Tuesday December 5
Daniel 5:13-30 Daniel helps the king
Then Daniel was brought in before
the king. The king said to Daniel, ‘So you are Daniel, one of the exiles of
Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard of you that a
spirit of the gods is in you, and that enlightenment, understanding, and
excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been
brought in before me to read this writing and tell me its interpretation, but
they were not able to give the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard
that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you are able to
read the writing and tell me its interpretation, you shall be clothed in
purple, have a chain of gold around your neck, and rank third in the kingdom.’
Then Daniel answered in the
presence of the king, ‘Let your gifts be for yourself, or give your rewards to
someone else! Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and let him
know the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave your father
Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, glory, and majesty. And because of the
greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and
feared before him. He killed those he wanted to kill, kept alive those he
wanted to keep alive, honored those he wanted to honor, and degraded those he
wanted to degrade. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened
so that he acted proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory
was stripped from him. He was driven from human society, and his mind was made
like that of an animal. His dwelling was with the wild asses, he was fed grass
like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until he learned
that the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals, and sets
over it whomsoever he will. And you, Belshazzar his son, have not humbled your
heart, even though you knew all this! You have exalted yourself against the
Lord of heaven! The vessels of his temple have been brought in before you, and
you and your lords, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from
them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and
stone, which do not see or hear or know; but the God in whose power is your
very breath, and to whom belong all your ways, you have not honored.
‘So from his presence the
hand was sent and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was
inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, and parsin. This is the
interpretation of the matter: mene, God has numbered the
days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; tekel, you
have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; peres,
your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’
Then Belshazzar gave the
command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his
neck, and a proclamation was made concerning him that he should rank third in
the kingdom.
That very night Belshazzar,
the Chaldean king, was killed.
****
What the heck? “Mene, mene, tekel, peres”?! Belshazzar was given a
very dramatic message from God but had no clue what it meant, so he called
Daniel to explain it. Daniel was an exiled Israelite in Belshazzar’s kingdom
whose allegiance was, above all, to the Lord, and he gave the dire
interpretation to Belshazzar.
Lots of times in my life I’ve been in situations that were scary
or difficult that I just didn’t understand and I wished I had a Daniel to
explain my own personal “mene, mene, tekel, peres”. Sometimes we can’t
immediately grasp the message God has for us in the moment. That’s when we need
to turn to prayer and the support of those around us who also love the Lord to
help us find our path. I’ve also learned that we can gain wisdom about
ourselves from those we find most difficult to deal with. If we can objectively
examine the things that irritate us the most about someone else we can often
learn where our own shortcomings, intolerance, and lack of compassion lie so
that we can change ourselves and grow more in the path that God would have us
take.
Prayer: Lord help us to be receptive to your
words every day so that we will know the direction you have set for us. Amen
Mary Beth Commisso
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