The Writing on the Walls of Our Own Lives

King Belshazzar sat through his banquet, enjoying food and wine at the expense of sacred items stolen from a previous invasion of the Temple of Jerusalem. He also had worshiped the gods of materialism, lust, and gluttony. That night Belshazzar experienced the ‘writing on the wall’ was the night he witness the crumbling of his kingdom.

Daniel 5:5 it states “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lamp stand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.”

Belshazzar was not only mortified but was killed that evening. What the king experienced that fateful night was merely the ‘physical’ writing on the wall. Oppressive leaders in the Bible share the commonality of ignoring multiple signs and warnings, only to harden their hearts to the point where they paid the ultimate price?

Belshazzar’s arrogance and naivety led to this downfall. There were fair warnings by insiders of the invasions happening around the Middle East. Rather than focusing on defending this kingdom, Belshazzar took advantage of his position for self-absorbance and abuse of power.

In today’s world, we witness the same. People ignore their own ‘writings on the wall’. Instead they drive forward, thinking the signs and warnings are someone else's fate.

• Smokers continue to contaminate their lungs despite decades of research linking smoking to cancer
• People having recreational sex despite knowing the risk of sexually transmitted disease.
• Young ladies desiring men with a history of abuse or infidelity.
• We vote for those in office who are known con artists or sinful people.
• We fudge numbers and lie on job applications knowing it can lead to termination.
  

The ‘writings on the wall’ exist for us all. Ignorance only leads to a fall. Why do we ignore? The ego is strong. Desire is strong. These are agents of the devil. We worship the idols of food, alcohol, or someone validation. We fight for our belonging to earthly pleasures over spiritual enlightenment.

Belshazzar may have received many warnings during this reign, not just that that fateful evening. He may have flaunted being worthy to use sacred utensils from the Holy Temple of God. Today, we may think we are worthy to abuse our own sacred utensils such as the earth, our families and friends, our bodies, our minds, and especially our spirit. Pop culture is riddled with reality TV shows, to sports, music, and political ideologies. It is to us as the banquet was to Belshazzar, making us feel more worthy than we are and distracting us from God.

Those who believe know that living a God-like existence reaps rewards not to be received in heaven, but rather, immediate gratification. Eat healthy, you live long. Avoid smoking, you live long. Do not identify yourself with celebrities or political parties; you will live a peaceful existence. The writings are all on the wall. They are also in the Bible.

May you live long peaceful life. Shalom.

Jim Hague
Co-Producer, The Prophecies of Daniel
www.thedanielmovie.com

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