Belshazzar was king of Babylon. He wanted to
celebrate. In Daniel chapter 5, we read “One evening, King
Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his highest
officials and he drank wine with them. Daniel 5:1
The text also tells us that he got drunk. He got his servants to
bring the gold and silver cups that his father Nebuchadnezzar had
brought from the temple in Jerusalem. After all, the best wine
deserved the best cups. The party was really swinging when something
unbelievable happened.
Suddenly a human hand was seen writing on the plaster wall of the
palace. The hand was just behind the lampstand and the king could
see it writing. He was so frightened that his face turned pale, his
knees started shaking and his legs became weak. Daniel 5:5,6
Daniel is sent for and he has to speak with great courage and give
the king an unpopular message. He had to tell the king that it was
all over. God’s assessment of Belshazzar was “He has weighted you on
his balance scales and you fall short of what it takes to be king”.
Daniel had to spell the message out and personalize it for
Belshazzar. “The most high God made your father a great and powerful
man…King Belshazzar, you knew all this but you still refused to
honour the Lord who rules from heaven…You refused to worship the God
who gives you breath and and controls everything you do. That is why
he sent a hand to write the message on the wall”. (Daniel 5:18,
22, 27, 28)
That night the king was killed and his reign ended.
As we represent Christ in the world of sport, our Babylon, there
will be times when we are called upon to deliver an unpopular
message. There will be times when, like Daniel, we need to challenge
sin and speak of God’s judgment. It will not be a popular message
and like Belshazzar those we speak to may not respond. Nonetheless,
it is part of our commitment to represent Christ and we speak of
judgment on occasions.
Stuart Weir and Graham Daniels
Also in this series on Daniel
Drawing the line
Not getting carried away
Master yourself
Life's a rollercoaster
The long haul
Things that last
Making a
difference
An audience of one
He
could never become a Christian
Does it matter?
Being there for
Christ |
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