Do you remember the story of Belshazzar and the writing on the wall? To refresh your memory; it’s in the Book of Daniel:

When all Belshazzar’s wise men could not explain the phenomenon, they brought in Daniel. The king promised to richly reward the man of God if he would explain the strange signs.

Daniel told the king to keep his gifts, but nevertheless, he would reveal the meaning of the writing on the wall.

First, Daniel told Belshazzar about his father – the great Nebuchadnezzar. The Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, and glory to Nebuchadnezzar, but this great man became proud and arrogant; and he lost his throne, and his mind. He was driven out and lived and ate like cattle.

Then Daniel laid it on the line for the present king:

You can read that "writing" every day as you read your newspaper or watch the television. The writing is in the frequent Prophecy around the world; you can read it in the alarming conflicts and instability of nations, in the shaking of our global economics, in the buildup of weapons of mass destruction, and in our world disorder. Take for example:

The quake in Gujarat last January measured a massive 7.9 on the Richter Scale. It was India's worst earthquake for 50 years; the power was equivalent of 20,000 atom bombs.

Earthquakes of this size, according to a recent news report, are no longer rare; at least eighteen 7.9 quakes occur around the world each year. Major earthquakes are no more than 100 each year, and smaller tremblers are recording in the thousands.

The quake in Indonesia in December 2004, measured 9.0, and it triggered the Asian tsunami that destroyed nearly 300,000 people.

Why! modern seismologists are also warning of the ultimate earthquake – "the big one."

The Bible describes this "big one" in two passages:

Of course, we can blame war, which often works together with drought (as in Afghanistan and Sudan), for the havoc of famine that ravages millions of people. But regardless, droughts are periodically afflicting many countries. Apart from Sudan and Afghanistan, droughts have been badly affecting Korea, Iran, Israel and parts of China, Russia, India, Africa, America and Australia.

Droughts and famines are "writings on the wall." They are warning the nations of the times of famine and drought that are scheduled for the closing years of this present era. The prophets have warned of very severe famines.

Prophesying of Commercial Babylon, the Revelation says:

Modern plagues such as Ebola and AIDS, as well as recalcitrant diseases including Foot & Mouth, Mad Cow, TB, Influenza, Heart Diseases and Cancer, SARS and Bird Flu are not only of great concern, but they are warnings of the plagues that are scheduled for the Tribulation.

Here’s one of those seven endtime plagues:

Rampant corruption and violence in the nations today are more of the "writings on the wall." Y’shua specifically prophesied that the days prior to His return would be as the days of Noah. And of Noah’s day we read:

I don’t need to give you examples of corruption and violence in the nations today. But I do remind you that the Great Tribulation will be a period of great violence.

Drugs are a major problem in most nations, and most governments and agencies are waging a losing battle against this evil that’s crippling the younger generations in particular. The writing on the wall warns of judgment coming upon the peddlers of dope. Y’shua warned about harming children:

In the Tribulation, drug-related sorcery will be rife. Men will be in deep bondage to this evil.

So what we see today is indeed, a lot of "writing on the wall"!

There are more slaves in the world today than when slavery was abolished. It is a big business in many parts of the world. It’s horrific!

The US State Department estimates that 2 million women and children are sold into slavery every year. They claim that perhaps 40,000 women in the US are in those numbers.

Another report from London says that children in slavery are counted in the millions.

This is large writing on the wall, for Yahweh the Almighty God – the God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life – sees the injustice, the suffering, and all the agony. In Egypt …

And so it is today. God hears the children, the women, and the men in their indescribable, inhuman, misery of slavery.

Abraham reasoned with God concerning the destruction He had decreed for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham entreated:

It’s happened in Ruanda and Sierra Leone, in many other parts of Africa, in Chechnya, in Kosovo, Bosnia, Turkey, Kurdistan, North Ireland, Spain, and South America; and it’s still happening in Indonesia, Fiji, PNG, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Macedonia, Israel, Burma, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and periodically in the US and UK. Nearly every country in the world has some form of growing, or dormant, ethnic trouble.

Y’shua the Messiah prophesied of this endtime conflict in six words:

If you look at the Greek text you will see the word ethnos. "Ethnos against ethnos." From the Greek word "ethnos" comes our English word ethnic.

You’ve heard about the Asian economic crisis, and the bankruptcy of Eastern Europe and Russia. You’re now hearing about the Japanese economic crisis and the fear of a US meltdown. You’ve heard about the crash of technology stocks; you’ve heard probably about the trillions of dollars of Government bonds that have been issued; you may have heard of the widespread bankruptcies in the US, as well as in many other countries. (In the year 2000, two million Americans filed for bankruptcy.)

All of this is writing on the wall that says "mene, tekel":

The nations are in debt up to the neck – both people and governments. God is warning that there is a day of reckoning coming. It’s in the last days!

A word of encouragement, however, is given to believers in this period of economic turbulence:

You can see it coming, can’t you, my reader? All the world is becoming involved in the conflict over that one square mile of old, walled city of Jerusalem.

The United Nations General Assembly has condemned Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem in spite of the fact that history, geography and archaeology all declare the city to be the ancient capital of the people of Israel.

Yes, there’s a lot of handwriting over the land of Israel today. Israel itself is also being weighed in the balances. And so it is with every nation in the world today – they are being weighed in God’s scales.

There are many, many more mene tekels in our news channels, dear friends, but there’s one more I should draw your attention to. It’s the widespread increase of …

Today more Christians are dying for Christ than at any time in church history. Some 160,000 Christians are killed every year because they are Christians.

There’s an uproar in the nations - a movement that is seeking to do away with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Word. And that Gospel is put simply by the apostle Paul:

The atoning work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection – the very centre of the Gospel - is being attacked today, from within and without. But on this Gospel, as Paul says, we take our stand.

I’ve just received the following short story:

"It’s a lie!" exclaimed Alfred H Ackley.

"Why are you shouting so early in the morning?" Mrs Ackley asked her husband.

"Didn’t you hear what that good-for-nothing preacher said? He said it didn’t matter whether Christ be risen or not!"

It was Easter morning, 1932, and across the radio waves this "good-for-nothing preacher," as Alfred Ackley put it, attacked the Biblical record of the risen King of Kings.

"Listen here, Alfred Ackley; it’s time you did that which you do best," his wife said. She knew her husband was furious and there was only one solution.

At the piano, the words and melody came forth with a powerful declaration.