“Belshazzar, heady with the wine, ordered that the gold and silver chalices his father Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from God’s Temple of Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines, could drink from them...At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the lamp-illumined, whitewashed wall of the palace. When the king saw the disembodied hand writing away, he went white as a ghost, scared out of his wits. (Daniel 5:2, 7 MSG)
In the above passage, the Babylonian king Balshazzar decides it would be entertaining for his party guests to drink from some chalices that were stolen from the Temple of Jerusalem. These utensils were considered holy by the Jewish people who were being held captive by the Babylonians. Soon after this act of desecration, the king sees the handwriting on the wall that predicts his demise.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11 KJV)
Unless we learn to recognize what is sacred, we are doomed to repeatedly desecrate what is holy. God created everything for HIS pleasure. However, many of us are under the impression that the world is at OUR disposal. Thus, we unthinkingly treat with sacrilege what is meant to be holy. We use God and faith as a prop, abuse other humans, exploit nature, and misuse resources. We consume with abandon from sacred chalices, reckless about the consequences. Can we not read the handwriting on the wall?
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