Daniel: The Handwriting on the Wall

Belshazzar throws a drunken banquet inside walls he thinks no army can breach, and a disembodied hand writes his death sentence on the plaster. Daniel 5, the fifth lesson in this Daniel series, asks whether we can read the writing on our own wall. Main text: Daniel 5; Romans 3v22-24 Outline: A king who cannot read the writing on his own wall The historical backdrop Daniel 5 does not tell you, with the Persian army already at Babylon's gates The party that became a courtroom (Daniel 5v1-6) Daniel refuses the bribe and interprets Mene, Tekel, Parsin (Daniel 5v25-28) Three takeaways: faithfulness over the long run, every power has an expiration date, God holds us accountable for what we know The fifth installment in the Daniel series walks through Belshazzar's last night, when an unread inscription on the wall exposed a king who had ignored everything his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar learned. Daniel, now in his mid-seventies and long forgotten by the new regime, refuses the purple robe and gold chain and tells the truth anyway. The Persian army is already diverting the Euphrates while he speaks. The lesson presses three claims into us: stay faithful for the long run like Daniel, remember that every Babylon has an expiration date, and stop hiding behind what-ifs because God judges us by what we already know. The same scales weigh us, and Romans 3v22-24 says we are all lightweights apart from Jesus, who took the verdict on the cross. Originally Aired: 2026-05-24 Chapters: 0:00 Lesson: Daniel 5 1:34 Lost in translation 4:01 Historical backdrop of Daniel 5 8:14 The party that became a courtroom (Daniel 5v1-6) 14:11 Daniel refuses the bribe and interprets the writing (Daniel 5v25-28) 19:20 Takeaway 1: Faithfulness over the long run 26:03 Takeaway 2: Every power has an expiration date 27:48 Takeaway 3: God holds us accountable for what we know 34:21 Closing prayer