God didn't warn them. He wrote the receipt. Tonight
we step into Babylon's banquet hall. Gold cups
clinking, torches breathing smoke, laughter trying
to drown out the truth. Belshazzar raises a toast
like the walls are eternal, like the empire isn't
surrounded, like... The Holy One can be turned
into decor. Then the room goes cold. A hand writes
on plaster where everybody can see it. Mine,
mine, numbered, accounted for. God interrupting
a party with a sentence nobody can drink away.
Now, slide your chair right up here with us.
We just pushed back from fellowship dinner, paper
plates, sweet tea, that holy hush after folks
finished eating the last crumbs of cobbler. Someone
still stacking chairs like a deacon of mercy.
We're not in Babylon, but we know the borrowed
confidence. So, open your Bible, loosen your
grip on I'm fine, and listen for the wall that
still talks. I'll see you on the other side.
In India, right? Like you just have to wait for
this brief moment and just go for it. So I took
it and there's not a lot of us here, but we are
certainly glad we've got Wayne here with the
thumbs up because if I didn't have that, I wouldn't
know how to start. So as I begin tonight, just
to kind of, this is going to sound, this is pretty
deep Bible. So I want to just try to set us in
the most basic idea of where you. where we are
in the Bible. So you guys know the story about
Daniel, the lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego, those boys that stood up to the
fire and all of that business. All right. That
is the time period we're talking about here tonight.
Okay. And I want to take you tonight to a room
that smells like spilled wine and borrowed confidence.
For us to imagine this, we need to picture a
banquet hall the size of a football field. And
apparently that's not much of an exaggeration.
It's archaeology because they did some excavation
on Nebuchadnezzar's palace and they uncovered
a throne room that would have been massive. It
would have swallowed the room of this size many,
many times over. Its walls were covered in glazed
brick. They were painted blue, decorated with
lions and bulls, meant to remind you who was
in charge. Torches flickered against the plaster,
throwing shadows that danced around the whole
room as if it was alive and watching. And this
night, a thousand nobles crowded in shoulder
to shoulder. Cups lifted, voices ringing out,
loud laughter, enough to drown out. the sound
of a very real truth that was knocking on their
door. The air was thick with incense and roasted
meat and perfume trying to cover up the nervous
sweat. Servants moved through the crowd like
ghosts. Babylonian servants, Hebrew servants,
Egyptian servants, servants from a dozen different
conquered nations, all of them invisible to the
men who were holding the cups. And right in the
middle of it all sits a king who thinks the universe
is his bar tab. And his name is Belshazzar. And
it's not Nebuchadnezzar. It's his grandson, Belshazzar.
Or possibly his son by marriage. They're not
sure. But what is clear is that he inherited
a throne that he did not earn. in an empire,
the Babylonian empire, that's already cracking
at the seams because Persians, under their king
Cyrus, was camped just outside the city. And
the Medes, another group that they were fighting
with, they're circling the city, and Babylon
is surrounded. And everybody in that room knew
it. So what does Belshazzar do? He throws a party.
Not a war council, not a prayer meeting, a party.
A thousand guests, open bar, let's pretend everything
is fine kind of party. Because that's what empires
do when they're scared. They turn up the music
so loud they can't hear the walls crumbling.
In Daniel chapter 5, and this is not a children's
story and it's not VBS material. It's a midnight
text. It's the scripture's way of saying you
can turn the music up, but you can't turn God
off. Some sins don't look like sins. They look
like a good time, a toast, a laugh, prank. We
deserve this. A room full of people saying we're
fine, but heaven keeps the books. And not for
money, for meaning. And sometimes, right in the
middle of the clinking glasses, God writes a
sentence so clear, your bones understand it before
your brain does. Friends, the prophecy of Daniel
from Hebrew Scripture, beginning chapter 5 with
verse 1. King Belshazzar made a great feast for
a thousand of his lords and drank wine in their
presence. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar
commanded that they bring the gold and silver
vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had
taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that the
kings and his lords, his wives and his concubines
might drink from them. They brought the golden
vessels and they drank wine and praised the gods
of gold and silver, of bronze, of iron, wood
and stone. In the same hour, The fingers of a
man's hand came out and wrote on the plaster
of the wall of the king's palace. When the king
saw the part that the hand had wrote, then the
king's face grew pale and his thoughts troubled
him. His limbs gave way and his knees knocked
together. King cried aloud to bring in the enchanters,
the Chaldeans, and the diviners. The king said
to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this
writing and shows me its interpretation shall
be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold
around his neck, shall be the third ruler of
the kingdom. They could not read the text or
make known its interpretation. Then King Belshazzar
was greatly alarmed and his color changed. The
queen said, O king, live forever. There is a
man in your kingdom and whom... is the spirit
of the holy gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar,
made him chief of the magicians. Let Daniel be
called, and he will show you the interpretation.
Then Daniel was brought in. The king said to
Daniel, are you, that Daniel, one of the exiles
of Judah? I've heard of you. The spirit of God
is in you. Now, if you can read the writing and
make known to me its interpretations, you shall
be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold
around your neck and shall be the third ruler
of the kingdom. Then Daniel answered the king,
let your gifts be to yourselves and give your
rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read
the writing to the king and make known to him
the interpretation. O king, the Most High gave
Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness
and glory. But when his heart was lifted up,
he was brought down from his kingly throne. He
was driven from among the children of mankind
until he knew the Most High God rules the kingdom
of mankind. And you, his son, Belshazzar, have
not humbled your heart. Though you knew all of
this, you have lifted up yourself against the
Lord of heaven. You have praised the gods of
gold and silver, of bronze, iron and wood and
stone, which do not see nor hear nor know, but
the God in whose hand is your breath and whose
are all your ways you have not honored. Then
from his presence the hand was sent, and this
writing was inscribed. This was the writing that
was inscribed. Mene, Mene, Tikal, Uparsin. And
this is the interpretation. Mene, God has numbered
the days of your kingdom and brought it to an
end. Tikal, you have been weighed in the balances
and found wanting. Perses, your kingdom is divided
and given to the Medes. and the Persians. Then
Belshazzar gave the command and Daniel was clothed
with purple. A chain of gold was put around his
neck and a proclamation was made about him that
he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
But that very night, Belshazzar the king was
killed and Darius the Mede received the kingdom.
That's the word of the Lord and it's actually
a hard mercy. Because God does it right on the
wall to show off. God writes on the wall because
the party has become a funeral and nobody in
the room knows it yet. So let me come back from
all this ancient history and start closer to
home. Most of us don't wake up trying to blaspheme.
We wake up trying to get through the day. We're
not out there polishing golden idols. Bills,
we're raising kids, we're scrolling past things
we shouldn't, trying to keep our tempers in the
driveway and our hope from leaking out. So Daniel
5 and all of this history stuff can feel like
a foreign country. Babylon and banquet halls,
concubines, empires and golden cups. But here's
the trap. This chapter isn't about ancient parties.
It's about modern carelessness. Because Belshazzar
doesn't just drink. He doesn't just party. He
does something specific. Watch this, verses 2
through 4. He commands that the holy vessels
from the Jerusalem temple be brought out. These
aren't just fancy cups. These are the vessels
that once held the blood of sacrifice and the
oil of consecration, the wine of offering. His
cups had been carried by priests who washed their
hands before even touching them. His cups had
set in the presence of God before Nebuchadnezzar's
army ripped them out and hauled them away to
Babylon as trophies. And Belshazzar, drunk, surrounded
by his wives and his concubines, says, bring
me the temple vessels, not even the arrogance
by itself, the sin. He handles what is sacred
like it is the cheap. And that is a live wire
for every generation. And it's a reminder that
we shouldn't get cute with a text like this.
We would be wrong to start making a list of other
people's profanities because this story bites
closer than that. We profane truth when we use
it as a club instead of a light. We profane communion
when we take the bread while refusing reconciliation.
We profane the name when we use Jesus to decorate
our appetite, to bless our cruelty, to baptize
whatever we wanted to know. And we profane people,
image bearers. We treat them as obstacles or
mean to an end. Here is the thing that Belshazzar
missed. I think it's a thing we miss too. The
holiest vessels in the room aren't made of silver.
They're the people sitting right next to you.
Every person at your table, in your pew, in your
house, in your path tomorrow, they carry the
image of God. Handle them like they're temple
wear. Be prepared to answer for your carelessness.
And the terrifying thing about Belshazzar is
this. He is surrounded by noise and convinced
he is safe. The party he is throwing is so loud,
he can't hear his empire falling. Now let me
show you a few things that the text exposes.
One, the banquet is a performance of invincibility.
Verse 1 says, Belshazzar made a great feast for
a thousand of his lords. That's not a dinner
party. That's a statement. That's a king standing
on a stage and saying, look at me. Look at my
kingdom. Look at this power. And the Persian
army is literally at the gates. And his response
is to throw a gala. This is what fear looks like
when it puts on a tuxedo. This is what anxiety
looks like with an open bar. Belshazzar is trying
to convince himself and his nobles that the walls
are thicker than they are. And you've seen this
before. Maybe you've even done this in your life.
Somebody's marriage has fallen apart, so they...
Decide to have another kid? Somebody's soul is
cracking, so they decide to renovate the house.
We throw feasts to distract ourselves from funerals.
Another thing, the holy vessels end up being
used as props for a pagan toast. Verses 2 through
4 shows us. The problem here isn't careless drinking.
It is intentional desecration. Belshazzar calls
for the Jerusalem vessels specifically so that
he can drink from them while praising the gods
of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and
stone. Please understand what he is doing. He's
saying, your God? The one your people prayed
to in that temple? He's a trophy now. I drink
from his furniture. This, friends, is what empires
do. They don't just conquer land, they conquer
meaning. They take your sacred things and they
turn them into souvenirs. And again, don't think
that this is just ancient history. The empire
changes its clothes, but the game stays the same.
In 2026, the empire doesn't ride in on horses.
It scrolls in through your phone. The algorithm
doesn't conquer land. It conquers your attention.
Your grief becomes engagement. It turns everything
in your life into content. Your testimony becomes
a brand. Your holy moments become posts. And
the moment you post them, something shifts. It
gets flattened into product. Belshazzar turned
temple vessels into barware. We turn holy things
into content and wonder why they stopped feeling
holy. Every generation has its Babylon. Every
generation has somebody saying, you're a god?
I'll make him a meme. Judgment also arrives while
the music is still playing. Verse 5, in the same
hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and
wrote on the plaster of the wall. Feel that.
God doesn't wait until the party's over. God
doesn't wait until Belshazzar sobers up, maybe
feels bad about it in the morning. God interrupts
the illusion mid -toast. And verse 6 is brutal,
embodied honesty. The king's face changed. His
thoughts troubled him. The joints of his thighs
were loosened and his knees knocked together.
The text is saying your body sometimes knows
the truth before your pride can process it. Belshazzar's
nervous system read the wall before his brain
could catch up. His knees were preaching a sermon.
His mouth couldn't quite form yet. And let's
stay right there for just a second because this
isn't about a king. Some of you have been living
with a tight chest for months and you don't know
why. You wake up at 3 a .m. with your heart pounding
and you blame drinking too much coffee. Your
shoulders climb towards your ears every time
you pull into a certain driveway and you tell
yourself it's just stress. But what if that's
not pathology? What if that's just testimony?
What if your body has been reading the wall the
whole time, preaching a sermon your mouth hasn't
found words for? The flesh often knows what the
pride won't admit. The knees buckle before the
confession often forms. That's not weakness,
that's incarnational honesty. Your nervous system
is often more theologically accurate than your
excuses. Then Belshazzar calls in the wise men,
the astrologers, the enchanters, the whole religious
industrial complex of Babylon, and none of them
can read it. You can build an entire system,
spiritual sounding nonsense, and still be utterly
useless when God speaks plainly. And now Daniel
enters. And you need to see who's walking into
the room, okay? By this point, Daniel is old.
He was taken captive as a teenager when Nebuchadnezzar
first sacked Jerusalem around 605 BC. This banquet
here is happening around 539 BC. And I'll go
ahead and do the math for you. That means Daniel
is somewhere in his 80s. He has served and survived
multiple kings. Somewhere along the way, he got
forgotten. The new regime doesn't know it. The
queen mother has to remind Belshazzar that Daniel
even exists. So this old prophet, pulled from
obscurity, walks into the drunken glow of a thousand
torches and a thousand fools. And the first thing
he does... is refuse the paycheck. Verse 17,
let your gifts be to yourself and give your rewards
to another. That's not rudeness. That's freedom.
Daniel is saying, I am not on your payroll, so
I can tell the truth. And this is the difference.
This is the difference between a bought consultant
and a sent witness. And then Daniel does something.
that is pure pastoral genius. He tells Belshazzar
a story he already knows. He recounts Nebuchadnezzar's
pride, Nebuchadnezzar's madness, Nebuchadnezzar's
humiliation, and eventually Nebuchadnezzar's
confession that the Most High God does rule the
kingdom of men. Belshazzar has heard all of this
before. It's his family history. Then Daniel
drops the hinge verse of the whole chapter, verse
22. You, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled
your heart, though you knew all of this. That
is an indictment. Belshazzar isn't ignorant.
He's careless. He knows the testimony. He watched
it happen. He just doesn't honor it. And I need
to remind myself to be careful here because I'm
preaching this like this is about him. But though
you knew all this is a mirror, not a window,
I know what grace has done. In my life. I know
what pride costs. I know what cruelty does to
the soul. I have seen the testimony. I have received
the mercy. And still, still, I can get careless
with holy things. So can you. Then Daniel names
the real blasphemy in verse 23. You've lifted
up yourself against the Lord of heaven and the
God in whose hand your breath is and whose all
your ways you have not glorified. This is a thunderclap
wearing plain clothes, the God whose hand your
very breath is in. Not your empire. Not your
bank account. Not your title. Not your reputation.
Not your, I'm fine. Your breath. Every inhale
is borrowed mercy. Every exhale is grace staying
patient. One more second. You don't own your
next breath. You receive it. And now the writing
on the wall. These are Aramaic words, probably
familiar to anybody in that room, which makes
it even stranger that the wise men couldn't interpret
them. The words are common, numbered, weighted,
and divided, but the meaning is devastating.
God has numbered your kingdom and brought it
to an end. You are weighed in the balances and
found warning. And a parson, your kingdom is
divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
This isn't fortune telling. This is a moral reality
spoken out loud. The scales of heaven don't grade
on a curve. But hear me. Tinkle isn't God nitpicking
your performance. It's God naming the truth you've
been hiding so that mercy can finally get in
there. You can't repent of what you won't admit.
And friends, the scales aren't there to shame
you or to scare you. They're there to stop the
lie. And then the chapter ends with one of the
coldest sentences in all of scripture. Verse
30, in that night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king,
was slain. Ancient accounts say that the Persians
came in through the river gates and the city
fell while that party raged. Not next year, not
someday, not after he got around to repenting.
That night. So what do we do with that without
turning it into a scare tactic? Well, we don't
leave here afraid of walls. We leave here reverent
about sacred things. Because the gospel is not
God can't wait to get at you. The gospel is he
loves you enough to interrupt your delusion before
it kills you. And here's where Daniel 5 has to
meet Jesus, or this is just an ancient horror
story. Belshazzar desecrated temple vessels.
But in the New Testament, Jesus doesn't just
respect sacred things. He becomes the sacred
thing. The temple that Babylon looted, Jesus
says, destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise this up. And he was talking about
his body. When the holy gets treated like the
common, Jesus doesn't write a judgment on the
wall. He walks into the room. He flips tables
in a defiled temple. He eats with the profaned
and the profane, sinners, lepers, tax collectors,
because his mission isn't to guard the sacred
from contamination. His mission is to make the
contaminated sacred again. Belshazzar treated
the holy like a joke. Jesus treated the profane
like it was his mission. God wrote on a wall
in Babylon, but in Christ, God writes on the
hearts of people. Not judgment inscribed on plaster,
covenant inscribed on hearts. And the vessels,
they're not silver anymore, they're us. And if
you want a New Testament, Mirror for Daniel 5.
Read 1 Corinthians 11. Same energy church potluck
setting. Paul watches the Corinthians turn the
Lord's table into a social club. Rich folks eating
well, poor folks going hungry. Everybody taking
the bread without discerning what it actually
means. And Paul basically is saying you are drinking
judgment on yourselves because you stop recognizing
what is holy. That's the writing on the wall.
Showing up at a communion table. So, in our remaining
moments together, quickly, let me give you four
front porch plank truths you can stand on this
week. Stop using holy things for unholy purposes.
Belteshar used temple vessels to praise dead
gods. We do the same thing anytime we use Jesus
as an accessory instead of the Lord. Remember
what you already know. Daniel's indictment wasn't
you didn't know. It was though you already know
this. Some of our deepest trouble doesn't come
from ignorance. It comes from what we've stopped
honoring. You know grace. You know mercy. You
know the way pride hollows you out. Tonight is
not learn a new fact. Tonight is come back to
a truth you already carry with you. And let God's
interruptions in your life be mercy, not humiliation.
That hand on the wall, hear me, was mercy. Because
God could have stayed silent. God could have
let the party roll on until the building collapsed
with everybody inside. But God speaks. God writes.
God makes the invisible visible. Treat your breath
like a sacrament. The God in whose hand your
breath is. That means you're not trash. You're
not an accident. You are not too far gone. If
God is holding your breath, God is near. And
if God is near, grace is available. And he's
not waiting for you to clean up. So here's the
invitation, not tonight, not to perform, not
to pretend. Simply glorify the God who holds
your next breath with honesty, with repentance,
and with reverence. May the God who holds your
breath teach your hands what is holy. May you
handle people with tenderness, truth with reverence,
worship with awe and mercy, mercy like it's oxygen.
May every borrowed inhale become a thanksgiving,
every exhale become a surrender. And when the
wall starts talking, may you listen not in terror,
but in trust. Amen? Amen. Thanks, guys. Thank
you. Friend, the mercy in Daniel 5 is that God
doesn't wait until the rubble falls to tell the
truth. He writes while the music is still playing.
And that should be comforting because it means
you're not forgotten in the noise. And it's convicting
because it means the Holy One is not impressed
by borrowed confidence. If the God in whose hand
your breath is holds you that close, then your
life isn't random and your carelessness isn't
harmless. Don't leave tonight ashamed. Don't
leave unchanged either. Let the wall's words
become a doorway. Let though you knew this turn
into remembering again. So tell me, did you hear
something tonight you hadn't thought of? Did
you hear something you'd never heard before maybe?
Not a new truth, but an old truth said plainly
enough that you finally have it land. If you
did, throw that old like in the offering plate.
Not for money, not for guilt, just for witness.
And if you want to keep meeting with us into
the new year, tie to your subscribe so you'll
know when the fellowship hall lights come back
on. And until that time, friend, be blessed.