In the book of Daniel we read
about the king of Babylon, whose name was Belshazzar, putting
on a banquet during which a hand appeared and wrote three words
upon the wall. Though he saw the handwriting
on the wall, yet he had no understanding of it until the prophet of God
told him the meaning. The judgment of God upon him
was justly determined long before he saw this ominous occurrence.
No doubt his flesh was stirred, as the scripture indicates, that
his knees were knocking together, and he lost the ability to control
his bowels. In this same fashion are men
sometimes stirred in their flesh whenever the judgments of God
are set forth from the scripture, and the certainty of coming judgment
is declared. Yet, just like many who were
thus stirred in revival meetings, Holy Ghost outpourings, healing
services, and hellfire and damnation preaching, he brought forth no
fruits of meat for repentance, but rather, when the meeting
concluded, he went on about his business just as he always had,
even appointing Daniel to a position of importance in his kingdom.
In like fashion, many believe that all will be well with them
if they give of their money to those who preach to them. Yet
history tells us that the army of Cyrus came in by the very
gates left open by the neglect of Belshazzar as he and his generals
spent their time feasting and drinking in his banquet hall.
All of this occurred according to the ordained purpose of God
to render judgment upon Belshazzar and to demonstrate his just wrath
upon the children of disobedience. Belshazzar's grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar,
had received a similar prophecy from the lips of Daniel. Yet
those words were meant for good to him, as one favored of God,
since he was unable to bring forth the fruits of repentance
and cause to fall upon his face and worship before the true God.
For at the end of his time of chastening the Lord restored
his sanity, and he testified of the glory and majesty of a
sovereign God and his power to do as he wills. Belshazzar, on
the other hand, was not so favored, but rather this judgment came
upon him as a means unto his destruction, as is evidenced
by the events that took place with his death, which led up
to his kingdom being placed in the hands of Darius the Mede,
who was the nephew of Cyrus, king of Persia, whose armies
invaded Babylon. All men, without exception, are
worthy of destruction, because all men, without exception, are
sinners by birth, by choice, and by action. Belshazzar was
no more of a pagan than Nebuchadnezzar, yet he was weighed in the balances
of God's justice and found wanting. Nebuchadnezzar, on the other
hand, was as worthy of destruction as Belshazzar, yet the Lord showed
him mercy and brought him to a place of repentance and subsequent
worship. while he brought Belshazzar to
hopeless ruin. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and
another unto dishonour? The fact that God shows mercy
to anyone is amazing, considering the nature of man. The natural
man grows angry when he reads Esau have I hated, because he
assumes God is somehow obligated to love all men the same. Actually,
he should stand more in amazement when he reads, Jacob have I loved. There is far more reason that
he should hate the whole human race than there is that he should
love even one of us. Yet it is pleased him to love
a people which he chose in Christ before the foundation of the
world in order to demonstrate the glory of his grace and to
make his mercy known in the heavens and the earth. This fact takes
away all room for boasting among men, and the objects of his mercy
can do nothing but praise him for the glory of his grace. So
why is there a difference between Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar?
They were both sprung from the same heathen ancestry, were worshippers
of the same pagan gods, and were full of their own self-importance
and the fulfilling of their carnal lusts. There is one word which
sums up the only difference between them, That word is grace, the
marvelous grace of a sovereign God. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive?