Analyzing the Handwriting of God

“Analyzing the Handwriting of God” Ex. 31:18; Daniel 5: 5; John 8:6; Eph. 2: 10 Pastor Steve N. Wagers October 24. 2010

1. Direction through the Handwriting of Guidance! a) To Prepare an Unorganized People b) To Purify an Undisciplined People c) To Protect an Unfaithful People 2. Disapproval through the Handwriting of Guilt! a) Joy Grows b) Juice Flows c) Judgment Shows 1) Festivity turns to Fear 2) Dominance turns to Disgrace 3. Deliverance through the Handwriting of Grace! a) The Conspiracy Exposed b) The Conviction Exhibited c) The Cleansing Experienced 4. Development through the Handwriting of Glory! a) What God Shows to Us b) What God Sets for Us c) What God Says about Us

Handwriting analysis, or Graphology, is the science involved in producing a personality profile, of the writer, by examining the characteristics, traits and strokes of an individual's handwriting. Besides creating a complete personality profile, many other things are revealed in your handwriting, such as health issues, morality, past experiences, hidden talents, even mental problems.

Your brain guides your hand. Everything put on paper is a result of a two-way circuit between your brain and the motor reflex muscles of your hand. Thus, your handwriting literally becomes a Polygraph; a read-out of your "complete self." Writers with heavy pressure are usually highly successful. They have a lot of vitality and their emotional experiences last for a long time. Writers who write with average pressure are usually moderately successful and usually have enough energy to make it through the day. Those with light pressure try to avoid energy draining situations.

A right slant signals one who responds strongly to emotional situations. They are caring, warm and outgoing-- their heart rules their mind. A vertical slant writer tries to keep their emotions in check-- mind rules their heart. A left slant writer will conceal their emotions and is observed as cold and indifferent.

God has always communicated with His people. For the most part, God’s primary source of communication was verbal communication. He spoke through His prophets, presence, and promises. Today, God speaks by the scriptures, by the Spirit, and through His saints.

It is significant that on three separate occasions, God communicated non- verbally. In other words, it was in written form. The “hand” or “finger” of God appeared and wrote a specific message. Although time destroyed most of the ancient records, His words were indestructible; they will endure forever.

If our handwriting says a great deal about us, I wonder what God’s handwriting says about Him?

1. DIRECTION through the Handwriting of GUIDANCE! (Exodus 31:18) “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”

Moses had heard the voice of God, watched the hand of God and had seen the glory of God. Now, he is introduced to “the finger of God.”

The finger of God wrote upon these tablets to provide guidance to direct the people.

A) To PREPARE an UNORGANIZED People

The giving of the commandments and other requirements that constituted Hebrew law was one of God's most necessary acts.

Ivor Powell comments, “His people, who had been slaves in Egypt for four hundred years, were an undisciplined multitude, unorganized, unreliable, and unable to understand why certain deeds were prohibited. They had been a nation without spiritual guidance and knew nothing of priests and prophets. They existed only to obey their Egyptian task masters. There was no inspired standard of morality by which conduct could be judged. Before the time it was recorded, ‘every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

If left to themselves, they would self-destruct. Thus, God gave clear instructions to prepare an unprepared and unorganized people.

B) To PURIFY an UNDISCIPLINED People

When Moses descended from the Mount, the waiting tribes anticipated that life was about to be forever changed. No longer would they required to live under the dictatorship of Pharaoh, but they would be required to live in partnership with God. No longer would an undisciplined people be permitted to “do that which was right in his own eyes.” They were now accountable to the One who had delivered them, fed them, clothed them, and helped them. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was now their personal bookkeeper.

With the writing of the finger of God came:

A New POSITION In the context of these verses, the keeping of the Sabbath is reinforced. Earlier it was part of the Ten Commandments; here it is reiterated in connection with the Tabernacle.

A New PURPOSE (13) “For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.”

God had entered into a relationship with His people. It was a covenant relationship in which they were to know Him as their God. To that end, He decreed that they should set apart ONE whole day, out of 7, to rest in His goodness, greatness, and glory.

A New PENALTY (14-15) “Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.”

The law was simple: Failure to rest and worship God, at His designated place of worship, resulted in death. Thank God, this penalty no longer applies today. The civil law was for Israel as a nation. The ceremonial law was fulfilled in Christ. The moral law is still in force as God’s universal law for all people, in all places.

WONDER WHAT THE DEATH RATE WOULD BE IF GOD ENFORCED THIS PENALTY TODAY?

John Calvin writes, “The Sabbath should be to us a tower whereon we should mount aloft to contemplate afar the works of God… during the rest of our time and that this meditation shall have so formed our minds, that on Monday, and the other days of the week, we shall abide in the grateful remembrance of our God.”

C) To PROTECT an UNFAITHFUL People

God knew His people better than they knew themselves. He knew their habits, their hang-ups, and their handicaps. He knew that, if left to themselves, without any government or guidance, they would eventually cease to exist.

Thus, when the “finger of God” wrote on the “two tables of testimony,” God was instituting a rule of law that would protect a people who had proven, time and again, to be unfaithful.

God knew man’s heart was full of murder; thus, He wrote, “Thou shalt not kill.” God knew man’s heart was full of lust; thus, He wrote, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” God knew man’s heart was full of greed; thus, He wrote, “Thou shalt not covet.” God knew man’s heart was full of idolatry; thus, He wrote, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Many view the Law of God from the negative side rather than the positive side. They see it as God declaring such a harsh standard; thus, depriving people of any happiness. However, God’s primary concern for His people wasn’t their happiness or healthiness, but their holiness. If they were holy, they would be happy and healthy. Thus, when God said, “Thou shalt not,” He was in essence saying, “Don’t hurt yourself. I have a better plan, a better way for you to live.”

What God gave to Moses was the Decalogue. The Decalogue was the commandments of His covenant, hence the “two tables of testimony.” These “two tables of testimony” were later placed in the “Ark of the Testimony.”

In a scene of righteous indignation, Moses broke the first tablets of stone. In Exodus 34: 1, God commanded Moses to “Hew two tablets of stone like unto the first: and I WILL WRITE upon these tablets the words that were in the first tablets.”

In all likelihood, they were two identical copies of the Ten Commandments. This was the ancient custom. Whenever two nations made a covenant, copies were deposited in the throne room of both kings. In this case, Israel's throne and God's throne were one and the same; so both copies were put inside the ark that represented God's rule over Israel.

However, these “tables of stone” were “written with the finger of God,” to show Divine Authorship. Moses did not write, or re-write these words; God DID, and the tablets showed His fingerprints to prove that He loved them enough to prepare an unorganized people, to purify an undisciplined people, and protect an unfaithful people.

2. DISAPPROVAL through the Handwriting of GUILT!

(Daniel 5:5) “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” Daniel 5 is the sad epitaph of how God disapproves of those who reject His grace, refuse His guidance, and ridicule His glory. When the “finger of God” appears in this scene, we learn some things about the nature of God, as well as what should be our response to Him.

In Daniel 5, Belshazzar, the son, succeeds the throne of his father Nebuchadnezzar. The father leaves his son some very prudent advice.

(Daniel 4:37) “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”

It becomes painfully obvious that Belshazzar did not allow that compass to navigate his course, and the “finger of a man’s hand” begins to write on the wall.

A) JOY GROWS

(1) “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.”

Life in the magnificent city of Babylon, with its Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, seemed normal on the night of October 12, 539 B.C. The biggest event in town was a huge banquet thrown by King Belshazzar for a thousand of his nobles.

What is most interesting is that Belshazzar threw a party on the threshold of his demise, destruction and death. You could say that while Belshazzar thought it was a feast, it literally turned into a funeral.

B) JUICE FLOWS (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.”

The walls of the city were thought to be insurmountable, and the city of Babylon itself thought to be impregnable. However, in Daniel 4, Darius, the King of Persia, had just defeated Belshazzar’s father, Nebuchadnezzar, and was moving north to Babylon.

Without the means of walkie-talkies, or the use of text messaging, Belshazzar was oblivious to the fact that his destruction was imminent. He was just a young, riotous, arrogant man who loved his wine, women, and ways of the world. As the joy was growing and the juice was flowing, Belshazzar did the unthinkable.

(3-4) “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. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.”

Apparently Belshazzar had not heard, or read the prophecy of Isaiah:

(Isaiah 42:8) “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”

A fitting New Testament translation would be:

(Galatians 6:7) “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Suddenly, while the joy grows and the juice flows:

C) JUDGMENT SHOWS

(5) “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.”

God’s response to such revelry and idolatry was fast, furious and frightening. From out of nowhere comes a mysterious hand, and without pen, pencil, or paper, begins using the wall as his canvas.

1) FESTIVITY turns to FEAR

(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.”

Before we become too judgmental of Belshazzar, put yourself in his shoes. You’re having the time of your life, living footloose and fancy free; then, suddenly, from out of nowhere, a man’s hand, suspended in mid-air, starts writing your eulogy. Let’s cut him a little slack, shall we?

In his fear, he calls for his “wise” men to interpret the writing, but they have no help to offer. In desperation, he turns to the assistance of a man, whose fame had spread, named Daniel. The king offers a reward for the interpretation. Whoever interprets the writing will become the “third ruler in the kingdom.”

Daniel doesn’t do what he does for the money, so he rejects the gifts. But, with the wisdom of God begins to interpret the words of God written the finger of God. 2) DOMINANCE ends in DISGRACE

(24-29) “Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. 25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

The verdict has been announced and the sentence has been read. Belshazzar, the man who began the night living with everything, ended the night leaving with nothing.

(30-31) “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom.”

The handwriting of guilt denounces man in his sin. What if you live with everything money can buy, but leave without the one thing money can’t buy?

(Mark 8: 36-37) “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give exchange for his soul?”

3. DELIVERANCE through the Handwriting of GRACE!

(John 8:6) “This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.” John 7-8 gives us Jesus’ exposition of the Word of God. In this chapter, we have Jesus’ exposure of the wickedness of man. He convicts them, He contradicts them, and He confounds them.

The earlier references depict “the finger of God” writing something. This Scripture mentions the only occasion when the Lord Jesus is said to have written something.

This is a story of great familiarity. We meet a guilty woman, a guiltless crowd, and a graceful Savior.

A) The CONSPIRACY EXPOSED

(3-6) “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.”

Make no mistake about it, this woman was guilty. She had been “taken in adultery..in the very act.” The word “taken” is quite a graphic word. I do not wish to be crude, vulgar, or too suggestive; but, the word picture is such that they literally “pulled her off of the man she was sleeping with.” She was guilty.

However, the woman is not the main issue here. The woman was simply a means to an end. She was the means the Pharisees and scribes wished to use to the end of trapping Jesus.

Both the scribes and the Pharisees were experts in the Law. Scribes were responsible for copying it into written form; Pharisees made it their responsibility to govern their lives by the oral and written Law. Their desire is not so much to have the woman stoned, although the sentence fit the crime according to the Law; but, their desire to trick Jesus into stepping into the trap they were setting for Him.

Whenever we usually hear this story talked about, all the attention is placed upon the woman. But, my question has always been: WHAT ABOUT THE MAN?

Adultery involves 2 consensual parties. So if they had “taken” the woman in the act, would they not have also “taken” the man? Yet, she alone is brought into court, further proof that they were not interested in justice, but only in trapping the Lord Jesus.

B) The CONVICTION EXHIBITED

The scribes and Pharisees are hurling their verbal assaults toward Jesus, and as only Jesus could do, as a “sheep before his shearers is dumb,” Jesus “opened not his mouth.”

(6) “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.”

Jesus’ response only poured gasoline on the fire of their wicked hearts. They never let up with their verbal attacks. We don’t know what Jesus wrote with “his finger,” until we get to verse 7:

(7) “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

Finally, a cloud of silence begins to descend on the religious peanut gallery. Then, came the bombshell.

(8-9) “And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

I asked earlier, “What about the man?” I believe the man was a part of this crowd attempting to trap Jesus. I believe he was in the crowd for a couple of reasons.

One, as a scribe or Pharisee, he was well versed in the law. As any good student of the law knows, if you get rid of the evidence, your conviction rate decreases dramatically. It takes evidence to find a suspect, and convict a criminal.

Thus, if Jesus falls into their trap, and He agrees to abide by “their” law, then the woman will be stoned, the evidence will be gone, and the other guilty party will be free.

The other reason I believe the man was in the crowd is due to the fact that when Jesus wrote the second time, “they HEARD it.” Think about that! They “HEARD” His finger write in the sand. It doesn’t say that they “saw” it, or “read” it; but they “HEARD” it.

Many have attempted to speculate as to what Jesus wrote. I have heard it said that they believe Jesus wrote John 3:17 that He did not come to “condemn” the world, but to “save” the world. Not a bad guess.

Others have said they believe Jesus wrote a list of those 7 deadly sins. That might have a valid argument as well. The truth of the matter is that we don’t know what He wrote, and may never know for certain what He wrote.

But, here is what I believe. I believe Jesus turned the tables on them and led them back into their own trap. They baited Jesus with their interpretation of the Law, with no concept that He, in Himself, had fulfilled the Law. Thus, Jesus seems to say, “Okay, boys. I’ll play your game, but its winner take all.” So, He takes the Law, they held to so vehemently, and begins to list the sins that the Law revealed, listed, numbered, and demanded punishment for, including their own transgressions. That would seem to make sense, because they scattered like scalded dogs, from the “oldest” to the youngest.”

In other words, the oldest man left first because he had the longest list of sins, because he had lived longer, and had more to hide. From the oldest, with the longest list; to the youngest, with the smallest list, their trap backfired on them with conviction exhibited to all.

C) The CLEANSING EXPERIENCED

When Jesus finished His writing assignment, He stands up and the scene has completely changed. When He began writing, there were people everywhere; but, when he finished writing, there wasn’t a soul to be found; except for the guilty sinner.

(10-11) “When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Many have misinterpreted the Savior's statement, suggesting that if the woman were free from condemnation, others of her type could sin without fear of retribution. Evidently, they have not considered why the woman called the Savior "Lord," saying "No man, Lord." (v. 11) (1 Cor. 12: 3) "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost"

The soul of the adulteress had been illuminated by the grace of God when she confessed her faith in the lordship of Christ. Since that is the means by which pardon becomes possible, her confession indicated her sins were gone. There was nothing left to condemn. Her past was forgotten; her present was forgiven; and her future was as bright as the noon-day sun.

The Handwriting of Guidance revealed-- The CONCEALMENT of Sin was IMPOSSIBLE

The Handwriting of Guilt revealed— The CONDEMNATION of Sin was INEVITABLE

The Handwriting of Grace revealed— The CANCELLATION of Sin was INDISPUTABLE (1)

The word “handwriting” is only used once in the NT.

(Colossians 2: 14) “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”

The “handwriting of ordinances” revealed the debt that we owed. It was a debt created by the law of God which revealed our sin. It was a debt we could not pay. In simple terms, it was an IOU that would be owed forever.

At the Cross, the same fingers, attached to the same hand that wrote on the ground, were nailed to a cross. And there, the blood that flowed from those sacred fingers erased, rubbed out, and cancelled the IOU, and wrote “PAID IN FULL!”

4. DEVELOPMENT through the Handwriting of GLORY!

(Ephesians 2:10) “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Here we do not see the ‘hand” or the “finger” of God writing in a sense, but there is a word Paul uses to depict that God is currently, and actively writing on the lives of His people.

A) What He SHOWS to Us

(1-3) The Direction of our Ruined Life (4-13) The Destiny of our Redeemed Life

We, who were going in the opposite direction of God, lost and undone without God or His Son, as helpless and as hopeless as we could be; suddenly, when we could not help ourselves, God did something for us.

(4) He REMEMBERED Us (5) He REVIVED Us (6) He RAISED Us (8) He REDEEMED Us (10) He RENEWED Us (13) He RECONCILED Us

When we had nothing to offer Him; He had everything to offer us, and a bloody cross and an empty show how much He wanted us for Himself.

B) What He SETS for Us

Salvation is a GIFT. It is nothing we can earn, merit, work for, or deserve. If salvation could be earned, we would have some part in it; thus, we could boast of what we have done.

Salvation has a GOAL. The goal for every saved person is a life of “good works.”

(10) “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” It’s interesting to note that the “works” do not come into play until after salvation has been experienced. Thus, we cannot work for salvation. However, even after salvation takes place, the “good works” spoken of do not suggest working to keep salvation. It is not “good works” to get saved; it is not “good works” to stay saved; it is “good works” BECAUSE we’re saved.

Salvation’s goal is simple. God has a plan for your life, and that plan consists of “good works,” not that you do for God, but that God does through you. He has already “ordained,” or mapped out the course; all we have to do is follow.

C) What He SAYS about Us

(10) “For we are his WORKMANSHIP.”

The word “workmanship” is the word that reveals God is still honing His writing skills. The Greek word is ‘poiema.’ It is the word from which we derive the English word “poem.”

In other words, we were redeemed by grace so that we might serve as rehearsal for glory. Upon every saved life, God has written the word “Grace.” Yet, the work of grace does not in grace itself; it continues all the way to “Glory.”

Thus, everyday, God desires to “conform us to the image of His Son;” changing us “from glory to glory,” molding us, fashioning us, shaping us, and developing us so that He alone might receive the maximum glory for it all.

Ladies and gentlemen, God is writing His poem upon your life. My question is this:

WHAT DOES IT SAY? WHAT WILL IT SAY?

A violinist stepped out onto stage one evening and drew the bow across his violin. The room fell silent as out came the most glorious music the audience had ever heard. When he finished, the crowd leaped to their feet and gave ovation after ovation. What happened next shocked everyone speechless.

The violinist broke the violin on the podium into a thousand pieces. He looked at the audience and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, don’t be dismayed. This was only a three and a half dollar violin. It is not so much the violin that makes the music as it is the man who draws the bow.”

I need not remind you, but our lives, left to themselves, might play, but we’re out of tune. But our lives placed into the hand of the Master Conductor plays something so beautiful, wonderful, and masterful, that only He can get the glory.

My life in Him is the result of grace. His life in me will result in glory.

I pray that the poem He’s writing will do Him justice.