Other Tables
High School Never Ends
Everyone who’s ever survived public school knows the silent stress of choosing where to sit at lunch. It’s a formative ritual—part sociology experiment, part survival strategy. Every noon bell signaled another round of Cold-War-style diplomacy: who’s in, who’s out, who’s still looking for a seat. During my first year of high school, our middle-school crew clung together at one table—beggars can’t be choosers. But as months passed and new friendships formed, the table grew emptier. Sooner or later, everyone had to pick a side or risk eating alone.
It’s wild how much weight a lunch table can carry. Yet it’s a perfect metaphor for life. As the prophets Bowling for Soup once said, “High School Never Ends.” We never stop sorting ourselves into tables—each one claiming its own insiders, its own sense of belonging. In this series, we are examining the different tables and meals throughout the Bible. Many of these scenes explore the characteristics of the table to which Jesus invites us. But not every table is good. In fact, there are other tables that we can learn from.
The Invisible Hand
In Daniel 5, we are introduced to another table. For context, the Hebrew people had been exiled to Babylon, and Daniel—faithful, wise, unflinching—served in the royal court. One night, King Belshazzar threw an extravagant banquet for Babylon’s elite. The wine flowed freely, the music blared, and at the height of the excess, the king gave a blasphemous command: he ordered all of the sacred silver platters and gold cups that had been taken from the Temple of Jerusalem to be used by his guests. He wanted to toast his gods with holy vessels stolen from God’s house—a deliberate mockery of Israel’s faith. But,
“As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver… Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.”(Daniel 5:4-5)
At the table of Israel’s captors, God showed up! The hand of God is always at work, even if we don’t understand what the plan is. Economist Adam Smith once coined the term “the invisible hand” to describe unseen forces shaping the market. Theologians later borrowed the phrase to describe a different kind of power—the unseen hand of God, quietly at work behind every circumstance, guiding history toward redemption. Do you trust that God’s hand is at work? That’s honestly such a difficult question sometimes. Psalm 73 describes this feeling. It says,
“Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm 73:1-3)
The Psalmists describe such a common feeling. It can be difficult to hold onto your sense of justice when it seems like those doing evil are succeeding. It’s the old “nice guys finish last” adage. It’s easy to look at the “Belshazzars” of our world—the people with wealth, status, and noise—and wonder if God’s forgotten us. But Belshazzar’s table, for all its glitter, was hollow. He had every resource money could buy, yet he couldn’t interpret the message written on his own wall. This was God’s setup for Daniel to enter the scene.
God had already anointed him with wisdom and courage. Daniel didn’t need an invitation to the king’s party; God positioned him there. He spoke truth where God was being mocked, fearless and steady, trusting the unseen hand that had set the table for him.
Still at Work
God’s hand is always at work, and we can trust him. But not every table moment ends in triumph. In Mark 6:14-29, we find the account of John the Baptist's death. He was anything but a subtle figure. John was the forerunner to Jesus, preparing the people’s hearts for his arrival. Part of that preparation included calling out the sin of King Herod, which landed him in a prison cell. On Herod’s birthday, he threw a lavish dinner party. During the celebration, Herod’s stepdaughter performs a dance so pleasing that he vows to give her whatever she asks. Coached by her vengeful mother, she requests the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Just like that, the prophet’s voice is silenced.
John’s death feels like a loss—a good man crushed at a corrupt table. When Jesus heard the news, He was devastated. Even knowing the larger story, even understanding resurrection, He still felt the pain. Because being human is hard. Trusting the unseen hand is hard. The next story in this chapter is the miraculous feeding of the 5000.
“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” (Mark 6:34)
Jesus was grieving, but the hope he held led him in compassion towards others—and he fed them. Where one table symbolized death, Jesus creates a new table of life and abundance. God’s hand is always at work—sometimes in confrontation, sometimes in loss, always for redemption. There will be moments when it looks like the weapon has prospered, when evil seems to have the better seat. But even then, God is setting another table—one built not on power or pride, but on presence, compassion, and hope.
Daniel 5. (n.d.). In Holy Bible: New International Version.
Mark 6. (n.d.). In Holy Bible: New International Version.
Psalm 23. (n.d.). In Holy Bible: New International Version.
