The writing on the wall

The "writing on the wall" account in Daniel 5 is endlessly fascinating. It's worth reading the whole thing.

As a brief summary, the Babylonian kind Belshazzar was throwing quite the rowdy party, when he decided up crank things up a notch by using drinking vessels that were stolen out of the Jerusalem temple.

God, angered by that show of disrespect, issued the ominous "writing on the wall." Belshazzar summoned Daniel to interpret the writing.

That account is famous. But in this post, I'd like to draw attention to one detail. As part of Daniel's rebuke, he notes that Belshazzar's father, Nebuchadnezzar, also had angered God. The difference, though, was that Nebuchadnezzar had humbled himself and repented, and God then forgave him. Belshazzar, by contrast, had never shown such humility and repentance.

Then comes this chilling line (Daniel 5:22, KJV),

And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this.

Yikes! It's the "though thou knewest all this" part that should scare us. Because we also know the story of Nebuchadnezzar! In fact, we know a lot more than that. We have the entire bible, including the gospel accounts! We're no better than Belshazzar. In fact, we're worse! We have access to much more spiritual information and insight than he did.

We have no excuse. Let us not delay. Let us "humble thine heart" before God.

Make confession unto the Lord God

Chapter 10 of Ezra finds the post-exilic Hebrews entering into marriages that have been expressly forbidden by God. Verse 11 (KJV) records Ezra's advice on how the people should correct that situation. That verse reads,

Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.

Although that verse applies to that particular point in Jewish history, the message is general enough to apply to any sins in our own lives. Just substitute the phrase "strange wives" for whatever transgression we have committed.

That is, when we sin, we should (1) make confession to God, (2) adjust our behavior so that we "do his pleasure," and (3) separate ourselves from the source of our sinful activity.

Thou art careful and troubled about many things

In Luke 10:41 (KJV), Jesus tells Martha,

Thou art careful and troubled about many things.

(The word "careful" appears as "worried" in other translations.) Jesus essentially is saying that Martha is being distracted by earthly things. We all fall into that trap, every day! But 1 John 2:17 (KJV) says,

The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.

Those words are important to reflect upon as we become "careful and troubled" by worldly things. It's not that we should completely ignore earthly things. That's not possible. Rather, we should prioritize heavenly things. As Jesus stressed (John 16:33, KJV),

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

The Lord in the midst of thee

Zephaniah (3:17, KJV) is a famous verse, and one worth memorizing.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

This short verse promises that God is near to us, but it goes beyond that. The verse also highlights that God takes great joy in us, and that is something that's easy to lose sight of.

Let us take comfort not only in God's nearness, but also in his declaration that he delights in our very existence.

 

The bible as literal "truth"?

The bible contains many instances of supernatural, seemingly-implausible events. And those passages inevitably lead to debates about whether the bible offers literal truths about those events. Those debates are frustrating, in part because spiritual debates almost never break one way or another based on scientific evidence. But those debates also can be frustrating due to way in which they seem to inflame passions on both sides.

So at the very risk of inflaming those very passions, let me state how I see things.

First, I think it's wrong to ask whether the entire bible is divinely inspired. Rather, we should ask whether, despite being crafted by humans, the bible contains a single word, a single turn of phrase, a single punctuation mark, or a single capitalized letter that might have received divine guidance to appear that way. (If your answer is "No," then you're probably at the wrong blog!)

If we accept any morsel of the bible as divinely inspired, then we must conclude that God intends the bible as a communication device. Consequently, even the parts that appear supernatural or implausible must contain important truths. But perhaps those truths are spiritual rather than scientific. After all, if one wishes to learn calculus, one should read a calculus book. But the bible exists to teach us spirituality.

Take the fascinating story of Jonah and the fish. Is that story trying to convey information about some heretofore unknown sea creature, as well as insights about a human's ability to survive inside that creature? I don't know. Maybe. It's a fascinating argument, but not one that we'll resolve (or win).

More importantly, I think, is that the story of Jonah is trying to convey that God's will cannot be thwarted. Jonah tried to ignore God, as we all do sometimes, but it didn't work. (The three-day banishment inside the fish also foreshadows Jesus' death, as Jesus himself noted.)

Or take the part of the bible that really gets people worked up: the Genesis account of creation. Is God trying to give us a point-by-point scientific description of how existence came to be? Again, I don't know. Maybe.

Or is God trying to convey spiritual truths of how existence came to be, that God controlled everything from the beginning, while giving humans and their attachment to that existence central importance.

I think, when reading the bible, it is more useful to focus on spiritual truths than scientific truths.

If any of you lack wisdom...

Job 28:12 (KJV) questions,

Where shall wisdom be found?

The answer, provided throughout the entire bible, is God. Paul refers to God as (1 Timothy 1:17, KJV),

The only wise God.

The word "wisdom" is used throughout the bible to refer to a type of obedient spiritual insight. James goes a step further, by outlining how we can access that very wisdom (James 1:5, KJV),

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God ... and it shall be given him.

So we can access that wisdom by simply appealing to God! Let us try exactly that through prayer.

 

But if not...

Chapter 3 of Daniel finds Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tossed into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worshop a Babylonian pagan idol. Prior to being put in the furnace, they explain to the Babylonian king that God will save them (Daniel 3:17, KJV),

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand.

But they don't stop there. They continue in the next verse (18), which has become famous,

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

This is fascinating. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego essentially state that God is perfectly capable of saving them, but he is not obligated to do so. And, crucially, even if God doesn't save them, they still refuse to disobey God's commandments.

Simply, we are commanded to believe and obey. We cannot expect individual rewards for doing what we're already supposed to be doing. Jesus touched upon this theme (Luke 17:10, KJV),

When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Achieving that mentality displayed by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not easy. But that's the level of faith that God wants from us.