The Writing is on the Wall: Understanding Challenging Stories in the Scriptures

When I was in elementary school, I remember visiting a small church in my hometown. I don’t recall what brought me there- whether a friend or an event- but I do remember what I saw there. 

Sitting in a classroom with other kids my age, eyes glued to a Bible story on the television, my jaw dropped. A disembodied hand crashed a party and started writing on the wall in what I was absolutely certain was blood. Even though I was unfamiliar with the Bible at the time, the first few words that Thing wrote were burned in my mind. “Mene mene tekel…” I had no idea what that meant; I had no idea why a Bible story suddenly seemed like a scary movie. Even to this day, when I read this story in Daniel 5, I remember this moment.

Even as an adult, the exaggerated details of my childhood blur with the reality of the biblical text. There was a party going on, but not the fun kind. There was a disembodied hand or finger, which rightfully caused everyone to panic, but the words weren’t written in blood. Thankfully!

What are we to think about this story? 

There are some stories throughout the Bible that, without a doubt, are hard to understand. But if we believe that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable (2 Timothy 3:16) then we can certainly learn from these more challenging stories. We can trust that God inspired the earthly, human authors to put them there for a reason.

Let’s consider the context of this specific narrative account. Belshazzar is the current king of Babylon, but his father (predecessor) Nebuchadnezzar had ransacked the temple as he was conquering Jerusalem many years before. At the time, he brought some of the sacred items from the temple to Babylon and placed them in the house of his god (Daniel 1:1-2).

Now, years later, Belshazzar is throwing a party. The food and wine are flowing. The wine is so good, in fact, that the king requests some of the vessels of gold and silver from the temple be brought so they can use those to drink from instead. As they drink, they begin to praise, “the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone” (5:4). It’s as a result of this false idol worship that “the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall” (5:5). 

In a scene that brings to mind Joseph’s experience in Egypt, nobody can interpret the writing until the queen remembers that there is someone who has shown wisdom and knowledge with spiritual matters in the past- Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah. 

Like Atticus in the Maycomb courtroom, Daniel makes a defense for the Most High God. Daniel reminds Belshazzar of his father’s (Nebuchadnezzar) story. He had power and success, but when his heart became proud and hardened, God humbled him, “until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind” (5:21). 

Rather than living as his predecessor did the second half of his life, Belshazzar is living like the pre-humbled Nebuchadnezzar. He has “lifted up [himself] against the Lord of heaven” (5:23) and he’s brazenly used items from the house of God to indulge the flesh and praise false gods.

It’s because of this that, like Daniel interprets to him, his days have been numbered, his kingdom is coming to an end, he has been found lacking, and his kingdom will be divided and given to others. That very night the king is killed. 

Here are a few things we can learn from this challenging story:

Even though God’s people are in exile, he hasn’t forgotten them, and he hasn’t forgotten or contradicted his own character.

Faithfulness- even in exile, suffering, or hardship- is possible as evidenced by faithful Daniel, who was one of the thousands of Israelite exiles living there. 

The one, true God is not like the idols of silver and gold, the work of human hands. Our God is in the heavens. He is the uncreated one, the real and true God, and he does all that he pleases (Psalm 115). 

There are some stories in the Bible that are hard to understand, but God has given them to his people for a purpose. May God be glorified as we dig in (not give up!) when things we read are confusing or hard to understand. 

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Psalm 115:1

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