22-1028A_THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
Dan 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Dan 5:2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Dan 5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
Dan 5:4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
Dan 5:5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Dan 5:6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
Dan 5:7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Dan 5:8 Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
Dan 5:9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
Dan 5:10 Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
Dan 5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
Dan 5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
Dan 5:13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
Dan 5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
Dan 5:15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:
Dan 5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Dan 5:17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
Dan 5:18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
Dan 5:19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
Dan 5:20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
Dan 5:21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
Dan 5:22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
Dan 5:23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
Dan 5:24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
Dan 5:25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
Dan 5:26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Dan 5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Dan 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Dan 5:29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Dan 5:30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
Dan 5:31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
BABYLON
We
are confronting something. There is not a bit of doubt in any heart here,
but what there is something that’s fixing to take place. And being
Christians and the timepiece, that the world has not got the answer to this
day…Science hasn’t got the answer to this day. And the most pitiful thing,
and part of it, the church hasn’t got it, when we ought to be the place
where people can come and find these things. But we have drifted away.
8 Now,
in every age at the junction of each age, there’s always been warnings before
judgment. And if people spurns warnings, there’s nothing left but
judgment. There’s only two things: mercy and judgment. And when you spurn
mercy, judgment has to come automatically.
9 And anyone could
look upon the streets, and read the newspapers, and listen to the—the
radio. And we all are aware that something is wrong. And being that
it is wrong, God’s Bible never leaves us without an answer to these
things. And to see the condition our nation has got into, we know that
there cannot be anything left but judgment to us. And I say this statement
without any apology. If God lets the United States of America, our lovely
country and home, get by without judgment, He will be duty bound to
resurrect Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize for burning them up. That’s
right. For we’re guilty of the same sins.
10 God loves sinners but hates
his sin. And so you see, God has to act the same every time. He cannot act
one way at a certain time, and that same kind of a crisis rise, His action
on the first has to be on the second the same way, or He acted wrong when He
acted in the first place.
We are mortals, and we’re—we’re finite mind. And He’s
infinite. Therefore, we get smarter and more educated as the days go on, and
the generation rise and falls. But God was perfect to begin with. He does
not get any smarter, because He was infinite. And then if the infinite God
was called on the scene to act, and the way He acted the first time, it
will have to be His decision every time when the same crisis arise.
11 Therefore, if a man was a
sinner, and God was called on the scene by the sinner to save him, and God
had mercy and saved that sinner, the next sinner comes, He’s got to save
him, or He did wrong when He saved the first sinner.
And
when a sick man came to God for mercy, and God granted that sick man healing of
his body, when the second sick man comes, He’s got to grant the same or He
acted wrong when He granted the first man healing.
So if sin was to be judged by God, and He pronounced judgment because of sin, when that sin arises again, He’s got to judge it again, or He did wrong by judging it in the first place. So when Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sins was judged thus, then if America is committing the same sins, God’s got to give this nation the same judgment, or He did wrong when He judged Sodom.
58-0618 - Handwriting On The Wall Rev. William Marrion Branham
15 Now, our subject starts
tonight with one of these junctions. And that was…Our scene opens up in
Babylon. And Babylon appears in the first of the Bible; it appears in the
middle of the Bible; and it appears in the last of the Bible. Now, there
is nothing on earth now but what always has been. It come out of Genesis,
every ism. If you’ll go back and study close, you’ll find that every ism
on the earth today, begin in Genesis. Because it means “the beginning, the
seed.” And all the sin that you see on the earth today began in Genesis.
And I want to ask you something, “What is sin?” Sin is righteousness
perverted. Did you ever think of that? You married men that has wives, and
you live with your wife; she is your wife. And she’s just as pure and holy
as she was before you married her in the sight of God, if you’re legally married. But
the same act with another woman, would be perverting righteousness unto
unrighteousness, which would condemn your soul to hell for doing it, yet
the same act. All unrighteousness is righteousness perverted. Sickness is
health perverted. Death is life perverted. Everything that is, was.
16 And now, Babylon appearing
in the first of the Bible, in the middle of the Bible, and in the last of the
Bible, it behooves us to kind of study about Babylon. The first, it
was built by Nimrod, which was the son of Ham. And it was a great
city. And all the round and about cities paid tribute to this great
city. And it was like a great organization that all the rest of the
churches paid tribute to this one great leadership, headship. And it was founded in the—the valley of Shinar,
which was one of the valleys, one of the greatest richest places in the
known world of that day, and the river
Euphrates…Tigris, passed above it, and the Euphrates went right through the
valley. And this information could be gotten from Hislop’s “Two
Babylons” and many of the ancient writers.
17 And as we notice, it was
built for the purpose of being predominant, ruler over. And God never did
intend any city or any man to rule one over the other. We are all the same
creatures of God, made in His image and in His likeness.
And
this great city was built…Let’s take a look at it. It
was a hundred and twenty miles around this city. And the walls of this
city was eighty feet across the wall. You could run a chariot race
around that wall just as hard as a horse could gallop. And every street in
the city was some two hundred feet across. Now, in those days the cities had
very small streets. I’ve been most of the world, and some of those old
cities, like in Norway and so forth, they—the cities are so small, that, well,
they can’t even get an automobile through the street because it was a little
carriage went through the street.
18 But in those cities, streets
of Babylon, they was wide across as this auditorium, practically. And many
chariots could come down. And if we notice, as the chariots came and every
city, every gate opened up, and they led straight to the palace, which set
in the center of the city.
I
was reminded of it not long ago, when I was in Rome. Every road leads to
Rome. Every street, looks like, it leads to the Vatican. Instead of having
a milepost, they had the virgin holding the Christ child pointing towards the
city.
But all the city, the streets led right straight up to the
palace. And before the palace there was great steps that run down, and
the river Euphrates came through the city right in front of the palace.
19 And
in this great city there were great walls and great gates that were made
of solid brass, some hundred feet high. And I want you to notice, swinging
gardens all along those walls, and the city in the—the city in the center
of it had the palace and the river Euphrates running by it, just the
pattern of heaven. What was it? It’s a perverted
heaven that was designed by the devil. And was called first the Gates of Paradise, and later was
called Confusion, which means “backslidden.”
See,
it’s the devil that’s trying to unite all of the world under one great
ecclesiastical head. They’ve always tried it. And they’re making a very
good show out of it today.
20 And
in this city they had the greatest army; they had the best material that
could be gotten from all the world was brought to them; and the whole
world paid tribute to this city. And
when in such a place as that, all behind the walls, how secure they felt. The best scientists, the best brain that they had, the best
chariots, the best horses, the best-dressed soldiers, more to eat, the
best-clothed people, and were safe behind such walls.
Ain’t
that the very beautiful picture of this country, with the best that could be
gotten, and the best scientist that could be gotten, the best dressed army
that there is.
But
then when they got behind these walls, they thought they could live just any
way they pleased to do, and would be all right because they were safe.
21 And
that’s been the attitude of our people in this country, that because we
have the best and the greatest and the most powerful army, and the best guns
and the best machinery, and the best food, and the best everything, we
felt like we were safe. But remember, the God of heaven cannot be closed
out by any kind of a wall, whether it be a natural wall or a
ecclesiastical wall. God looks down from the heaven, and there is nothing that He doesn’t know about. Or
didn’t know from the beginning that it would be that way. He’s the infinite
God.
And when people think they are secure, then sin sets in. If there would be by chance, those here tonight who are Swiss, I would not want to hurt your feelings, but I was just recently come from Switzerland. And oh, you talk about an independent bunch; they are. They haven’t had a war for hundreds of years. They haven’t got nothing to fight for. So they are just real indifferent (if you’ll excuse the street expression), kind of puffy like.
58-0618 - Handwriting On The Wall Rev. William Marrion Branham
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
27 And may the Lord add His
blessings to the reading of His Word. All the old things, of the Old
Testament, was only a shadow of the new things to come. Those things happened back there, to give
us the—the foreknowledge of what we might expect in this day, if we serve
the Lord, and what we might expect if we do not serve the Lord. And if we
serve Him half-heartedly, or whole-heartedly.
28 In Hebrews, it said, “Seeing
that we are compassed about with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every sin, every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset
us, that we might run with patience the race that is set before us.”
29 Now, all those old things,
Daniel…I’ve chose the Book of Daniel; like it very much. Haven’t taught on
It for quite a little while. But, because, it was a pre-shadow of the
great day that we’re living in. And, in Daniel’s day was the issuing in of
the Gentile age. God had dealt with the Jews till this time, and now He is
turning to the Gentile. And in this great prophecy, and visions and dreams
of Daniel, and of Nebuchadnezzar and Belteshazzar, and many of the
characters that’s in the Book of Daniel, was all set in order; that we might
see today. And how that, in the vision of Daniel, of seeing the
interpretation of the image of the beast, and everything of the Gentile
age, just how one kingdom would succeed another, until it come down to the
very end days that where we’re living now.
32 How
little…How man in days past, and in even in this day, how they misjudged
things by not taking it from the Word of God. What a vital mistake England
made then. What a vital mistake they give, by giving back India her
rights. But they don’t realize those things, because they do not read the
Bible. And if that be true amongst nations, how much more is it amongst
mankind, tonight, who do not value their life, day by day, to read the
Bible and see what God has laid in His Word for every man; and your
attitude towards God and towards His Word.
33 During this time
of the carrying away into Babylon, was a very marking time. First, they
were carried down into Egypt. Second, they were carried into Babylon, and the
Gentiles was issued in. And then, the third, they were carried, or
scattered by the Roman Empire.
34 And 1947, on May the 7th,
they were once more recognized among the nations of the world, for the
first time for twenty-five hundred years, the Jews was. The beginning of
the end. The fig tree putting
forth its buds. The old six-point star of David, the oldest flag
that’s ever flown on the earth, rose to the flagpole again, for the first
time for twenty-five hundred years, marking a definite promise that God
said to the Hebrew prophets would take place. “He would raise up an ensign.”
35 And when we see that waving
over Jerusalem, tonight, seeing God hardening the hearts of men like
Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and all those to persecute the Jews, and run
them back to the homeland, we know the time is at hand. Oh, what a day and
what an opportunity, that even the weakest of Christian has today, to
testify for the glory of the Lord Jesus. What an opportunity to do
something that the prophets desired to do. And it’s laid into the hands of
the feeblest Christian. The little housewife, it’s in her hands today, to
testify to the Lord Jesus and His resurrection.
36 And the Jews had gotten away
from God, got cold, backslid. And God permitted a strange nation to come
in, which had been prophesied by the prophets, and would scatter them and
carry them away, because they had got away from God.
37 And now, if God so loved the Jews and were His first chosen,
as a people. He called the Jews out. And, yet, when they sowed, they had
to reap what they sowed. And we’re not expelled, or we’re not immune from
God’s judgments, when we disobey His commands. That’s right. That goes for
nations, or individuals, or churches, or whatever it is. When we disobey
God, we will receive judgment for it. God is just, and can do nothing
else. But, “Every man shall receive a just recompense of reward for his
deeds that’s done.”
38 And, now, how that
in that great time of sliding away, and the falling away of the Jews, and
God permitted a heathen nation to come over and carry away the chosen, down
into captivity, because they had not served the Lord with a full
heart. Very beautiful picture of the day we’re living. Yet, we have
been a chosen and a selected people, a blessed people, above any of the rest of
the world. But when we forget God’s commandments, and cause the great
drinking and rioting, and divorce and adultery, and things that we are putting
up and making it absolutely legal in this nation, God has got nations that
can come and take it any time He wants to.
40 Notice,
in there, God had a servant down there by the name of Daniel, a young prophet
about forty years old, who was serving the Lord with all of his heart, and
God had a work for him to do. And in the carrying away of Babylon…
41 Remember, if God has a work for you to do, all the demons out
of torment can’t take you. They just can’t startle you in any
way. God has got a purpose for the Holy Ghost Church, and all the devils
of hell will never be able to take it away. God has got a purpose for It.
And It’ll never be destroyed, until God lets It fulfill the purpose that
He has ordained It to do. And It will.
42 And remember, as Daniel went
with the Hebrew children down in there, I want you to notice, many of them
already worldly-minded, many of them didn’t care, while they just go with the
tide of least resistance.
43 And isn’t that just about
the picture of our country today? And this may be shocking, but it’s about
the picture of the church today, let alone the nation; just float with the tide of least
resistance. Ever way the wind blows, just set your sail, go right on.
44 O
God, give us men like Daniel. Give us Christians like Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego, who are willing to sacrifice or forfeit every right that
they have, to become a servant of the Lord.
45 Notice. Daniel, when he went down into Babylon, he knowed he
was going among unbelievers, the uncircumcised. And when he went down
there, he knowed he would be entangled with them; not because that he
wanted to be, but because the nation had fell and he had to go into captivity
with them. But God was with him as an alien. I love that. No, though we be
an alien, God still will be with you.
46 A little story, I don’t
know…I’ve told it so many times. I might have told it at the tabernacle,
but it comes right into my heart at this time. Here some time ago, down
into the southlands, they used to buy slaves. And they would buy them and
have the brokers to go buy, just like they do a used car lot
today; selling people, the colored race, for slaves. And when they
did, people would go by the old plantations, and they’d see a bunch of
slaves; if they looked like good workers, he would offer a certain
price, buy these slaves and take them and sell them for good workers
somewhere else, and make a profit on the exchange.
47 Now, one day a broker came
by, and he saw a bunch of slaves working on a certain plantation, a
hundred or more slaves, and they were sad because they were away from
home. Many times they would whip them because they wouldn’t
work. They thought they’d never go home again; babies they would never
see; papa and mama they would never see; their relation they would never
see. And they were very downcast, as it’s so easily to become, especially
when you are oppressed.
48 That’s
what the devil likes to work on you, and oppress you. You know, that’s a
trick of the devil, to oppress. But when the Christian knows his legal
rights! Amen! When you can quote God’s Word, “I’ll never leave thee, nor
forsake thee,” that takes all the oppression away. And the clouds begin to
clear back. But if you just know that God has promised, and God is
faithful! He can keep His promise, or He would never promised it.
49 And then this broker come by
and he noticed one of those slaves. Oh, my, he wasn’t like the rest of
them. You didn’t have to whip him. He was right up, with his chest stuck
out, and his chin up. And he was just willing to work or do anything, just
real snappy, brilliant fellow. And the broker said, “I’d like to buy that
one.”
He said, “Why, what is it?” He said, “Is he a boss over the rest of them?”
Said, “No. He is just a slave.”
“Why,” said, “maybe you feed him a little better than you do the rest of them?”
Said, “No, he eats out there in the galley with all the rest of them.”
“Well,” said, “what makes him so much up-and-at-it?”
50 Said, “I’ve always wondered
myself, till I found out something.” Said, “You know what I found
out? That his father is the king of the tribe. And though he’s an alien,
yet he knows he’s a son of the king.” Amen.
51 Brother, though we be alienated in this world, where sin and
chaos is, yet, stick out your chest and throw up your eyes, you’re sons
and daughters of a King. What kind of a person ought…
He did that to keep up the morale of
the rest of them.
52 And that’s what we got to
do, who is born again of the Holy Spirit, keep up a good courage. What
kind of a people we should—we should be, knowing that our Heavenly Father is
the King.
53 Only one thing, the slave never knew he would ever go back
home again. But, there’s one blessed thing, we know we’re going Home
someday. Amen. Jesus said, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself.
That where I am there you may be also. And don’t let your hearts be troubled. Don’t think about anything else, but keep your
mind on these things.” That would make a mockingbird sing at the middle of the night. When, he
can know!
54 I’ve often wondered. I see Brother Wright sitting over here. I
used to preach down at the Baptist
church. I’d see that old mockingbird sit out there at nighttime and sing
in that cedar bush. And I wondered what made him sing. And I got to
reading up, on the birds. And I find out that what he does, I notice on a
cloudy night, he would just sing now and then; he was watching for the
stars. And every time he sees the stars shining, he knows the sun is
shining somewhere, so he starts singing.
55 And
I think that’s the way it is with Christians. As long as we can feel and
know that the Presence of God is with us, a little glory falling down once
in a while, a good old-fashion revival, or an old hallelujah song that
makes us sing with all of our hearts, for we know the Holy Spirit is still
falling somewhere. God is still getting glory. What a wonderful thing!
56 Daniel, an alien, away from
home, way down, but watch what he did. “He purposed in his heart, that he
wouldn’t defile himself with the king’s doings down there.” Oh, the king’s
fancy foods, and all of his dainties that he was to eat upon, and his wines,
liquors, but he purposed in his heart, while he was an alien, he would
keep hisself for God. Amen.
57 There you are. Though the world forsake you, yet
everybody laughs at you and calls you every fanatical name that can be
called, purpose in your heart to do that which is right. Purpose in
your heart that you’ll have nothing to do with the world.
58 We’re living in the shadows
of the Coming of the Lord. What can you promise yourself, anyone? What can
any nation promise? There’s not a promise left. Nothing is left. There is chaos
in everything. There is nothing this way, you can see.
But look up That way, every promise in the Word is
true. Some glorious day, Jesus shall come, and all these things will be
taken away, and Christ will reign.
59 Isn’t it a wonderful hope to
know that these old frail, fragile bodies, that we’re living in, and these
little brittle threads of life that we’re walking on, someday will give
way? And every mortal wheel that’s turning, will stop, and we’ll take
a trip over to Zion’s hill, to live in the Presence of God forever. Like a
new man and a new woman, young and in the splendor of youth, to be that way
forever.
The
old will be young There, forever,
Transformed
in a moment of time;
Immortal,
shall shine in His likeness,
The
stars and the sun to outshine.
60 What a glorious assurance we
have of this, because God’s Eternal Word, Who has been true in all ages,
has promised it to the believer. What have we got to worry about? Not a
thing. But, just be happy about it.
61 Now, Daniel said, “I’m going to purpose in my heart, no matter
how much pressure they put on me, how much they laugh and say I’m a
holy-roller, that won’t bother me a bit. That won’t faze me one bit. I’m
going to stay true to God, no matter what comes to pass.” That’s the
way. Then you’re going to get somewhere when you start with that attitude.
62 Remember, it’s the motives that you have towards anything, that determines what you’re going to get out of it. It’s your motives. If your motives is right, you’ll be all right. But always make your motives right. Serve the Lord for one purpose, because you love Him; not because you’re afraid of hell, not because you’re afraid of dying; but because you love Him, Who loved you when you were unlovable. That’s it.
56-0902 - The Handwriting On The Wall Rev. William Marrion Branham
63 What a marvelous quotation
of the poet! And that’s right. Take all of everything else, but give me
love. If I had every gift in the Bible, and could exchange it for love,
I’d never wink an eye; I’d take it right now. Let me
feel the blessings of the Lord Jesus and His Divine love into my heart, that’s
shed abroad by the Holy Ghost, and I’ll exchange any gift in the Bible for
that. Yes, sir. I’d exchange a—a domain, if I was a king and sitting on a
throne, and the world was my domain, I’d give every penny of it, and
forfeit a million years on this life, in this world here, to have the love
of Jesus Christ that’s shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. There is nothing to compare with it. So, purpose in your
heart now that you’ll serve the Lord, no matter what the world says.
64 Oh, how tricky the devil is! How sly he is, friends! Watch him out in the scope of the little ministry that the Lord has given me, around the world and different nations, and seeing that sly hand of the devil, so tricky. How easy he can upset you, and make it look like it’s the truth. Yes, sir.
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