THE PART OF THE HAND THAT WROTE

" . . . and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote."  (Daniel 5:5)

Nebuchadnezzar, God's "servant" (Jer 25:9), had died. In the process of time, Belshazzar rose to the position of the "king of the Chaldeans." Our text speaks of the closing of the last day of his life. It was a night of wicked revelry. Belshazzar "made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand." NKJV While he "tasted the wine," his heart became emboldened, and he gave orders to "bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem." When Nebuchadnezzar had sacked Jerusalem, he took vessels from "the house of God," bringing them "into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god" (Dan 1:2). There they remained in an act of blasphemy until this night of infamy. Within a short time, the vessels were brought to Belshazzar, and "the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them." Not content to merely drink from these consecrated vessels, intended only for the worship of Jehovah God, "They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone" (5:1-4). This pushed them beyond the boundary of Divine tolerance. Suddenly, while they gave honor to their gods with the wine-filled vessels of the true God in their hands, "the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace." NASB No arm was seen, and no image of a person. As Belshazzar peered at the arresting sight, all he saw was "the part of the hand that wrote." He was thereby forced to consider the message. God did not permit him to be distracted by the sight of a person, an arm, or even a cloak or robe. He only saw "the part of the hand that wrote" – and he saw it AS it was writing. The night of revelry and mockery was brought to a grinding halt for Belshazzar. It is written, "Then the king's face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him; and his hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking together." NASB (5:6). Quickly he called for the most astute and learned men in Babylon, including astrologers and soothsayers, demanding they interpret the vision. They could not. Eventually Daniel was summoned, and he interpreted the words with convicting clarity. "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it . . . Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting . . . Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians" (vs 25-28). That very night Belshazzar was killed (v 30). A stern rebuke, indeed, to have your fall traced to a message written by a "part of the hand." So far as we know, it was the only time in history that God used such a means to speak to His enemies, and it happened when holy things were desecrated.