A Frightening Day

Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. Daniel 5:5-6

Happy Halloween at a balmy 5° above zero. Our morning cold is the scariest thing so far on this day of frights. A king of old had a fright such as few of us will experience in our short lives on this earth. 

King Belshazzar of Babylon had a privileged childhood being the heir of none other than Nebuchadnezzar, one of the greatest kings to have lived on the earth. Indeed, Daniel brings up this very point when explaining the terrifying vision of a human hand writing on the wall of the king's banquet hall. Part of the king's fright stems from extreme guilt. He knew quite well that the Lord's temple treasures were for His worship services in Jerusalem and not for anyone's amusement. Along with that guilt came what C.S. Lewis named the fear of the uncanny. Something happening which cannot be explained by our science, reason, or experience. Yet, there it was, a disembodied human hand writing on the wall.

 

Halloween brings this tale in the book of Daniel to mind as it has such a graphic description of human fear. Pale face, knocking knees, and legs without the strength to run or fight, as the king of a powerful empire is brought low by the Lord. The king and his nobles may up to that night have taken the Lord God of Israel as simply one among many gods, but He had their attention now. And, as the Lord's other messenger arrived, Daniel translated a message of doom from the hand of the Lord for a king gone bad. 

Thank You, dear Lord, that it does not require such a frightening thing to bring us to You in prayer and repentance! 

Bucky