May 3, 2009
Our brother read us some precious verses from John 10. They brought to mind the last verse in Genesis 46. Here Joseph was presenting his brethren to Pharaoh. V. 34. Egypt is a type of the world. When the Lord came to this earth, Philippians tells us that He humbled Himself and ‘was found in fashion as a man’. He humbled Himself and ‘took upon him the form of a servant’; more properly translated, a slave. He came as a Shepherd; an abomination to the ‘Egyptians’, but how precious it is for us to be able to remember Him as that Shepherd who saved us from the destruction of going our own ways. Because he was the Good Shepherd, He gave His life for the sheep. Humbled, He became a servant, a slave, a shepherd. Well might we praise Him.
Hymn 363 – Two little eyes to look to God
Prayer
Today, we’ll read Daniel 5; so far, in cc. 1 – 4, Nebuchadnezzar had been the king. Now, Belshazzar was the king; we read in v. 1 that he held a feast for 1000 guests. Read vv. 2 – 4; Nebuchadnezzar had taken special vessels from the temple in Jerusalem, and now Belshazzar was using them to worship his idols; how do you think God felt?
V. 5: as they were feasting, a hand appeared and wrote on the wall (later in the chapter, we find that it wrote “MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN”). This scared the king so much that his knees knocked together, v.6. He called his astrologers and other wise men, but they couldn’t figure out what the message meant.
Finally, the queen remembered about Daniel; she told Belshazzar about how he had interpreted dreams for Nebuchadnezzar. So, in v. 13, he called for Daniel. The king explained that he knew what Daniel could do, v. 16, and told him that if he would tell him what the writing meant, he would make Daniel rich. Daniel told the king that he didn’t want any gifts, v. 17, but that he would tell him what the writing said.
Daniel began by reminding the king of what God did to Nebuchadnezzar to humble him. In vv. 22 & 23, Daniel told the king that he was not humble, and that God was displeased with him for using the temple vessels to worship idols. Then he explained the message on the wall, which said to the king that God would take away his kingdom, because of his actions. That night, Belshazzar was killed, and Darius became the king, vv. 30 & 31.
What can we learn from this story? Well, God has given each one of us things that we should be using for Him: health, skills, and other things. We have the Lord’s day, which we should give to God. Belshazzar didn’t use God’s vessels the way God intended them to be used, and he was punished. We should use what God has given us to honour Him. Each time we’ve looked at Daniel, we’ve looked at that verse “Them that honour me, I will honour.” That’s what Daniel did with his life, and that’s what we should do.
Reading — Nehemiah 2:9 – 20
We’ve seen how Nehemiah became burdened for Jerusalem; we’ve read about his prayer and his confrontation with the king. We ended last time with him praising God for the king’s good favour: the king had not only granted him permission to return and build the walls, but he had also funded the endeavour.
V. 9: Now Nehemiah is coming to Jerusalem, and we find that part of the army was with him. Does this sound familiar? Read Ezra 8:22. Ezra was ashamed to ask the king for protection, but apparently Nehemiah was not. This may seem confusing, but one explanation is that Ezra’s mission started when he left Babylon: he was bringing much gold and silver for the temple. God’s protection started when his mission did. However, Nehemiah’s mission didn’t start until he had arrived at Jerusalem and surveyed the walls; therefore, he accepted the king’s offer of protection.
Now, whenever someone does God’s work, there is sure to be opposition. Nehemiah already has enemies, and we find that their first tactic is to ridicule; how the enemy loves to make fun of God’s servants. We need to be on guard for enemies today as well. The world, the flesh, and the devil often try to take us down. It’s important that we not be “Sunday Christians”; we need to be on guard every day of the week, because he is usually very crafty.
Nehemiah’s assignment and methods were quite different from the others in the Jerusalem project, vv. 11 & 12. He went out to look at the walls at night, with only a few other obscure people, to see what would be needed. Each one of us has different burdens for the Lord’s work; we shouldn’t try to copy others: Nehemiah was doing “what my God had put in my heart to do” Each one of us needs to find out why God has put us here, but we shouldn’t expect others to do the same. Nehemiah did not work in a way that everyone could see; he quietly went out at night, with only a few others. We find in the next few verses what he saw, and it wasn’t pretty. Each of the gates of Jerusalem had significant meaning; the fountain gate was a place to be refreshed; but now Nehemiah’s horse could not even get there because of the rubble.
Think of king Josiah: he was one of the best kings of Judah; when we see all that he purged from Israel, we realize how far into sin they had fallen. Yet, they were the nation with the one true God. Their departure finally caused God to send Nebuchadnezzar to flatten Jerusalem. Now, many years later, they were just rebuilding the city. When one falls away, it is so hard to come back. However, we can’t blame them; we seem to live in the heart of shambles as well. May we be faithful to Him.
Hymn 381 –I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold
Prayer