{"id":23648,"date":"2022-10-20T22:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-5_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-10-04T13:57:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T20:57:48","slug":"daniel-5_13-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-5_13-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith Is Not A Matter of Sight, But of Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel 5:13-31 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 5:13-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 5:13-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-24:\u00a0 Belshazzar knew all about how God had shown up in Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s life.\u00a0 Belshazzar knew how God had taken away Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s authority and drove him into obscurity when Nebuchadnezzar pridefully attributed all his power and glory to himself.\u00a0 Belshazzar also knew how God exalted Nebuchadnezzar to an even higher level when Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself and gave praise to God.\u00a0 Daniel reminds Belshazzar that \u201cthough you knew all this\u201d \u201cyou have not humbled yourself\u201d (v22).<\/p>\n

Some people say that seeing is believing.\u00a0 But when it comes to faith, sometimes people see and still not believe.\u00a0 That\u2019s because\u00a0faith is a heart issue more than it is a sight issue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Belshazzar could not plead ignorance about the LORD.\u00a0 Belshazzar had learned, and maybe even seen firsthand, how God had mercy on Nebuchadnezzar, but Belshazzar still decided to ignore God anyway and give praise to lifeless idols instead.\u00a0 Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall, and yet despite all that he knew about what Nebuchadnezzar had experienced with the LORD, Belshazzar\u2019s first instinct was not to consult the LORD but to resort to the wisdom the world had to offer \u2013 the astrologers and wise men of Babylon (see 5:7).\u00a0\u00a0God holds us accountable to what He has revealed to us about Himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 5:25-28 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“This is what these words mean:\u00a0Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-28:\u00a0 \u201cMene, mene, tekel, parsin\u201d were words in Aramaic, a language spoken in Daniel\u2019s home country of Judah.\u00a0 \u201cMene<\/em>\u201d, which was probably repeated for emphasis, means \u201cnumbered\u201d. \u201cTekel<\/em>\u201d means \u201cweighed\u201d. \u201cParsin<\/em>\u201d means \u201cdivided.\u201d \u00a0Belshazzar\u2019s officials may have recognized these words as Aramaic words and may have even understood the literal meaning of each word.\u00a0 What they did not understand, however, was the message being communicated by these words.\u00a0 \u00a0Daniel gives them the meaning of this message.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Many people know something about the Bible but they don\u2019t understand it.\u00a0 Belshazzar needed someone like Daniel to explain what this message in Aramaic meant, even though his officials could probably understand Aramaic.\u00a0 Just as Daniel was strategically placed in Belshazzar\u2019s life,\u00a0I believe God has strategically placed you in the lives of others who don\u2019t know God\u2019s Word, so that you can explain it to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also,\u00a0like Belshazzar, all of our days are numbered, all of us will be weighed by God and any kingdom we built for ourselves will be taken away.\u00a0 What God will measure when we stand before Him is: what did we do with what God revealed to us, including most importantly Jesus Christ His Son.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 5:29 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.<\/em><\/p>\n

I love Daniel\u2019s courage and integrity.\u00a0 Daniel was not afraid to speak the truth to Belshazzar despite the fact that Belshazzar had the power to do whatever he wanted with Daniel and despite the fact that Belshazzar had showered Daniel with praise just before this (v14-16).<\/p>\n

In this case, Daniel was greatly rewarded and promoted for speaking the truth (v29), even though that was not Daniel\u2019s aim (v17).\u00a0 That is not always the case.\u00a0 Sometimes those who speak the truth will be misunderstood, vilified, even ostracized and punished.<\/p>\n

Likewise, may you be known as someone who speaks the truth in love and with wisdom, trusting God with whatever happens as a result.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 5:30-31 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain,
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 30-31:\u00a0 With these two verses Daniel describes one of the most significant turning points in ancient history, which was the fall of the Babylonian empire at the hands of the Medo-Persian empire.\u00a0 Once again, as we saw in Daniel 4, we see here that pride comes before a person\u2019s downfall \u2013 thus the need to stay humble before God and never forget who God is.<\/p>\n

Also, with all these different kings assuming power and then dying off, never to return, it\u2019s a reminder that\u00a0the only King who died and rose again is Jesus Christ<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0He is the King above every king and His is the only kingdom that will last forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus, You are the only King to die and rise again, and Yours is the only kingdom that will last forever. Father, I pray that when our lives are weighed before You, we will be able to rest secure knowing that we have the Holy Spirit in us because of our faith in Your Son Jesus.\u00a0 I pray that we would be found faithful to all that You have revealed to us.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 5:13-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 5:13-24 (NIV)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?
\n14\u00a0\u00a0I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.
\n16\u00a0\u00a0Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”<\/p>\n

On verses 13-24:\u00a0 Belshazzar knew all about how God had shown up in Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s life.\u00a0 Belshazzar knew how God had taken away Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s authority and drove him into obscurity when Nebuchadnezzar pridefully attributed all his power and glory to himself.\u00a0 Belshazzar also knew how God exalted Nebuchadnezzar to an even higher level when Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself and gave praise to God.\u00a0 Daniel reminds Belshazzar that \u201cthough you knew all this\u201d \u201cyou have not humbled yourself\u201d (v22).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23648"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23651,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648\/revisions\/23651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}