THE GREATEST KING OF THE MOST POWERFUL EMPIRE WAS SUPERNATURALLY TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANIMAL ... ONE THE VERY CREATURES HE WAS GIVEN DOMINION OVER ... WHY?
TO HUMBLE HIM AND SHOW MANKIND THAT YAHUAH HIMSELF RULES AND REIGNS THIS WORLD - NO OTHER !! THIS KING WAS GIVEN A WARNING TO REPENT AND HE REFUSED ... SO A YEAR LATER YAHUAH TOOK ACTION !!
- 30 YEARS HAVE NOW PASSED
- THE LESSON HAS NOT BE LEARNT
- YAHUAH WILL INTERVENE AGAIN !
THE EVENTS RECORDED IN DANIEL CHAPTER 5 TODAY CAN BE DATED TO THE FALL OF BABYLON TO MEDO-PERSIA IN 539 B.C. APPROXIMATELY 30 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S ANIMAL TRANSFORMATION AND HE IS NO LONGER THE KING OF BABYLON, HAVING DIED ABOUT 23 YEARS EARLIER FROM SICKNESS.
KNEW
DANIEL ALREADY KNOWS THAT THE KINGDOM OF MEDO-PERSIA WAS TO FOLLOW THE FALL OF BABYLON. SO THIS INFORMATION OBVIOUSLY GAVE HIM WISDOM AND ABSTRACT CONTEXT TO UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET THE MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE THAT YAHUAH GIVES THE KING. DANIEL WAS A PASSIONATE STUDENT OF SCRIPTURE AND STUDIED THE WRITINGS OF JEREMIAH, AND WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BABYLON AND MEDO-PERSIA MADE BY EZEKIEL AND ISAIAH ALSO.
WERE BARRED, AND KING BELSHAZZAR KNEW THAT THE WALLS OF THE CITY WERE IMPENETRABLE - AND HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT HIS SOLDIERS FROM THEIR POSITION ON THE LOFTY WALLS WOULD BE ABLE TO DESTROY ANY WHO SHOULD ATTEMPT TO BATTER DOWN THE GATES. THE CITY WAS ALSO PREPARED FOR SEVERAL YEARS OF SIEGING, AND WITH THE TILLABLE GROUND WITHIN THE CITY WALLS ITS CAPTURE COULD BE FOUGHT INDEFINITELY. SO THE PROUD, NONCHALANT ATTITUDE AND ARROGANCE OF KING BELSHAZZAR (WHILE HIS CITY IS UNDER SIEGE) IS SIMILAR TO KING NEB' IN CONSTRUCTING THE IMAGE OF GOLD. SIEGES OFTEN WENT FOR YEARS!
FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR, BABYLON'S RULE BECAME MISMANAGED, UNSTABE, AND INTRIGUING, MOVING THROUGH FOUR SUCCESSIVE ADMINISTRATIONS OVER A PERIOD OF ONLY 23 YEARS, ENDING HERE IN THE REIGN OF BELSHAZZAR.
EVEN THOUGH WE WON'T BE TOLD FOR A COUPLE MORE CHAPTERS, DANIEL HAS ALREADY RECEIVED MOST OF THE DIVINE REVELATIONS FROM YAHUAH IN THE LAST 30 YEARS (SINCE NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S EXPERIENCE), SO WITH ALL THESE VISIONS AND TRUTHS HE'S SEEN (AS WELL AS THE STATUE VISION IN CHAPTER.2) -
THIS CHAPTER OPENS WITH CYRUS THE GREAT, KING OF PERSIA, ADVANCING UPON BABYLON: HE HAD ENTERED INTO AN ALLIANCE WITH THE MEDE KING CYAXARES II (DARIUS), AND THE COMBINED KINGDOMS HAD SUBDUED VARIOUS NATIONS TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH. THEY NOW DECIDED TO ANNEX THE FAST-DECAYING EMPIRE OF BABYLON AND TAKE DOMINION. IN THIS, CYRUS WAS EVIDENTLY THE LEADER, THOUGH WHILE KING CYAXARES LIVED HE WAS GIVEN PRECEDENCE. THE ARMIES OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS WERE ENCAMPED OUTSIDE BABYLON’S WALLS. BUT KING BELSHAZZAR FELT SECURE, FOR THE DRAW-BRIDGES HAD BEEN DRAWN, THE BRAZEN GATES
D A N I E L . 5
1King Belshazzar made a big feast for 1000 of his officials and was drinking wine with them all. 2As he was tasting his wine, he ordered his servants to bring the gold and
silver cups that His father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. King Belshazzar wanted his Royal people, his wives, and his concubines to drink from those specific cups.
THE KING CROSSED A LINE WITH YAHUAH AND DID SOMETHING THAT HE’D REGRET. HE DID SOMETHING THAT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE AS FOOLISH AS IT WAS ARROGANT - TAKING THE SET-APART (RADIOACTIVE) VESSELS THAT HAD SERVED IN THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, AND USING THEM FOR THE COMMON PURPOSE OF DRINKING WINE TO GET DRUNK AND BE DEPRAVED.
THE KING’S PARTY WAS FOR HIMSELF, HIS OWN ESTEEM - AND A HUGE `UP YOURS' AND FIST-SHAKING CHALLENGE TO THE ALAHIM OF THE JEWS, WHO WERE PROPHECIED TO BE SET FREE AFTER 70 YEARS - 'NOT ON HIS WATCH' - HE THOUGHT!
3So they brought the gold cups that had been taken from the Temple of Alahim in Jerusalem, and the King and his officials, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4And as they were drinking, they gave praise to their deities made from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone!
BRAZEN IDOLATRY WHILE USING THE VERY SET-APART UTENSILS ANOINTED FOR YAHUAH'S PRESENCE !!!
SO ACCORDING TO BABYLONIAN RECKONING, THE 70 YEARS HAD ALREADY PASSED, THE JEWS WERE STILL CAPTIVE IN BABYLON, AND BABYLON WAS STILL STANDING AS THE GREATEST EMPIRE IN THE WORLD (THE GOLD HEAD).
SO A NATIONAL CELEBRATION WAS CALLED FOR, TO MOCK THE ALAHIM OF THE JEWS WHO (IN THE END) COULDN’T DELIVER ON HIS PROPHETIC PROMISE THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN THROUGH JEREMIAH.
HOW DOES YAHUSHA FEEL ABOUT PEOPLE TOUCHING HIS SET-APART STUFF (PUT UNDER THE BAN) ???
BELSHAZZAR TOOK THE GOLD AND SILVER TEMPLE VESSELS (THAT THE EARLIER BABYLONIAN KINGS HAD BEEN CAREFUL NOT TO DEFILE UP TO THIS POINT), AND USED THEM TO DRINK TOASTS TO HIS DEITIES WHO (ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENT WAY OF THINKING) HAD DEFEATED THE ALAHIM OF THE JEWS AND PREVENTED THEM FROM BEING RELEASED FROM THE POWER OF BABYLON.
IT’S OBVIOUS FROM THE CONTEXT THAT THESE VESSELS HAD BEEN STORED AWAY FOR SAFE-KEEPING SINCE NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DAY. THEY WERE CONSIDERED SPOILS OF WAR, PROPERTY OF THE KING, AND WERE PROOF (FOR FOLKS OF THAT ERA) THAT THE BABYLONIAN DEITIES WERE SUPERIOR TO THE ALAHIM OF THE JEWS (AT LEAST WHEN IT CAME TO WAR). BUT WE DON’T SEE KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR DIRECTLY MOCKING YAHUAH BY USING THEM. EVEN THOUGH HE BECAME PRIDEFUL, WE STILL SEE HIM ACKNOWLEDGING THE POWER OF THIS ALAHIM (ESPECIALLY AFTER SUFFERING THROUGH A PERIOD OF BECOMING AN ANIMAL).
BUT AFTER THE DEATH OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR (AND A FEW LITRES OF WINE), THIS YOUNG KING WAS FEELING NO FEAR - AND WORSE, SHOWING NO RESPECT! HE WAS SO CONFIDENT OF BABYLON’S DEFENCES THAT HE DECIDED TO CHALLENGE THIS ALAHIM. HIS DEFILING OF THE VESSELS WAS HIS WAY OF SHAKING HIS FIST AT YAHUAH AS IF SAYING: “YOU HAVE SAID THAT BABYLON WILL FALL TO THE MEDO-PERSIANS WHO ARE NOW ENCAMPED OUTSIDE OUR GATES. I AM DECLARING TO YOU THAT BABYLON WILL NEVER FALL. ITS DEFENCES ARE INDESTRUCTIBLE. NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE IT. SO THIS IS WHAT I THINK OF YOU AND YOUR PROPHECIES.” AND THIS WAS A SERIOUS CRIME, TRIGGERING YAHUAH’S RAGE AND JUDGMENT ... SOUND FAMILIAR?
BELSHAZZAR’S DRUNKENNESS SHADOWS THE DERANGED BEHAVIOUR OF THE NATIONS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF BABYLON THE HARLOT UNTIL THE RETURN OF YAHUSHA: “THE GREAT WHORE WHO SITS ON MANY WATERS, WITH WHOM THE KINGS OF THE EARTH COMMITTED WHORING, AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH WERE MADE DRUNK WITH THE WINE OF HER FORNICATION”. REV. 17
YAHUAH ALLOWED AND PUT UP WITH HIS 'STUFF' BEING REMOVED FROM THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM, EVEN BEING USED AS SPOILS OF VICTORY IN THE TEMPLES OF BABYLON - BUT WHEN THEY WERE PROFANED FOR PURPOSES OF IDOLATROUS REVELRY, BROUGHT FORTH TO FAVOUR A PAGAN FESTIVAL, AND TO BE LIFTED UP IN THE MIDST OF SCENES OF RIOT AND ORGY BEHAVIOUR, IT WAS TIME FOR HIM TO PUT HIS FOOT DOWN AND SHOW THESE REVELLERS THAT THERE IS A LIVING ALAHIM IN HEAVEN - AND HE’S MAD! ... REMEMBER THE ARK IN PHILSTIA ... PLAGUES & JUDGMENT.
THIS PARTY-SPIRIT IDOLATRY WITHIN NIMROD’S HEAD OF GOLD WILL CONTINUE IN MANKIND UNTIL THE END. “THE REST OF MANKIND, WHO WERE NOT KILLED BY THE PLAGUES, REFUSED TO REPENT OF THEIR BEHAVIOUR (WORSHIPPING DEMONS, IDOLS OF GOLD, SILVER, BRASS, STONE, AND WOOD, WHICH CAN NEITHER SEE NOR HEAR NOR WALK). THEY WOULD NOT REPENT OF THEIR MURDERS, THEIR SORCERIES, THEIR SEXUAL IMMORALITY OR THEIR THEFTS”. REV 9
5And suddenly at that moment a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the wall. The fingers scratched words into the plaster on the wall, opposite the lampstand in the King’s palace (IT WAS A DIMLY LIT ROOM).
'AT THAT MOMENT' (THAT THE SET-APART UTENSILS WERE USED) TELLS US JUST HOW QUICKLY JUDGMENT FELL IN RESPONSE TO THE KING'S BEHAVIOUR - JUST LIKE WHEN KING NEB' WAS BOASTING IN HIMSELF - JUDGMENT CAME WHILE THE WORDS WERE STILL IN HIS MOUTH!
JUDGMENT IS CLEARLY CONNECTED TO A “TRIGGER,” A PARTICULARLY EXTREME ACTION (LIKE A LINE IN THE SAND) BEYOND WHICH YAHUAH NO LONGER PATIENTLY ENDURES SIN.
1 THESS 5
"FOR YOU YOURSELVES KNOW PERFECTLY THAT THE DAY OF YAHUSHA COMES AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. FOR WHEN THEY SAY, “PEACE AND SAFETY!” SUDDENLY DESTRUCTION COMES UPON THEM, AS LABOR PAINS UPON A PREGNANT WOMAN. AND THEY WON'T ESCAPE".
and knocking together.
He could not stand up because his legs were too weak.
THIS REMINDS US OF THE PROPHECY BY ISAIAH CONCERNING BABYLON'S FALL BY CYRUS: “YAHUAH SAYS TO CYRUS HIS ANOINTED, WHOM I'VE TAKEN BY THE RIGHT HAND, TO SUBDUE NATIONS BEFORE HIM AND TO LOOSE THE LOINS OF KINGS”.
6The King Belshazzar was watching the hand as it wrote and was petrified. His face became white from fear, and his knees were shaking
7The King called for the men of magic and the Chaldeans to be brought to him. He said to them all,
“I'll give a reward to anyone who can read this writing and explain to me what it means. I'll give them purple robes to wear and will put a gold chain around their neck, then make them the third highest ruler in the Kingdom.”
8So all the King’s wise men came in, but they couldn't read the writing or understand what it meant. 9King Belshazzar’s officials were confused, and the King became even more afraid and worried. His face was white from fear!
10Then the Queen came into the place where the party was (KING'S MOTHER). She had heard the voices of the King and his Royal officials, and said, “My King, may you live forever! Don’t be afraid! Don’t let your face be so white with fear! 11There’s a man in your Kingdom who has the Spirit of the set-apart Alahim in him. In the days of your father, this man showed that he was very smart and very wise, could understand secrets and was like the
deities in these things. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, put this man in charge of all the wise men. He ruled over all the men of magic and the Chaldeans. 12The man I’m talking about is named Daniel. The King gave him the name Belteshazzar. He’s very smart and knows many things. He could interpret dreams, explain secrets, and find the answer to very hard problems. Call for Daniel and he'll tell you what the writing on the wall means.”
DANIEL WAS IN HIS EIGHTIES NOW AND UNDOUBTEDLY ASLEEP AT THIS LATE HOUR. SIXTY-FIVE YEARS HAD PASSED SINCE HE'D INTERPRETED NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM, AND IF HE WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD WHEN TAKEN TO BABYLON, (COUNTING THE THREE YEARS IN THE 'PALACE SCHOOL',) HE WAS NOW OVER EIGHTY-EIGHT YEARS OF AGE.
13So they brought Daniel to the King and he asked, “Is your name Daniel, one of the captives my father the King brought here from Judah? 14I have heard that the spirit of the mighty deities is in you and that you understand secrets and are very smart and wise. 15My wise men and the men of magic were brought to me to read this writing on the wall. I wanted them to explain to me what it means, but they can't!
16I have heard that you are able to explain what things mean, and that you can find the answer to very hard problems. If you can read this writing on the wall and explain to me what it means, this is what I'll do for you: I will give you purple robes to wear and put a gold chain around your neck. Then you'll become the third highest ruler in the Kingdom.” LET'S LOOK AT THE WRITING ON THE WALL :
?
WHY WOULD THE ANCIENT HEBREW SYMBOLS BE KNOWN TO DANIEL BUT NOT THE WISE MEN? THE ARRANGEMENT? AN UNUSUAL ORDER? WERE THEY ENCODED? OR WAS IT WRITTEN BY THE DIVINE HAND OF THE ONE WHO REQUIRES SOMEONE `TAPPED INTO’ HIS SUPERNATURAL MIND (AND THE EXTRA ASPECTS OF BABYLON’S FALL) TO INTERPRET THE MESSAGE ?
IT WASN'T NATURAL CAUSES (SUCH AS ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE, CHARACTER FORMATION, AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE TEXT) THAT LED TO THE WISE MEN'S INABILITY TO DECODE THE MESSAGE. FOR THE SINGLE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE DANIEL HAD IN UNDERSTANDING THE MESSAGE’S MEANING WAS SUPERNATURAL REVELATION.
THE PALEO HEBREWS SYMBOLS ON THEIR OWN (THOUGH NOT USED ANYMORE, WOULD STILL HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED BY THE WISE MEN) WOULD BE INSUFFICIENT TO GIVE THE INTERPRETATION. SUPERNATURAL REVELATION ALLOWED DANIEL TO GO BEYOND THE WORDS THEMSELVES AND THEIR ARRANGEMENT TO DELIVER THE FULL MEANING OF THE MESSAGE. (ie ... A SMALL CHILD COULD READ THE SYMBOLS ‘H2O’ WITH NO TROUBLE, BUT THEY PROBABLY WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND THAT IT SIGNIFIES WATER). LIKEWISE WITH THESE INTELLECTUAL MEN - THEY COULD READ WHAT THE HEBREW SYMBOLS SAID (JUST LIKE PEOPLE READING WORDS ON THE SCRIPTURE PAGES TODAY) ... BUT THEY COULD NOT STRING THEM TOGETHER FLUENTLY AND FORM ANY USEFUL MEANING OR HELP FOR THE PRESENT MOMENT - FOR THE MESSAGE WAS HIDDEN TO ALL BUT THE ABSTRACTLY DISCERNED.
ISN'T THIS EXCITING CONFIRMATION OF WHAT YAHUSHA'S GIVEN US!
NO YAHUSHA - NO UNDERSTANDING!
17Then Daniel answered the King, “King Belshazzar, you can keep your gifts for yourself, or just give them to someone else. But I’ll still read the writing on the wall for you and explain what it means. 18Alahim Most High made your father Nebuchadnezzar a very great and powerful King and gave him great wealth. 19People from many nations and languages were very afraid of Nebuchadnezzar because Alahim made him a very powerful King.
Nebuchadnezzar killed whoever he wanted and let those who pleased him live. If he wanted to make people important, he raised them up. If he wanted to bring them down, he brought them down.
20But Nebuchadnezzar became proud and stubborn, so his power was taken away from him. He was taken off his Royal throne and stripped of his esteem. 21Then Nebuchadnezzar was forced to go away from people. His heart became like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox. He became wet with dew. These things happened to him until he learned his lesson. He learned that Alahim Most High rules over human Kingdoms, and gives them to whoever He wants.
22But Belshazzar, you already know all this, for you're Nebuchadnezzar’s son, but you still refuse to humble yourself. 23No, you have lifted yourself up and turned against the Master of Heaven. You ordered the cups and utensils from His set-apart Temple to be brought to you. Then you and your Royal officials, your wives, and your concubines drank wine from them, praising your false deities of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. But none of them are alive or mighty - they can’t see or hear or understand anything. You didn’t give honour to the Living Alahim who has the power over your very life and breath, and everything you do - not one bit!" . . .
SCRIPTURE PROVIDES A SAD HISTORY OF THE CONTINUING BLINDNESS OF MANKIND:
ISAIAH 42
”THEY WILL BE TURNED BACK, THEY WILL BE GREATLY ASHAMED, THOSE WHO TRUST IN CARVED IMAGES, WHO SAY TO THE MOLDED IDOLS, ‘YOU ARE OUR MIGHTY DEITIES.’ “HEAR, YOU DEAF, AND LOOK, YOU BLIND, THAT YOU MAY SEE. MANKIND REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE LIVING ALAHIM YAHUSHA AS THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE, TURNING TO DEAD IDOLATRY INSTEAD. BELSHAZZAR COULD HAVE REPENTED LIKE NEBUCHADDNEZZAR ... BUT HE REFUSED!
ISAIAH 42
“LET FAVOUR BE SHOWN TO THE WICKED, YET THEY WILL NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS - IN THE LAND OF UPRIGHTNESS THEY WILL DEAL UNJUSTLY, AND WILL NOT BEHOLD THE MAJESTY OF YAHUAH” WHEN MANKIND REFUSE TO REPENT AND DO NOT RESPOND TO THE PROMPTINGS OF YAHUSHA TO TURN BACK TO HIM, THEN EVENTUALLY BECAUSE OF HIS SET-APARTNESS AND PERFECT JUSTICE, HE WILL ACT IN JUDGMENT.
24So because of that, Alahim sent the hand that wrote on the wall! 25These are the words that were written on the wall: (HEBREW SYMBOLS IN ENGLISH)
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uparsin.
26This is what these words mean: Mene: Alahim has measured (counted) the days of your Kingdom and ended it. 27Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough.
28Uparsin: Your Kingdom is being taken from you and divided among the Medes and Persians.”
29Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain was put around his neck, and he was appointed the third highest ruler in the Kingdom.
30And that very same night, Belshazzar, King of the Babylonians, was slain. 31And a man named Darius the Mede became the new King. Darius (CYAXARES II) was about 62 years old.
THE WRITING ON THE WALL BY THE FINGER OF YAHUAH SERVES THE SAME FUNCTION HERE IN THIS CHAPTER: KING BELSHAZZAR IS EVALUATED AND FOUND LACKING—HE DOES NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO MEASURING UP TO YAHUAH’S STANDARDS, AS SET FORTH IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE REST OF HIS WORDS.
YES! EVEN THE WORLD WILL BE JUDGED BY THE SAME LIVING COMMANDMENTS!
WRITING ON STONE SERVES AS A WITNESS AGAINST THOSE WHO IT EVALUATES. IN SOME PASSAGES, STONES THEMSELVES BECOME A WITNESS. A SPECIAL IRONY IS FOUND REGARDING THE JUDGMENT OF BABYLON WRITTEN IN PLASTER, FOR THE KINGS OF BABYLON TRIED TO IMMORTALISE THEIR ESTEEM BY WRITING ON THEIR OWN STONES - THIS KING WHO WAS NAMED `BEL PROTECTS' TURNED OUT TO BE THE LAST KING OF BABYLON !!
YAHUSHA HAS RECORDED HIS LIVING WORDS IN THE SCRIPTURES AND NOW WRITES HIS LIVING WORDS ON THE HEARTS OF MEN AND WOMEN, BUT THESE TRUTHS ARE “MYSTERIES” OR “SECRETS”—UNKNOWABLE WITHOUT A DIVINE HEART OPERATION INTO YAHUSHA’S SUPERNATURAL REVELATIONS. UNLESS YAHUSHA REVEALS HIS TRUTH TO US, IT REMAINS COMPLETELY AND PERMANENTLY BEYOND THE REACH OF MANKIND. THOSE WHO ARE NOT IMMERSED INTO YAHUSHA CANNOT UNDERSTAND OR BENEFIT FROM HIS SPECIAL REVELATION.
DESPITE THE KING BEING COMPLETELY AWARE OF WHAT HAPPENED TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR, BELSHAZZAR HAD INSULTED AND OFFENDED, TRESSPASSING EVEN MORE DEEPLY UPON YAHUAH MOST HIGH. SO WE FIND NO WARNING FOR HIM TO REPENT - NO POSSIBILITY OF REPRIEVE (NOT EVEN FOR A TIME) - NO OFFER TO THE KING TO TURN AND RECEIVE FAVOUR. BELSHAZZAR HAD CROSSED OVER SOME GREAT COSMIC LINE IN THE SAND (ESTABLISHED AND KNOWN ONLY TO YAHUAH OF HEAVEN AND EARTH). THE KING HAD BEEN JUDGED, HIS FATE WAS SEALED AND IT COULD NOT BE ALTERED. WE HAVE SEEN THIS PATTERN BEFORE, AND WE SEE IT EXPRESSED YET AGAIN IN A FUTURE TIME, SOME 600 YEARS AFTER DANIEL :
HEBREWS 10:26-29
26IF WE PURPOSELY CONTINUE TO SIN AFTER RECEIVING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, THERE NO LONGER REMAINS A SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, 27BUT ONLY THE TERRIFYING PROSPECT OF JUDGMENT, OF RAGING FIRE THAT WILL CONSUME THE ENEMIES. 28SOMEONE WHO IGNORED THE TORAH OF MOSES WAS PUT TO DEATH WITHOUT COMPASSION ON THE WORD OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES. 29SO HOW MUCH WORSE PUNISHMENT DO YOU THINK IS DESERVED OF SOMEONE WHO HAS TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT THE SON OF YAHUAH - WHO HAS TREATED AS SOMETHING COMMON, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT WHICH MADE HIM SET-APART - AND WHO HAS INSULTED THE SPIRIT, GIVER OF YAHUSHA'S FAVOUR! ... FOR WE KNOW THE ONE WHO SAID `VENGEANCE IS MINE - I WILL REPAY' SAYS YAHUAH. AND ALSO 'YAHUAH WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE' - FOR IT IS FEARSOME TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE ONLY LIVING ALAHIM YAHUAH!"
SCRIPTURE WARNS OF YAHUSHA’S EVALUATION OF MANKIND AND OUR INABILITY (APART FROM HIM), TO MEASURE UP. 'YAHUAH SEES ALL OUR WAYS AND COUNTS ALL OUR STEPS' (JOB 31). 'ALL OUR ACTIONS ARE WEIGHED' (1SAM 2). 'BOTH MEN OF LOW STATUS AND HIGH STATUS WILL BE EVALUATED ON YAHUSHA’S SCALES OF JUSTICE' (PS. 62). WE ARE BLIND TO OUR SIN, UNABLE TO ASSESS OUR TRUE CONDITION. 'ALL THE WAYS OF MANKIND ARE PURE IN HIS OWN EYES, BUT YAHUAH WEIGHS THE SPIRITS'. (PRO 16:2). EVEN THOSE WHO TRUST IN MESSIAH YAHUSHA (OBTAINING ETERNAL LIFE AND ESCAPING DESTRUCTION) WILL HAVE THEIR WORKS JUDGED FOR REWARD (1COR 3:13 - REV. 3:2).
THE SCRIPTURES EVERYWHERE ASSURE US THAT 'YAHUAH IS AN ALAHIM OF KNOWLEDGE, AND BY HIM OUR BEHAVIOUR IS WEIGHED.' HE PUTS EVERY BELSHAZZAR AND ALL PEOPLE IN HIS BALANCES, WEIGHS EVERY HEART, MARKS EVERY BAD CHOICE, AND RECORDS EVERY RIGHT AND WRONG ... EVERY OPPORTUNITY SQUANDERED, EVERY REBUKE IGNORED, EVERY UNGRATEFUL FEELING INDULGED, EVERY IMPULSE OF PRIDE AND EGO ENTERTAINED, EVERY INSTANCE OF POWER ABUSED, OR TALENTS USED SELFISHLY, EVERY WORD AND ACT OF PROFANITY, EVERY THOUGHT AND PASSION, OR IDLE WORD THAT WE'VE SPOKEN — ALL OF THEM, SINGULARLY AND COMBINED, ARE COUNTED, SURVEYED AND WEIGHED, AND WRITTEN DOWN IN HEAVEN AGAINST THE DAY OF FINAL ACCOUNT. AND THOSE WILLING TO PASS THE TEST WILL BE DIVIDED & SEPARATED FROM SUCH BEHAVIOURS.
HOW WILL YOU FAIR IN THIS REALITY EXPERIMENT OF LIFE, SURROUNDED DAILY BY BLIND, PERVERSE IDOLATRY, A REFUSAL TO REPENT OR LEARN FROM YAHUSHA'S WORDS, AND A GLOBAL POPULATION WHO DEFILE NOT ONLY THE LAND BUT THEIR MIND, HEART AND BODIES: UTENSILS & TEMPLES ORIGINALLY CREATED TO ESTEEM AND HOUSE HIS DIVINE SPIRIT AS HIS TREASURED POSSESSION ??
WILL YOU BE MEASURED, WEIGHED AND DIVIDED AND FOUND GOOD AND TRUSTWORTHY, OR LACKING AND UNWORTHY FOR ETERNAL LIFE?
THIS IS THE TEST !