God’s Writing 4: Judgement
Readers of the Bible might be forgiven for thinking that
Israel was at the centre of history in the centuries before Christ, but in
reality for most of their history the people of Israel were under the dominance
of other great powers. Only in the time
of David and Solomon (around 100 years before Christ) did Israel make its mark
on the world stage. Before that, Egypt
was the mega-power and other local enemies, including the arch-enemy, the Philistines,
continually threatened the tribes descended from Jacob. After Solomon the united tribes fractured
into two kingdoms and their power was gradually eroded in the face of the
growing power of kingdoms to the northeast – first the Syrians (or Arameans),
then the Assyrians and lastly the Chaldeans (or neo-Babylonians). Eventually the two kingdoms of the people of
Israel fell – the northern kingdom to Assyria in 722 BC and the southern
kingdom of Judah to Babylon in 586BC.
From a purely historical perspective, Israel was insignificant
and a failure. Yet the biblical revelation
explains what God was doing behind the scenes.
The exile was not a failure of God’s power, but a judgement from God for
the sins of His people. They had not
been faithful to His covenant and so God brought on them the curses that were foretold
in the time of Moses. The sin of Israel
was threefold: religious hypocrisy; social injustice; and idolatry. They failed to demonstrate to the world the
glory and goodness of God. So God
sovereignly raised up the Mesopotamian powers to remove them from the
land. One of those who was taken into
exile in Babylon was a young man called Daniel.
He was taken by King Nebuchadnezzar in 605BC, two decades before the
final destruction of Jerusalem. In
Babylon he integrated into the system of education and government, but remained
faithful to God. Daniel and his friends
are a brilliant example of faithfulness in a hostile environment. They knew exactly where to draw the line of
appropriate involvement in the world without transgressing into forsaking God’s
standards. We can learn much from them
today.
Daniel served under king Nebuchadnezzar and his successors,
but by chapter 5 of the book that bears his name he seems to have been in
retirement. The year was 539BC and
Daniel must have been in his 80s. The
old man had served his time and Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Belshazzar, was now
the regent in Babylon on behalf of his father Nabonidus. Belshazzar is depicted in the midst of a
drunken feast with his officials. Under
the influence he decides to commit an act of sacrilege – the cups that had been
taken from the temple in Jerusalem would become his drinking vessels. Nebuchadnezzar had taken these items, but had
kept them in the temple of his own God, treating them as sacred in some
way. He had also had a dramatic encounter
with God in which he ended up acknowledging the sovereignty of the Lord of
Heaven whose objects these were (see Daniel 4).
Now Belshazzar is treating these holy items in a way that directly
insults the God of Israel. More than the
cups is at stake – the very future of God’s people hangs in the balance. Is Belshazzar going to wipe out the people of
Judah as he has defiled the objects belonging to their God? How can God’s promise to Abraham that all
nations would be blessed through his descendants be fulfilled?
In this very moment a disembodied hand appeared and began to
write on the wall of the banquet hall.
The king was terrified and his advisors were perplexed, being unable to
interpret the message. Eventually the
queen mother, who heard the commotion from her chambers, recommended that
Daniel be called and the aged Israelite is brought from his retirement and,
quite possibly, from his bed. The
prophet explained that the words on the wall meant that Belshazzar’s days were
numbered, he had been weighed and found wanting and his kingdom was about to be
divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
Belshazzar appoints Daniel back into service as the highest official
under him, but that very night Babylon is taken by the Persians, who had
already besieged the city, in a surprise attack as they divert the river
Euphrates and wade in through the depleted moats. The consequences were profound: Belshazzar is
killed; the Persian empire becomes the new dominant power; and Daniel is
returned to a new period of service at court, extending into the reign of the
new emperor Cyrus.
What is the significance of this episode of God writing on
the wall? It demonstrates the
sovereignty of God over both world events and over individuals. The changing imperial powers in the near east
were not just random processes, but God was at work. The Assyrians, who took the northern kingdom
into exile, had a policy of moving populations around their empire in order to
break their association with their lands and, therefore, their gods. As a result, many of those taken from the northern
kingdom were assimilated into the other peoples of the empire. The Babylonians, by contrast, tended to take
away only the elite people and allowed them to maintain more of their religious
identity. Thus the people from Judah who
were taken into exile were able to remain faithful to God. The Persians had a third approach – devolved government,
witch more freedom for expression of national identity within their
territories. The change from Babylon to
Persia was perfect for God’s purpose to be fulfilled as Cyrus allowed the Jews
to return to Jerusalem. God was working
out His purpose through the major events of history, preparing the way for the
coming of Christ.
Within this, however, God was also involved in the lives of
individuals. He acts in judgement on
Belshazzar and in restoration for Daniel.
Belshazzar may have been a pawn in God’s great plan of salvation
history, but he was still responsible for his own choices, including his
decision to defile the cups from the temple.
Here again we see the reality of divine sovereignty and human
responsibility. The writing on the wall
was merely a visible demonstration in time and space of what is constantly
happening in the spiritual realm – God sees and records all of our actions and
we will give account to Him. So, when
the final judgement is described in Revelation 20, we read that books are
opened which contain records of every deed committed by every individual. Nothing is hidden from God and He will judge
fairly according to what we have done.
The problem is obvious, of course.
None of us can possibly reach God’s standard and pass His test. The evidence is stored up against us – just imagine
how ashamed you would feel if every detail of your life was on public record,
every hidden thought and every unseen deed.
Well, it is on God’s record! Like
Belshazzar, our days are numbered, our deeds will be weighed and our destiny
will be decided by God. God is sovereign
in judgement and we stand in need of forgiveness and restoration.
Comments
Post a Comment