Belshazzar’s Last Party

When someone’s future is about to take a sudden change for the worse we often say, “the handwriting is on the wall.” Did you know this expression comes from a story 2,500 years old? A story filled with sobering parallels for our day.

Babylon’s last king, Belshazzar, was an extravagant and proud idolater. He was well aware of his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar’s dramatic conversion to the worship of Jehovah. See Dan. 4. But Belshazzar considered Jehovah an inferior deity to his Babylonian gods. Hadn’t Jehovah’s people been captured by the mighty Babylonian empire?

Belshazzar also resented the idea that Jehovah had decreed the eventual downfall of Babylon. The demise of Babylon was prophesied in detail throughout the Jews’ prophetic writings, including the name of Babylon’s conqueror, Cyrus, more than 100 years before Cyrus’ birth! See Dan. 2:31–45 and Isa. 44:24–45:6.

One of the most famous of the Jewish prophets, Daniel, had served Nebuchadnezzar as a counselor and was still considered the wisest man in Babylon. But Belshazzar wasn’t interested in his counsel. So, when Cyrus’ army neared Babylon, rather than repent and seek God’s mercy, Belshazzar put his faith in Babylon’s brick and mortar:

“The walls of Babylon were tall and stout. Its storehouses bulged with food. The Euphrates flowed with water. Any enemy would give up a blockade long before the city surrendered. Babylon was undefeatable. Just as the Titanic was unsinkable.”¹

Then, to show his defiance of Cyrus and Jehovah, Belshazzar threw a lavish feast for 1,000 of his lords, his wives, and his concubines. As the wine flowed, they praised the gods of Babylon, drinking to the city’s health and longevity from the sacred vessels stolen from Jehovah’s temple in Jerusalem.

Suddenly, a mysterious hand appeared and wrote four fiery words in an unknown language on the palace wall—Mene, Mene, Tekel, Peres. An anxious hush fell over the drunken revelers. Visibly shaken, the king summoned his wise men, but they could not understand the strange words. It took the queen mother to urge, “Call Daniel! He will know!”

As Daniel entered, all eyes focused on the old wiseman from a forgotten era. But interest in a word from God’s messenger came too late. Reminding the king of God’s judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel rebuked Belshazzar:

“And thou… 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.… This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Dan. 5:22–28.

Even as Daniel spoke, Cyrus’ engineers had diverted the mighty Euphrates and his army was following its bed into the heart of the city! The Bible simply records:

“In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median [Cyrus’ general] took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”  Dan. 5:30, 31.

God has numbered your kingdom and has finished it. You are weighed in the balances and found wanting.

Is the Handwriting on the Wall?

Is the handwriting on the wall for our world, too? Will the judgments of God soon be poured out on those who despise His Law and worship the false gods of sensuality, pleasure, materialism, and human pride? Are Satan and his followers throwing their last party as Jesus prepares to return?

Before nations, societies, or people cross the line of God’s mercy and experience His wrath, He always sends a warning. The Bible is filled with stories of a gracious God calling rebellious people to repentance before it is too late. Some heeded these warnings; others slighted them. But in every case, the warning included a call to return to the righteous standard of God’s Law, and the conditions for seeking His mercy were always the same: repentance and reformation. See 2 Chron. 7:14.

In vision, the prophet John saw three angels with God’s last message of mercy for Earth’s final generation. See Rev. 14:6–12. The warnings they bear are considered part of the “everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.” Rev. 14:6. The gospel commission in our day must include the warnings of these three angels.

Throughout this special issue, we will examine each angel’s message and its significance to us. Bible texts have been provided so that you can follow along as you read each article.

A Call to Judgment

The first angel summons the world to judgment with these clear words: “Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” Rev. 14:7.

God instructed the Hebrews to observe a “day of judgment” at the end of each year. Known as Yom Kippur, or the Solemn Day of Atonement, it was a yearly example of the final judgment. During Yom Kippur, God’s people were to afflict their souls and put away anything from their lives not in harmony with His Law. As they searched their hearts, the High Priest performed a special cleansing of the sanctuary from the yearly record of sin. Those who did not search their hearts were “cut off” from fellowship with God’s people. At the end of that solemn day, the sanctuary was cleansed and the entire congregation was declared clean before the Lord.

After Christ’s death, the temple services and festivals were no longer binding. Yet the final judgment typified by Yom Kippur had not yet taken place. For many centuries, God’s people have looked forward to the last judgment by faith. This is the judgment to which the first angel summons us. It takes place just before Jesus comes to reap the harvest of the Earth. Jesus tells us, “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.

Only the Creator has the ultimate moral right to decide the eternal destiny of His creatures. God delegates lesser judgment to civil magistrates, the church, parents, and other authority figures. But no earthly authority, not even a church, can claim the right to decide our cases for eternity. And because He is the highest moral authority, no one has legal jurisdiction over His decisions.

The Standard in the Judgment

 By which standard will God judge us? God’s Law will be the standard in this judgment. Solomon wrote,

“Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”  Ecc. 12:13, 14.

But for a law to have authority it must contain three things: the name of the law-giver, his official position, and the extent of his domain. In God’s Law, we find this information in the fourth commandment: His name—the Lord thy God; His official title—Creator; His domain—Heaven and Earth. The Sabbath commandment tells us that the Creator’s moral authority, as embodied in His Ten Commandments, is binding in Heaven and Earth. The Law of God, as given to Moses and including the fourth commandment, will be the moral standard by which you and I will be judged.

It’s time for us to return to the moral foundations of God's eternal, unchanging Law.

If we love one another and we love God with all our hearts, we will not find it difficult to keep His commandments. But we cannot have this experience unless we are converted, and God’s Law is written in our hearts.

God promises, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes [laws].” Ezek. 36:26, 27.

A Call to Worship

The first angel adds another urgent call—the call to return to true worship: “and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14:7.

Does this passage sound familiar? It should! It is “lifted” straight out of the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment reads:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8–11.

On the seventh and last day of Creation, God created a weekly sacred space known as the Sabbath. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Gen. 2:3. True worship, then, includes keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy, as the Creator has outlined in His Law. But if we choose to honor another day which He has not blessed or sanctified, we cannot truly be worshiping the Creator. We are giving our worship to another. Only the Creator has a right to our worship. All lesser “gods,” including the traditions of men, are usurpers.

In ignorance, you may have been worshiping on another day. God calls you to a higher experience of true worship. At the end of Earth’s history, when the vast majority are rebelling against God and His Law, worshiping on the Bible Sabbath is a special sign of loyalty to Him.

The God who gave His Son to ransom every man, woman, and child in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people appeals to you and to me: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14:7.

The signs pointing to Christ’s soon return are fulfilling all around us. But like Belshazzar, many are ignoring the God of Heaven and are squandering their day of grace. They are not ignorant of His love, but their pride keeps them from acknowledging His authority. Unless they humble themselves and seek God’s grace while mercy lingers, they will be swept into a league of rebellion against Heaven, orchestrated by Satan and led by the Beast. (See “Does Anyone Have the Right to Change God’s Law?” in this issue.) Rev. 14:10, 11 warns that the consequences of joining this rebellion are eternal. Therefore, God in His mercy sends the first angel with a call to judgment so that everyone has a chance to examine their lives and turn from their sins before it is too late.

It is time for us to prepare our hearts for the final judgment. It is time for us to choose whom we will worship—God and His Law, or man and his traditions. It is time for us to get “back to basics,” back to the unchanging standard of God’s Law and His moral authority in our lives.