You Have Been Weighed in the Balances

Daniel 5:22-28 KJV  

22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;  

23 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:  

24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.  

25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.  

27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.  

28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.  

29 Then commanded Belshazzar and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.  

30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.  

In December of 2023, God has shown me a series of visions that I am compelled to share with you about the state of America. I saw a vision of mass corruption and cheating in the land. God has allowed me to see several instances where men were cheating and taking advantage of each other. There is injustice and cheating in every area of our society such as: the educational and higher educational system, the welfare and Medicaid system, the political arenas, the healthcare system, the art and entertainment industries, the sports arena, and the criminal justice system. On every hand there was cheating, and God has pronounced judgment. On every hand, humanity is taking advantage of each other, and the scripture that came to mind is one that accurately describes the judgement that has been pronounced over America. It is found in Daniel 5:27, saying, “…You have been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting.” On December 11, 2023, I saw a picture of the justice of God visiting the land from a cold region. The water that came from that cold region broke through ice, and it plunged into the land. Biblically, water represents nourishment, the process or cleansing, cleanliness, and power. However, water also represents the justice of God. For example, the prophet Amos penned these words saying, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an overflowing stream” (Amos 5:24). Micah, a contemporary of the prophet Amos, exhorted the children of Israel, saying, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic. 6:8) God would much rather that men would repent (2 Chron. 7:14, 2 Pet. 3: 9), and follow the admonition of the prophets like Micah who encourage us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Rest assured that if man fails to do justice, the justice of God will roll down like waters, and His righteousness will roll down like an overflowing stream. The justice of God will visit this land from a cold region. Weeks before that dream, I saw a vision of impending disaster represented by a pile of rubble and rocks.  

I was also allowed to see two visions concerning corruption in the field of law enforcement. On December 12, 2023, I saw a vision that the government will utilize law enforcement to stop the freedom of speech. On December 23, 2023, I saw a vision of a black man and two boys who looked like his sons being chased by a policeman. When they saw that they could not get away. They laid out prostrate on the ground, giving themselves up, and the policemen still drew his weapon out upon them as if he was there to hunt them. On December 30, 2023, I saw in a dream that I was bitten by a snake that had no effect on me, but he was very aggressive. After I was bitten the first time, I hid under some type of cover, but the aggressive stake came under the cover and bit me again. I perceive that the cover is the institution of the church, and the snake is the devil. In the third chapter of Genesis, the devil is the serpent who utilized deception to kill Adam and Eve by convincing them to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree against the will of God. So, this dream is to warn the saints that the deceptive attacks of the enemy will increase and become more and more aggressive against the church and the institution of the church. Certain men have even crept into the churches just like that snake in the dream, and they are spreading lies and deception (see Jude 1:4). The deception of the enemy will bring about death and spiritual death to many but be comforted that the attacks of the devil cannot destroy the saints. In Mathew 11:12, Jesus was talking about the violent nature of John the Baptist when he said that “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, but the violent takes it by force.” He was saying that John the Baptist was fierce (violent) in his ministry because he was warring against the violent forces of darkness. Though the attacks of the devil will increase, let the saints be as violent and as fierce in our Christian walk and our Christian service as John the Baptist was. Let us pray that God will empower and strengthen the kingdom of light to be more aggressive than the kingdom of darkness. Let the light of God’s truth pierce through the darkness of deception. Let us tell the truth in the face of deception. In telling the truth of God’s word, many will be set free from the deadly traps of deception (see Jn. 8:31-32).   

As I continued to see these dreams, I began to ponder on the words “You have been weighed the balances and have been found wanting.” As I continued to think on these vivid dreams, I was inspired to expound upon Daniel 5:22-30, the passage that speaks about the judgment of being “weighed in the balances” and “found wanting.” To examine this passage, it is necessary that we first consider its context. The first thing to note is that the prophet Daniel is the author of this book, and it is Daniel who is speaking in this portion of Scripture. Daniel and his comrades were taken captive when the city of Jerusalem was seized, and they were chosen to serve as wisemen for king Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the Babylonian Empire (see Dan. 1:1-5). Not only did Nebuchadnezzar make the children of Israel his servants, but he also took the vessels of gold out of the temple of God which were used for the Levitical priests’ sacred service to God. God blessed Daniel and his friends with “…knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Dan. 1:17). Daniel is also known for having served three different kings over a span of seventy years in Babylonian captivity. However, in Daniel 5:22-28, he is serving the second king, whose name is Belshazzar, who was the son of king Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar is also the person that Daniel is speaking to in the Daniel 5:22-28.   

What brought about this conversation between Daniel and king Belshazzar? You see, king Belshazzar hosted a feast for a thousand of his lords, and he began to drink wine. The king was so drunken by his newfound glory and pride that he disrespected God in a most terrible way. He took the sacred vessels of gold that were taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, and he and his thousand lords, his sons, his wives, and his concubines began to drink wine out of them. Not only did the drink out of God’s sacred vessels of gold, but they praised idol gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone as the drank from the sacred vessels (see Dan. 5:3-4). When Belshazzar committed this heinous act against God, there appeared the fingers of a man’s hand who wrote on the wall. The process of the handwriting on the wall literally shook the king in fear, and he was also bewildered by the fact that neither, he, his wisemen, astrologers, or soothsayer were able to read the writing on the wall (see Dan. 5:5-8). When the king learned that no one on his team was able to read the writing on the wall, the king’s mother advised him that Daniel would be able to read the writing and provide counsel for him just as he did for his father, king Nebuchadnezzar (see Dan. 5:10-12). This is how the conversation of Daniel 5:22-28 began. In Daniel 5:22-23, the prophet Daniel said:  

And thou his son, O Behlshazzar, 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: (KJV)  

The first thing Daniel addresses in these verses is the pride of the king saying, “And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this…” (Dan. 5:22-23). The entire fourth chapter of Daniel’s book describes how God humbled the heart of king Nebuchadnezzar, the father of king Belshazzar. God took king Nebuchadnezzar down from his position as king, and he made him eat the grass like a cow. God made the hair of his body grow out like bird feathers and made his nails to grow out like the claws of a bird. Nebuchadnezzar was out of his mind until he “lifted up his eyes unto heaven” in humility (Dan. 4:32-34). King Belshazzar knew about the things that his father suffered because of his pride, because his father told all of Babylon about how God humbled him (see Dan. 4). Nebuchadnezzar was humbled to the point that he said, “Now, I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” So, in Daniel 5:22-23, Daniel was telling Belshazzar that he knew about all that happened to his father because of pride, but he still chose to lift himself up against the Lord of heaven by drinking from his holy vessels and praising other gods.  

Many do not consider that the same level of blasphemous behavior is taking place in America by various rulers and princes of darkness. They are committing blasphemy against Jesus on just about every medium from social media, music, movies, politics, education and more. The blasphemies that these princes of darkness have committed is not only for disrespect towards God in Christ Jesus, but these atrocities are committed in worship to demons and their leader, Satan. But what America has failed to realize is that the writing is on the wall and judgment is soon to come.  

Furthermore, Daniel explained to the king saying, “…the God in whose hand is thy breath is, and in whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written” Dan.5:23-24). The hand who wrote the writing on the wall came from God because of the evil deeds of king Belshazzar, in that he exalted himself against God and he used sacred things of God in his worship to idol gods. After Daniel addressed the pride of the king, he began to read and interpret the writing on the wall. The writing that was written was, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,” and in the next three verses Daniel provided the interpretation of the writing saying:  

26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; thou art weighted in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (KJV)  

            In layman’s terms, God told king Belshazzar that he was going to die and that his rule has come to an end. Not only was Belshazzar killed, but his entire lineage was wiped from the face of the earth. God also told him that he had been judged, and God’s judgement of king Belshazzar was that he was an unjust ruler who ruled an unjust people. Lastly, God told Belshazzar that his kingdom was going to be stripped from him and given to others. MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN was God’s judgement against Belshazzar, but it was also God’s judgment upon the Babylonian Empire because of its injustices against Him and his people. America is a nation whose injustice is identical to that of Ancient Babylon. If America is like Babylon, so shall her fate be as Babylon. There is a prince of darkness in America who has already been judged and will be destroyed. The modern-day Babylon has been weighed in the balances and has been found wanting. The land of America is plagued with injustice, and she has been found wanting. The justice of God is coming to America from a cold region. Saints of God, let us be fierce in prayer, worship, and service to God. Let us encourage our churches and our communities to turn back to God, because “…it is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Encourage the churches and communities to be humble, seek the face of God in Christ Jesus, and turn from our wicked ways so that God will forgive our sins and heal our land (2 Chr. 7:14). Be encouraged to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God (Mic. 6:8; Amo. 5:24).  

Let us pray,  

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your warnings and your chastisement. In your warnings are grace because warnings come before destruction. In your chastisement is love because you chastise the ones you love. Father, please forgive us for every time we have oppressed anyone. Forgive us for every injustice we have committed against you. Have mercy on us Oh Lord! Father, cover us with the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ so that we will be saved in the day of visitation. We believe that Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected with all power in his hands, even the power to make us the children of God. We know that we your help, we can do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you God, our Father. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.