[Darris McNeely] I get a lot of mileage out of this picture done by the painter Rembrandt depicting the Feast of Belshazzar, out of Daniel 5, where the hand appears in the handwriting on the wall. I've used it "Beyond Today" programs quite a bit here on BT Daily's. And I use it a lot when I'm teaching the book of Daniel, especially at Ambassador Bible College because it's a pretty good representation of the terror, the fright of the moment, and the wording that is there and what that means. And it captures a moment out of the Bible that I think we're in right now.

We have gone through a very contentious election period. We've come to a point in this pandemic, where right now, as I was hearing the last few hours, that there's a 90% effective vaccine on the horizon that we certainly pray and hope will be available to stem the pandemic, and to, in a sense, get life back to normal.

Don't you want life to be back to normal? All the politics aside, make a decision, let's get on. Take our masks off. No more worry about a disease and a virus, back to normal. But as I've been saying so many times, in our writings and "Beyond Today," what will that new normal look like? Can we really go back to normal?

You know, this picture shows a disruption of the normal of Ancient Babylon. And it's in your Bible to tell us something. The moment of that handwriting, and as the Prophet Daniel interprets it, he tells the king, and he's telling the Babylonians, and frankly, he's telling us because it's God speaking through Daniel, that what that wording means on the wall, mene, mene, tekel, upharsin in the ancient language, is that you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.

You've been found wanting, you've been examined, you've been judged, speaking of Babylon, you've come up short. It's a message about judgment. It's a message about understanding, and watching, and discerning the time. And as we bring it into our life today, and where we are in this world, we go back to normal and what will the new normal look like? Can we go back to it? You know, a lot of things have changed. We haven't seen all that is going to take place. The world in many ways is different.

And, you know, regardless of who's in the White House, who's in charge of Germany, who's in charge of France, or the power in the Middle East, wherever that might be, that regardless of the human ruler, there are certain things in this world that continue on, regardless of politics and political party. Because God is in charge of history, as Daniel so eloquently was bled to put it. And as the Scripture reveals, God's purpose stands. Our job in our time is to understand where we are and to make sure that we don't come up short or be found wanting. It is important to step back from the human level of politics and personality, and recognize that regardless of the President, the King, the Prime Minister, the political party, there are certain events that are moving relentlessly in the world today toward a conclusion, according to God's purpose, God's plan, and the Bible. That is what we must always keep in mind. And there are things in the Scripture, the markings, and the signposts to tell us that.

And so, with all that happens, whether it's a pandemic, an election season, who wins, who loses, who's in, who's out, the world continues to be what I call slouching toward Babylon.

The Bible reveals that there is a revival of what ended that night with the fall of Babylon in the year 539 BC. The world's looking for a revival of what it calls Babylon, mystery, religion, Babylon the great, final revival of this system, a religious and a political system. And the world today is slouching toward that Babylon. The world, keep our eyes on that. And as we seek to understand that and live righteously in this world, make sure that we are not found short or lacking in any way spiritually before God. That's the message of the handwriting on the wall, in large part. And it gets down to how you and I live our lives and make sure that we are right with God and understanding His great purpose.

We're slouching toward Babylon. That continues regardless of an election, regardless of the season. It's moving in that direction. We talk about that on "Beyond Today" and we will continue to talk about that today. And you should continue to want to understand and to discern exactly what is meant by this picture depicted by Rembrandt of a hand of judgment that appears and writes a message to understand the times so that we're not found wanthing.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.