Writing on the Wall

Amulek began his preaching to the people of Ammonihah with a reference to the otherwise unknown story about his ancestor Aminadi who “interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God” (Alma 10:2).  This obviously brings to mind the story of Daniel who interpreted the writing on the wall of the palace of Belshazzar. The writing upon that wall was interpreted as, “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou are weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:25-28).  Essentially Daniel revealed to Belshazzar that God would take away their kingdom because of their pride and wickedness, and I have to wonder if this Nephite story was in that same kind of context.  In other words, was the Nephite interpretation also a warning message to them about impending destruction?  This would then make sense why Amulek would bring up the story at all; he and Alma were giving Ammonihah its own warning about the destruction awaiting them if they did not repent.  Of course the Nephites would not have known the story of Daniel because it happened after Lehi left Jerusalem, but they apparently knew about this story from their own history.  If I had to guess I would say that this Aminadi lived around the time of the second Nephite separation (i.e. the time of the first Mosiah).  This was when the Lord warned the righteous to leave the land of Nephi before (presumably) all of the other Nephites were destroyed.  Perhaps God had sent a message to them by writing on the wall of the temple, just as in the days of Daniel.