You Knew and Refused to Learn

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: 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: Daniel 5:17-23

Steps: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Daniel tells the next king spoken of in the book of Daniel that Belshazzar could have learned from the experience of his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar but he did not because of his pride and arrogance. Because he would not humble his heart before God, and would not learn the lessons of humility that Nebuchadnezzar learned and because of his audacity in drinking out of the cups from God’s sanctuary and praising the false gods of life, that his judgment had come, he had failed, and would be destroyed that night. What a tragic story to have to convey to a person. What a sad story of failed opportunities. O that we might learn.

Prayer for Today: Thank You again God. You have given us this story that we to might learn about how You think. You have granted us many opportunities to learn the lessons of life and many of them we have wasted. We pray that in Your great mercy that you will give us more opportunities to learn. We acknowledge that we have not followed Your teaching but today we want to learn these lessons before it is too late. We know that You did not tell us this story to try to intimidate us. We also know that our pride is very fragile and we are likely to take any confrontation by love as an assault against us, but today we want to learn and not rebel. Thank You for another opportunity, and help us to grab it because You love us, not because You are trying to get rid of us. Thank You for Your love.