In Daniel Chapter 5, Daniel interprets the “handwriting on the wall"

Decades before the famous “Hand Writing on the Wall” Nebuchadnezzar had taken gold and silver goblets from the temple in Jerusalem to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was finally convinced of the power of the True God and turned out to be a far greater king than his grandson Belshazzar. One night as Belshazzar and his entourage were drinking he called for the temple goblets. Perhaps seeing Belshazzar slopping down wine from the sacred vessels and praising false gods was just too much for our Righteous God. Belshazzar had crossed a line in the sand and was pass God’s forgiveness.

Daniel 5:5, “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. Daniel 5: 25, “This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.” None of the king’s seers could interpret the writing so the queen mother suggested calling Daniel. Daniel 5:26, “This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Meanwhile the army of the Medes and Persians had diverted the water that protected Babylon and were at the door so to speak. Daniel 5:30”That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” Just as God had used the Babylon’s to bring His judgment on Israel God used the Medes and Persians to defeat Babylon.

To me the significance of the interpretation of “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN” is that as forgiving as God is there is a point of no return. God had weighed Belshazzar’s sins and they were just too great. The kingdom was finished, divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

There is so much to learn from the Book of Daniel. During the reign of Darius Daniel was falsely accused and survived a night in the lions’ den. As a result King Darius wrote “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. “

Daniel 6:28, "So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

As an aside, that Cyrus has a connection to Esther of the Book of Esther.