You Should've Known

Daniel 5:21-23

And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

Belshazzar knew the story of Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation. He had the witness of one who had come from idolatry to recognize the sovereignty of the God of Israel. Yet Belshazzar refused to humble himself and chose to reject the God his own Father (grandfather) had endorsed. And he did this to his destruction.

We have 2000 years of Christian history to prove the truthfulness of faith in Christ. We have the evidence of both the abuse of Christianity and the faithful practice of the Christian faith. We can clearly see the error of religion tied in some way to government. We can clearly demonstrate the error of universal church doctrine. At the same time we can clearly prove that a society without Christ is destined to live little better than animals. Yet, like Belshazzar, we have, for the most part, rejected Jesus Christ in favor of false forms of Christianity, non-Christian religion or no faith at all.

And we reject Christ to our own demise.

God help us!

Daniel survived and flourished after the death of Belshazzar. But Belshazzar could have been saved if he had only learned the lessons of his grandfather's fall and humbled himself to worship the living God.