Focus: The hand of God sustains us and compels us to live for God’s honor and with deep trust in God’s providential care.
Function: To encourage the people in these unsettling times to entrust themselves to God’s mighty hand.
Text: Daniel 5:13-31
Recently, an amazing thing happened in New York City. A US Airways plane crash-landed in the Hudson River near the Manhattan Cruise Terminal piers at West 52nd St. The Airbus 320, filled with 150 passengers and 5 crewmembers, sucked a bunch of birds into its two jet engines. The pilot had no viable choice other than to crash- land his plane in the Hudson River.
The 80-ton Airbus managed to skim the river’s surface with a big splash as it landed. All 155 people on board survived the landing, and were quickly rescued by ferryboats and quick-thinking rescue people. A surveillance video captured the dramatic splash landing of the airplane.
All that you could see on the video for a second or two was the plane skimming and splashing the water. That was all. It was a miracle that all survived—so everyone claimed. A few days later, however, I saw an artist’s sketch of the airplane landing in the water. There was something very striking about this sketch: It showed the river, the plane skimming the surface and splashing the water, and underneath the plane there was a hand. That hand explained the miracle of US Airways Flight 1549. It was the hand of God sustaining and guiding the plane to a safe landing.
The
artist’s sketch of God’s hand underneath that plane struck a cord with me.
After all, that hand of God points to God’s providence or all-pervasive power.
It’s as the Heidelberg Catechism tells us in Lord’s Day 10 “Providence is
the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his
hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and
blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and
sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance
but from his fatherly hand.” In fact, we learn that “All
creatures are so completely in (God’s) hand that without his will they
can neither move nor be moved.”
That image or metaphor of God’s hand is a very Biblical image. When God, for example, gave his fourth commandment to his people Israel he explained his call for Sabbath rest by saying, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” The hand of God, then, is very real in the lives of God’s people.
Tonight, as we consider Daniel 5 we notice that God’s hand shows up again. King Belshazzar sees a human hand (from nowhere so to speak) writing near the lamp stand on the plaster of his royal palace. And it scares the “willies” out of him. But it does not have to be that way. In fact, the hand of God sustains us and compels us to live for God’s honor and with deep trust in God providential care. Thus I say to all of us tonight: in these unsettling times, let us entrust ourselves in God’s mighty hand.
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As we enter the text, let’s observe the hand of God at work. First of all, the hand of God terrifies King Belshazzar. Now he had good reasons to be afraid that night. King Cyrus’ Persian army was on the move. And Cyrus’ ally, governor or King Darius, the Mede, was laying siege against the capitol City of Babylon. At least a thousand governors and high officials from all over the empire of Babylon had fled or retreated to the capitol city. They feel relatively safe in King Belshazzar’s heavily guarded, solidly built royal palace. But it’s clear to all that the Babylonian empire is in the balance. King Belshazzar has reason to be afraid.
Thus the king appeals to all his gods—the gods of wood, stone, iron and precious metals. For King Belshazzar needs all the help he can get. For good measure, the king also calls for the vessels from the temple of Israel’s God. Those vessels are the gold and silver goblets that only the Levites could use for prayer and libation to Israel’s God.
Those vessels also included the lamp stand, which was made as a stylized almond tree. The lamps on the stand were positioned in the temple to signify that God watches over his people Israel. King Belshazzar has no clue what he is doing, when he places the lamp stand near the plaster wall of the royal palace and when he and his nobels, along with their concubines and wives drink from the sacred cups.
Did you notice? The gods of Babylon do not show up at King Belshazzar’s banquet. The idols are silent. But the moment the king and his entourage drink from the gold and silver cups of the temple of Jerusalem, Israel’s God shows up. He is watching. And right there where we notice the lamp stand of the temple (which signifies the watchful eye of God over his people) a hand appears. It’s the hand of God. And King Belshazzar is terrified.
Why? Does he realize that he has sinned against Israel’s God? Is he afraid because he does not know what he is up against as this human hand writes “Mene, mene, tekel, Parsin”? This much is clear: the Word of God causes King Belshazzar to shudder in his boots. He is “loosing it,” as they say. Just as his empire is falling apart with Cyrus’ and Darius’ sieges, so now King Belshazzar is “falling apart” as God’s hand writes a few words on the palace wall.
Does God’s Word ever terrify us? Do we ever have moments when we become so convicted, so struck, so “hit between the eyes” by God’s Word that we become unglued, troubled, and frightened in spirit? Do we ever get bothered when God speaks to us with his Word? The hand of God terrifies Belshazzar. Should it also terrify us today?
Secondly, the hand of God signifies a warning of God. God shows up at King Belshazzar’s pagan party to remind him that there is still time to repent. The hand is a warning that is supposed to bring the king to his senses. How do we know? Well, when the king starts to panic because no one of the wise men in Babylon could interpret the words on that plaster wall, his queen mother enters the stage. And she is eager to give her grandson a history or family lesson—to jar him to the realization that Israel’s God must be taken seriously, and that God’s representative by the name of Daniel should be consulted. For it is clear that Belshazzar has not paid any attention to the voice of Daniel.
In fact, it appears that Daniel has been neglected as Babylon’s chief wise man. Listen to the queen mother: “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king, I say—appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners…Call for Daniel and he will tell you what the writing means.” Folks, the hand of God signifies a warning of God. And thus it also signifies God’s mercy, in that King Belshazzar has an opportunity to humble himself before God and repent from his idolatrous ways.
Thirdly, the hand of God triggers a history lesson. It points to God’s mighty acts and power. Earlier we heard the queen mother rehearse God’s story and dealings with King Nebuchadnezzar and his empire. Now, as Daniel stands before King Belshazzar, we encounter again the story of God.
Listen: “O King, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor….But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdom of men and sets over them anyone he wishes….” Clearly, the hand of God on that plaster wall triggers a history lesson that points to God’s mighty work in Babylon.
Thus King Belshazzar encounters once more the grace of God. For whenever God’s story comes to us, we are graced, honored with good news, solid warnings, and loving calls to turn to Him that we may live. For you see, hearing the grand story of God means that you and I are invited to enter that story and live our own story of life under the umbrella of God’s story. Thus we see that the hand of God terrifies the King, signifies God’s warning, and it triggers a history lesson.
Fourthly, the hand of God also points to judgment: “Mene, mene, tekel parsin.” Do you remember that lamp stand near the plaster wall in the royal palace? Well, when that lamp stand stood in the tabernacle or temple of God in Jerusalem it stood in front of the 12 face breads or showbreads. These 12 breads symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel. These breads faced the lamp stand, that is, faced God in his temple.
And the lamp stand symbolized God’s presence--God making his face shine upon his people. The breads in the temple make up the kingdom of God, for God rules in and over his people. And thus the picture becomes clear: The breads and the lamp stand picture God shining his light, his face over his people—the 12 breads or tribes of Israel.
But now we are not in the temple of Jerusalem. We are in Babylon’s royal palace. Now look what happens near the lamp stand in the royal palace of Babylon: as King Belshazzar and his governors--representing his kingdom--party near the lamp stand by the plaster wall in the royal palace, God shows up. Using his hand, God faces Belshazzar; he sheds his light upon Belshazzar and his kingdom, and then these words of measurement or judgment appear: “Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.”
Mene, tekel are measuring words. MENE: God has measured or numbered the days of your reign, King Belshazzar, and brought it to an end. In other words, your kingdom, your reign is TEKEL: You have been weighted on the scales and found wanting. In other words, King Belshazzar, your kingdom and your reign do not measure up. In fact, it is PERES (or PARSIN), that is, your kingdom is assessed (found wanting, “divided”) and given to the Medes and Persians.
The hand of God points to judgment.
King Belshazzar and his empire are found wanting. They do not measure up before
God, and God is handing over the reigns of Babylon to King Cyrus of Persia and
governor Darius, the Mede. That’s why Daniel said to King Belshazzar: “You
praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone….But you
did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”
Clearly, the hand of God points to judgment. But it does not have to be that way. For the hand of God also sustains and compels us to live for God’s honor and with deep trust.
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In these unsettling times, God’s Word calls us to entrust ourselves in God’s mighty hand. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. We do not know the future. But this we know: God holds his people—and all of history, and all of life—in his hand. If we wish to see God’s hand sustaining and guiding us in the circumstances of life, we need to do three things:
1) Live the story of God: That means that God’s self-revelation, as found in the Scriptures, must become our daily food. Read God’s Word; study God’s ways; obey his commands; embrace his promises; yield to his Holy Spirit; and make the grand story of God’s mighty acts, especially in Jesus Christ, the story you live by every day!
Rehearse that story in worship; refresh your memory by entering God’s story in faith, and experience the power of God’s story in song, prayer, communion, and quiet contemplation. Live the story of God.
2) Live your story under the umbrella of God’s story. You see, if God’s hand sustains and compels us to live for his honor and with deep trust, then we need to relate our own life to God’s story. Then we must learn to see that our lives have purpose and meaning. Then we must live with the conviction that nothing happens by “chance” or “accident.”
Each one of us has a story to tell. All of us are still writing the story of our lives. Some are still in chapter one; I may be in chapter five; some of you may be much farther advanced in living your life story. But when you learn to see your life in the light of God’s story--which includes the good news: “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again”—you’ll discover the guiding hand of God. Live your story within the story of God.
3) Draw comfort and strength from God’s mighty hand and wondrous story. Or in the language of the Heidelberg Catechism: “We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.”
King Belshazzar did not honor God. He lived apart from God’s story, thinking that he could do without the God who holds his life in his hand. You and I, however, have yet another opportunity to put our hand, our lives in the hand of God who sustains us and compels us to live for him with deep trust and confidence.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.