Mene …Mene! Can you read what’s on the wall?
The words written there are mene, which means “numbered,” tekel, which means “weighed,” and parsin, which means “divided.” God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has brought it to an end. He has weighed you on his balance scales, and you fall short of what it takes to be king. So God has divided your kingdom between the Medes and the Persians. Daniel 5:25-28
I was at bible school a few days ago and during a session on developing intimacy with God, the keynote speaker talked about calibration as a means of checking and adjusting the accuracy of an instrument (us as individuals) using a benchmark (the word of God). As I reflected on the lecture, I remembered a hymn which is a family favourite based on the above text – The Handwriting on the wall.
At least once a year, we holidayed at our grandparents’ and our parents never ceased to talk to us about the day of reckoning’, which for some of us was every day. Usually, before one’s cup was full, a chronicle would be read, however, some people were completely unaware of their standing. To subtly communicate this and other things, my cousins developed a language that codified pertinent information. Unfortunately, some of our parents caught onto it after a while so we came up with another game plan – code words that are predominantly scripture-based!
Mene …Mene is one of those words and would often be used when someone overstepped their boundaries, became a nuisance or was about to be whooped! Mene…Mene was an alert to say ‘you haven’t got much time’ or ‘you need to act fast’ but most importantly ‘repent now’. The fact that one repented didn’t mean there weren’t consequences for their actions; so effectively, some received impartation by the laying on of the hands with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Talk about mysteries, we were fluent!
The text is the story of Belshazzar who took over the reins of Babylon from Nebuchadnezzar. The scene is a party graced with princes, queens, and concubines and as they tasted the wine, he ordered that the sacred goldwares and silverwares looted from the Jerusalem temple be brought out. Now as the guests drank from the goblets, a handwriting appeared on the wall.
Belshazzar profaned and trivialized the holy, at the same time worshipped idols, no wonder God showed up in the way he did. So the question is: Are there things that could potentially be contending or taking God’s place in your life? Is there any chance that you have been irreverent to God or belittled him? Selah!
Never worship any other god, because the LORD is a God who does not tolerate rivals. In fact, he is known for not tolerating rivals. Exodus 34:14
Can you read what’s on your wall?
You may not have a ‘literal’ handwriting on the wall but you probably have had an encounter to that effect. Perhaps there are circumstances around your employment, finances, health, relationship…..whatever it is; you may not understand but you will recognize it because it is an unusual occurrence. In Belshazzar‘s case, the hand wrote the message on the wall. There are 4 key things at play:
The hand: The communication tool (What)
The message: The main content and meat of the matter (That)
The wall: The communication medium (How)
There is also the interpreter, Daniel (Who). The interesting thing about Daniel is that he had social and spiritual responsibilities. Socially, he was governor of the whole province of Babylon and head of all Babylon’s wise advisers. Spiritually, he was a prophet of God who spoke and interpreted his divine will.
Each and every one of these is unique to us. Except in a corporate setting like a nation, family, or church. The action here is for you to identify the ‘hand’, ‘message’, ‘wall’, and ‘interpreter’ in your situation.
My personal belief is that the tekel (evaluation) preceded the mene (judgment) and parsin (consequence). God is loving and just desiring that all come to repentance and not perish. As you can see from the story, the mene and parsin are down to God but there is something you can do.
Tekel – Examine yourself!
God is a God of knowledge and by him, actions are weighed. Therefore, the earlier you ‘calibrate’ the better. Isaiah encourages us to seek the Lord while he may be found. Paul admonished the Corinthians’ thus:
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.2 Corinthians 13:5
David prayed:
Search me O God, and know my mind. Test me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23
Speaking through Isaiah, God said:
“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other”. Isaiah 45:22
Now, here’s what Jesus said to the church in Ephesus:
Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation 2:5
The more provinces kings governed, the more influence and tribute they had. In effect, Belshazzar‘s verdict would affect his relevance and finances. But unfortunately, it had a much dire effect. He was so focused on the festivities and activities that he failed to repent because he didn’t realize there was a timer on his life. Imagine what would have happened if he quickly sought God rather than honour Daniel. Could God have withheld his wrath and pardoned him?
Here are a few questions for reflection:
- Can you read what’s on your wall?
- Have you ‘tekeled’? Are your records wanting or trusting?
- What are you going to do about it?
Therefore, whoever knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin. James 4:17