Found Wanting

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 5:30–31, NIV 1984).

My Musings – Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar and the last king of Babylon. The infamous handwriting on the wall. “You [Belshazzar] 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. This 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. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:23–28, NIV 1984).

He did not learn the lesson that his father did. And Daniel, who had been forgotten by many, was remembered by Belshazzars’s mother and was brought in to interpret the meaning of the words written on the wall. As in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, the enchanters, astrologers and diviners brought in by the king were unable to do so.

Daniel explained to Belshazzar “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 peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him…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 cattle…until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.” (Daniel 5:18-21, NIV 1984).

“Until he acknowledged.” And that is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did. So, true to His word, God restored him to the throne. “But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven…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.” (Daniel 5:22–24, NIV 1984). Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself and acknowledged the Most High. Belshazzar, his son, with full knowledge of this, and in a position to know better, did not do better.

My Advice – “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Some Pharisees, who were with him, heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.'” (John 9:39–41, NIV 1984). Few in the “civilized” world can feign blindness to the claims of Jesus Christ. Standing before God on judgment day, they may claim ignorance “if I only knew,” will nonetheless hear “you knew all this.” And denying Christ as the only way to gain salvation is “[setting oneself] up against the Lord of heaven.” Rather, we must honor the God who holds in His hands all [our] ways.” And the only way to the Father is through the Son.