Daniel has been called to interpret the writing on the wall for King Belshazzar. Calling Daniel was the king’s last resort and the King seems to be a bit disrespectful of Daniel. Daniel 5: 17 Daniel answered the king, “You can keep your gifts, or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
18-21 “Listen, O king! The High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom and a glorious reputation. Because God made him so famous, people from everywhere, whatever their race, color, and creed, were totally intimidated by him. He killed or spared people on whim. He promoted or humiliated people capriciously. He developed a big head and a hard spirit. Then God knocked him off his high horse and stripped him of his fame. He was thrown out of human company, lost his mind, and lived like a wild animal. He ate grass like an ox and was soaked by heaven’s dew until he learned his lesson: that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts anyone he wants in charge.
22-23 “You are his son and have known all this, yet you’re as arrogant as he ever was. Look at you, setting yourself up in competition against the Master of heaven! You had the sacred chalices from his Temple brought into your drunken party so that you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines, could drink from them. You used the sacred chalices to toast your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone—blind, deaf, and imbecile gods. But you treat with contempt the living God who holds your entire life from birth to death in his hand.[1]
Belshazzar should have learned a lesson from the stories of his ancestor, but he doesn’t. He is unteachable as Daniel points out. Are we unteachable when it comes to spiritual things? The Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10, that they should learn from the stories of the Exodus, 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.[2] The stories of the Bible are learning tools for us today, too. Do you treat the living God who holds your life in His hands with contempt? Learn from this story, don’t be unteachable.
To hear more of the story of Daniel, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/daniel-a-man-of-character/writing-on-the-wall
[1] The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
[2] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.