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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

People Matter

Image
Today was one of those first time experiences that I'll never forget. I've been a part of our local Church Body - Southwest Wake Christian Assembly (SWCA) - for right around eight years, and although we've had a dozen births and a handful of marriages, we've never had a death of one of Body members. One of our oldest members, Mr. Bob, was just transferred to Hospice this week with likely only a few more days to live on this earth. The whole situation was rather sudden - I knew he'd struggled with health issues for a while and was weak, but I didn't realize how close he's been to death. Today I got to visit him. Unfortunately, he was sound asleep the whole time, but I still got to talk and sing loudly to him. Even if he didn't hear anything I said or sang, I'm sure God will pass along the message when Mr. Bob falls into His embrace. I admit, I cried. It was emotional seeing him there, knowing he won't be here for much longer. I was also sad tha
Read more

Joy and "Genesius"

Image
So much has gone on in the past couple weeks!! Not only did I finish my joy study (yay!), but I got through the last two weeks of rehearsals and three performances of a Christian Youth Theatre play! (www.spiritualtwist.com) The play, titled "Genesius", focused on the persecution of early Christians in Rome, 303 AD. It explicitly shared the Gospel, and touched on themes like sacrifice, surrender, faith, love, joy in trials, and much more! I was HUGELY blessed to be able to be a part of this production, and know I will never be the same, especially after the role I played. My character's name was Claudia. Not only was she a Christian, but she was also a noblewoman, which was less common in those days. Her (fictional) husband was also an important official and a close friend of the Emperor, Diocletian. When Claudia and her daughter, Lydia, are captured and brought before the Emperor (which happens during the play), he tries to get Claudia to renounce her faith, first by a
Read more

Dance Before the Lord

Image
Today I read 2 Samuel 6. This is when David and all of Israel are bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. The first time is a failure (the dude touches the Ark and dies, David gets spooked, and lets some other guy take care of it for a while), but I focused my study on the second part of the chapter, when they're bringing it in again the right way. It says that David danced before the Lord (and subsequently all of Israel) with "all his might". There were shouts, and trumpets, and other musical instruments blaring, I'm sure. Then David began "leaping and dancing" in celebration and thankfulness before the Lord. Not only is David held in honor by the people for this whole-hearted display (as we find out later in the chapter), but David also blesses the people by giving them all food. However, David's wife Michal (Saul's daughter), despises and condemns David for his dancing, saying that he made an utter fool of himself before the people.
Read more