The Prophecy Of Daniel Speaking To Us Today
Belshazzar, the king demands to bring the silver and gold vessels from the temple so his princes, wives and concubine's can drink from them. They drank wine in them and praised other gods of wood, stone, iron and gold. In that same hour came the finger of a man that wrote over the plaster on the king's wall in the palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
We're going to travel back in time to ancient Babylon to a royal banquet. Babylon was the first world empire and its gardens were considered one of the seven wonders of the world in that ancient time. Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, is now the king of Babylon. This young hearted king decides he will hold a royal banquet and he invites thousands of his lords and princes. The palace was ablaze with light. The candle lobbers shined upon the golden and silver vessels from the temple.
The most prominent people in the kingdom were invited to this banquet. They were dressed in rich garments and precious jewels. They were the upper crust. They were the social elite. They held high positions in that kingdom. Babylon was a world empire. Treasures were in abundance, in jewels, gold and precious stones.
A wild party was in progress with the scents of perfumes, music, and exotic dancers. Laughter was heard as the dancers danced across the tables to perform their suggestive dances before them.. The king and his men were getting drunker and drunker, and bolder and bolder as each hour passed. But as time went on things began to get dull and blurry from so much wine.
Belshazzar decided to do something to brighten things up. In his drunken stupor he demanded that the vessels in Jerusalem be taken from the temple, the House of G-d, and to be brought in so that his princes could drink from them.
"Fill their cups," cried Belshazzar, "and drink to your king." So they filled up the sacred vessels from the House of G-d and drank to their King and false gods.
Suddenly, a death-like hush fell upon the banquet hall and a hand appeared on the wall. It was a hand without an arm, and without a body. The hand was writing upon the wall. Belshazzar became pale and he began to shake. Nothing like this had ever happened before and in his drunken state he began to wonder, what does this mean? So he called for his wise men, and soothe sayers and magicians. But when they saw the handwriting on the wall they were unable to give the meaning. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
Queen mother came in and she knew Daniel personally, and upon her advise Daniel was called to tell the king what the writing on the wall meant. Belshazzar promised Daniel all types of riches and treasures if he would only make known to him the handwriting on the wall.
Daniel was G-d's man, and he wasn't looking for riches and told the king to give those to others. Daniel said, "but I will tell you what the writing means." Daniel said, "first, I'll tell you why it came. You have lifted yourself up against the G-d of heaven and have defiled G-d's vessels. You have desecrated them. You have drank wine with your lord's and praised the false gods of wood, iron and gold, and of stone. That's the reason why these things are written upon the wall."
Daniel continues, "and this is what the writings mean. G-d has numbered the days of your kingdom. Thou art weighed in G-d's balances and been found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Meads and Persians."
Belshazzar thought that perhaps if he treated Daniel with kindness that he could avert this catastrophe that had just been prophesied. But that very night that prophesy was fulfilled. While a party was in progress Cyrus and his officers were just outside the walls of Jerusalem at the Euphrates River digging a tunnel. They diverted the course of that river into another direction. That night Cyrus and his army marched under the walls into the city and Belshazzar was slain.
I want you to think about the words that were written on that wall. Thou has been weighed in G-d's balances and found to be wanting. Belshazzar was not weighed by man's opinion, or his own opinion, his friends, nor his neighbors, but he was weighed by God's balances. G-d examined him and said, in my sovereignty you are vile and an ungodly man. Your time of grace is finished and your time of judgment is at hand.
There's people that we all know that ranks high in public opinion. They are big and important people in our community and in the eyes of the world. But they don't weigh one ounce when it comes to G-d and His balances. This is so because they've never seen their need for G-d. They've never turned from their sins to the living Savior. They continually give their lives to this world.
We live in a deceptive culture, and if you'll look it becomes confusing because we go to church and read the word of G-d but we see people in the church not living by the word they read. Their lives are not balanced with the word of G-d. Go do a survey and ask a 100 young people to name the 10 commandments, 90% will not know them or only live by one or two of them. The first four commandments show our relationship with G-d, which is what I'm dealing with in this writing. The last six commandments show our relationship with mankind which I will address in another article.
Jesus summed up these commandments after a lawyer and ruler said, "What is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus answered him "to love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, mind, soul and strength." Jesus turned and said, "the second command is like unto the first, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
I want you to know that G-d has some balances and these balances are found in Exodus 20. We call them the 10 commandments. I'd like for you to ponder and meditate on how your life measures up to these commandments. You must measure your life by these commandments. If you look at the American culture it will confuse you because it is a corrupt culture. The greatest nation on earth has strayed from our biblical standards and now our nation is being weighed in G-d's balances and it has been found wanting.
Thank G-d for the true church because its the only thing that is keeping G-d's wrath from this nation. We need to pray for our nation and live a holy life. The first commandment is thou shalt have no other gods before me. What are other gods? They are man's gods, the things he thinks the most of, and the things he thinks the most about. Let's take a closer look at some of the gods we set up in our lives.
1. The god of money.
It's been said that money is the god of America and sex is the goddess of America. Lets look at money first. Do you tithe to the Lord? Do you love your money more than you love God? I learned recently that only 3% of the people in the church tithe their 10%.
G-d doesn't need your money. It is a seed and harvest principle for you to prosper and be blessed. You can't receive blessing until you sow something for it. G-d said, "Test me and try me on this." G-d said, "I'll open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you and there will not be room enough to receive it." You'll have to give it away to make room for more.
People in the church are afraid to trust G-d with their money. We've got to allow G-d to have all of our lives, how we live, how we spend our money, and how we love others. You've got to just say, Lord, here am I and I'm willing to do it your way, not a little here and little there but 10%. If you start being obedient to G-d's word, he'll turn every area in your life around.
If G-d has your heart, he's got you. Guard your heart, give it to nothing or no one except to G-d. 1 Timothy 6:10. Now here is the problem in the American church, "for the love of money" is an American god, and that is coveted after even behind the pulpit.
America has erred from the faith. You have erred when you rob G-d from his tithe. Some of you say, oh that sounds harsh. It's not harsh, its the word of G-d so all may go well with you. I write G-d's word so that blessings can come upon you, and so you can prove G-d's word. Some people will do anything to get money. They will steal, cheat, and lie. Yet G-d says in Mal 3:10, how have we robbed G-d? In tithes and offerings.
Some people would just rather be recognized by man, and have no thoughts as to how G-d is weighing him. Some men would rather get their names in a newspaper than in the Lamb's Book of Life. Social recognition is put before G-d. Don't be found wanting by G-d.
For some, sports is their god. Instead of being in the House of the Lord, they're perched in front of the tube watching some ballgame. For some, its the golf course or race track. Some people are required by the system we live in today to work on G-d's holy day, but I say work your salvation out in fear and trembling. If you can get a job and be off on Sunday, I would opt for that for the sake of your blessings and keeping the Sabbath Holy.
2. The god of pleasure.
We have become captive of the god of pleasure just like in Ezekiel 13:14. Here G-d is talking to Israel but the American culture is the same as the captivity of Babylon by its culture. The Lord is saying, can my people inquire of anything of me when they've set up idols in their hearts? Belshazzar was weighed and found wanting. I don't see much difference today in the American culture.
We are not to be a slave to worldly pleasures. Sexual immorality rules this nation with its advertisements, in movies,in songs, and on bill boards. The sanctity of the marriage covenant has been put aside and anything goes. And they were found to be drinking and being merry and marrying and marrying some more.
The honor and holiness of marriage has been discarded by an outcry for equality for same sex marriages. God has an order for the make up of the family, it is an eternal law that he set forth in the Garden of Eden. Americans sleep around and then when they get pregnant they suck the life's blood out of their babies, and this nation will answer to that blood on its hands. And they were found to be wanting.
Even some Christians put pleasure before God. Where are the great Christians in our churches on Sunday night? They're not there so they must be seeking pleasure or going their own way. It's easy for the world to deceive you when you neglect to be at church listening to the word of God on all these matters.
Place no other gods before Him, that is our first commandment. If you love G-d you are going to want to be in his presence on his holy day. You will want to be with precious people of like faith. Worshiping G-d in spirit and in truth.
A lot of churches operate on the world level. If you're not getting the truth of the word, and sometimes the truth is hard, because it weighs and balances our hearts and behaviors, then find a church that will preach the word, line upon line and precept upon precept.
3. Idols of graven images.
Now I'm not talking about having a cross and pictures of Jesus on your wall. The problem is images that we begin to bow to and worship. I'm talking about horoscope charts and readers, fortune tellers you can call up 24-7, tora cards, Buddha and Mohammad. The name of Jesus is sufficient to go to G-d in prayer. You don't have to go through Peter, Paul or Mary. There's no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus said, I am the way, the life and there is no other way to the father except through me.
God gave Jesus the authority when he raised him from the dead and set him at the right hand of
G-d. You can come boldly before His throne in the name of His precious son, Jesus Christ. We don't need statutes or objects to approach the throne of G-d.
4. Giving your heart to the world and speaking worldly language.
Thou shalt not take the Lord your G-d's name in vain. My Lord! This is such a common sin in America. It's a G-d defying profanity. We can't even have a talk show on national t.v. without them blaspheming G-d's name. We have filthy, vulgar language across the airwaves and our children are subjected to that daily.
Don't measure your life by the American culture. Measure it by G-d's word only. God has a problem with this kind of speech. A Christian ought to be clean in his speech. If a person hears you curse and then hears that you're a professing Christian you have caused that person to stumble. Reverence for G-d is the foundation of Godly character. A man, or woman's character is judged by their speech. Matthew 12:34.
I can spend five minutes with a person and tell what's in their heart. Most devils won't spend five minutes with me, after one minute they're gone, because my speech centers around Godly things. There's been even a few preachers uncomfortable in my presence. They will start to be closed mouthed in a social setting because they would rather be talking about a ball game or something of this world. I'm wanting instead to know from them what G-d has put in their spirit lately. I'll put up with worldly speech just so long and I'm ready to talk about my favorite subject, the word. That's what my mind is stayed on daily.
Jesus called people with foul language a bunch of snakes. How can evil speak good things? It takes only about five minutes and people will reveal what they love the most through their speech.
5. Exchanging the Sabbath for the world.
Now there is a controversy with just what day the Sabbath is. Just when the Christians began worship on Sunday traces back to the new testament and became more prominent in the 2 century AD.
There is certainly scripture where we see the Apostle Paul meeting on Sunday for worship.
However there is evidence in other scripture where we see the disciples teaching in the Synagogue on Saturday Sabbath. For the most part the Christians worship on Sunday as a memorial to the day Jesus rose and appeared to the disciples.
Now you've got to understand that the Gentiles were a pagan group of people. They had just come out of the bars and sexual immorality and the like. But they got saved and began to meet in different houses to worship on Sunday. G-d created the world in six days and he rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath is a day of rest before the Lord.11 Peter 3:9.
The Christians don't observe the Sabbath. They observe the Lord's Day. The church commemorates the finished work of Christ. 11 Corinthians 5:17
The issue of the Sabbath has a whole lot more issues and is another article. Here, it is to show how important it is to keep the Lord's day holy whatever day you worship, whether its on Saturday or Sunday, keep the commandment to keep it holy. Don't be found wanting with the Lord's holiest day. It's about honor and coming before him, and is a seed and harvest principle.
To see complete study and listen to audio on this topic go to www.westmorelandphc.org and listen to the sermon by Rev. Jerry Nelson
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