Recently, I wrote on Nebuchadnezzar. He was a great and powerful ruler. He had one of the most amazing kingdoms in the world, but became too proud. God took him down to the lowest place; it was here Nebuchadnezzar learned humility. He was eventually restored to his Kingdom, and worshiped the one true God. Fast-forward quite a few years later to a King named Belshazzar. Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. So at the very least Belshazzar had heard stories about how is grandfather believed in the one true God. He chose to take the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar learned about pride, and throw it out the window. He was his own man, and did not need anyone; especially a God that he felt did not exist.
Belshazzar did not only worship other gods, but mocked the one true God.
Daniel 5
Belshazzar gave a great feast for thousands of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While he was drinking he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. ……………4while they drank from the goblets they praised their gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood , and stone. 5 Suddenly they say a human hand writing on the wall of the king’s palace. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his faced turned pale and his knees began to knock with fear, and his legs gave way beneath him.” Finally the queen mother remembered that Daniel was filled with the spirit during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign so they sent for him to tell them the meaning of the writing. Daniel tells Belshazzar the story of king Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel then states, “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all of this, yet you have not humbled yourself. You have proudly defied the Lord of heaven……………25 the writing on the walls means “God has numbered your days, and has brought it to an end, you have been weighed and have not measured up, your kingdom as been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
We probably read this story and think how ridiculous that Belshazzar didn’t learn from his grandfather. However, if we look at our own lives we could say the same thing about our actions. There are numerous times that God allows things to happen, or circumstances to unfold to help us stay tuned into God. Sometimes we learn our lesson, and other times we forget too easily. Some times we all have the attitude of Belshazzar in the area of thinking we can do anything. When I typed the words that Daniel translated it gave me goose bumps. In particular the statement “you have been weighed on the balance and do not measure up”. Can you imagine seeing those words? “You do not measure up!” This is about as straight forward as you can get. There is an old saying “I should have seen the writing on the wall?” This basically means something was so apparent, so obvious you should have noticed it.
What does your wall say? I am a firm believer that God writes on all of our walls, so to speak. Sometimes we try to obtain, or maybe even hold onto things that is not in God’s will . Sometimes we get too distant from God, or allow things to muddle what we do or do not see on the wall. I think not only does God write on our wall, but also places people in our lives to help us understand, or accept God’s will. Who is God putting around you to help show you the truth? Who has God put in your life to speak the truth? Chances are you may have had some animosity toward them from time to time because sometimes the truth is hard to hear. Over the years I have begun to understand it is always better to hear negative things from someone who cares about you, than those who just want to demean you.
It may be that God is changing your direction in life. You may have always done a certain job, but now he is moving you into a new chapter. I had worked in the operating room for eleven years. I was comfortable there, I knew the in’s and out’s, and was use to most of the surgeons, however God had a different plan. I went into a field that seemed so opposite of what I was doing; yet God showed me that it was just providing healing to others through a different method. The truth is sometimes we don’t want to see the writing on the wall, like Belshazzar, because it does not line up with what we want. I can almost hear the heartache in Daniel’s voice when he says, “ O Belshazzar you knew, but did not do what you needed to do.” What is God writing on your wall today? Maybe it’s about leaving your comfort zone of what you know, or simply returning to the one true God. Look at the truths on your wall, so that God never says, “You knew but did nothing to change……you have been weighed on the balance and do not measure up”.
Belshazzar did not only worship other gods, but mocked the one true God.
Daniel 5
Belshazzar gave a great feast for thousands of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While he was drinking he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. ……………4while they drank from the goblets they praised their gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood , and stone. 5 Suddenly they say a human hand writing on the wall of the king’s palace. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his faced turned pale and his knees began to knock with fear, and his legs gave way beneath him.” Finally the queen mother remembered that Daniel was filled with the spirit during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign so they sent for him to tell them the meaning of the writing. Daniel tells Belshazzar the story of king Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel then states, “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all of this, yet you have not humbled yourself. You have proudly defied the Lord of heaven……………25 the writing on the walls means “God has numbered your days, and has brought it to an end, you have been weighed and have not measured up, your kingdom as been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
We probably read this story and think how ridiculous that Belshazzar didn’t learn from his grandfather. However, if we look at our own lives we could say the same thing about our actions. There are numerous times that God allows things to happen, or circumstances to unfold to help us stay tuned into God. Sometimes we learn our lesson, and other times we forget too easily. Some times we all have the attitude of Belshazzar in the area of thinking we can do anything. When I typed the words that Daniel translated it gave me goose bumps. In particular the statement “you have been weighed on the balance and do not measure up”. Can you imagine seeing those words? “You do not measure up!” This is about as straight forward as you can get. There is an old saying “I should have seen the writing on the wall?” This basically means something was so apparent, so obvious you should have noticed it.
What does your wall say? I am a firm believer that God writes on all of our walls, so to speak. Sometimes we try to obtain, or maybe even hold onto things that is not in God’s will . Sometimes we get too distant from God, or allow things to muddle what we do or do not see on the wall. I think not only does God write on our wall, but also places people in our lives to help us understand, or accept God’s will. Who is God putting around you to help show you the truth? Who has God put in your life to speak the truth? Chances are you may have had some animosity toward them from time to time because sometimes the truth is hard to hear. Over the years I have begun to understand it is always better to hear negative things from someone who cares about you, than those who just want to demean you.
It may be that God is changing your direction in life. You may have always done a certain job, but now he is moving you into a new chapter. I had worked in the operating room for eleven years. I was comfortable there, I knew the in’s and out’s, and was use to most of the surgeons, however God had a different plan. I went into a field that seemed so opposite of what I was doing; yet God showed me that it was just providing healing to others through a different method. The truth is sometimes we don’t want to see the writing on the wall, like Belshazzar, because it does not line up with what we want. I can almost hear the heartache in Daniel’s voice when he says, “ O Belshazzar you knew, but did not do what you needed to do.” What is God writing on your wall today? Maybe it’s about leaving your comfort zone of what you know, or simply returning to the one true God. Look at the truths on your wall, so that God never says, “You knew but did nothing to change……you have been weighed on the balance and do not measure up”.
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