Daniel 5” href=”http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Daniel+5;&version=31;&interface=print”>Daniel 5 reminds me of the lamest excuse ever offered. “I was drunk” has been used to try to excuse every harmful, reckless and abusive behavior ever committed in human history. In the morning these feeble words shield the guilty, but don’t remove the damage, or the consequences of the actions. Families have been ruined, lives destroyed, and deaths have been caused by people under the influence deceived by their own excuses. In today’s chapter, an entire generation has passed and now Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson is king. While the Persian army is camped outside the city walls, “King Belshazzar gave a great banquet“. We read there were a thousand guests, “While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar… had taken from the temple in Jerusalem“. Understand that these vessels were created and set aside, or consecrated for one purpose. Each was used by the Jewish priests in the Holy Temple for the act of worship. The gold was not magical, but the items had been dedicated, reserved for exclusive use. In order to mock God, “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.” Talk about a buzz kill! The king’s “face turned pale… and he was so frightened that his legs became weak“.
What was the message? The king summoned the wise men of Babylon, but they could not read it. The queen remembered Daniel, “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… knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams… Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means“. The king promised Daniel, “If you can read this writing and tell me what it means… you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom“. Daniel replied, “Give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king“.Do you answer when asked?
Daniel explained, “God gave your father… sovereignty and greatness… But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory… until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth“. Listen closely, “But you, Belshazzar… have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this“. Is arrogance keeping you from acknowledging God? Daniel gives the king the meaning, “God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end… You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting… Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians“. Daniel received his reward, but “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom“.Do you know that God has set you apart for His purposes too? You were bought with a price and consecrated for worship. He gives you free will to choose, but Galatians 6:7” href=”http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Galatians+6%3A7;&version=31;&interface=print”>Galatians 6:7 reminds us, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows“. Maybe you have messed up? 1 Corinthians 6” href=”http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=1+Corinthians+6;&version=31;&interface=print”>1 Corinthians 6 lists every form of debauchery imaginable and the apostle writes all who have repented, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God“. Is it time to stop making excuses?