The Writing on the Wall

In this lesson, we will study Daniel 5, where Daniel is put in a difficult situation by a powerful king. Daniel finds himself face-to-face with a mysterious writing on the wall that foretells the king’s fate.

Key Points:

We must respect God.
We should be faithful to God’s message.
We should fear God.

The Writing on the Wall (A4 British) pdf

The Writing on the Wall (USA) pdf

The Writing on the Wall 5+ lesson pack pdf

Lesson Guide – The Writing on the Wall

Talk about the temple with your child. Discuss how it was a special place that had been built to worship God. Say that they had some special cups in the temple. Show the child something that looks expensive or is precious. For example, a China cup or a special mug of sentimental value. Say how it would make you sad if someone used this cup to dig a hole in the garden or to mix paint, because it’s important to you. Using it for something else would be disrespectful.

King Belshazzar did not respect God’s possessions. He used the special cups from God’s house for a party with his friends and used them when he was worshipping false idols. God was unhappy.

Share how God sent a hand to write on the wall. Talk to your child about how scary it would be to see just a handwriting on the wall. You may choose to play a game. Turn on a flashlight and use the beam to trace a letter on the wall. Have the child guess which letter you wrote. You may take turns with your child or even write words with older children.

Ask your child if they would want to know what a message said if a strange hand wrote on the wall. Prepare some flashcards with words in different languages. Ask the child if they can work out what any of the words mean. Talk about how Belshazzar sent for a man named Daniel to come and help after all the other advisors could not help him.

Think about giving messages to other people. Think with the child about nice messages, such as an invite to party or that someone has won a prise. Then think of some bad news message. Something you love is broken or your best friend is moving away. Ask if it would be easier to give a message with good news or bad news?

Place a large piece of paper on the wall and write ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin’ on it. Say that this is the message the hand wrote.

Talk about how Daniel faithfully served God and was not afraid to tell the King God’s message even when it was not good news for them. Talk about how some people don’t like us to share the truth of the Bible, but it’s God’s message that we should share faithfully.

Daniel told Belshazzar that the message meant Belshazzar would be punished and his kingdom taken away. Emphasis that this was not a pleasant message, but Daniel told the king the truth.

Share how the Bible says we are all sinners and God will judge our sin. This message can be a difficult one for many to accept and it can be hard for us to accept. But the gospel is also good news because is through this message that we can come to know the truth and be saved from our sins. The Gospel tells us that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. This death, burial and resurrection of Jesus paid for our sins.

It is important to share God’s message about salvation with other people. God cares about us and wants us to be saved from our sins.

Pray to finish: Ask God to help you to respect Him and be faithful in sharing His message with others.

The Writing on the Wall – Bible story for kids

Writing on the Wall Daniel 5 - printable Bible story for kids

Games and Activities

Guess the message

Playing hangman is a fun and engaging game that can be enjoyed by children. Place some paper on the wall or use a board. Write the spaces for the letters. Use simple words that the child can guess. The child should guess letters if they are correct, you write them in the correct space. To make the game even more interesting you can choose words from the Bible passage like: King, Cup, Wall, God.

Draw it

Print out some cards with simple pictures of objects. Take turns to pick a card from the pile. The image should be kept secret from the other players. Place some paper on the wall and have the child try to draw the picture from the card. Everyone else should try to guess the image.

Finger painting Finger painting and writing can be a fun way for children to express themselves creatively. It also helps them develop fine motor skills and learn how to spell new words. Children can use their fingers to trace letters and create shapes on paper, which can help them begin to recognize and write letters of the alphabet.