Mon.’s Devo - The Writing on the Wall

Read:Daniel 5:1-31; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Psalm 119:113-128; Proverbs 28:19-20 Years after Nebuchadnezzar died Belshazzar became king. He held a great feast, and to impress his guests he ordered the gold cups to be brought to him which were taken from the Temple of Jerusalem. They drank from them as they praised their idols. Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a man’s hand writing on the wall near the lamp stand. The king was so frightened his knee knocked. He called for his enchanters, astrologers and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He told them that whoever could read the words and tell him what it meant would be dressed in purple robes and given a gold chain for his neck. He would become the third highest ruler in the kingdom. None of them could read it. The queen mother heard what was going on and came running to tell Belshazzar that she knew someone who could tell him what it said and meant. She told him of Daniel who was famous during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign for having the wisdom of the gods. He was filled with divine knowledge and understanding and he could interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Daniel was brought in and told the problem and what the reward would be. He told the king that he could keep his reward but he would tell him what the words meant. He reminded him of Nebuchadnezzar and what he had to go through to be humbled by God, yet he, Belshazzar had not humbled himself. He had brought in the gold cups of God’s Temple and drank from them while he worshiped his idols. The words on the wall were “Mene” which means “numbered”; “Tekel” which means “weighed”; “Parsin” which means “divided.” The interpretation was that the days of his reign had been measured and this was the end. He had been weighed in God’s balance and had not measured up. His kingdom would be divided. Belshazzar rewarded Daniel with everything he had promised then that night, he was killed and Darius, the Mede took over his kingdom. History tells us that Belshazzar was also known as Marduk-sar-uzar which was another name for Baal. In one of these contract tablets, dated in the July after the defeat of the army of Nabonidus, we find him paying tithes for his sister to the temple of the sun-god at Sippara. Nebuchadnezzar had been his grandfather. Peter warned the church that there would be false prophets and false teachers among them. They would cleverly teach destructive heresies and deny Jesus who had bought them with the price of his blood. Their teaching would bring sudden destruction on themselves like what happened to Belshazzar. Their teaching would lead their followers to participate in shameful immorality. They would extort their followers of their money. God has already condemned them long ago when he condemned the angels who came down and taught the people how to sin in Genesis Six. God threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness where they are being held until the day of judgment. This will be the same reward for these teachers. God destroyed the earth through the flood because of the sin produced by their lies. God used the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to show what will happen in the end to those who continue in sin. God is especially hard on those who practice perverted sex and despise authority. The false teachers are like animals who only follow their sinful instincts and have no remorse. They do their sinful acts in broad daylight and disgrace God’s people. Their reward for what they have done will be destruction. They have trained themselves in sin and will reap the blackest darkness. Those who are saved out of that life style are saved only if they stay away and never return. If they do return to a life of sin the will be worse off than before. Lord, may we live according to your Word and discern between good and evil. Thank you for your Word, your Spirit and your Truth.