but on people’s relationship with God.
Do they value him at zero, or is he given a place at the centre of their lives, so that all other aspects of life revolve around serving him?
Have they discovered that true joy, comes not from running after immediate pleasures, but seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness?
- The Prognosis
Secondly, Daniel gives the prognosis. He explains the meaning of the words written on the wall:
MENE – God has numbered your days.
TEKEL – You have been weighed and found wanting. Decadence is not what you want in a leader – Belsazzar was an utter lightweight.
PERES – Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
In other words, Belshazzar, you who have valued God at nothing, have been valued by God as nothing and so your day of judgement has come. Your reign and your life will come to an end.
Belshazzar’s situation was terminal. The writing was on the wall. Judgement was inevitable.
But for most people there is still the hope of a spiritual cure. Even as they were dying on the cross, when the thief cries out to Jesus to remember him, Jesus promises that he will join him in paradise.
And it is Jesus’ death on the cross that is the spiritual cure. He takes the judgement of God on himself, so that we don’t have to face the terror Belshazzar faced.
But we must align ourselves with Jesus in this life, before it is too late. When we do and seek to value God at the centre of our lives, then we will find that God joyfully welcomes us into his kingdom.
Do you want to be a Belshazzar or a Daniel?
So are you a Belshazzar or a Daniel?
If you see in yourself, the traits of Belshazzar. It’s not too late. Turn back to God now and seek his ways.
If you aspire to be a Daniel, ask for God’s strength and courage to dare to explain the bad news, so that people may be ready to hear the good news and turn back to God through Jesus.
St. George's Church Ramsgate 