In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Belshazzar was greatly troubled because he saw a hand writing on the wall, and when his wise men were unable to tell him what the writing said or meant, he called for Daniel who said, “this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; You are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting”, and in chapter five and verse twenty-eight of his book Daniel told King Belshazzar, the interpretation of, “PERES” where we read,
PERES; Your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
The verse reads, “PERES; Your kingdom is divided, …” Daniel began with the word, “PERES” or “UPHARSIN which means half-mina as a measure and weight”, “your kingdom” which means “your, Belshazzar’s, royal rule, reign and kingly authority’ “is divided” or “exists as broken in two”. Daniel told King Belshazzar that the world “PERES or UPHARSIN” means that his royal reign and authority were to be broken in two.
The verse goes on to say, “… and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel continued with the words, “and given” which means “and granted, bestowed and assigned” “to the Medes” or “toward the territory inhabited by the Medes which was located northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of Armenia and Assyria, and west and northwest of the great salt desert of Iram” “and Persians” which means “and the people who were from the empire of Persia whose name means pure or splendid and encompassed the territory from India on the east to Egypt and Thrace on the west, and included, besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian and the Jaxartes on the north, the Arabian desert, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south”. Daniel told King Belshazzar that his “kingdom” would be designated and delineated to the people of “Media and Persia”.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how King Belshazzar was to lose his kingdom over his insolence and pride. He did not acknowledge the gifts and position that God gave to him, and he presumptively used God’s sacred implements for worship to imbibe wine. That was his final act, and we shall see what happened to him in our next verses. God was to take the Kingdom of Babylon from Belshazzar and give it to the Medes and Persians. God wants us to put Him first in our lives, (See Matthew 6:33) and when we surrender to His Son Jesus who was sent into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and guide us into all truth by His Holy Spirit to help us to always make Him our priority and never our own selves and our pride.
Next time Daniel shares how King Belshazzar gave him, “scarlet clothing, a gold necklace and to be the third ruler in Babylon”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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