Daniel 5

In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. v.5

Read chapter 5
Seems like some horror movie.  Belshezzar and his friends are drinking in the palace with holy vessels of gold and silver they took out of the treasury that were plundered from Jerusalem and then all of the sudden a disembodied hand appears and writes a message on the wall.  The passage doesn't say anything about if the writing was with ink or paint but for some reason I always picture it was written with blood (must be from a movie to add to the scary scene).  This chapter happens about 24 years after the last chapter, it's evident that King Nebuchadnezzar has died and his son (or possibly grandson as some commentaries note) is this king Belshezzar.  He appears to know all about his father's turning to the Holy God of Israel when Daniel calls him out, but didn't care or follow in his footsteps though his guilty conscious knows this message written must be bad news.  Matthew Henry notes, "God's written word is enough to put the proudest, boldest sinner in a fright."  God gave a message to a nonbeliever that would then call on Daniel, a believer and follower of the True God, to interpret the message.  So today, God is in the midst of unbelievers seeing or experiencing things they can't explain, yet how wonderful it is when a believer can point those signs to God for them.  It's up to them to choose to believe or not.  How mindful are you of God's character and works?  How have you compromised?