The Handwriting on the Wall — Divine Judgment and the Preservation of Gods People

Order of Service

• Hymn — Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
• Call to Worship — Psalm 103:1-5
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Luther's Small Catechism
• Scripture Reading — Luke 4:1-15
• Hymn — A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Preparation
• Hymn — God Moves in a Mysterious Way
• Sermon
• Prayer of Application
• Hymn — Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me
• Benediction
• Gloria Patri

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Sermon Title: The Handwriting on the Wall — Divine Judgment and the Preservation of God's People

Scripture: Daniel 5:1-12

I. Exposition of the Text

A. Historical and political context

1. Belshazzar reigns as co-regent with his father Nabonidus, who has departed to the desert region of Tema
2. This co-regency explains why Belshazzar offers the interpreter the position of "third ruler" (Daniel 5:7) — Nabonidus is first, Belshazzar second
3. Events occur near 539 BC, at the very end of the Babylonian Empire, approximately 25 years after Nebuchadnezzar's reign ended (~562 BC)
4. The term "father" applied to Nebuchadnezzar in verse 11 was a common ancient usage for grandfather or great-grandfather

B. The drunken pagan feast (Daniel 5:1-4)

1. Large public feasts with thousands were common displays of royal power in the ancient Near East
2. Belshazzar commands the sacred vessels taken from the Jerusalem temple by Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Daniel 1) to be brought out for drinking
3. The vessels, originally placed in the temple of Marduk, are now used in a drunken pagan religious festival
4. Drink offerings were likely being made to Babylonian gods for past and future military defense — even as Persia closed in on the city walls
5. The historian Herodotus records that Cyrus diverted the Euphrates River through a canal, allowing Persian forces to enter Babylon while the Babylonians feasted and danced

C. The appearance of the hand (Daniel 5:5-6)

1. The Aramaic word for "plaster" is literally chalk — consistent with archaeological evidence of bright chalk-like palace walls in Babylon, ideal for visible writing
2. The writing appears opposite the lampstand, dramatically illuminated
3. Belshazzar experiences mental and physical terror: color changed, thoughts alarmed, limbs gave way, knees knocked together — language often used for a conscience that has been pricked and burdened
4. Language echoes Nahum 2:10 — "Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale"

D. The failure of the wise men (Daniel 5:7-9)

1. Belshazzar summons enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers — no surprise to readers of chapters 1–4 that they fail
2. Possible reasons the wise men cannot read the writing: the text may be jumbled or written without vowels; more likely it is simply hidden from them and requires divine revelation
3. Belshazzar's color changes a second time — his worldly advisors have failed him completely

E. The queen mother introduces Daniel (Daniel 5:10-12)

1. The queen mother had free access to the throne — consistent with the significant influence of queen mothers in ancient Near Eastern royal courts
2. She remembers Daniel from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, indicating she had been present through his reign
3. She describes Daniel as having "the spirit of the holy gods" and an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems
4. This sets up the remainder of Daniel 5 to be addressed the following week

F. The genre of the passage

1. Within the broader genre of historical narrative, this passage functions as a kind of horror genre — a haunting encounter with the divine
2. Scripture elsewhere conveys this "uncanny" quality of God's presence: Genesis 1:2 (Spirit hovering over darkness and void); the women at the empty tomb who are afraid; the medium of Endor (1 Samuel 28)
3. The church today has largely lost music and aesthetic forms that convey the haunting holiness of the triune God

II. Application: Do Not Mess with God's Stuff

A. The narrative of Daniel begins and ends the same way

1. Daniel 1 opens with Nebuchadnezzar taking the temple vessels and placing them in Marduk's temple
2. Daniel 5 brings the story full circle — a pagan king again misuses the things consecrated to God, and this is the chief reason judgment falls

B. The danger of over-spiritualizing or under-valuing the material world

1. Two equal and opposite errors: asceticism (deny the material to get closer to God) and licentiousness (indulge the material because only the spirit matters) — paralleling ancient Stoics and Epicureans
2. God is not only the God of heaven but also the God of earth — he binds heavenly spiritual realities to earthly things: atonement conveyed in bread and wine, the Spirit's work in baptismal water
3. That which God specially places his name and covenant promise upon is to be treated as sacred and used properly
4. This principle extends beyond the sacraments to all of creation — corrupting creation does not remove it from God's sovereign ownership; it still belongs to him

III. Application: Always Place God First

A. The pattern of Daniel being a last resort is repeated across Daniel 2, 4, and 5

1. Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar alike first exhaust enchanters, magicians, and wise men before turning to Daniel
2. Belshazzar apparently does not even know who Daniel is — remarkable given all Daniel accomplished under Nebuchadnezzar
3. Such is the pattern of the fallen world: God and his revelation are used as a last-ditch effort when all else fails

B. Belshazzar's color changes twice — before and after the wise men fail

1. Initial shock gives way to hope when he summons his court; when they fail, the haunting returns
2. Worldly crutches will always eventually fail; when they do, the living God becomes a haunting and horrifying reality
3. The example of Judas: placing wealth first, and when it failed him, being haunted by God with nowhere left to flee but darkness (Matthew 27:3-5)

C. The call to put Christ first before it is too late

1. Put the means of grace — word, sacrament, prayer — at the center of life always
2. Find refuge now in Christ and know the smiling light of a loving and redeeming Savior rather than the haunting dark reality of a holy God in judgment

IV. Application: The Preservation of God's People

A. The persistence of Daniel's Hebrew name throughout the narrative

1. Nebuchadnezzar renamed Daniel "Belteshazzar" (meaning "may Baal protect you," referring to Marduk) to assert Babylonian authority and systematically erase the memory of the Hebrew people and Yahweh
2. Shadrach: "command of Aku" (Babylonian moon god); Meshach: "who is what Aku is?"; Abednego: "servant of Nebo" (Babylonian god of wisdom)
3. Yet the name Daniel — meaning "my God is judge" — never disappears from the text; even the queen mother uses it in verse 11

B. The name Daniel as literary and theological device

1. God owns Daniel even as pagan kings seek to suppress and rename him
2. Pagan kings cannot usurp God's people; the kingdom of God, embodied in the people of God, endures through every empire

C. The indestructibility of the church across the kingdoms of this world

1. The kingdoms of this world come and go; the people of God continue forever
2. Revelation 3:12 — Jesus promises the persecuted church in Philadelphia: "The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God... I will write on him the name of my God"
3. Belshazzar's offer of third-ruler status is darkly ironic — that very day his kingdom would be destroyed; this is the call of Augustine's "city of man"
4. We are not called to make a name for ourselves in the kingdom of man but to humbly receive the new name given to us through the name above all names, King Jesus
5. Even in the midst of chains and suffering, the people of God continue to the end and will have the last laugh