The Writing On The Wall…
Homily for Thursday, October 22, 2026
Daniel 5:1-16
We all recognise the common saying, “the writing on the wall”, do we not? Did we also know that the saying came from the Bible – specifically here, in the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel? It is a spooky scene, so perhaps we can say it now with more respect for the gravity of that to which we are referring.
Belshazzar is the king of Babylon (and something we should all admire is the names of these ancient pagan kings – the Babylonians in particular sounded like real scary baddies, and rightfully so). He is throwing a party for all his cronies and concubines. And we read that he “drank wine before the thousand”. I think we can all picture this, of the reckless young man who thinks that the ability to drink lots of alcohol in one go is some sign of greatness to be respected. And so he comes to be, as they say, “in his cups” (the fact he was slurring the next words is not recorded in Scripture, but very likely). He “commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem.” If we cannot fully appreciate the shock of this, imagine if the local Labor party branch came in and took our communion chalices and other sacred items, took them up to the Prime Minister’s lodge, and started using them for drinking games. We would be shocked, yes; but would we be even more terrified for their sake of what God might do?
Belshazzar is way too drunk now to realise the hole he is in. In fact, he keeps digging: “they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.” In other words, they are daring God to prove he exists, by 1. using holy items for profane use, and 2. praising the material universe as if it were the highest good, and God were just a figment of the imagination.
“In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote”. This may seem a bit far-out, even a bit silly to us. But in context, it is like a thunderclap. Here they are, carrying on like a bunch of pork chops, happily confident that this world is all that there is, when suddenly God reminds them all that he is, in fact, alive and well. If they won’t believe in the supernatural because it is plainly obvious to their conscience, God will reveal the supernatural as if they were in a real-life horror movie.
And I think this is where we are today. I recently heard a theory that the horror genre only works if the Christian God is real. There has to be a supreme good, because that is the only way you can also have true evil, and true evil is where the horror genre goes to play. Or put it another way: horror can only happen if there is an ultimate right and wrong, and the power of justice and judgement to enforce that standard of right and wrong.
Belshazzar was playing with things of which he had no clue. He was the ultimate materialist, a modern-day atheist living in ancient Babylon. His idea of fun was manipulating the matter in his body – getting drunk. He liked to indulge in the passions of the flesh – his army of concubines – instead of gaining self-control over himself. He thought might was right, a proto-Darwinist, if you like – and profaned the sacred vessels of the temple in the hubris of his own pride. And he proved it all by praising gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. The modern atheist is nothing more than an ancient Babylonian pagan. Consider Carl Sagan, that tragic man with so much intellect and so little wisdom, who said "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff." He praised the gods of the stars, without stopping to realise the writing on the wall. And what is the writing on the wall for us today? Where is this immediate, loud, obvious, terrifying judgement of God for all to see?
We all (hopefully) know the famous words of our Lord to Nicodemus the sympathetic pharisee in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” But do we know the whole speech?
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
The light has come into the world – this is Jesus of Nazareth, God’s only begotten Son, light from light, true God from true God, who was given so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And this is the judgement: Christ has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
The issue with Belshazzar, and with Nicodemus’ fellow pharisees to whom Jesus referred, and to the modern-day atheist is not that God will not reveal himself with a disembodied hand writing on their wall at home during their next drinking session (“I will believe in God if he just reveals himself to me”). Their issue is that they refuse to turn from their “wicked things” and come into the light of Christ. Everyone has a conscience, and the writing is on the wall, as it were: we know when we do the wrong thing. That knowledge condemns us. We then have two options: flee to Christ to escape that condemnation, or allow that condemnation to become God’s righteous judgement against us.
This is the gospel call to everyone on planet earth from the beginning until now and into the future. We see that there is actually no real difference between an ancient Babylonian king, and your non-believing next-door neighbour. The writing is on the wall of the heart in their conscience, and they must decide whether to turn to God for forgiveness, or deny his forgiveness and die in their sins. And this is the wonderful news, the good news, the “God’s Spell”, the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth: that God does not desire the death of a sinner, but would rather all would turn from their wickedness and live. God is slow to anger and quick to forgive; he has written in letters of blazing white light across the sky for all to see: come to the Lord Jesus, and he will soothe your wounded conscience, giving you God’s forgiveness, and his Holy Spirit, and a new heart for him to dwell in, that you may come into the light and walk as a child of God and a citizen of heaven. There is now no condemnation for those who believe; if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
May we all read the writing on the wall, the love letter from God, the person of Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and our God, given for us, our eternal brother, friend and king.