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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his
nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he
gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his
father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles,
his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold
goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king
and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the
wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and
stone.
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. His face turned pale and he was so frightened
that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.
The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners.
Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and
tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed
around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not
read the writing or tell the king what it meant. So King Belshazzar became even
more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles,
came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be
alarmed! Don’t look so pale! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit
of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have
insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King
Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers
and diviners. He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar,
was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the
ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call
for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to
him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? I
have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight,
intelligence and outstanding wisdom. The wise men and enchanters were brought
before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not
explain it. Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to
solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it
means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your
neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for
yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the
writing for the king and tell him what it means.”
“Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father
Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the
high position He gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language
dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death;
those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted;
and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But when his heart became arrogant
and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of
his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he
lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was
drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God
is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone He wishes.”
“But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself,
though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of
heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your
nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the
gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or
hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in His hand your
life and all your ways. Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.”
“This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene,
tekel, parsin”
“Here is what these words mean:”
“Mene: God
has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
“Tekel: You
have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.”
“Parsin:
Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple,
a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third
highest ruler in the kingdom.
That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was
slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
Daniel 5
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
“The writing is on the wall.”
It’s a saying that’s been around for a long time, one that
means that circumstances are such that something bad is likely going to happen.
Let’s say someone has decided to drink alcohol and drive. It
was known that this person had done this many times without getting caught but
then word gets around that they had finally been stopped by police and charged
with driving under the influence. Anyone aware of the situation would say that
the DUI was of no surprise because the writing was on the wall for some time
before the person was finally caught.
So what does this have to do with our scripture passage from
Daniel?
Well, everything because we may have just found the very
origin of this saying as we look again at Chapter 5:
King Belshazzar gave
a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While
Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and
silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in
Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might
drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from
the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his
concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of
gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
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. His face
turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees
were knocking.
The king summoned the
enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of
Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed
in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the
third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Then all the king’s
wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it
meant. So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more
pale. His nobles were baffled.
The queen, hearing
the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the
king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! There is a
man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of
your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that
of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the
magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. He did this because Daniel,
whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge
and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles
and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the
writing means.”
So Daniel was brought
before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles
my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods
is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. The
wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me
what it means, but they could not explain it. Now I have heard that you are
able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read
this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have
a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest
ruler in the kingdom.”
Then Daniel answered
the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to
someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him
what it means.”
“Your Majesty, the
Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and
glory and splendor. Because of the high position He gave him, all the nations
and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to
put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he
wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But
when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his
royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and
given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like
the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged
that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over
them anyone He wishes.”
“But you, Belshazzar,
his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have
set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple
brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank
wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood
and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the
God who holds in His hand your life and all your ways. Therefore He sent the
hand that wrote the inscription.”
“This is the
inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin”
“Here is what these
words mean:”
“Mene: God has numbered the days of
your reign and brought it to an end.
“Tekel: You have been weighed on the
scales and found wanting.”
“Parsin: Your kingdom is divided and
given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then at Belshazzar’s
command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck,
and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
That very night
Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over
the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two. Daniel
5
The first thing we notice right away is that Nebuchadnezzar
is not the king of Babylon. He has been replaced by his son, Belshazzar, who we
find throwing a big banquet for a thousand of his nobles, a banquet which
included an ample supply of wine which those in attendance were enjoying.
This in its own right would probably not have been an issue
if the scene were left here but as we see, the king wasn’t satisfied with what
he and his company were drinking from and so he called for his servants to
bring him “the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken
from the temple in Jerusalem” so that he and “his nobles, his wives and his
concubines might drink from them.” And this is what got things going the wrong
direction with God for the scriptures tells us that as those present “drank the
wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and
stone.”
In other words, they defiled the sacred items of God’s
temple by using them to praise false gods. Obviously, this wasn’t going to work
for God and so He did something about it, something that supernaturally
incredible and amazing.
For we read where “suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared
and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace”
while the king watched. The sight terrified the king whose “face turned pale”
and “legs became weak” with knocking knees.
Unsure of what it all meant, the king “summoned the enchanters,
astrologers and diviners” and said, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me
what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his
neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Unfortunately for the king, none of his wise men could “read the writing or
tell the king what it meant”, something that brought the king still greater
distress.
Enter the queen who came to the rescue of her royal husband,
telling him the following:
“There is a man in
your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your
father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of
the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the
magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. He did this because Daniel,
whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge
and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles
and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the
writing means.”
And with that, King Belshazzar called for Daniel to be
brought before him asking him:
“Are you Daniel, one
of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the
spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and
outstanding wisdom. The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read
this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. Now I
have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult
problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be
clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will
be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel’s response must have puzzled the king because he
wanted no part in anything Belshazzar wanted to give him. He told the king to give
his rewards to someone else but then added that he would at least “read the
writing” and tell the king what it meant. And with that, Daniel breaks things
down to Belshazzar, starting by reminding him of the history of behavior his
father exhibited as king and how that impacted his relationship with God,
especially when Nebuchadnezzar allowed his heart to become arrogant and
hardened with pride, an act that led him into God’s judgment for seven years.
God’s word tells us that Belshazzar had not learned anything
from his father’s past mistake but rather simply repeated the mistakes of the
past. He had refused to humble himself despite what he knew of God’s power and
authority, choosing instead to set himself up “against the Lord of heaven” and refusing
to honor the God who held his life in His hands. And so God had to do something
to get the king’s attention and He “sent the hand that wrote the inscription”
for that purpose.
What was the message contained in the inscription, “mene,
mene, tekel, parsin”?
Well, God had only given Daniel the ability to convey their
meaning which essentially boiled down to numbered (mene), numbered (mene),
weighed (tekel), divided (parsin or in some translations, upharsin).
In regard to Belshazzar:
1. His days reigning over Babylon were numbered and God
would soon end his rule (mene, mene).
2. God had weighed Belshazzar on the scales of righteousness
and the king was found wanting because of his sinfulness (tekel).
3. The kingdom of Babylon would be divided and handed over
to the Medes and Persians (parsin/upharsin).
In other words, the writing was on the wall. The Babylonian
empire was coming to an end.
And that’s exactly what happened as the scriptures tell us
that very evening after the words were interpreted by Daniel, Belshazzar was
killed by “Darius the Mede” who took over control of the kingdom but not before
Daniel had been “clothed in purple” with a gold chain “placed around his neck”
as “he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom”, a promotion of
importance because we will see it bring Daniel into a position of peril as we
continue our study of this book and his life.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because we need to see
the writing on the wall in this devotion and know God is warning all of us
today about the life attitude we adopt and the associated outcome if we choose
to go the wrong path.
For if we choose to live with no respect for God and His
authority over us, refusing to humble ourselves before Him and ignoring the
very Maker and Master of our lives, the One who holds our future in His hands,
then we are opting to go down the same road as Belshazzar and can be rest
assured of this one thing:
The writing will be on the wall for us just as it was for Babylon’s
king because God will never allow Himself to be disregarded or dishonored.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
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