Dan 5:5 | KingComments | STEP | When Belshazzar and the whole reveling company let the cups go around, suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appear writing something on the wall. It will have become dead quiet. The deathly silence is not the result of an ear-extinguishing thunderclap or a blinding lightning bolt. Nor does an angel appear with a sword to kill them all. It is only “the fingers of a man’s hand” which write something on the plaster of the wall, “opposite the lampstand”, that is, in full light, so that all can read it. The finger with which God has written for His people the two tablets of the law ( ; ), now writes the judgment on Babylon and Belshazzar on the wall of the royal palace. God’s written Word is sufficient to frighten to death the most proud and rebellious sinners. The king sees the part of the hand that writes, but he does not see Whose hand it is, which makes the scene even more frightening. We can say that in creation we see a part of God’s hand. To say it with Job, we see “the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him!” ( ). God’s finger is the finger of power. We see His power in creation when we look at the sky called by David “the work of Your fingers” ( ). We also see God’s power in the judgment when Moses, on behalf of God, brings the third plague over Egypt. With his staff he strikes the dust of the earth, which becomes gnats in the whole country of Egypt. The magicians say to the pharaoh: “This is the finger of God” ( ). “By the finger of God” the Lord Jesus casts out the demons ( ). The finger of God means the Holy Spirit, as is apparent from the parallel text in Matthew 12 ( ). It has rightly been noted that if all these are characteristics of God’s finger, what will happen when He moves His hand and His arm? Shall we not be even more impressed by His actions? And if we are so impressed by a small part of His Being, ow great must He be in His Person?

‏ Daniel 5:5

The Writing Fingers

When Belshazzar and the whole reveling company let the cups go around, suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appear writing something on the wall. It will have become dead quiet. The deathly silence is not the result of an ear-extinguishing thunderclap or a blinding lightning bolt. Nor does an angel appear with a sword to kill them all. It is only “the fingers of a man’s hand” which write something on the plaster of the wall, “opposite the lampstand”, that is, in full light, so that all can read it.

The finger with which God has written for His people the two tablets of the law (Exo 31:18; Deu 9:10), now writes the judgment on Babylon and Belshazzar on the wall of the royal palace. God’s written Word is sufficient to frighten to death the most proud and rebellious sinners.

The king sees the part of the hand that writes, but he does not see Whose hand it is, which makes the scene even more frightening. We can say that in creation we see a part of God’s hand. To say it with Job, we see “the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him!” (Job 26:14). God’s finger is the finger of power.

We see His power in creation when we look at the sky called by David “the work of Your fingers” (Psa 8:3). We also see God’s power in the judgment when Moses, on behalf of God, brings the third plague over Egypt. With his staff he strikes the dust of the earth, which becomes gnats in the whole country of Egypt. The magicians say to the pharaoh: “This is the finger of God” (Exo 8:19). “By the finger of God” the Lord Jesus casts out the demons (Lk 11:20). The finger of God means the Holy Spirit, as is apparent from the parallel text in Matthew 12 (Mt 12:28).

It has rightly been noted that if all these are characteristics of God’s finger, what will happen when He moves His hand and His arm? Shall we not be even more impressed by His actions? And if we are so impressed by a small part of His Being, ow great must He be in His Person?