Psalm
9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations
that forget God.”
Today
my heart is troubled by the state of our nation and the world. The
leaders of our world sit high and mighty upon their thrones and
dictate their carnal, immoral decrees as though they rule in absolute
power, brandishing contempt and disdain for the oracles of God and
the righteousness of His Law. They rule with impunity without regard
for the fact that the Creator and Ruler of the universe has allowed
them to rise to the prominence of their position. He gives them the
very air they breathe and the life that possesses their mortal
bodies.
What
these immoral leaders fail to realize is that every word and act of
mortal man will be brought into judgment. All men, both great and
small will give an account of his life's work when we stand before
the Judge of all judges. They fail to realize that the God of all
creation has a threshold of Grace and Mercy, a line in the sand if
you will. A time in which His Grace and Mercy will proceed no further
and Judgment takes their place. We see the pattern repeated time and
time again throughout the Bible.
One
such example comes bolting from the pages of scripture in Daniel 5.
Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, ordered a great feast to impress a
great company of his lords. Caught up in the celebration of his own
vanity, he commanded that his subjects bring the golden and silver
vessels that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the House of
God in Jerusalem. Daniel 5:3, “Then they brought the golden vessels
that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at
Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his
concubines, drank in them. 4They drank wine, and praised the gods of
gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5In
the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over
against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's
palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6Then the
king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so
that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one
against another.”
It
was Daniel's lot to interpret the message and deliver God's decree.
You see, it is God's decree that reigns sovereign and will stand with
us in judgment. Daniel chastised the king for his gross indifference
to the Holy Vessels of the Lord's worship and service. Daniel 5:23,
“But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they
have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy
lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and
thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood,
and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose
hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not
glorified: 24Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this
writing was written. 25And this is the writing that was written,
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26This is the interpretation of the
thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27TEKEL;
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28PERES; Thy
kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. 29Then
commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a
chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him,
that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30In that night was
Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31And Darius the Median
took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”
The
action of the king was blatant sacrilege. Belshazzar had seen the
favor of God upon his father Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom when he
recognized and submitted to the God of Daniel. However, Belshazzar's
gross indifference to all things pertaining to the Lord God of Life
and Creation became his undoing. Belshazzar crossed the threshold of
God's Grace and Mercy. God's judgment awaited him on the other side.
We
observe the same attitudes and actions in the societies of our nation
and the world today. The trend is to call the bad things good and the
good things bad. Our world is no different than King Belshazzar in
Daniel's day. The attitudes and actions that demand our acceptance
are blatant sacrilege and an affront to all things that God calls
good. The hand of God is writing on the wall. His warning is being
given. Immoral leadership and immoral living is weighed in God's
Balance of Holiness and found lacking. Be it known by all mortal men
that sin and rebellion will be brought into judgment. God's Grace and
Mercy will turn to Judgment. The ONLY solution is to repent and
return to fellowship with Jehovah God!
