“Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened, and his knees knocked against each other. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Now all the king’s wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished. The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God.” (Daniel 5:1-11 NKJV)
There are multiple lessons in the account above. For instance: (1) Don’t defame that which is holy. (2) Know that God will send you a message when you are not doing right. (3) There are false gods, but we need to worship the true and living God, the LORD. (4) The ungodly, as wise as others may label them, are unwise and in fact blind to meanings of the messages of the Lord. (5) Many times, men need to be directed to the sure source by the women in the house, much like the queen in the opening text. There is more! But I have one essential lesson to elaborate on this Saturday morning.
Here is the point: Don’t look to ungodly sources for help in understanding God’s messages. Such sources are unable to see godly things from the correct perspective. Astrologist, atheists, and some academic giants, if they don’t look at things from a godly perspective or they are not empowered to do so, they cannot encourage you with words of truth. Street wise folks and sinful people cannot help you. Folks with failed relationships and the one they are in now is not working cannot help you. Fiction and flippant people who have no fear for the LORD, cannot help you. Talk show hosts who hold not reverence for God cannot help you. Therapist who do not defer to theology are not the primary source. People who merely display a form of godliness, while their lifestyles consist of turning away from God, in other words, people who look like church folk because of their Sunday attire, but are not clothed in righteousness, cannot help you. Individuals who may even quote scripture verbatim, but really only see the word from an intellectual viewpoint and not from a spiritual perspective cannot help you! Anyone who does not study to rightly divide the word of truth and actually depend on the Holy Spirit to guide them to all truths cannot help you.
What we need to do is follow the advice of the queen, as described above. Seek out a faithful follower of Christ in whom the Spirit of God dwells. Find a faith partner who will join you in discerning God’s message. Listen to the preaching and teaching of a God-fearing, faithful servant of the Lord. Look now! You know it’s Saturday morning, so I will remind you as always, show up at church tomorrow and hear the specific message that God will send specifically for you! Look at the closing passage and see how Daniel, one of God’s own was able to explain the message, the handwriting on the wall. The king’s message, not so good. The message you will get from the King tomorrow, well as always, will be for your good. Be blessed!
“This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. This is what these words mean: Mene means numbered—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means weighed—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5”26-28 New Living Translation)
Mark L. King