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PAGE TITLE: JOEL C. ROSENBERG
BLOG http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/
ARTICLE
TITLE:
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL: Lessons from Daniel chapter 5 on the future of
America and the coming war in the Middle East
DATE: Thursday 2 February
2012
AUTHOR: Joel Rosenberg
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Joel C. Rosenberg (born 1967) is an American communications
strategist, author of the Last Jihad series, and founder of The
Joshua Fund. An Evangelical Christian, he has written five novels about
terrorism and how it relates to Bible Prophecy, including Gold Medallion Book
Award winner The Ezekiel Option, along with two nonfiction books, Epicenter
and Inside the Revolution, on the alleged resemblance of biblical
prophecies and current events. Rosenberg serves as a political columnist for World
and he has also had his work published by the Wall Street Journal, National
Review, and Policy Review. He and his wife, Lynn, have four sons and
reside near Washington, D.C.
 |
|
Joel Rosenberg
|
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
Lessons from Daniel Chapter 5 on the future of America and
the coming war in the Middle East
"Is America in a 'Nebuchadnezzar moment' (where we still
have an opportunity to repent and be restored), or a 'Belshazzar moment' (where
God removes His favor from us and turns out the lights)?"
Joel C. Rosenberg, Jacksonville Pastors Conference, January 29,
2012
[Text of remarks prepared for delivery; see conference video for
final presentation]
"The Pastor and the Future" -- that's what I've been
asked to speak about tonight, and I cannot think of a more important subject to
close this conference. You and I are living in one of the most dangerous
moments in the history of the United States….in the history of Israel and the
Middle East….in the history of the Church. Yet at this very moment when so many
people are so anxious about the future, too many pastors are shying away from
teaching Bible prophecy.
·
Some, because prophecy has been sensationalized in the past
and they rightly resist such cheapening of God’s Holy Word.
·
Some, because they’ve never really carefully studied Bible
prophecy and feel unprepared to teach it to their congregations.
·
Some, because they’ve lost sight of the power of prophecy –
prophecy is an intercept from the mind of the all-seeing, all-knowing,
all-powerful God….prophecies are storm warnings from the future….not to
frighten us but to motivate us – to get us ready for what is coming, and to
help get others ready…..prophecy is given to encourage and exhort the Church to
repentance….to holiness and purity….to prayer and fasting….to sharing the
Gospel and making disciples….to pastor training and church planting….prophecy
tells us we are going to be shaken….why?....to wake up the Church….to wake up
the nations….to wake up Israel….because the Day of the Lord is coming, and
surely it is near….and God love us and He wants us to be ready.
In Luke 12:54-56, Jesus rebuked His disciples for not
understanding the Word of God and not analyzing the times in which they
lived….which is why it is so important that we close this conference by
considering “The Pastor and the Future.” So, turn with me, if you would, to
Daniel chapter 5. [Read the entire chapter]
What do we see in Daniel chapter 5?
5:1-2 – A pagan nation at the height of its power, and corruption.
5:3-4 – A pagan government and high society drunk with power and
consumed with seeking pleasure of all kinds….worshipping the gods of gold and
silver and all things material....what do we see in the king’s court?
·
Sexual immorality.
·
Drunkness.
·
Greed and materialism.
·
Idolatry
·
Blasphemy.
·
No care or concern for their history of sin and God’s judgment.
·
No remembrance of God’s grace and mercy for those who repent.
King Belshazzar doesn’t seem to remember or care about the
testimony of his forefather, Nebuchadnezzar. Once an evil and terrible king,
one of the worst in the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar had then faced the judgment of
God. He’d been driven out of the king’s palace, into the wilderness, driven mad
and eating grass like a beast. Yet after a time, God relented. The Lord gave
Nebuchadnezzar a second chance, and Nebuchadnezzar repented of his horrific
sins and gave his life to the One True God. What’s more, Nebuchadnezzar praised
the Lord before the entire nation ofBabylon.
Nebuchadnezzar testified before his people: “At that time my
reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the
glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I
was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His
works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in
pride.” (Daniel 4:36-37).
5:5-6 – So God begins to shake them.
5:7-9 – A mysterious hand appears out of nowhere in the king’s
court….mysterious fingers begin supernaturally writing on the wall of the
king’s palace….everyone in that room could see the handwriting on the
wall….they could all see the hand of God at work…..it terrified them, but it
certainly got their attention…..they knew it was important, but they had no
idea what is said, or what it meant….so because they were pagans they turned to
the so-called “wise men” of the age, but the wise men had no answers.
·
5:7 – King Belshazzar has two reactions:
o A
physical reaction – he gets physically ill.
o An
emotion reaction – he becomes desperate….he suddenly becomes willing to give
massive wealth and power to whoever can help him understand the handwriting on
the wall.
5:10-12 – Frightened, desperate, and having run out of all other
options, Belshazzar turns to a man with a reputation for being completely
different than they….a man described as having an “extraordinary spirit”….a man
described as having “knowledge and insight”…a man “in whom is a spirit of the
holy gods”…..the man, of course, was Daniel….he hadn’t been invited to the
party, mind you…he wasn’t part of their culture….he wasn’t part of their
religion….he wasn’t a member of the “in crowd”….and that was the point….in
their fear and trembling, they were looking for someone completely
different….someone who had a completely different perspective and just might be
able to help them.
5:13-16 – Enter Daniel….he is brought into the upper echelons of
power and wealth and offered a great reward if he can solve the mystery.
5:17-28 – Daniel doesn’t ignore or resist the king’s request….he
doesn’t claim separation of Church and State….he doesn’t self-righteously
declare he won’t “dirty his hands” by speaking to government leaders….but
Daniel makes clear that he’s not interested in money, power or prestige….he’s
not trying to be in their club….he certainly doesn’t want to be part of their pagan
culture or corruption….rather, he knows he holds citizenship in another
kingdom, yet he also knows that he is God’s ambassador….so he agrees to explain
the hand of God to the king and his court….giving all glory and honor to the
Lord, Daniel fearlessly makes known the word of the Lord, even at great risk to
his own life.
Many in ministry look at Daniel with admiration and want to be
like him:
·
He’s handsome (Daniel 1:4)
·
Brilliant (Daniel 1:4)
·
Wise (Daniel 1:4)
·
Sterling reputation (Daniel chapters 1 through 5)
·
Invited into the highest courts of power (the entire book of
Daniel)
·
Given great accolades, wealth and authority (Daniel 2:46-49 and
5:29)
Yet let’s be clear: Daniel didn’t seek any of these
things….moreover, he knew he could take no credit for these things.
That said, let’s take another look….are you really willing to be a
Daniel? Consider the high price of his service to the Lord:
·
He was taken captive from his homeland (Daniel chapter 1)
·
Forcibly given a new home, new name, new diet, new education, new
job in a brutal pagan empire (Daniel chapter 1)
·
Arrested, convicted, imprisoned, sentenced to death (Daniel
chapter 6)
·
Yet he never faltered….he never wavered….he clung to the Lord….he
knew His God….he listened to His God….he was a man of prayer….he understand the
Word….he studied God’s Word diligently and carefully (chapter 9 he’s studying
Jeremiah!)…..and when God told him to speak, he spoke boldly and without
reservation…..he didn’t pull any punches….he did so at great risk, but with
great faith and courage.
·
In Matthew 24:15, Jesus calls Daniel “the prophet”….for that is
what he was.
How about you?....are you clinging to Christ?....are you on you
knees repeatedly throughout the day in prayer?....are you fasting?.....are you
listening carefully to the voice of God?.....are you willing to teach God’s
Word – all of it, including the prophecies of a future that is coming fast upon
us?.....are you ready to stripped of all our worldly possessions…stripped of
our identity….arrested…. convicted….imprisoned…. sentenced to death….all for
being men faithful to pray and faithful to speak the Word of God in our pagan,
corrupt culture? Let us not answer too quickly – let us consider the gravity of
this calling in this moment...for these tests may be coming soon.
Now, what was the Lord’s message to Belshazzar via Daniel?
·
5:18-21 -- Belshazzar should have known better…he had seen the
sins of his father, and God’s judgment
·
5:22 – “Yet you…have not humbled your heart, even though you knew
all this,” Daniel says to the king. “You have exalted yourself against the Lord
of heaven.”
·
5:26 – Mene, “God has
numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.”
·
5:27 – Tekel, “You have been
weighed on the scales and found wanting.”
·
5:28 –
Peres, “Your kingdom has been divided and given over to the
Medes and Persians.”
·
Why was God judging Belshazzar? Because of Belshazzar’s pride…his
vanity….his insolence….his hubris….Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goeth before
destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Yes, the God of the Bible is a God of grace and mercy and
forgiveness. He gives us one opportunity after another in life here on earth to
say “Yes” to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive His free gift of forgiveness and
eternal life by putting our faith in Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection
from the dead. But eventually there is a point of no return. There is a point
in which you defy God too long….go too far….cross a line….and at that point you
no longer have the opportunity to repent and receive God’s mercy. At that
point, when you least expect it, you have sealed your own fate by rejecting the
Most High God…by exalting yourself against the Lord, and you will stand
condemned to the fires of hell for all of eternity with no way of escape.
Thus, the Scriptures are clear: Say “Yes” to Jesus Christ now,
before it is too late.
·
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not
have the Son of God does not have the life.” (I John 5:11-12)
·
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (die and go to hell forever and
ever), but shall have eternal life….he who believes in Him is not judged; he
who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16,18)
·
Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to
kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell….Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My
Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him
before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:28,32-33)
·
Don’t do what Belshazzar did. Don’t keep defying the Most High
God. Don’t wait too long to repent and give your life to the Lord. Otherwise
there will come a point of no return. You will be weighed in God’s balances and
found deficient, and theKingdomofGodwill be ripped away from you and you won’t
have another opportunity to be saved. The Apostle Paul put it clearly: “Now is
the acceptable time [to get right with God],” he wrote. “Behold, now is the day
of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
5:29-31 – For some unknown reason Belshazzar kept his word to
Daniel and rewarded him for his insight….and God kept His word and before the
night was finished, Belshazzar was dead.
Question: Why did God write on the wall?
It was too late for that king -- and that kingdom -- to repent.
Why, then, did God sent the message? To warn to those Babylonians who were in
the room with Belshazzar, and to warn the entire nation of Babylon….and to warn
us down through the centuries: Listen to the voice of God….read the Word of
God….don’t harden your heart….understand the “handwriting on the wall”….understand
that God is trying to wake you up….get your attention….draw you to
Him….motivate you to serve Him….don’t wait too long….repent of your sins and
receive Christ as your Savior while there is still time.
Today, we can see the handwriting on the wall once again….in
Israel and the Middle East….and here in the United States….God is trying to get
our attention….will we listen, or harden our hearts?
The Future of Israel and the Middle East
As followers of Jesus Christ, we can see the handwriting on the wall
in theMiddle East. We know what it says, and we know what it means: a terrible
war is coming to the epicenter. God is going to shake the people of theMiddle
East. He wants them to wake up and realize their real and desperate and urgent
need to receive Jesus as their Messiah, Savior and Lord. Jesus doesn’t want
anyone in the epicenter to perish and go to hell. He wants them to all to be
saved.
The Good News is that more Muslims and more Jews are coming to
faith in Jesus than ever before in history. But it’s not enough for the Lord.
Too many people are still resisting Him. So in His mercy He will continue
shaking them in hopes that they will listen and repent like Nebuchadnezzar, not
rejecting Him to the very end like Belshazzar.
Will the coming war be a prophetic war (like Ezekiel 38-39, the
“War of God and Magog”), or just a really terrible geopolitical war? Of that we
cannot yet be certain. But clearly the most dangerous corridor in the world is
between Tel Aviv and Tehran. The leaders of the free world say Iran could have
the Bomb by the end of 2012. Yet the nations of the world refuse to take
decisive action to neutralize the Iranian threat. But make no mistake: if
Iran’s mullahs get the Bomb, they could do in six minutes what it took Adolf
Hitler six years to do – kill six million Jews. Today's Sunday New York Times magazine story suggests Israel and Iran may very well go
to war in 2012.
The handwriting on the wall is clear – the question is: What will
we as believers do about it?
·
Will the Church demonstrate the love and courage necessary to
proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Middle East with clarity and
compassion before it’s too late? If we really love the people of the epicenter,
that's exactly what we should do.
·
Will the Church do everything possible to encourage our brothers
and sisters in Christ who live in theMiddle East– to pray for them, to visit
them, to equip them, to assist them, to stand with them, come what may? Will we
help the persecuted believers in the region? Will we train the pastors and help
them plant new churches? Or will we ignore them, abandon them, refuse them in
their hour of need? Again, if we love them, we will serve them.
·
Time is short, and the handwriting on the wall is clear.
The Future of America
The handwriting on the wall is also clear here in theUnited
States. We as followers of Jesus Christ know full well thatAmericais in grave
danger -- not just at risk of decline but of outright collapse.
·
We now have more than $15 trillion
in debt….100% of our GDP….but we are facing $65 trillion in unfunded
liabilities…..we are on the Titanic, heading for the icebergs, and too many
inWashington are saying, “Speed up!” not, “Turn around!”
·
The Bible warns us not to go into debt, yet we continue to defy
Him.
·
We are defying God in other areas, too.
·
53 million abortions
·
Legalized homosexual marriage
·
A pornography industry that makes more than ABC, CBS and NBC
combined.
How much longer will the Lord wait before He lets us reap what
we’ve sown? Is God going to give us another chance, or is He finished with us? Is America in a “Nebuchadnezzar
moment” (where we still have an opportunity to repent and be restored), or a
“Belshazzar moment” (where God removes His favor from us and turns out the
lights)? Honestly, I’m not certain.
The good news is that God moved powerfully in this land in the
early 1700s with the first “Great Awakening,” a series of amazing spiritual
revivals that woke up the Church and rescuedAmerica. God moved powerfully again
in the early 1800s with the “Second Great Awakening” that was even more
transformative.
The question now is: Will God give us a Third Great Awakening? I
don’t know, but I hope so. That’s why I’ve written the book, Implosion. But I can’t
wait until June when it releases. I feel compelled to start talking about these
issues now because they are so important. We need to be on our knees praying
and fasting and pleading with God to have mercy on us. Yes, Washington and Wall
Street and Hollywood bear much blame for the mess we’re in. But so does the
Church.
There are 340,000 churches in the United States. They are all
supposed to be shining cities on a hill. They are supposed to be lights in the
darkness. But in too many American churches, the light is growing dim. In some
churches, there is no light at all. We desperately need a revival of the Church
to save this country. Nothing less will do.
Even if we elect godly, principled, wise and courageous leaders to
the presidency, the Senate and the House in 2012, this won’t be enough to keep
us from implosion. It’s still important, don’t get me wrong. But won’t be
enough. We need a supernatural movement of God to rescue us, or this nation
will collapse economically, morally and culturally.
On Saturday, June 16th, we will host the national “Implosion”
simulcast….a three-hour program for churches all across the country….I’ll teach
for about an hour on these issues, and then take 2 hours of questions in a live
format…we’ll talk about how much trouble we’re in, and we’ll talk more about
the Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening and see if there are lessons
we can learn and apply to our own time….I hope you and your churches will
consider joining us for this.
Conclusion
The world is fearful and confused. Millions across the globe can
see the handwriting on the wall. They know something is terribly wrong. They
sense something terrible is coming. But they cannot read the handwriting or
understand what it means. That’s your job. That the mission of the pastor,
the man of God who knows the Word of God and is charged with teaching the Word
of God. It is your job to analyze these present times in the light of God’s
Word, in the light of Bible prophecy, and help the Church and the pagan world
understand what God is saying….before it’s too late.
Too many pastors, however, are asleep to the trend lines. They are
unable – or unwilling – to see how much danger the people of the Middle East
are in, and how much danger the people of the United States are in. But now is
precisely the time to call the Church, and the nations, and Israel, back to the
God of the Bible…..now, while we still can.
—————————-
RESOURCES ON ISRAEL, IRAN AND BIBLE PROPHECY
·
Online video message on “America
In A Troubled World: What Does The Future Hold,” looking at several prophecies,
including Luke 12:54 -56 and Ezekiel 38-39 at the “Inside the Middle East
Conference” at the Moody Bible Church
·
Audio of Joel’s message on how God is
shaking the nations (from the Book of Haggai, chapter 2) at
King of Kings church in Jerusalem (given in June 2011)
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