Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin

I've made it my goal this year to read through the prophets. Let's face it, don't we normally tend to think of the prophets as a more "boring" part of Scripture? And while yes, they are a little harder to grasp than other parts of the Bible, they're just as full of meaning and truth as the rest of the Word!

After Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel, I'm finally getting a little "break" in the book of Daniel. :) Since I know all the stories, there's been the temptation to just breeze through the chapters. But something struck me as I was reading through Daniel chapter 5 today that I wanted to share.

We all know this story - Belshazzar is king now that his father Nebuchadnezzar is dead (and when it says "father" it may just mean that "N" is "B"'s ancestor), and this guy has a serious ego. He gives a HUGE banquet for a thousand of his nobles, brings out the goblets that were taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and praises false gods while drinking from the treasury of the true God! Ouch!

Then the hand appears and writes on the wall, Daniel is eventually called in to interpret, and he reads:

"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. This is what these words mean:  

 "Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

"Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.   

 "Parsin: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." 
(Daniel 5:25b-28)

Then this is the part that struck me as odd - Belshazzar rewards Daniel for his interpretation, as if he believes what Daniel said, but then does nothing! No signs of repentance. And that very night, he is assassinated, and his kingdom given over to Darius, just like Daniel prophesied.

My initial thought was, how stupid can a guy get!? He sees this obviously supernatural hand write on the wall, hears a prophecy against him, rewards Daniel (acknowledging that what Daniel said was true), knows he's running out of time...but he does nothing.

But how often am I in the same boat? God warns me about something, either through His Word or through another person, and I acknowledge what He says, but remain unrepentant and take no steps to right my path? Then His discipline comes, just like He said it would, and I'm left looking stupid.

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ~ James 4:6b

Or how about this - how many people go to Church because it makes them feel good? They like hearing the message and its interpretation, they like the singing, the people, and watching the power of faith at work. But when it comes to the message of repentance, they don't really take it to heart, turn, and follow Christ.

I would definitely recommend "Not A Fan" by Kyle Idleman on this subject
www.notafan.com

So, let's not just be "fans" of Jesus or "fans" of Church! And let's certainly not be like Belshazzar!

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Hebrews 3:7b-8a)

Love in Christ,
Ellie

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 6, 2014 at 7:39 AM

    It's interesting that Daniel may have read Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 22:1-10. Isaiah says in verses 3 and 4 of that chapter that he is distressed by this night that turned into fear. He then goes in verse 5 to say that those in Babylon set a watchman but do not pay attention to him since they are anointed the shields of their halls and eating and drinking with Belshazzar. Then, the night is further prophesied in verses 6 through 9 where this watchman reports that "Babylon is fallen, is fallen!"

    It's also interesting that you mentioned that Belshazzar decides to reward Daniel, but that since Daniel likely read Isaiah and certainly knew of the impending destruction he tells Belshazzar to keep his rewards.

    The application to us is certainly to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, understanding the times we live in and realize when the judgment of God is upon us as an individual, as a family, as a church, or as a country.

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