Keion Henderson - The Handwriting on the Wall

Daniel chapter number five, beginning at verse number one, the word of the Lord says, «King Belshazzar prepared a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of them all.» While under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from Nebuchadnezzar, his father. If you really study deeply, you will find out that Nebuchadnezzar was actually Belshazzar’s grandfather. The Bible says that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. Verse three says, «So they brought out the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from the temple of the house of God in Jerusalem .» The king, along with the nobles, his wives, and concubines, drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods-small g- of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Verse five states, «And at that very moment, while they were worshiping the wrong thing, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the lampstand on the plaster of the royal palace, opposite the lampstand.» The king was watching the back of the hand writing, and all of the color drained from the king’s face; he became alarmed, and he was so scared that the joints of his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

Verse seven says, «The king called out loudly to summon the astrologers, the wise men, and the diviners.» The king proclaimed to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in a purple coat, have a golden collar placed around his neck, and be the third ruler in the kingdom. Verse eight reveals that all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its interpretation to the king. Then the king was very terrified, and he was visibly shaking; his nobles were completely dumbfounded.

Verse ten states that due to the noise caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother entered the banquet room. She said, «O king, live forever! Don 't be alarmed; don’t be shaken. There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the Holy Ghost. In the days of your father, he proved to have insight and discerning wisdom like the other gods. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, appointed him as chief astrologer/wiseman.» He went to all of the people who had that position, and none of them could fulfill the purpose; yet there was this old man who had been forgotten about, tucked away in the corner, who wasn’t even invited to the party but had to bring the solution to the trouble. The king is looking at a hand writing on the wall and he’s terrified, which is what I want to talk to you about before this new year comes. I want to talk from the subject «The Handwriting is on the Wall.» I want you to touch everybody on your way down to your seat and say, «The handwriting is on the wall.» You may be seated in the presence of the Holy Ghost.

If I were to ask anyone in this room what they remember Daniel for, I’m sure that nine out of ten of you, if not ten out of ten, would say, «I remember Daniel from the lions' den,» the story of how Nebuchadnezzar had ransacked Judah and took Belshazzar, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah-better known to us as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel is known for his lion den experience, but this particular text is just as important as the one you know. This shows us the real salvific side of God and how you can be tucked away in a corner and still be a part of God’s plan. By the time we get to this text, Daniel is well into his 80s; his eyes have grown dim, and his soul has waxed tired. He doesn’t attend all of the church services like he used to-not that he doesn’t want to, but his age won’t let him.

One day, the king throws a banquet and doesn’t even invite the man to the party. He goes to the party, and the Bible says that he begins to get drunk with all of his friends. If you read carefully, you’ll find out that there are at least a thousand people at the party, not including his wives, concubines, and servants; there are possibly 1,300 to 1,400 people at this party. Daniel has not even been invited. They are drinking wine, getting drunk, and having a good time-sort of like some of you will later today. They are enjoying themselves, and everything is going well; the club is lit, and everybody is turning up.

However, pay attention to what they are drinking from: they had cups to drink from, but they did not drink from their own cups. They had chalices to drink from, but they did not drink from the cups in their repertoire. Instead, they sent for the golden cups that had been taken from Judah. Because when people are intoxicated with themselves, they often prefer to drink from other cups. So, he didn’t want to drink from the cups he had in his possession; he actually wanted to drink from the cups that had been stolen from Judah.