It Still Needs to Be Said!
The Need
It was almost an addendum, or perhaps a punctuation mark. The speaker’s point could have been made without it, but he felt it needed to be said.
And oh, how it is needed to be said – and still needs to be said!
The Background
Daniel Chapter 5 tells of a banquet party hosted by Babylonian ruler Belshazzar. The depraved nature of the festivities was bad enough let alone the monarch’s decision to:
… bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones … confiscated from the temple in Jerusalem – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them (v. 2).
These vessels were designed for the worship of Yahweh as part of Israel’s sacrificial system. Instead, they were being used for pagan revelry. Making matters worse, these drinking vessels meant to glorify the God of Israel were instead being raised by revelers as “they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone” (v. 4).
God had seen enough as “at that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall” (v. 5). Belshazzar was shaking in his sandals (v. 6) and summoned his advisers to read and interpret the writing (v. 7).
When they could not, the Hebrew exile Daniel – now north of 80 years old – was summoned (v. 13). Daniel would indeed solve the mystery (vv. 25-28), but before doing so, he lambasted the king for his wickedness.
In the process, he delivered a truth that needed to be said, and needs to be said today.
A Vital Truth
The key passage is verse 23:
… you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend.
Daniel could have ended his chastisement there and it would have been enough to justify what God was about to do to the king (take his life). But Daniel felt compelled. There was something else he needed to address. Therefore, he added:
But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!
Oh, what a truth for the ages!
I believe this NET (New English Translation) of this truth is smack on, but let’s read a few others:
- The Complete Jewish Bible: “Meanwhile, God, who holds your very breath in his hands, and to whom belongs everything you do, you have not glorified.”
- The Message: “But you treat with contempt the living God who holds your entire life from birth to death in his hand.”
- The New American Bible: “But the God in whose hand is your very breath and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify.”
- The Living Bible: “But you have not praised the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!”
- The Common English Bible: “But you didn’t glorify the true God who holds your very breath in his hand and who owns every road you take.”
Hence, God is the One who grants your every breath and all you do; is sovereign over all your actions; holds in His hand the course of your entire earthly existence from birth to death; determines your destiny; and owns every road you traverse.
Believer or unbeliever, this truth makes clear that God is absolutely sovereign over every human being who ever lived, lives, and will live. Every breath mortals take belongs to God as He is the One who enables those breaths in the first place. Every human life is God’s to do with as He sees fit. Yes, people make their own decisions, but it is God who enables them to make those decisions.
But more than anything, God is the One who determines each human being’s eternal destiny. It is said that we decide our own fate by either believing in the Lord Jesus Christ or rejecting Him (John 3:36; 1 John 5:11-12), and this is true. However, it is God who established the parameters, and when we breathe our last, it is God alone who will usher us to either Heaven or Hell.
The Bottom Line
Whether you are a world leader, or homeless beggar; world-famous entertainer or factory worker; world-class athlete or paraplegic; wealthy businessman or minimum-wage earner, this vital truth is the bottom line.
God is in control of both the physical and eternal destinies of every human being and has complete sovereignty over those destinies. And just as Daniel warned Belshazzar roughly 2,600 years ago, he warns us today: God is to be glorified, honored, praised, acknowledged, believed in, and worshiped. Failure to do so is the difference between Heaven and Hell.
And yes, it still needs to be said!
David Ettinger was born and raised in a Jewish family in New York. After moving to New Mexico as an adult, he suffered through many trials. The nudge of the Holy Spirit caused him to examine his heart and in 1986 he surrendered his life to Jesus and has walked with Him ever since.David holds a BA, and MA, in English from New Mexico State University. He began his journalism career writing for The Roundup, the university paper. After graduation he became the sportswriter for the El Paso Times. He has held many other positions as both writer and editor with major publications. David is active in providing his skills with Zion’s Hope, Inc., in Winter Garden, Florida. His publications include Lifeway publications, Single Parent magazine (Focus on the Family), Zion’s Fire magazine, and Real Life magazine. In addition, he served as managing editor for Zion’s Fire and Real Life. David’s book, Overcomers: 30 Stories of Triumph from the Bible, is available online. David is proud of his son and grandson. Please read his testimony here, on his website.
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Daniel is a favorite book of the Hebrew Scriptures for me, for all of what you shared above.