Weighed- Mesasured and Found Wanting

For those of you who have been following my daily lessons today I give you Daniel 5 :1-30. Those of you who have followed remember that Daniel was in the King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. He had inturrpeted several dreams for the king and they had come to fruition. After the last one came to pass, the king turned to God until he died. His son, King Belshazzar not so much. “5 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 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. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.5 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. 6 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[b] 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.”
8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.10 The queen,[c] 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! 11 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. 12 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.”
13 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? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15 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. 16 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.”17 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.18 “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19 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. 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 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.22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[d] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 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. 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.25 “This is the inscription that was written:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin

26 “Here is what these words mean:

Mene[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

28 Peres[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 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.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,[h] was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at age sixty-two.”
Now let’s look at the lesson or lessons here. First Belshazzar would have known what happened to his father when he was not in line with God. It was not a state secret. Second, He knew who Daniel was and that everything Daniel had told the prior King had come to fruition. He also knew that Daniel was a man of God. But as humans who depend on their own salvation are prone to do, this king believed he was invinsible. He had to show how powerful he was by throwing a banquet for those in power around him. As we see from the scripture God was no happy with King Belshazzar. God had used the words before. Powerful words that packed a punch. And to show that God is who he says he is, he wrote them on the wall for all to see. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. The King totally befuddled when his wise men could not translate on the advise of the Queen sent for Daniel. Daniel held nothing back. He told the king that he had not humbled himself to the Lord, but instead had set himself above God ,even though he knew about God and his mighty power. That he stole the goblets from the Temple and used them for his guests to drink from. He told him that he did not honor God and now it was time to face a reckoning. The tanslation was, “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 the Persians.”
It was that very night that Belshazzar was slain.
There are a couple of lessons in this short chapter. 1.The things we learn in the enviorment we are raised in is not always the way we behave when we are older. Instead of learning from what happened to his father and staying close to God, Belshazzar did the complete opposite. In fact he did what his father had done prior to his encounter with God. 2. that for every action there is always an opposite and equal or greater reaction and consequence. 3. Like Belshazzar we are free to make our own decisions, but we are not free from the consequences of those decisions. 4. When one sees the writing on the wall, it would behoove one to stop and pay attention. 5. There will be a reckoning and all of our actions will be put in front of us. 6. Daniel never wavered in his convictions to God. He never apologized, he never excused and he never backed down. 6. God is in control. God sees all, knows all and has a plan. God’s message never changes, the messenger does, but not the message. 7. Those who refuse to pay attention to the message well, let me just say they did not understand the writing on the wall. Our days are numbered. Only God knows how many they are, have we been weighed on the scales and found wanting? Are we going to be given over to the conquerers and held in bondage because we have lost our way? Because we think we are mightier than God? Because we refuse to listen to the message and the messenger? Only you can answer those questions. Only you can decide if you have been put on the scales and found wanting. But would logic not tell you it is time – no way past time to put God back in your life? After all he holds your life in his hands. #God,#weighedandmesauredandfoundwanting,#daniel