Fingers of a Man’s Hand - Daniel 5:5

In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone”, and in chapter five and verse five of his book Daniel said, “in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand” where we read,

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

The verse reads, “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace:” Daniel began with the words, “in the same hour” or “within the selfsame moment or hour of time” “came forth fingers” which means “arose, emerged and appeared fingers as from a body” “of a man’s hand” or “belonging to a male human being’s physical hand”, “and wrote over against the candlestick” which means “and inscribed and engraved in front of the lamp stand” “upon the plaister” or “on the chalk” “of the wall” which means “belonging to the wall of the room” “of the king’s palace” or “belonging to the royal ruler and leader’s mansion”. Daniel shared how “fingers” belonging to a “man’s hand” appeared within the hour of time that “Belshazzar” was worshiping material gods and began to inscribe upon the chalk of the wall in front of the lamp stand. 

The verse goes on to say, “and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” Daniel continued with the words, “and the king saw” which means “and the royal ruler and leader, Belshazzar, perceived, discerned, noticed, distinguished and observed” “the part of the hand that wrote” or “the palm of the hand as being spread out that inscribed and engraved”. Daniel shared how “King Belshazzar” observed the palm of the “hand” that was inscribing upon the wall of his palace.

When we think through Daniel’s words in this verse, we discover how God interrupted King Belshazzar’s worship festival as He sent a “hand” to “write upon the wall” which Belshazzar observed. This is where some say this was the derivation of the saying, “the handwriting is on the wall”. This handwriting was a message from God Himself, and anytime a person defies God and His sacred instruments, they should be aware that they will give an account in this life or the next. (See Matthew 12:36) God knows we all have sin in our lives, and those sins lead to death. (See Romans 3:23; 6;23) For this reason God sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to be crucified on the cross for the sins of all mankind and to be resurrected from the dead after three days. When we yield our lives to Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit in us so we know not only does He forgive our sins, but also cleanses us from our sins so we never need a “hand writing on the wall” to convince us to change. (See 1 John 1:9)

Next time Daniel shares how, “the king’s countenance was changed”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".