This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Daniel 5:26
On May 30, 1980, a rookie shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles played in a major league baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Cal Ripkin, Junior, did not have a great day, with a walk and a strikeout but no hits, but that game marked the start of something special in baseball. On September 20, 1998, Ripkin voluntarily opted not to play, ending a streak of 2632 consecutive games played, a record that nobody is ever expected to break. As he played day after day, Ripkin just expected to continue on. As one of the greatest shortstops in baseball history, he had the skills and turned in the performances to warrant being on the field for his team. But the streak had to end sometime. There came a point when his team had a better shortstop to put into the lineup, because, as great as he was, Ripkin’s days were numbered. That is also true of bad kings, and wonderful Christians.
Belshazzar earned an early end to his kingdom, because of his evil defiance of God. But his kingdom ended just like all of our lives will end, because of our sin. We have no way to know when God will finish our little kingdoms; that is in His hands. But we do know that He will finish them. When we begin each day, we acknowledge it is another gift from the God Who has placed us here, and Who has brought us into His kingdom. As members of His kingdom, we are under His dominion and subject to His schedule. We accept His numbering and submit to His time of completion.
The message to Belshazzar was bad news. This evil man had nothing but judgment to anticipate as his kingdom and his life came to an end. He had no shelter from the wrath that he so richly deserved. Like Belshazzar, we can make no claim of deserving to escape the wrath of God, we are just as much sinners as he was, even though probably not as wicked. The difference is not in ourselves but in what we are relying for our deliverance. Belshazzar could heap presents on Daniel but he could not earn favour with God. Neither could we. But we have come to know the One Who could – and did – win favour with God. And we stand delivered from wrath through the merits of our Saviour. When our little kingdoms here end, it is actually good news, because our judgment is past, and we enter into joy.
Take comfort from the reality that when God wraps up our little kingdoms, He keeps us within His great kingdom and all its glories. -Jim MacIntosh