Daniel 1-5: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

Presented to The Warehouse Mission and Corps 614 Regent Park of The Salvation Army, 26 February 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay

  

I have a challenge for us today: I will say a famous quote and you will tell me whether it is from the Bible or somewhere else. Bonus marks if you can tell me where else it is from or the scripture reference as the case may be. Bible or Not Bible?

·        An eye for an eye (Matthew 5:38)

·        3 strikes you’re out (baseball)

·        Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25)

·        Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29)

·        The shoe/boot is on the other foot (19^th Century)

·        Beware of the Ides of March (Julius Caesar by Shakespeare)

·        May the Force be with you (Star Wars)

·        The writing is on the wall (Daniel 5)

Today we are chatting about, ‘the writing on the wall’? We know from where in the Bible that quote comes; do we know to what it is referring? It comes from the book of Daniel (Chapter 5). Immediately prior to the destruction of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, a mysterious hand writes these words on the wall that they can read but the phrase, as such, is one no one can understand. The words themselves may have been common enough but no one knew what they meant written as they were.[1] The words spoke to the fact that their empire about to end. In very short order the Persians would attack and conquer Babylon. The expression, ‘the writing on the wall’ thus refers to the warning signs of a calamity that will strike (or any impending event).

Daniel is a very interesting book. Chapters 1-4 of the Book of Daniel deal with King Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans; what do we know about King Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans?[2]

• Their Royal City was Babylon
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the 7 wonders of the world; Nebuchadnezzar had them built for his wife who was homesick
• Nebuchadnezzar and the Chadleans (or Neo-Babylonians) were instruments for the destruction of Solomon’s Temple (This was the first temple; later there would be 2 more temples in Jerusalem – Zerubbabel’s and Herod's – and one more in Israel/Samaria that was ironically destroyed by Jewish nationalists.)[3]
• Nebuchadnezzar was a military conqueror who was involved in the final conquest of Judah
• They deported the Jews (were used to initiate the exile)
• Nebuchadnezzar is important in Biblical history, he is mentioned by Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel here in the Bible

You’d think with all of this he would be considered a ‘bad guy’ in the Bible but that is not the focus of the story of Nebuchadnezzar here. Quite the contrary. Chapters 1-4 of Daniel read like a story of true concern or even a love story for Nebuchadnezzar, embedded in HB which itself can be read as a love story between God and Israel. The Bible as a whole can be read as a love story between God and humanity and/or even a love story between God and all of creation. Chapters 1-4 even show how much God loves the Chaldeans, the Neo-Babylonians, who destroyed the Temple, razed Jerusalem, conquered Judah, and deported the Jews. The Bible’s whole love story between God and humanity – even the Chaldeans – could probably even be subtitled  with this warning of ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin'. ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin' was what was written on the wall. It was the warning that God gave to Babylon on the eve of her destruction. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

About God's warnings even earlier in the Bible: Thousands of years prior to Nebuchadnezzar, according to the book of Genesis, do you remember Abram and the territorial blessing God gave him? God promised Abram that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land because, ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', the writing was on the wall for the Amorites who at that time lived in the land. God was going to remove them. God, however, would leave the Amorites there presumably until their last possible opportunity had passed (Genesis 15:15).[4] But even so, ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', even then, the writing was on the wall.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: Do you remember the Exodus? Do you remember the reason God said he sent the plagues? The Bible says, He said he did it, among other reasons, for Pharaoh’s benefit. He did it so that Pharaoh might know that the LORD is God (Exodus 8:10; cf.14:4,18). Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: The plagues served as the writing on the wall for Pharaoh: Israel was about to leave Egypt for that Promised Land from which He was about to remove from the Amorites.

The LORD used the Minor and the Major Prophets - and even the Pentateuch (cf. Leviticus 25:23) - to provide the warnings, ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', the writing on the wall for Israel that she, herself, in turn was going to be displaced from the Promised Land just as the Amorites before them unless they heeded the warning.[5]  They did not (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21).[6] The LORD then used Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, who are mentioned in our text today, to remove them from the land.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: are there times when the writing has been on the wall in our own world and possibly we didn’t see something that we really should have seen coming.

The Trump presidency might be one example on an international scale. Many  were surprised by that camp’s election but the writing was on the wall. There are a lot of disgruntled, marginalized Americans who were looking to speak out loud enough for the world to hear them. One party had been in the White House for eight years and there were many people fed up with the establishment - they've had the same group of people, from only two extremely similar parties ruling that country since their civil war. Fear, racism and prejudice have always run deep in the United States. We remember the Communist witch-hunts; lynchings; and that their congress, senate committees and Supreme Court upheld for a long time the fact that when Jefferson said all men were created equal, he didn’t mean people of colour.[7] The media, intentionally or not, flamed that always present prejudice significantly in their recent electoral cycle. We may have been surprised by Trump’s election -or the attention it is getting or the way it came about- but, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, whether you like it or not, the writing was on the wall.

The same with Br-Exit. The world was surprised when the UK voted to leave the EU but there was the same writing upon the wall there.

Or going back a few years now: the second Iraq War. This was not a surprise to anyone I think. As soon as George W Bush was elected, the writing on the wall, I think was there for all of us to read that he was going to complete the US re-conquest of Iraq.

In our own lives people - friends, relatives, or even ourselves have run into health problems when we refused to follow the doctor’s advice. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: When the doctors, like Daniel, read the writing on the wall during our check-ups, we shouldn’t be surprised if our health fails if we don't listen to them. I have seen this particularly with friends with diabetes or heart conditions. I have seen heart attacks and amputations follow because friends simply don't follow the doctor's advice. Even though it is plain to see they just don’t heed it: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

And tragically, sometimes we miss the writing on the wall when our friends, loved ones, or we ourselves fall back into addiction. ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin’, the warnings are often there but for whatever reason we miss them, ignore them, or don't know what to do with them.

The same can be said for the tragedy of many broken marriages and other relationships in our communities today.

The same can be said for students who earn a failing grade. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: the writing is usually written on the wall well before the ’F’ written on the report card.

The same can be said before the police show up at a domestic dispute or before your bosses’ boss shows up to take your keys.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: Many times God himself writes the warnings into our lives but – as plain as they may be to see – like the Chaldeans of Daniel 5, we don’t understand it.

There is much more to these words we have been repeating - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin - though than just this. Their meaning can be narrowed even further than we have been using it. They can mean more than just 'the writing on the wall': these actual words can be used as more of 'fait accompli'. Here is a more precise textual interpretation, what these words themselves actually mean:

• Mene, means 'numbered', 'counted out', or 'measured' but can also be interpreted as a unit of money
• Tekel, similar to 'sheckle', literally means 'weighed' but can also be interpreted as a unit of money
• Peres, means 'to divide' and the plural here written, ' Pharsin' can refer to a division of money.

Just as we are coming up on tax time and Dean and Iris are making sure that everyone has their year-end tax receipts, these are financial words plastered on the wall in the text here: Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided. This image would be like a major corporation in today's world being audited and the government who, upon looking at their books, finds that the balance sheet doesn't match up and something really isn't right, and so orders the company to be broken up and its parts sold.

Daniel 5:26-28 “Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peras: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

This is more than just a simple warning; this is a reminder of all that has occurred in the first four chapters of Daniel and all that the Lord has done to provide for the salvation of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. Chapter 1, after using the king to conquer Judah, God sends top advisors to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, who then are set apart as holy. Chapter 2, God through Daniel reveals and then interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream that He had given him. Chapter 3, God shows Nebuchadnezzar through Shadrack, Meshack, Abendego, and the fiery furnace that indeed God is the only person or thing worthy of worship in the whole world and then in Chapter 4, as Nebuchadnezzar becomes so full of himself to believe that what has been accomplished through him was actually accomplished by him, the Lord still extends him the grace, the mercy, and the opportunity to be humble, submit to the Lord and experience forgiveness and salvation. Even if his heirs here decline it, just like the heirs of Israel and Judah, after so much grace and forgiveness were removed from the Promised Land; it certainly does appear that the king may have experienced both that salvation and even eternal salvation.

There is hope here and it is a good hope and it is not a new hope. There is hope for us. The writings in the Bible and in our lives are an encouragement from the Lord to turn and return to Him. God loves you even as much as he loves Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, the Chaldeans, the Israelites, and the Judeans. If we are living outside of his salvation in some way it is not 'fait accompli'. Just like he gave the the others opportunity and opportunity and opportunity to avail themselves of salvation and plenty of warnings before ‘the die was cast’ that salvation was available, so too with us today. If there is any way that we have been weighed and found wanting, I invite us to bring that to the Lord; it is not too late. If we are here today, it is not too late to read the writing God has written on the wall of our lives, to read it, heed it, and live out that glorious salvation here, now, and forever. All we need to do is open our eyes, see the the Lord is doing and accept His Salvation.

Let us pray.

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[1] cf. G. Coleman Luck, Daniel, Everyman's Bible Commentary. (Chicago, Ill: Moody Press, 1958),70., Gleason L. Archer, Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Daniel/Exposition of Daniel/V. Belshazzar's Feast (5:1-31)/D. Daniel's Interpretation (5:17-28), Book Version: 4.0.2

[2] Cf. Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1935), 218-225.

[3] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),563. Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, John 4:1-26,39-42: Good News for Samaria and the World!, (Swift Current, SK: Sheepspeak.com, 19 April 2015), on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/04/john-41-2639-42-samaritan.html

[4] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, ''When God is Bound", Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 52, December 2007 – January 2008, p.5-10. On-line:

http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_052.pdf

[5] Captain Michael Ramsay, "A Holy Environment", Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 72 , April – May 2011, p.38-39. On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article8-72.html

[6] Cf. NT Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the meaning of Jesus' Crucifixion,  (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2016),118-119 about the restoration of the Kingdom.

[7] Cf. Jefferson Davies, The Rise of the Confederate Government, (New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, 2010), Part I