The Handwriting on the Wall

Scripture Reading: Daniel 5:1-31, Proverbs 16:18, 1 John 2:15-17

Clearly, Belshazzar was a bad guy. 

He was a show off: “King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles” (Daniel 5:1, emphasis mine).

He was a drunkard: “Under the influence of the wine…” (v.2).

And worst of all, he was an idolator, irreverent toward the things of God: “So they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them” (v.3). 

It’s no wonder we want to cheer when a cosmic hand appeared and scribbled his condemnation on the palace walls. “You have been weighed on the balance and found deficient” (v.27).

Our righteous indignation reflexes feel satisfied by the Scripture’s description of Belshazzar losing his life and kingdom as a consequence of his pride. But we are wise to recognize that the same hand can scribble the same words on the walls of our life.

We’re all showoffs, riddled with pride and prone to make much of “me.” We each face the daily temptation to numb ourselves with a substance or an achievement or another few minutes of scrolling. And worst of all, our hearts are perpetual idol factories adept at worshipping anything (and everything) other than the one true God. 

And like King Belshazzar, we will one day stand in the presence of the God who made us. Our good deeds will not supersede our sinful motives. Our righteousness will look like filthy rags compared to the blinding light of His holiness. The righteous Judge will have every right to declare, “You have been weighed on the balance and found deficient” (v.27).

But He won’t. When the Father looks at you, He won’t see bad Belshazzar, He will see His perfect Son. 

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 
—Colossians 3:3

I’m reminded of another time the hand of God wrote something significant. We find it in the Gospel of John. This time the “bad guy” was a woman, caught in the act of adultery. Again, righteous indignation seems a fitting response. A judgmental crowd held court and found her wanting. But watch what Jesus did: “Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger” (John 8:6). 

We don’t know what He wrote. We do know what He said. 

 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” 
—John 8:10–11 

He says the same thing to you today. In Christ, there is no condemnation—even for idol worshipping showoffs. His hand writes words of love and grace over our lives. You don’t have to live with knees knocking like Belshazzar (Daniel 5:6). Nor shall we persist in pride-fueled rebellion. Instead, we walk in the freedom of grace. We can know that what God has in store for us is good. The writing is on the wall.

Written by Erin Davis