From the Pastor’s Study 9/10/23
For pure interest, nothing surpasses the narratives of the Bible. I am tempted to say that the Bible is unmatched entertainment. However, the word entertainment implies amusement, which means literally “without thought.” The Bible is certainly not meant to amuse. Instead, it prompts the deepest thoughts. But it is more than just intellectually stimulating. The Bible is inspired by God for our spiritual betterment. And no one should conclude that the fact that it is stimulating reading means that it is fantasy or fiction. The Bible is true and accurate in all that it affirms. The Bible is the greatest of all literature. Everything else men have written does not compare with the importance, fascination, and pathos of the Holy Bible.
The fifth chapter of the book of Daniel is one example of the captivating quality of Scripture. Babylonian co-regent Belshazzar is hosting a feast in honor of his pagan gods while an enemy army encamps outside the impregnable walls of the great city. In the emperor’s arrogant presumption, he engages in blasphemous revelry. However, his carousing is interrupted by a startling revelation from the Almighty. The king watches as the fingers of a man’s hand appear, writing a message in the plaster on the wall. The terrified monarch summons the prophet Daniel to interpret the writing. The meaning is actually plain enough. Daniel’s role in the drama is as much preacher as it is prophet. He brings Belshazzar a message of judgment. Belshazzar has been measured by God – counted, weighed, and found lacking. Now his kingdom is to be divided. That very night, the Persians divert the water of the Euphrates River that flowed under the wall of Babylon, thus creating a roadway for their invading army to enter and conquer the city. Babylon is taken. Belshazzar is killed. God’s justice is executed.
This is more than just history. The story Daniel narrates is a small illustration of a broader reality. Only a handful of men in history rule empires such as Belshazzar. But that does not mean that only a select few are weighed in God’s scale of justice. Revelation 20 tells of a coming assize – when all men, great and small, will stand before the judgment bar of God. God’s meticulous record books will be opened. He knows every man’s precise weight and worth. For those who trust that their good deeds will outweigh their bad, that day will be a day of shocking exposure. Everyone will be counted, weighed, and found wanting. Romans 3:23 tells us that all men, when measured by divine justice, “come short.” No one measures up. All are guilty before God.
History records another time when weighing was a part of the saga. In 390 B.C. – over a century and a half after the fall of Babylon to the Persians – the city of Rome was invaded for the first time by Gauls under the leadership of King Bremmus. The king demanded a ransom of one thousand pounds of gold to withdraw from the city. As the ransom was being weighed out, a dispute arose over the weights being employed by the Gauls to measure the gold. Bremmus famously threw his sword onto the scales, making his side weigh even more. “Woe to the conquered,” he said.
Ps. 49:7 says that the redemption price of a man’s soul is so precious, there is no ransom he can give for it. Jesus asked, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mk. 8:37) Our sins – our works, our words, and our thoughts – weigh the scales of God’s justice against us, and there is nothing we can do to correct the imbalance. But we need not despair. There is one hope. In the great judgment day, for those who will repent and believe, the value of Christ’s cross will be cast on their too-light side of the scale. Although we have sinned, we will find ourselves declared just. Our guilt will be removed. The righteousness of Christ will be counted toward us. “…it shall be imputed [credited], if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Rom. 4:24)