Belshazzar the king [of the Chaldeans] made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.  Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.  Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.  They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.  In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.  Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.  The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.  None was found to interpret the handwriting on the wall.  Daniel, a prophet of God, was then brought before Belshazzar and told of the writings upon the wall which troubled him so greatly (Daniel 5:1ff.).

     Among the interpretation of the writing upon the wall, Daniel used the word Tekel which he then defined: (Daniel 5:27) “Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”  It is this definition that this article will focus upon.  As Belshazzar was weighed by God and found wanting [lacking], we too can find a similar judgment.  In the case of Belshazzar he was slain in the night and his kingdom was taken by Darius the Median (Daniel 5:30-31).  In the case of a Christian, eternity is in the balance.  A Christian’s faithfulness is weighed.  If found lacking, Heaven will not be your home.

     When the Lord returns to judge the living and the dead (II Timothy 4:1), no one will need a prophet to interpret the message.  The handwriting is already in our hands, that which is the written word of God (John 12:48).  We have been foretold of Heaven, Hell, the Judgment Day, and how to prepare to avoid eternal punishment by being saved to inherit eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

     When the Lord comes and Judgment commences, there will be no extra warning.  The warnings have been issued in the word of God.  The warning is to always be prepared as we know not when the Lord doth come (Matthew 25:1-13).  As Paul said: (I Thessalonians 5:2) “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night”, we must learn to be waiting and watching.  When the Lord comes we will want Him to find us working for Him (Matthew 24:46).

     As Belshazzar found, we too will know that the Lord keeps His word.  The Judgment Day will come and that day will be sad for the majority of mankind.  The Lord will punish those who do not know Him and have not obeyed the Gospel (II Thessalonians 1:8-9).  Jesus will not come bringing excuses for those who continue in sin, for one cannot continue in sin in hopes that grace will abound (Romans 6:1-2; 15).  Sin brings spiritual death (Romans 6:16; 23), which is eternity in Hell (Matthew 25:46 and Revelation 21:8).  Thus, to learn from Belshazzar we must be willing to find now where we are lacking and prevent that from being held against us in the Judgment.

     (II Corinthians 13:5) “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”  The measuring stick of the word of God needs to be frequently used within the spiritual journey towards Heaven of every Christian.  One must be able to measure their lives in light of the Gospel and make appropriate changes when they find they are lacking in any area.  We are to grow spiritually (II Peter 1:3-10; 3:18), and growth presents plenty of opportunities to better our spiritual lives.  Our examination will tell us if Christ is in us or not.  So, how is Jesus within us, and what significance does that bear on our salvation?  Paul, through inspiration, wrote a beautiful series of verses that answers that question: (Ephesians 3:17-19) “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

     If our spiritual self-examine reveals that Christ is not within us, that our faith is lacking, that our spirituality is suffering; we must then find where we need to change.  For some, the realization that they are spiritually ill is a huge change.  Sadly, I have found that many within the body of Christ study and grow little to none.  Such is spiritual suicide.  Just as the body needs food so does the soul (Matthew 4:4).  When constant examination occurs, part(s) of one’s spiritual weakness becomes evident to them, because the word of God is very able to cut to the heart (Hebrews 4:12).  That is when one must be a doer of the word and not just one who looks at God’s instructions, finds places where they lack, and walks away as if the word of God was a mirror on a “bad hair day” (James 1:21-25).

     When the fault or faults are found, a Christian must change.  A child of God cannot find Heaven as their eternal home if they do not repent of their sins (Luke 13:3; 5).  The beauty of being a Christian is that one can repent and confess their faults to God and He will forgive and forget them (I John 1:9).  This blessing comes through the power of the blood of Christ (Matthew 26:28 and I John 1:7).  To know that you are lacking and to ignore that is horrible.  Some become sorry for the wrong things they do, but they do not allow that sorrow to bring about change.  Paul wrote to the Corinthian brethren about sorrow working repentance: (II Corinthians 7:9-10) “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”  If fault exists in your spiritual life, do not just be sorry – repent!

     No one likes to be found lacking in areas that they work hard at perfecting.  However, a Christian must realize the need for growth.  When one is converted they are likened unto a baby (I Corinthians 3:1).  Those young in the faith need to be fed the first principles of the word of God (I Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12).  Then spiritual growth occurs and that Christian is able to consume the meat (Hebrews 5:14).  This growing process is one that includes the challenge to change.

     Belshazzar was weighed and found lacking.  His time was over.  A Christian who is alive today still has time to change, though tomorrow is not promised: (James 4:13-14) “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”  Today is the right time and may be the only time to correct those areas wherein you may be lacking.

     Many in the world today are not just lacking, they are completely without the Lord.  They have never obeyed the Gospel through faith, which comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), repentance (Acts 3:19), confessing Christ (Acts 8:37 and Romans 10:9-10), and baptism into Christ for the remission of one’s sins (Romans 6:1-6, Galatians 3:27, and Acts 2:38; 22:16); that person is taken from the world and added to the body of Christ (Acts 2:47 and Colossians 1:13).  As Paul said: (II Corinthians 6:2) “…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”