Dan 5:5-6 | 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 5:5-6

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?

Reaction of Belshazzar

When the king sees the fingers, his intoxication is instantly done. The yelling crowd, who may be drinking with much hurray shouting because of the expected downfall of Cyrus and his army, is suddenly struck with muteness. The frenzied cheerfulness turns into extreme horror. The music stops playing, the dancers stand motionless, the waiters who run back and forth between the bar and the various tables with their trays full of drink, don’t make a step anymore. They all stare at the wall.

Belshazzar is frightened to death. Why? He cannot even read what it says, let alone know its meaning. Why, for example, does he not see it as a good omen? It is because he has no peaceful conscience. This is an event that is completely beyond his reach. He has to deal with a power over which he has no control. His face grows pale, which means that all the color disappears from it and the appearance becomes pale.

At the same time his thoughts alarm him. He is addressed directly in his conscience. He is placed before a power far above him whom he never wanted to take into account, but to whom he is accountable. Further on in this chapter Daniel tells him that he is a warned man, but who has ignored the warnings (Dan 5:22).

What he sees also has a reaction on his body. Not only does the color disappears from his face, all the power to walk and to stand is gone. All those boasters who now still dare to say with a big mouth that they will tell God what they think of His dealings when they stand before Him, will have the same experience.

When he has recovered somewhat from the first shock, he is back in control of his voice. He calls all his demon servants to him. He calls aloud, because the matter is urgent. They have to tell him what is on the wall and what its meaning is. He promises a rich reward if they give him the interpretation. That the interpreter will be the third in the kingdom means the third after Nabonidus as king and Belshazzar as co-regent. The fact that Belshazzar is promising this high post as reward shows how keen he is to know the interpretation.

But it is as with the two dreams of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:2-11 ; Dan 4:7): What comes from God cannot be interpreted by idolaters. All the king’s wise men do not know what the writing means. Because his wise men do not know the answer, the king s greatly alarmed and his face grows even paler. The rulers are also panicking. Their large number – they are with a thousand men – does not give them any hope of victory. To the power they face, numbers are nothing. What do numbers mean to Him to Whom “the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and … as a speck of dust on the scales” (Isa 40:15)?