Scripture
At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing, his face turned pale, and his thoughts so terrified him that he soiled himself and his knees knocked together.
~ Daniel 5:5-6 (CSB)
Quote
Men who fear God face life fearlessly. Men who do not fear God end up fearing everything.
~Richard Halverson
Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson through his daughter Nitocris. Belshazzar calls Nebuchadnezzar his “father” in Daniel 5:13, but this is a generic use of the word father, meaning “ancestor.” The name Belshazzar means ‘bel protects the king.’ Bel was a Babylonian god of protection and in this instance, Bel did not do a very good job. Belshazzar did know about Nebuchadnezzar’s punishment from God for being arrogant. The LORD put an insane spirit in Neb and he thought he was an ox. He left the palace and lived in the wild. He even ate grass like an ox. The LORD did restore Neb after he repented of his pride. Belshazzar probably made a run at the throne during that absence of this grandfather. All we know is that Neb, after being restored, had Belshazzar put in prison and it was probably for conspiracy. The point is Belshazzar was a slow learner. The hand writing on the wall began with a drunken party where Belshazzar under the influence of liquor, had the TEMPLE vessels brought in and he and his minions made fun of Yahweh as they drank wine from the sacred temple vessels. The hard writing on the wall so terrified Belshazzar that he messed in his pants.
First of all, intelligent people don’t get under the influence of alcohol. Have you every known anything good or productive to happen when a person is drunk. The drunks on the movies may be entertaining but have you encountered a drunk in real life? It is not pleasant nor entertaining. When the alcohol takes control the demons come in by the droves. Belshazzar did something very stupid because he was drunk. When Daniel raked him over the coals, he chided him for not knowing better but at last, a drunk as no sense. My second point is that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and Belshazzar had no fear of the LORD. He made fun of Yahweh which is not a good idea.
Robert Ingersoll the infamous atheist would rent auditoriums and then announce a meeting where he would shake his fist at God and say things like, “If there is a God, let him strike me dead in the next five minutes.” He drew large crowds. After the five minutes was up he would say, “See, I told you there is no God.” A newspaper reporter was interviewing people after the demonstration and he asked one little lady what she thought: she said, “I think God has better things to do than to accommodate fools.” A man asked me Wednesday night if I thought God still avenges Israel and those who mistreat them. I said, “I sure do and I would be horrified if the US took a position against Israel. It would be suicide.” What did Solomon say, “Fear God and keep His commandments.”
- Well, it could be a long season for the Danville Hawks. Either Falkville is really good or we are really bad. I do think Falkville has a good team. They could have easily put up 80 points had they wanted to. We were ten minutes late and it was 14-0 when we walked in. Falkville has some good players. Number 8 has been playing varsity since 8th grade and he is really good but they have others that are good. They may make the playoffs.
- We are in desperate need of rain at 1120 Iron Man. My allergies are giving me fits. The dust is killing me but I’m not complaining. Ryder has a game today at 11:30 and I’m hoping for cloudy weather. Decatur Heritage won. Lance is playing middle line-backer this year.