Daniel 5: 1 – 12
King Belshazzar made a great festival for a thousand of his lords, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.
Under the influence of the 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. So they brought in the vessels of gold and silver that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall of the royal palace, next to the lampstand. The king was watching the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s face turned pale, and his thoughts terrified him. His limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners; and the king said to the wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever can read this writing and tell me its interpretation shall be clothed in purple, 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. Then King Belshazzar became greatly terrified and his face turned pale, and his lords were perplexed.
The queen, when she heard the discussion of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting-hall. The queen said, ‘O king, live for ever! Do not let your thoughts terrify you or your face grow pale. There is a man in your kingdom who is endowed with a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father he was found to have enlightenment, understanding, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.’
Reflection
Graffiti has been happening for centuries. Its modern urban form seems to have taken shape in 1970s Philadelphia and New York where it began developing as a distinct subculture, moving on from buildings and bridges to include also the defacing of subway trains.
Defacing: there’s a loaded term! Because the nature of graffiti is contested: Is it always mere vandalism, or might it become a form of art? Transport authorities, councils and business-owners may respond more or less swiftly to clean-up the unwanted paintwork (and I’m mindful it can be a recurring headache for some of our churches too). Yet I confess, without condoning illegality, that I’ve sometimes marvelled at instances of graffiti that I’ve seen left in place. Not least at “halls of fame”, curated areas where a city’s street-artists (another value-laden term!) are allowed and encouraged to make their mark legally.
And at its most potent, street art can transcend the arguably mundane act of “tagging” (marking the wall with a stylised “signature”), and reach towards a kind of social commentary. It can confront us over our complacent self-acclimatisation to the status quo, and call us to reassess the ways we’ve been living.
Which brings us to the tale of Belshazzar’s feast. Like a spray-painted tag glimpsed on a moving train, the inscribed message is declared difficult to read, let alone understand. We’ll need to wait until tomorrow’s Devotion for Daniel to decipher the writing on the wall. But whilst it would be stretching things to identify it as the handiwork of some Biblical Banksy, there is already in today’s passage a sense of foreboding that the message will not be comfortable for the king and his court.
As for us, perhaps the challenge is to consider: Will we be receptive only to those pronouncements which reach us in a familiar, acceptable format? Or dare we open our eyes and ears to perceive, and even to learn the vocabulary of, messages whose very form is beyond our comfort-zone?
Prayer
Holy and life-giving God,
guide me in the way of justice;
guard me from my own vanity
and from the emptiness of idols.
Keep me alert, I pray,
and receptive to your direction this day.
And if I should fail to read, or to heed,
your word of truth,
then may wiser minds than mine be found,
to interpret and declare
the writing on the wall.
Amen.
