Handling Holy Things
22. And you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.”
23. But have lifted up yourself against the Lord of Heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you, your lords, your wives and concubines, have drank wine in them; and you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone which cannot see, nor hear, nor know, and the God in Whose Hand your breath is, and Whose are all your ways, have you not glorified:
24. Then was the part of the hand sent from Him; and this writing was written.
25. And this is the writing that was written, Me-ne, Mene, Te-Kel, U-Phar-Sin.
26. This is the interpretation of the thing: Me-Ne; God has numbered your kingdom and finished it.
27. Te-Kel; you are weighed in the balances and are found wanting.
28. Pe-Res; your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
Daniel 5:22-28
What Will You Do with Holy Things?
In studying the Book of Daniel, many have discovered that it is more than a book of prophecy, it is also filled with God’s instructions and lessons on how the righteous should conduct themselves. While it focuses on the four main characters who were taken from their Judean homeland, it also includes other characters that God dealt with. The first five chapters of Daniel share valuable insights as to how believers should live in an unbelieving world. There are standards that God expects of His people even if they are living in stressful conditions and surrounded by pagan practices. God expects holiness.
The Lord dealt specifically with the king of Babylon in order to show him that it is the Most High Who rules both in Heaven and on earth. All, absolutely all earthly kingdoms are under the authority of Heaven. Chapter 4 closes with king Nebuchadnezzar issuing a royal proclamation and his own testimony that God is to be praised and feared. The king also delivered a stern warning that “those that walk in pride, He (God) is able to abase.” As chapter 5 opens, it is apparent that Nebuchadnezzar’s heir paid no attention to the warning nor did he take time to recall what had happened to his grandfather. In Belshazzar’s ascension to the throne, he held a celebration for all the royal court and rulers throughout the kingdom. Somewhere the king got the notion to bring the holy vessels that were taken from the Temple at Jerusalem and use them as drinking chalices. That was the first mistake. Unauthorized use of dedicated things will always get you in trouble. Oh it got worse as the event went on. As they drank from these dedicated vessels, the king and his attendants began to praise earthly things. That was the second mistake. Giving credit to idols. They honored and worshipped the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone. The Scripture also records that they did not mention God’s Name. That was the third mistake. They had failed to give God glory. Then the Scripture states, in the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand and wrote over against the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Daniel 5:5. Without warning: God had crashed their party. Then the king called for all the astrologers, soothsayers, and Chaldeans to read the writing and give the interpretation. Of course, they could not provide the king with any answers due to the fact that the writing was encrypted by God. Only a godly person could, therefore, render the interpretation. It never occurred to Belshazzar that this entire incident could have been avoided had he not mishandled God’s holy vessels.
We’ll return to Belshazzar’s dilemma shortly, but at this point we must take time to evaluate how this could have anything to do with how we treat holy things. Does the lesson apply at all? Yes it definitely does apply. The basis for such a claim is in the mere fact that God has given everyone something sacred. Every person alive has been given a holy possession. Some might be led to call it life itself, but it is incredibly more than that. Some might call it a gift, but it is even more than that. God has given every person alive what I refer to as the Gift of God’s Time. This is more than just minutes, hours, days, and months. We’re not talking about the accumulation of time but rather the use of our time. As Solomon stated, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1. That is God’s remarkable gift to you and me. How we use that gift will determine how we handle God’s holy things.
If you stop and think about it, without the gift of time there would be no existence at all. Every activity depends on it. Yet we wake up each day under the assumption that it is some right of endowment. One thing is perfectly clear, only God can give you and I that next heart beat and the one after that. That is how precious time really is. With that being said, let’s look as some principles that Belshazzar missed so that you and I would not take God’s treasured gift and use it foolishly.
What Does it Mean to Say, “Something is Holy?”
Belshazzar knew where the vessels came from. He also knew that they were stored in the house of his pagan god. He, therefore, had a choice. As Dr. Myles Munroe said, “If you don’t know the purpose of a thing – you will abuse it.” This is why it is important that we understand the four principles that are associated with Holy Things. The first is the principle of ownership. God owns everything. In the case of the Babylonian king, God owned those holy vessels. While he had possession of them, that is not to be confused with rightful ownership. In our case of time, we have all been given the equal amount of time as everyone else. No one can add to the minute or the second. You cannot speed them up nor can you slow them down. I believe that time serves a great purpose from God and that is to offer you and I the wonderful opportunity of discovering His Goodness every single second of the day. How could anything be greater than that?
God is the Owner and that makes every gift a holy possession. He gives us access to such possessions so that we would honor Him. Honor the Lord with your substance and with the firstfruits of all your increase. If He is the Owner, then we are only the users and we must not get the roles confused. Belshazzar failed that first principle because he thought that he owned what he only possessed.
Having access to the holy vessels from God’s Temple, he and his royal guest proceeded to drink wine out of them. With this, we are introduced to the second principle of holy things and that is observation. Those holy vessels that they were drinking from came with instructions. As a matter of fact, God Almighty had dictated to Moses a major section of the Law that addressed the proper use of the holy vessels. The Torah spoke specifically of what the vessels should be used for, who should use them, and how to maintain the vessels. Belshazzar failed to read the instructions and simply took what was not his and began to use them as he saw fit. This got him into big time trouble.
Please understand that God is not playing some game. Either people read and heed the instructions or they lose. In this case, Belshazzar was losing. So, God decided that since the king did not consult the Law, nor did he ask any of the people of Judah what the vessels were for, that He (God) would send a note. While there was a prophecy written on the wall, the short interpretation was simple. “That is Mine,” says the Lord. Then was the part of the hand sent from Him; and this writing was written … And this is the writing that was written, Me-ne, Mene, Te-Kel, U-Phar-Sin. I find it amazing that we too are subject to the handwriting on the wall if we don’t heed God’s warning. When you abuse that gift of time that we’re talking about, expect the handwritten note from God to be plastered on the walls of your palace. Your body will pay for what your heart does not heed. Abusers of time will wear the scars on their body. Yet those who observe the Lord in all their goings will flourish even in their old age. That is what the Word says. The question is, “how will you handle holy things?” Will you observe His Ways and follow them or will you turn a deaf ear to the Truth?
What would cause the Lord to write on the wall? One good reason is when people fail to heed the warning in their heart. Belshazzar assumed that he was above correction and isolated from all threats. Little did he know that outside the secure walls of Babylon, Darius and the Median army were busy rerouting the river away from the city so that they could literally walk right into the palace yard. This brings us to the third principle of holy things. When someone possesses something holy they must be careful with the operation. The principle of operation demands that we use holy things as prescribed. Do not add to it and do not take away from it. This principle is exercised best in humility. When a person is humble they will generally follow the instructions carefully. Arrogant and conceited folks will always think they know what to do and will ultimately fail. A classic example of failure to operate holy things were the two sons of Aaron. Aaron was the first priest and his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, were assisting their father in the holy work of sacrificing to the Lord. They offered to God something that He did not tell them. Please understand that they were dressed properly. They had the right goal in mind. They were even in the right place. They failed however, when they offered “strange fire” to God. They were instantly consumed by fire that came out from the Presence of God. It was called “the burning” because they were slain as they attempted to commit an unauthorized act. While we may try to justify their innocence, it is evident that God saw otherwise. God saw it as rebellion. What Belshazzar did was an act of rebellion against God’s authority and on that same night he would be slain by king Darius along with his fellow drinking partners.
We might tell ourselves that this is the Old Testament and God is merciful and looks over such things. Think again please. When Annanias and Sapphira lied to the Church about their offering, they instantly fell dead. See Acts 5:3-10. The Apostle Paul was even led by God to warn people who take communion lightly. Unless believers examine themselves they could be subject to sickness and even death if they fail to reverence the Holy Communion. All that it takes is to search ones heart and ask the Lord to prepare us and show us how to handle holy things. We referenced time as that holy gift of God. If we are to use this holy gift properly, we should ask God to guide us in our use of time so that it honors Him and blesses us. That is the right way to handle holy things. Ah, as the old saying goes, “if you don’t know – you had better ask somebody.”
The final principle in handling holy things is what I refer to as optimization. I don’t believe that God gifts are ordinary in any way. Yet we can use the gifts properly but never fully exercise them to the highest level possible. At this point we turn from Belshazzar and we observe the life of Daniel. He had served for years under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. Now, he was serving under Belshazzar. God had evidently given Daniel the gift of longevity. But it did not stop there. Daniel had experienced a number of promotions simply because of his obedience and dedication to God. Daniel did not take the attitude of “doing just enough to get by.” He believed in giving the Lord his best in every circumstance. That is optimization. Right now, we should all be asking ourselves, “what is keeping us from giving God our best?”
Optimizing the gifts from the Lord has much to do with our life goals. Should we assume that living is measured by wealth, good times, laughter with friends? Those goals will only lead to earthly outcomes which are limited at best. My concern is that Western culture is only concerned with “making money” and that goal is a direct contradiction of Scripture. Jesus asked in Mark 8:36-37, what shall it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul? … What will you give in exchange for the soul? There will be many who will suffer great loss because they devoted their time to living prosperous in this world only to discover they had bankrupted their soul. That ancient king, Belshazzar was more concerned about the good times and he paid the heavy price of improperly handling holy things. We should all heed the warning.
Daniel was called to interpret the hand-writing. This is the interpretation of the thing: Me-Ne; God has numbered your kingdom and finished it … Te-Kel; you are weighed in the balances and are found wanting … Pe-Res; your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. This three-fold prophecy was fulfilled within a couple of hours, not years, not months, or even days. The kingdom of Babylon had been tallied both as to time of duration and the extent of their rule. God had summed everything up. Then God, not man, had weighed the entire kingdom on the scales of time and it was found wanting or lacking. All the power and greatness that the Babylonians had claimed was put on God’s scale and it lacked in every area. Power was lacking. Wealth was lacking. Supremacy was lacking. Most importantly – holiness was lacking. That single act of defilement of God’s vessels had summed up the attitude of the ungodly kingdom of Babylon. God was essentially saying, “Your kingdom is insufficient – you are done.” Then, as Daniel had prophesied to the first Babylonian king, it was now determined that God would put down one kingdom and set up another one according to His good pleasure. See Daniel 2:21. The Medes and the Persians would now begin to rule over all the former provinces that Babylon had occupied.
We are left with the question as to how our little earthly kingdom will end. It all depends on how we use that precious gift that the Lord has so freely given to us. Time will tell. I mentioned that time is God’s gift, but did I also mention that time is also God’s secretary? It is recording every act that you commit. Time is recording every word that is spoken. Time is recording all the places that you go and all the people you meet. You and I are not writing our own history. No, it is time that is doing that work. You do, however, have a say in the matter. You can choose to be in charge of your kingdom or choose for Jesus Christ to rule over you. Many will accept Christ as Savior but then fail to honor Him as Lord. If you acknowledge Him as both Savior and Lord, He will then edit everything and declare you righteous before His Father which is in Heaven. The choice is yours.
Conclusions
I remember as a youngster listening to some of the preachers saying that “when we get to Heaven our works will be placed on a scale to see if the good outweighed the bad.” I later discovered that this was the passage they used to support that teaching. Let me just say that there is no proof that there will be scales in Heaven. We do know that there will be God’s Judgment. We also know that every believer will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ. There is no getting around it. With that Judgment in mind, both the sinner and the Saint must give an account of how they lived their life. The history of your life will all be on record in Heaven. That is certain. The single question on the final exam will look like this. “What did you do with God’s Gift?” The question will be in the words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The correct answer to that question will determine where you will spend eternity. Here is the catch. You must answer that question prior to you leaving this world.
The other key point is that God wants you to have a good message written over your life. He wants you to pass the test, if you would. Your Loving God is willing to re-write the entire story of your life if you would simply give Him the control. Rather than taking God’s gift of time and spending it as you choose, give it to Him. Ask the Lord for directions and wisdom. He wants you to succeed and will lead you to do just that if you simply place your trust in Him. The saddest thing about Belshazzar’s failure is that he left this world never having experienced the wonderful Grace of God. I encourage you, let God start writing your story of how His Love and Mercy made the difference in your life.
May God bless you as you treasure His holy things.