Did you ever wonder where certain everyday expressions come from? Phrases like “being caught between a rock and a hard place”, “a Herculean effort”, “he’s so full of himself” and “Achilles’ heel” actually all tie back to Greek Mythology. Other expressions such as “twinkling of an eye”, “drop in the bucket”, “signs of the times” and “powers that be” all have their roots in the Bible. Over the past few weeks, I have been pondering one such expression: “the writing on the wall”. Today, this phrase is typically used to describe a situation where you could literally see doom coming beforehand.
The roots of this phrase are found in the Old Testament of Scripture, specifically in Daniel 5. This portion of scripture tells of an event that occurred in Ancient Babylon. In verse 1 of this chapter we are introduced to Belshazzar, the King of Babylon. Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of the Babylonian empire who took Daniel and his friends into captivity. Belshazzar threw a big party with all of his friends and basically mocked the ONE TRUE GOD - JEHOVAH. Suddenly a hand appeared out of thin air and wrote a phrase on the wall.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. 6 Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together.
The hand terrified the King and his guests as a message was written that nobody could understand. The King was scared by what he saw, but he didn’t know what the message meant. In fact, none of his counselors understood the message. The “great minds” of the day couldn’t tell the king what it meant. Nobody understood the words of warning. None that is except for a prophet of the Lord named Daniel.
25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
The King James version of scripture states the word “TEKEL” as “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting (or lacking)”. Wow, can you imagine being Daniel and having to tell the king that GOD examined him and he didn’t measure up? Daniel went on to tell Belshazzar that his kingdom would be taken from him and given to the Medes and Persians. What a terrifying word of judgment! That very night, this word of warning came to pass. Belshazzar was murdered and the Medes and Persians took over the Babylonian empire.
It always amazes me how GOD constantly warns people about what lies ahead. Amos 3:7 tells us “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants…”. That statement is as true today as when it was written over 2,700 years ago. The book of Jonah tells of how GOD sent the prophet Jonah to warn an entire nation to repent because HIS judgment was coming. Romans 13:11-12 encourages New Testament believers to “wake up” because “the day is at hand”. Make no mistake, we are living in what Scripture calls “the Last Days”. We are quickly approaching the day when Christ will return for HIS Church. As that day draws near, I believe that GOD will continue to give us indications that events are unfolding in this generation just as HE did in generations past.
In this blog we will attempt to point out events that we see unfolding around us which can be tied back to biblical prophecies describing events of the Last Days found in scripture. Literally, we will seek to explore, the “Writing on the Wall” as we see it today.
Can you see that we are living in the last days? If you were examined by God would you be found lacking or would you be one of the saved? Take time today to surrender your life to JESUS CHRIST, our One True Hope. He is coming back soon…be ready!
God Bless,
Stephen
The roots of this phrase are found in the Old Testament of Scripture, specifically in Daniel 5. This portion of scripture tells of an event that occurred in Ancient Babylon. In verse 1 of this chapter we are introduced to Belshazzar, the King of Babylon. Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of the Babylonian empire who took Daniel and his friends into captivity. Belshazzar threw a big party with all of his friends and basically mocked the ONE TRUE GOD - JEHOVAH. Suddenly a hand appeared out of thin air and wrote a phrase on the wall.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. 6 Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together.
The hand terrified the King and his guests as a message was written that nobody could understand. The King was scared by what he saw, but he didn’t know what the message meant. In fact, none of his counselors understood the message. The “great minds” of the day couldn’t tell the king what it meant. Nobody understood the words of warning. None that is except for a prophet of the Lord named Daniel.
25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
The King James version of scripture states the word “TEKEL” as “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting (or lacking)”. Wow, can you imagine being Daniel and having to tell the king that GOD examined him and he didn’t measure up? Daniel went on to tell Belshazzar that his kingdom would be taken from him and given to the Medes and Persians. What a terrifying word of judgment! That very night, this word of warning came to pass. Belshazzar was murdered and the Medes and Persians took over the Babylonian empire.
It always amazes me how GOD constantly warns people about what lies ahead. Amos 3:7 tells us “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants…”. That statement is as true today as when it was written over 2,700 years ago. The book of Jonah tells of how GOD sent the prophet Jonah to warn an entire nation to repent because HIS judgment was coming. Romans 13:11-12 encourages New Testament believers to “wake up” because “the day is at hand”. Make no mistake, we are living in what Scripture calls “the Last Days”. We are quickly approaching the day when Christ will return for HIS Church. As that day draws near, I believe that GOD will continue to give us indications that events are unfolding in this generation just as HE did in generations past.
In this blog we will attempt to point out events that we see unfolding around us which can be tied back to biblical prophecies describing events of the Last Days found in scripture. Literally, we will seek to explore, the “Writing on the Wall” as we see it today.
Can you see that we are living in the last days? If you were examined by God would you be found lacking or would you be one of the saved? Take time today to surrender your life to JESUS CHRIST, our One True Hope. He is coming back soon…be ready!
God Bless,
Stephen
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