March 14- The Writing on the Wall
Daniel 5:22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of Heaven.
Belshazzar had called doom upon himself because in Daniel’s words, “He set himself against the Lord of heaven. He had the goblets from God’s temple brought to him, and he, his nobles and wives, concubines drank wine from them, which was a direct act of dishonor in using the temple. He did not honor the God who held in his life. Arrogance and cruelty brought destruction on him. The presence of God has to be very anointed in a place for anything to happen, either good or even a judgement to fall. Some things have to connect and align for this to happen. The timing was set, and all was in order for the judgement to fall.
On a very supernatural night, a hand wrote an inscription on the wall declaring that his kingdom would be seized that night and he would be killed. Even though Belshazzar accepted the prophecy and rewarded Daniel, sadly, he died that night. Note, Belshazzar, could have repented and called upon God and he would have been saved, but he did not.
Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Belshazzar did not have the courage to stand up and listen. If he was really listening, it would have brought him to real repentance, and surely the proclaimed curse would not have fallen on him. People who don’t listen actually don’t have the courage to hear the truth!
Today, our leaders of our nations may be filled with arrogance, pride and may have lost the fear, reverence or love for God. They fear nothing and think God is not watching, but God has His times. In His time, He acts, and brings down one king, and raises another.
If you are living in fear of your ruler, take heart. God is watching all things. Keep your heart girded in prayer and pray for your rulers in practiced patience. God will start to tumble down strongholds and work pathways in mazes to either reach their hearts, or remove their thrones. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, God reached his heart and he repented and changed. However, many kings like Belshazzar harden their hearts against truth. People in their nations are persecuted because of their arrogance. God hears the cry of the oppressed and brings down arrogant kings. The same happened with King Herod. His own arrogance, pride and hard-hardheartedness brought forth an early sudden death.
Sometimes, God may raise us to warn someone in authority about pride, but if they chose to ignore it, they may lose their life and even their government. So never stop praying for your governments because God will keep working in them and through them. He may remove a cruel ruler to replace the government with a more tolerant one. Our prayers make a big different.
As we pray, let us also learn this lesson: May we live humbly before Him acknowledging that He is God over kings and kingdoms and all creation. May we learn to read the writing on the wall and make changes quickly if we are wrong. This is where the English idiom comes from “Read the writing on the wall!”
Rita
Comments