Daniel has been one of my favourite books of the Bible for years. It has all the elements of the great Bible stories, but even more so. For example, Joseph gets framed and falsely accused, and ends up wasting away in jail. But in the book of Daniel jealous elements of the court conspire to frame Daniel, and he gets thrown in a den of lions. No sissy prison for these rulers. Daniel’s friends get thrown in a fiery furnace! These guys ain’t messing around.
To a kid who loved the action of the Old Testament, Daniel is a great book. It combined visual descriptions of dreams and stories with extreme events. As a child this was pure gold!
As an adult, I love the story of the hand writing on the wall. It again is such a visual story. But now I not only react to the imagery but the also to the impact of its meaning. Belshazzar is hosting a banquet and in an act of arrogance he demands to have the spoils from their Jewish conquest, the temple goblets, brought to him. They drink from these and praise their own gods and goddess. It is an act of supremacy over the Jewish people and their God. A hand then appears out of nowhere and writes on the wall. He calls for his wise men to come interpret the writing. They all fail so Daniel is brought in to decipher the meaning.
Daniel 5: 25-30 “This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN “Here is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain
was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in
the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain,
and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
The idea I like most is the idea of an external judgement. The visual representation of a truth that is separate and beyond the powerful. The reality that the ruler by which we are measured is not held by men, or by the authorities of the day.
The events of our world lately have many people on edge. It can be easy to feel helpless and small in the currents of world affairs. And yet, the scriptures offer a different view. We like Daniel can cling to what we believe to be true. We can hold the line as individuals. This may come with hardship and suffering, but we are fighting for the stronger side. We do not need to feel like victims. We serve the All Mighty.
Kings came and went, but Daniel remained faithful. He served God.
Roberta Writes 