LITTLE FLUFF doesn’t know what it’s all about, but, as you see, someone has put her on the scale. If you look closely, you will notice that she weighs just one ounce short of two pounds.
Our story this week is about a king over a vast empire who was put into God’s scales and, great man though he was, he was “found wanting.” His name was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, and we read about him in Daniel 5.
“Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.” Belshazzar was a heathen, and as the wine excited his passions, he dared to insult the one and only true God. He commanded his servants to bring forth the sacred vessels which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple of God, which he captured Jerusalem many years before. Belshazzar and his guests drank wine out of the sacred vessels, and “they praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.”
But in the midst of their drunkenness the feast was suddenly interrupted. There appeared the fingers of a man’s hand and wrote upon the wall of the palace, over against the candlestick. Though Belshazzar understood it not, God had entered the scene and was about to put an end to his sinful ways. The king was terrified, his countenance changed and he shook with fear. He cried aloud to bring in his wise men, who hastily appeared, but not one of them could make known the meaning of the writing on the wall.
Then the queen mother, who it would seem, had had no part in the feast, entered the banquet hall. She told the king of one named Daniel who could interpret dreams. Daniel had served God faithfully since the days of Nebuchadnezzar and he was an old man now. When he was brought in, the king promised him royal honors if he could interpret the mysterious writing. Daniel told the king that his wisdom was not from himself but from God whom he served and whom Belshazzar had dared to insult. Furthermore Daniel rebuked Belshazzar for his wicked behavior. He reminded him of how his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, having been lifted up in pride, had been humbled by God, until he confessed that the Most High God rules in the kingdoms of men. Nebuchadnezzar then had honored God and God had restored him. But Belshazzar had not profited by this lesson. He cared not to know the Lord, and instead of paying Him honor, he had openly insulted Him. Now it was TOO LATE! The handwriting on the wall spelled out the solemn word of judgment.
“This,” said Daniel, “is the interpretation of the thing.”
“MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it.
“TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting.
“PERES; Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Thus it happened. The night of the feast, while the king and his people were drunk with wine, the victorious armies of their enemies broke into the city. “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.”
What a solemn warning! Belshazzar was “weighed in the balances and found wanting.” But how about you, dear reader; will you be “found wanting” in the day of judgment? God’s Word declares that “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31).
“Oh,” you say, “I know I’m a sinner; but we can’t be perfect.” It is true, as Scripture says, “All have sinned,” and “all come short of the glory of God,” but God has provided a righteousness of His own that perfectly fits a sinner for His presence and His righteousness is “unto all” and "upon all” that believe (Rom. 3:2222Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Romans 3:22)). He has provided a remedy for sin — “The blood, of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin”; and when we have Christ as our Saviour, God accepts us in all the perfection of His Person and His work upon the cross.
Going back to the thought of the scales again: God demands righteousness. If I put the claims of His righteousness on the one side, and my sinful life on the other, how far short I come. But if the Lord Jesus has borne all my sins away, that makes all the difference. If I have Christ, God accepts me for His own dear Son’s sake, and I’ll not be “found wanting,”
Death can come very swiftly these days, both to old and young. O do not put off your salvation until, like Belshazzar, it is TOO LATE! But come to the Saviour now while it is yet the day of grace. Then you will not be “found wanting,” but you will be found “in Christ.” For “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1).
ML-07/24/1960