Belshazzar ruled the world of that day from Babylon. But his kingdom was coming to an end (539 B.C.). He called a great party and decided to dig out some of the chalices and cups his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from Jerusalem when they destroyed the temple. They profaned these sacred items using them during their drunken orgy. Suddenly they literally “saw the handwriting on the wall,” finally calling Daniel to interpret the message. The prophet gave the king bad news, “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Belshazzar was killed that evening and Darius the Mede captured the throne. Belshazzar was told his failure, “And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.”
Destruction comes when God is not honored. Our very breath is in His hands and our days are numbered. We can worship many things but the Bible tells us over and over again to first honor God.
The sad part of this story is that Belshazzar did not feel remorse before he died. The good news for us in this age of grace is that we can repent of our sins, humble ourselves before God the father and seek forgiveness through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, on the cross. Give honor to God today!
Ken Locke is corps administrator of The Salvation Army in Warsaw and director of the Greater Warsaw Ministerial Association. Have ideas for this column? Go to www.gwma.info.