More importantly, can you understand what it means?
Transcript
[Darris McNeely] More than a thousand partiers were gathered in the king's palace when suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand appeared, disembodied, and began writing on a wall the words "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." All the partying stopped. Everyone wondered what it meant. The king was scared. But no one could understand what those words meant.
It's a familiar story. It's told in the book of Daniel chapter 5 beginning in verse 1 (Daniel 5:1-31). The handwriting on the wall in King Belshazzar's palace, the king of Babylon, during the time of the Babylonian Empire.
What did it all mean? What was about to take place?
The wise people of that day could not understand. The king called in all of his magicians and sorcerers and no one could figure it out. Finally, in came the king's wife and said "You know what, there's a man that we've long forgotten—that your father knew about. His name is Daniel and in him is the spirit of the Most High God. He can help you understand what this is all about." (Daniel 5:11-12)
So, they brought in Daniel and Daniel came. And he explained it to the king and to all who gathered exactly what those words meant.
It wasn't a pretty picture. It wasn't a pretty message. He said basically, "You, O King, and your people and your kingdom, have been measured and found wanting and it's all over." And in that night, it was. The Persians were at the gates. The Persian Empire came in and overcame Babylon at that particular time and their time in history was gone. (Daniel 5:25-30)
I've been thinking a great deal about that story in light of all that's taking place in the world today. And I'll probably be coming back to it a few times here in the next few days in our BT Daily's because we're living in a period of time in our world where there's a lot of handwriting on the wall. And people are seeking understanding as to what it all means.
Europe is going through a crisis that is threatening to reshape the entire European continent with the Euro crisis. America has an outstanding deficit problem that seems to be unsolvable. The wise men of the United States cannot come together to create a plausible package to solve our problems.
We look at the Middle East, particularly in Egypt, and we see there that in the streets and among the people of Egypt, the Mid-East and that particular area, seems to be tearing itself apart. And we could go on and on from there, but you get the point.
Is the handwriting on the wall for our nations? Where are the wise men? More importantly, what does it mean for you? What does it mean for me? How do we understand these times?
Well, the question really comes down to whether or not we'll be like Daniel, or we'll be like that old King Belshazzar. Will we be scared, uncertain, continue to repeat the mistakes that have been made and go into oblivion? Or will we, like Daniel, have the spirit of the Most High God, an excellent spirit in us, guiding us to understanding of the times, discerning us the proper action in this particular period in history.
The question is before us. And the decision is yours and mine to make. It could be one of the most important ones that we will make in our lives.
