What!?
A human hand - unattached to a body - appeared and wrote a message on the wall.
What?!
What?!
Daniel tells us this actually happened in the middle of King Belshazzar's huge banquet! "Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace." Daniel 5:5.
You may have heard someone say the phrase 'I can read the writing on the wall'. I tend to use this phrase when I'm making a prediction of how a situation is going to work out. I didn't know until the first time I read the entire Bible that this came from the book of Daniel.
After he got over the shock of seeing the hand, King Belshazzar realized he had no idea of what the message meant. But he knew that it obviously was very important. So he consulted with Daniel who was well-known for being able to interpret things when no one else could. Daniel read the writing and told the king that God was bringing the king's reign to an end because,
" ..you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways." Daniel 8:23.
That very night, the message on the wall was fulfilled and Belshazzar was killed.
One part of the message on the wall was 'Tekel' which means "you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." Daniel 5: 27.
You may have heard someone say the phrase 'I can read the writing on the wall'. I tend to use this phrase when I'm making a prediction of how a situation is going to work out. I didn't know until the first time I read the entire Bible that this came from the book of Daniel.
After he got over the shock of seeing the hand, King Belshazzar realized he had no idea of what the message meant. But he knew that it obviously was very important. So he consulted with Daniel who was well-known for being able to interpret things when no one else could. Daniel read the writing and told the king that God was bringing the king's reign to an end because,
" ..you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways." Daniel 8:23.
That very night, the message on the wall was fulfilled and Belshazzar was killed.
One part of the message on the wall was 'Tekel' which means "you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." Daniel 5: 27.
The bad news for all of us is - our scales don't look any better. Our rebellion. Our need for control. Our self-centeredness. Our disbelief and lack of obedience. Our busyness which causes us to ignore God.
The writing on our wall would have the same message.....
except for the fact that God loved us so much that he gave us an 'out'.
He sent his perfect son, Jesus, to save us from eternal separation from God. The entire Bible is a love story about how God created us in his image and desires to have a close, personal relationship with us.
Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus offers a gift of grace to each one of us - that's his part. Our part is receiving his free gift. Jesus has moved the scales in our favor.
When we trust in Jesus, we become precious children of God who are never 'found wanting'. Jesus did it for you and I....
for all time,
for all who will believe and receive.
It is finished.
Thank you, Jesus.
The writing on our wall would have the same message.....
except for the fact that God loved us so much that he gave us an 'out'.
He sent his perfect son, Jesus, to save us from eternal separation from God. The entire Bible is a love story about how God created us in his image and desires to have a close, personal relationship with us.
Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus offers a gift of grace to each one of us - that's his part. Our part is receiving his free gift. Jesus has moved the scales in our favor.
When we trust in Jesus, we become precious children of God who are never 'found wanting'. Jesus did it for you and I....
for all time,
for all who will believe and receive.
It is finished.
Thank you, Jesus.
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