Do not keep silent

This tells of the incident where Belshazzar (named for his god, Bel), King of Babylon, was feasting with a thousand of his lords and called for the gold and silver vessels, that his forefather Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the Holy Place in the temple in Jerusalem, to be brought out so that they all could drink wine from them.  

In those times, wars were not only fought as kingdom against kingdom, but as gods against gods. Triumphing over another king meant that your gods were stronger than their gods, which is why Nebuchadnezzar stole the vessels from the temple in the first place, placing them in the temple of his gods back in Babylon. 

This blatant act of defiance and sacrilege from Belshazzar was immediately addressed by God, because the hand wrote out his sentence – he was weighed by God and found wanting and his kingdom would be taken from him and given to the Medes and Persians.  All of this happened that very same night – he himself was slain and his seemingly impenetrable city was taken over by the Medes and Persians, all without a fight.  For they had diverted the Euphrates into a marshland, creating an opening under the river gate of the city and when they accessed Babylon, they found the bronze gate of the city ‘inexplicably’ unlocked!

Today we are still referring to this incident when we use the expression, “The writing is on the wall”, meaning that some misfortune is impending.  It used to be that quotations connected to events recorded in the Bible were regularly used by people, which is where the following, among many others, originated from:

Throw the first stone; Wash one’s hands of the matter; The blind leading the blind; Wolves in sheep’s clothing; To cast pearls before swine; A fly in the ointment; Go the extra mile; etc.

Even front-page news reports in leading newspapers from years ago carried references to the Bible or even quoted the Bible directly. It was part of everyday speech among most.

Sadly, today this has become the exception, not the rule. Believers by and large have become so aware of saying the widely ‘accepted’ thing, that most stay silent and rather do not say anything for fear of being criticized and ridiculed, even though what they have to say is the absolute truth as revealed in the Bible for us. It goes without saying that truth is always to be delivered in love, (Holy Spirit will guide you) but if it must be delivered, it must be delivered!  Remember, it was godly Daniel who explained the truth of the handwriting to the pagan king, knowing full well that what he had to say, would not be welcomed.

Points to Ponder:  Start speaking about our faithful and loving Father God, about our Lord Jesus Christ, and about His Holy Spirit openly and lovingly, irrespective of your audience.  Let His truth be ever upon your lips, as the Psalmist says in Ps 71:15.  Do not keep silent!