Writing On The Wall with Sonja Knutson

A party is roaring inside Babylon while an army waits outside the walls, and the king acts like nothing can touch him. Then a hand appears and writes a message no one can explain. We walk through Daniel 5 and the moment “the writing on the wall” stops being a saying and becomes a confrontation with pride, control, and the danger of treating God like a prop in our own story.

We follow King Belshazzar’s choices step by step: the lavish banquet, the intentional disrespect of sacred temple vessels, the sudden fear when the warning becomes undeniable, and the empty promises of wealth and status offered to anyone who can make the problem go away. When Daniel arrives, he won’t take the bribe. He points back to Nebuchadnezzar’s hard-earned lesson and names the real issue: Belshazzar already knew the history, yet refused humility. The result is sobering: God’s standards are not impressed by power, and a life built on ego does not hold.

From there, we bring the story home. We talk about the warning lights we all ignore, how pride hides as self-sufficiency, and why knowledge without obedience becomes truth left unread. We also end where the gospel leads: God doesn’t write to shame us, but to call us back, and the final word over a repentant life is forgiveness through Christ. If this message hits close to your life, subscribe, share this episode with someone you care about, and leave a review so more people can find it.

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Transcript

Welcome And Daniel Series Setup

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Good morning. My name is Sanya Knutsen. I'm Pastorio Associate here. If we have not had a chance to meet one another, I would love to meet you. Welcome, special welcome to our baptism family. We're so excited to have you here. And we hope that you take the chance to get to know some of us as well and come on back with Nate and Autumn as they raise their little girls. And Andrew, thank you for choosing Daniel to be your sponsor. That's so cool today. A big shout out to my sister who's here from Texas. She needed a break from the heat, so she came here. And her friends, uh Sharon and Karen. I'm so glad that you guys are here today with us. Um, as Janet was reading that and she came along the sentence that said ass, I could hear my son behind me giggling, you know, because that's what he would have done when he was four. So we can say those words in church, honey. That's okay. Well, welcome to our six-week journey of uh, let me get this started. There we go. There we go. Six-week journey through the book of Daniel in our series called Daniel Pattern to Promise. This is a series that reminds us that we fall into our human patterns often and we they don't always align with God's will. Amen. But through our faith, we can come back to God's promises, God's path, God's ways in our life. We've been loving this series. Have you been enjoying it? That sounded so convincing. So far, we've walked through chapters one through four, and we've been introduced to four young men um Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, a king who has some anger issues, don't we agree on that? A little bit of an ego. We've been introduced to two mysterious dreams, one giant statue, one fiery furnace, and seven years of eating grass, and through it all, a God who never stopped being in control. And if you were going to take anything from this Daniel book, I would say take that piece. He is a God that never stops taking control, even when the world wants us to take control of our lives or we want to take control of our lives. God is always there. Now we come today to chapter five, and we meet a new king with guess what, the same problems, ego and pride and arrogance. Does anyone else feel like we're just walking through a soap opera? It's like as Babble Babylon turns, right? And we're just waiting for the cue of music to go to the next chapter. Well, we're going to dive this morning into Daniel 5. And if you were following along with Janet, I would encourage you to take uh the Bible out and turn to page 721. It's always fun and interesting for you to be reading along, or even if you do this in your own time, Bible time at home or devotion time, follow along. And there might be something new that pops out to you that maybe you hadn't heard before, or maybe I'm directing it in a different way through this message today. Um, so go ahead and do that. But if you don't want to, that's okay too. I'm going to have slides that walk us through it as

Prayer And The Writing On Walls

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well. Um, the sermon title for me today is Writing on the Wall. Let's begin in prayer. Father, I'm so grateful that this morning we come to you with this story and with this idea of the writing on the wall. So many times in our lives we have things that are laid out for us. There is writing on the walls, and we choose to ignore it. We choose to walk away from it. We choose to follow our control and our ways more than yours. This challenge, this chapter has been challenging for myself, but this book as well, as often I find myself wanting to fall in my control and my ways. And so this morning, as I share your words through Daniel and his story, may you open hearts and minds that might be walking the same difficult path, that might want to control things in their lives. And may they release and surrender whatever has a hold on them today into your hands. Use me this morning, humble me this morning, Jesus, and bless these words. In your name we pray. Amen.

The Check Engine Light We Ignore

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Well, when I was 18 years old, I couldn't wait to move out of my parents' house, who's with me. Right? Did you feel that? I felt like I had all the experience behind me to run a healthy, happy life. My dad had taught me so many things about how to manage a house. My mom taught me about how to make new friends and make good choices. And I was going to balance my work with my work school schedule until one day this funny light shows up on my car. I thought I knew car maintenance. I'm like, well, isn't that a cute little light? That looks like an engine. And then I just chose to keep driving and listening to prints on my 1984 cassette player. And ignoring it worked until one day it didn't work anymore. And before long, I found myself sitting on the side of the interstate listening to purple rain, ironically, while a cloud of black smoke rained all around my car and my engine blew up. Have you ever ignored a warning sign before? Maybe it was a check engine light on your car. Maybe it was the chirping of the smoke detector in your home that needed new batteries. Maybe it was a warning for your health or your finances or your marriage. Most warning lights give us a choice. Deal with the problem or ignore it and hope that it goes away. The trouble is warning lights rarely fix themselves and they're usually pointing to something much deeper. For example, when I walk home and my dog doesn't give me eye contact, that's a warning sign that something has happened in the house. I'm going to find something chewed up, most likely. Or your 15-year-old daughter, 18-year-old daughter starts doing laundry all of a sudden, cleaning her room without being asked. That's a warning sign that something's probably happened, right? Or your body has been telling you for weeks that something just isn't right. And you ignore the fatigue and the shortness of breath and the discomfort. And then suddenly you're sitting in an emergency room wondering why you didn't pay attention sooner. Warning signs matter. And that's exactly where Daniel takes us today when we meet a king who ignored every warning sign until a supernatural hand, a supernatural hand, literally wrote a message on the wall. Anyone else hear Stevie Wonder in the background? Very superstitious. Riding on the wall. Right? Fun trivia fact. Thank you, Mike. If you ever want to know and you go to the bar trivia nights, that song was actually written, co-written with Stevie Wonder based on this story. So there you go. That's a freebie. Probably get a beer out of that one. So who is this new

Belshazzar’s Party And Sacred Mockery

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king? Well, the story flows from chapter four, where Nebuchadnezzar ends his 43-year reign. And finally, finally, after years of rejecting God, he gave praise and honor to the king of heaven before his death. And we then jump to this new chapter and we meet a new king, King Belshazzar, who is ruling Babylon alongside his father, Neboditus, who comes to the throne after Nebuchadnezzar's death, and several family members had preceded him. Now Nebonidus wasn't known for his leadership as much as his love for travel and a lavish life. So he spent long stretches away from Babylon, leaving his son Belshazzar to rule in his place as his co-regent. And that's where Daniel 5 opens today on page 722 with Belshazzar throwing this lavish party, and not just any party. It's a banquet for a thousand of Babylon's most powerful leaders and wives and concubines. Imagine the biggest fracked party ever. Meanwhile, the Medes and the Persians are outside the walls planning an attack, but inside the walls, the party continues. And that's where we start today with verse 2. And it reads, Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar commanded that they bring in the vessels of gold and silver that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Now a little side note, Daniel references Nebuchadnezzar as Belshazzar's father, but in technically he's his grandfather. Nebuchadnezzar's daughter married Nebuizar, but historians would tell us that often in the Hebrew language, father means ancestor or predecessor. But Belshaizers, Nebuchadnezzar's is actually Belshaizar's grandfather. Okay, so back to our reading. They bring these vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple and they drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and stone. Now you might be thinking on yourself, this what's the big deal? They're just having a little party and they're drinking out of these vessels. But the vessels were a big deal. They were from the temple of God, which made them sacred. That's like using grandma's china set, you know, from Germany to drink Kool-Aid on the beach somewhere. Or using your mom's don't touch towels, they're only for looks, to wipe your grubby, dirty hands on after you've been coming in from gardening. You just don't do those things, right? But Belsheiser did. And he wasn't simply just drinking wine out of these vessels. He's actually saying, look at how powerful I am. Look at what I can do. Nobody can stop me. This wasn't an accident, it was an intentional mockery of God. And then the creepy stuff starts to happen. Look at Daniel 5, 5. It says, Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall. A hand appears and starts writing on the wall. Talk about ruining a party, right? One minute everybody's having fun and they're laughing, and the next moment a floating hand appears. No arm, no hand, just a hand, no, no body, just a hand. Anyone else think of the thing from the Adams family? Thank you, Peter. And I love the king's reaction next. Look at verse six. It says, His face turned pale, his knees knocked together, and his limbs gave way. Yeah. A creepy hand just appeared, you guys. It's like asking, what is in this wine? What kind of party am I at? Of course he's going to be freaking out a little bit. And he should have been. And so what does he do? He calls on his enchanters and his astrologers and his fortune tellers, and he says, Whoever can read this writing and tell me its interpretation shall be clothed in purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and rank third in the kingdom. Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king the interpretation, which is interesting because last week Ben told us that the writing of that time was Aramaic, which was understood and read by everyone in that area, everybody in that nation, but these magicians couldn't read that writing. And then King Belshazzar became greatly terrified in his face once again, turned pale, and his lords were perplexed. And who is surprised by this? Not any of us. These guys couldn't help Nebuchadnezzar in chapters one through four. Why would they think they could help Belshizar? So what does the king do?

Daniel Refuses The Bribe

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Well, the queen reminds him that there is a guy out there that can help him out, and his name is Daniel. And so guess what? He calls on Daniel, the guy who had been helping out since he was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar, and now he's about 80 years old, sitting in retirement, hanging out with his buddies, playing bridge and dominoes. But Belshizer calls him out anyway, and he summons him, come and help me. And he says, I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now, if you were able to read the writing on the wall and tell me its interpretation, you shall be clothed in purple, have a chain of gold around your neck, and rank third in the kingdom. And I love Daniel's response. Look at verse 17. He says, basically, keep your gifts. Keep your gifts. They mean nothing to me. That's human wealth that has done nothing for me throughout my life. Keep them. And then he goes on to rebuke him by reminding him of the rise and the fall of Nebuchadnezzar, and that while Nebuchadnezzar was reigning, his power and success went to his head until God humbled him and made him like a beast, and he lost everything. And Daniel goes on to warn Belshizer that none of this information was new to him. He said, You knew this whole story. You knew about your grandpa. You knew the choices that he made and how pride hurt him and defeated him. And yet you choose to move on. And he says, You, Belshizer, his son, you have not humbled your heart. Though you knew all this, you have exalted yourself against the Lord. And he said, You took something from God and you mocked him. You mocked the very God that gave you breath and gave you life. And he then begins to interpret the writing on the wall that Janet read for us early. Which means God numbered your days, you have been weighed and found wanting, and your kingdom will be divided. The mysterious message written on the wall, Maina, Maina, Takel Parson, conveyed a clear truth for the king and his kingdom. And Belshizer's verdict was clear. He spent his life measuring himself by earthly standards and wealth and power, military strength and status, but God used a different scale and would wade against God's standards. Belsheiser came up short. And God was saying, You're mine now, Belshizer. You're mine. You're welcome for whoever gets that. That's Sophia Cunningham, if you have not followed much on social media. Thank you, Perry. She's got her friends back, so Google that. That's a good one. Good job, Sonia. The story ends with Daniel being clothed in royal robes and gold and Belshizer, well, he was killed that night, that very night. And the kingdom was then taken over by Darius the Mead, just as God said, and just as Daniel interpreted. The mighty empire that seemed indestructible collapsed. And once again, the ways of the world that looked powerful were not secure in God's kingdom.

Pride Hides As Self-Sufficiency

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So how does this story speak into our lives? Into our pride, into our arrogance, and into our kingdoms. And how might our days be numbered based on God's standards? That's a heavy ask, especially if you haven't had enough coffee yet this morning. Amen. But it's an ask that we should be challenged with daily when walking in our faith, especially if we struggle with pride and ego and arrogance, as those attributes tend to place themselves where only God belongs. C.S. Lewis wrote, Pride isn't simply thinking too highly of yourself. It's thinking so highly of yourself that there's little room left for God. That is why pride is so dangerous. Most sins begin with a temptation. Pride begins with an attitude that says, I don't need God. I'll do things my own way. It was pride that caused Lucifer to fall from heaven and lead Adam and Eve out of the garden. It was pride that hardened Pharaoh's heart and drove Nebuchadnezzar to be boastful. And it was pride that brought Beltchazar to destruction in our story today. One of the greatest dangers of pride is that it is easiest to see in everyone else, but has remarkable ability to hide in ourselves. But within ourselves, it disguises itself as self-sufficiency. And it whispers, I don't need help. It refuses corrections, it resists confession, it rejects accountability, it becomes offended when challenged. Humility, on the other hand, isn't thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of God more. It's recognizing that every blessing, every ability, every success, and every breath is ultimately a gift from him. The striking contrast in Daniel is between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshizer. Nebuchadnezzar was proud, but eventually he humbled himself and found mercy. Belshizer remained proud even after seeing his grandfather's story. He knew what pride had done before, yet he refused to change. That is what made his pride so tragic. He had every opportunity to repent, but he chose defiance instead, which to me is the saddest part of the story. Belshizer didn't sin because he lacked knowledge, he sinned because he ignored what he already knew. Look back at verse 22. It states, You have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all of this. Those last five words are haunting. Though you knew all of this. Belshizer knew his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar's story. He had a front row seat to it and had every opportunity to lean for learn from it, but instead of learning from his history, he ignored it. History is one of God's greatest teachers, isn't it? The Bible is full of stories that encourage us and warn us. Our families have stories. Nations have stories. Even our lives tell stories of what happens when we follow God and what happens when we don't. Think about your own family for a moment. What lessons have been passed down because someone chose a different path? And what painful patterns keep repeating because no one ever stopped to read the writing on the wall. Maybe it's abuse. Maybe it's addiction or anger, dishonesty, unforgiveness, or broken relationships. Somewhere along the way, someone ignored the warning signs or the writing on the wall. And the cycle continued. And pride then destroys, it destroys marriages and careers and friendships and churches. And yet somehow we think that will never happen to me. We see greed consume people and we watch addictions ruin lives, but we tell ourselves we're still in control. We see people slowly drift away from God through one small compromise after another. And yet we believe our story will end differently. And Belsheiser reminds us that knowledge alone doesn't change a person. You can know the truth, you can hear God's warnings, you can even believe that they are true. But if that knowledge never leads to humility and obedience, it becomes truth left unread, which became the death of Belshizer, physically and spiritually. The truth he knew became unread and ignored.

Read The Warning And Return Home

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So the question for us from this story is what is your writing on your wall? What lesson has God already been writing into your life that has left been left unread? Perhaps it's a promise that you broke? A wound that keeps reopening because you've never surrendered it? A warning you've brushed aside, a quiet whisper from God you've been too busy to hear. Central the walls of our lives to tell stories. They bear the marks of our victories and our failures, our faithfulness and our wandering. And in his mercy, God continues to write, not to shame us, but to call us home. The handwriting on Belshizer's wall announced judgment, but on another day, God wrote a different message on another hill, not with fingers on plaster, but with nails through the hands of his son. And on that cross, our guilt was counted, our sin was weighed, and our debt was paid in full. So if you see writing on your wall today, don't turn away. Don't turn away. Read it. And repent and receive the grace that Christ has already won for you. Because the final word God desires to write over your life is not condemned, it is forgiven. It is not finished, it is redeemed, and it is not hopeless. It is loved. And that word, written in the blood of Christ and sealed by his empty tomb through his promises, will never fade. Amen.