In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. — Daniel 5:5
I love studying history and sayings and one of them that I have heard my entire life is “the writing is on the wall.” When someone says this, it usually means that disaster is imminent. Sometimes they say it when there is a situation or circumstance that is coming that is going to be challenging or difficult to deal with. We have often heard politicians and other leaders say it in regards to bad things that will happen.
The origin of the statement actually comes from Daniel chapter 5, where Belshazzar had a feast and then there was a hand that appeared and wrote words upon the wall. Belshazzar brought in all the smartest people of the land to try and interpret what was said, but no one could share what the message was. They called for Daniel, and he interpreted the writing. He told Belshazzar that he had not humbled himself before God and God had numbered his kingdom.
Daniel told Belshazzar that there was coming destruction. He told him that he was going to lose his kingdom, that it was going to be divided among the Medes and Persians. The writing was on the wall and the situation was not going to be good at all. Yet, Belshazzar had the opportunity to have fixed these things before it was too late.
There is a challenge for us in these verses. We know that God is a God of judgment and He expects us to live our lives for Him. He has work for us all to do, but there comes a point where He will not tolerate our disobedience and our neglect of His work. Eventually, the writing will be on the wall of our own lives and perhaps even our days numbered.
Before the writing is on the wall of our lives, we have the opportunity to do something about it just like Belshazzar. Have we committed our lives to God and are we doing what God would want us to do? The time for action is not tomorrow, but today. As you pray today, ask God to show you the areas of your life where you need His help. While He is a God of judgment, He is also a God of grace that will show us and let us fix the problems before the writing is on the wall of our lives.
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