” …Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Daniel 5:27).
God weighed this man Belshazzar, king of Babylon, and found him wanting. Every man passes over God’s scales on his way to eternity, and God’s final decision is final. There can never be any appeal against that decision. I read, in Daniel 5:30, “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.”
This man had no intention of dying that night. He had planned this night to be the greatest night of his life, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand” (Daniel 5:1).
Babylon, the pride of antiquity, never looked gayer than on that night. Babylon never felt more secure. In the midst of it, Belshazzar reigned supreme, but before that night would finish, this blasphemer would beg for a preacher and God would write his sins on the wall of the palace.
There in the middle of the Babylonian Square, stood the palace of Belshazzar. At the palace, this night was to be a night of revelry, unprecedented in the history of Babylon! The music, the food, the laughter was great, but it was during this night that Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, stands to blaspheme the God of Heaven. This is what the Bible says, “Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote” (Daniel 5:2-5).
I want to repeat that last line, “… and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” God was uninvited to that supper-party, but He came anyway. A thousand lords and their ladies had attended a feast of death that night! God had an account to settle with Babylon.
Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Galatians 6:7 says, “… God is not mocked …” Herod will blaspheme and throw the apostles, James and Peter, in prison, and “… upon a set day … arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration …” (Acts 12:21). The crowd will shout and say, “… It is the voice of a god, and not of a man” (Acts 12:22), but God will enter that picture! Here is the record as the Bible writes it, “And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms … But the word of God grew and multiplied” (Acts 12:23-24).
Pharaoh will blaspheme and taunt the God of Israel and snear at Moses, and say, “… and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh … there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land…” (Exodus 14:27-29).
Jezebel will blaspheme and swear to destroy God’s prophet, Elijah, and say, “And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window … And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot … And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite …” (2 Kings 9:30-36).
Time after time man, in his daring, raw confidence, will take his chances and oppose the living God, and always the record is the same, “… Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). Men will keep trying. The Hitlers and the Stalins will climb over the shambles of the Pharaohs and Belshazzars, and always history will record the same verdict, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
Friend, let me speak to you! What celebration have you arranged? What security do you boast? With what company are you? How much have you left God out of the picture of your life?
I’m not so sure that a lot of professing Christians aren’t as guilty as Belshazzar when it comes to using the holy vessels of God for other than intended purposes. Take, for instance, that sacred vessel, your own body. That body is made after God’s likeness. The Bible says that it ” … is the temple of the Holy Ghost … “ (1 Corinthians 6:19). What are you doing with it? 1 Thessalonians 4:4 says, “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.” The Apostle Paul says that the body is ” … for the Lord … “ (1 Corinthians 6: 13). What about it friend? There’s a “pay-day” coming, and I’m going to have to give an account.
Now, my unsaved friend, let me speak to you personally! Do you know what this chapter tells me? Here is what it says. It says that when the mysterious writing appeared on the wall of the palace that night, ” … the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another” (Daniel 5:6).
Did you get that? ” … his thoughts troubled him … ” His conscience went to work, and when he got the preacher there that night to read the Word of God to him, Daniel didn’t mince any words. He said, ” … thou knewest…But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven … and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified” (Daniel 5:22-23).
You see, this man knew better! He knew about the deliverance of the three young men from the fiery furnace. He knew about God’s dealing with his father, Nebuchadnezzar, and how he had been driven into the field to eat and live like an animal for seven insane years. He knew! No wonder his knees knocked together that night. “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things” (1 John 3:20).
In that night, now stark sober, with the handwriting on the wall, he had no one to blame but himself.
Neighbour, if that was true back there in the long ago, then how much more true will it be in this enlightened Gospel age? What excuse will you have?
I want to read you God’s offer, ” … He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5 :24). God is willing to settle this thing with you now.
God will settle for only one thing: He will accept your public confession that what His Son, Jesus Christ, did on the cross was done for you. When you make that confession it means that you are saying, “I am a sinner and worthy of God’s judgment against my sins as much as Belshazzar had it coming to him on that night of his drunken party, but I believe Jesus died for my sins and paid my penalty. My trust is in Him and His Presence to help me live as I ought to live.” Get down on your knees and mean it with all your heart and God will accept it, and judgment day will be over for you!
Friend, it’s up to you! I don’t know what may be the scale by which you may have been measuring yourself? You may be in the upper bracket in the social register of your community, but remember this, the day will come when God will do the measuring. You may feel secure in some little “Babylon” you have built- some bank account, reserves for a “rainy day” or “stormy weather.” But take the advice of a preacher, don’t count God out of the picture. Pay-day is ahead. A settlement must be made.
” … prepare to meet thy God … “ (Amos 4:12).