Evening star., 1922-07-15

whom is the spirit Of the holy God" His
influence with Nebuchadnezzar became
proclaimed his ailegience to the God of
Heaven and threatened all people.
nations and languages that IL they
spake anything amiss against the God
OF Shadrach. Meshach and Abednego.
! they should be cut in pieces and their
houses be made dungniil' The sinful
sovereign summoned Daniel, whose
spiritual fellowship with God gave the
prophet the vision needed TO understand
His messages. which are sealed to the
world
When the venerable prophet. who was
/, proDably then about eighty-fiv years
OF age, entered the state dining room Of
the palace. that had been marked a few
! rousal convivaiity, and contempt for the
Almighty, he faced a king and court
that had been sobered by the myster-
1 ious writing on the wall whose signfi-
canoe they could not understand. Daniel
revealed his character by declining 10
| accept the offered reward of kingly
| honors. He did not covert the third
, place in the kingdom. Belshazzar az
king ruled as regent for Nabonidas, who
was the last Semetic king Of Babylon
No price can purchase the services of
the prophet, preacher or priest of God
The minister is Lot a hireling. Daniel
was conscious OF his ability to read the
! writings that the wise men could not
L
true servant of God, when he informed
the terror-stricken king of his personal
sins. which he enumerated before he
pronounced the doom of the nation and
king, that God had written on the wall.
Every statesman scholar and seer has
! found that the great and immortal
teaching taught In this lesson, which
every individual and nation needs to
learn, in that verify there Is a God
that judgeth the earth" He had passed
His sentence Of condemnation upon Bel
shazzar, not on account of his intem-
perance, but because he had de.fied the
power Of Jehovah. Drink has caused
many to fall and may be charged with
being an accessory to Belshazzar's sins
which Daniel told him were due TO the
kings pride. The naughty. selfish. ar
rogant monarch was unwilling to wor-
ship Jehovah and do His will. He had
; been Indifferent TO the divine instruc-
tions given by the example of the un-
speakable humiliation Of Nebuchadnez-
Ear. whose mind had become stricken
with lycanthropy "tiIl he knew that the
Most High God ruled in the kingdom Of
men,"
Belshazxar had irreverently brought
the vessels Of the temple into the ban
quet room and deliberately insulted
Jehovah by using them for drinking
wine. He challenged God with his de-
hance. when he summoned the thousand
guests to join him as he toasted the
| leaders by praising the idols. that Bel
shazzar knew were false gods. While
God may have waited patiently in His
effort to cure the king Of his immoral
| ity, intemperance and ingratitude. Jeho-
vah could not allow the irreverence and
challenge Of His authority by Belshax-
Ear. who had lifted up his heart against
Him. to go unnoticed. Immediately He
placed upon the wall the sentence of
doom upon the impious king.
| Daniel read the fiery letters that
4 II
| and the overthrow of the Babylonian
empire without any difficulty, for the
words were written in Aramaic and ac-
cording to the Taimud they were in
scribed ''pillarwise" from above down
| ward and not like Hebrew is usually
| may have made 1t enigmatical to the
] wise men. but not to the spiritual
! minded Daniel. who read the three
words, Meme, tekel peres," and inter
/ Of condemnation upon the terrified king
and the end of the Babyionian power.
The close relation of these words to
the verbs caused Daniel to interpret
them as such. Meme, a piece of money.
number. the prophet rear m'nah,
| meaning numbered or counted Tekel
was the name of a coin. the shekel.
This he interpreted to refer to t'quiita.
meaning weighed. and peres being the
word for half-numbered. suggested d.
marvellous words spoke to the prophet.
he declared to the. king and his as
sembied guests, 'God hath numbered
thy kingdom and finished it. Thou art
weighed in the balance and art found
wanting. Thy kingdom is divided and
given to the Medes and Persans." Bel
shaEzar recognized that the brief and
bitter announcement came from God
| He gave evidence of his appreciation OF
Daniels courage, capacity and charac-
| tar htIf sentence
of doom. for that night he died and
Babylon became the possession OF the
Medes and Persians.
Probably no better application OF
| this temperance lesson can be made
| than the lesson, which our chief ex-
ecutive taught in his Marion his
| torical address. that summoned the
nation to enforce the eighteenth
amendment of the Constitution. Un-
less we heed as a people his clarion
I the same we too, may find ourselves
suddenly confronted by the message
| of the eternal Judge pronouncing
sentence of doom upon US. because In
| our folly we have followed the eI-
ample Of Belshazzar. who, while In
! toxicated, defied Jehovah and was
, punished. We must not be deceived
! by the fact that for moment evil
! appears to go unpublished. COD shaii
| bring every work into judgment. with
| every hidden thing. whether IL be
/ good or whether II be evil"
| The hand writing upon the wall mas
| appeared to every man and nation
| who have failed to face the moral is
! sues of the moment and refused to
! try to solve them for the glory OF God.
| The condemnation does not come in the
! form Of fiery words that we cannot un.
! derstand, for His spirit has pointed
out to every individual their per
| sonal sin and peril. If We should be
| summoned before the bar of eternal
justice. we would have TO more ex-
T, cuse than BelshaEzar had the night
| the sentence of doom was penciled
before his eyes upon the palace wall.
He failed God and forfeited his right
| to serve Him as well as his right to
| live. Let US not fail God. but live
remembering that after death comes
| the Judgment for all men.
While the fact that Belshazzar was
| infiamed with wine when he ordered
the sacred vessels of the temple
brought into the banquet hall mas
caused this lesson to be assigned as
a temperance one. the real message
| is a warning against men lifting UP
. themselves against the law OF God.
Rudyard Kipling found it in the his
tory of Israel, as we nave founo IL
| in the story of Belshazzar's feast, He
sounded the great warning in a single
stanza, that our own and every ma
tion should heed:
"If. drunk with lust of power. we loose
wild tongues that have not Thee in
Such boasting as gentiles use
Or lesser breeds without the law
Lord God OF Hosts. be with us yet.
Lest we forget-lest We forget