The Writing on the Wall

Introduction

Well this morning—we have a Part 2.

We have a sequel to chapter 4.

Last week, we saw King Nebuchadnezzar humbled like a beast in the field and he finally came to understand that the Most High God of Daniel is the only true God.

He came to realize that his kingdom is temporary and his rule is temporary, but the dominion of the Most High is everlasting and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

In chapter 5 this morning, we see Part 2.

Nebuchadnezzar is no more. He is gone.

Now we have Belshazzar.

A very different sort of a king, with heart that is determined to oppose God.

A king who lives for the moment.

A king who ignores the truth.

And ultimately, a king who will suffer the judgment of God.

Let’s read the passage together.

Scripture Passage—these are the very words of God

Daniel 5 ESV

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Outline

1. The pursuit of idolatry is empty (v. 1-4).

2. The spurning of light is deadly (v. 5-23).

3. The judgment of God is weighty (v. 24-30).

The Pursuit of Idolatry

But we begin this morning with that first point, which we see in v. 1-4:

1. The pursuit of idolatry is empty (v. 1-4).

Exposition

Before we get into his blasphemous actions, let’s stop and just do a little background work on the first couple words of the chapter.

Who is King Belshazzar?

We can see that Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as his father in v. 2, but we also have him offering Daniel a place as the third ruler of the kingdom in v. 16?

So what is all this about.

Well, King Belshazzar’s lineage and level of authority is not as straightforward as it may appear.

After Nebuchadnezzar dies, his son Amel-Marduk succeeded him, but only ruled for a couple of years.

For the next four years there was a power struggle with a bunch of short reigns.

However, that power struggle ends when Nabonidus, a high-ranking military leader marries into the royal family and seizes power.

He led Babylon for 17 years, until it fell.

Nabonidus is likely Belshazzar’s biological father.

The reason that he offers Daniel a place as the third ruler of the kingdom is that he himself is a vice-king. A junior regent.

Six years into Nabonidus’ reign, he made Belshazzar the #2 king in the kingdom—a role he played for 11 years.

It is likely he was given this role because Nabonidus spent almost ten years away in Arabia—something that many believe led to Babylon’s downfall.

The reason the Bible refers to him as the son of Nebuchadnezzar is because he comes from Nebuchadnezzar’s line by marriage.

It is much like King Josiah in 2 Kings.

2 Kings 21:24 says that Amon is Josiah’s father.

Four verses later in 2 Kings 22:2, David is referred to as his father, because he comes from David’s line.

So understanding who this guy is, now we can move on to what he did.

He throws this massive feast for the high and mighty of the kingdom—all of the lords who served with him.

Now, with a little more understanding of Ancient Near Eastern history, we can see this is a deluded man from the start.

According to Babylonian records, Belshazzar is having this feast not long after his father, Nabonidus, was defeated by the Medo-Persian army, fifty miles away.

That news would have reached Belshazzar. He knew the Medes and Persians were on their way.

And what is his response?—to hold a big party of debauchery and pray to pagan gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

There is an arrogant air of invincibility about this man.

“I’m not worried about the Medo-Persian invasion. I’ll throw myself a party and gorge myself and get drunk and appeal to the gods who already failed to protect my father and I’ll be just fine.”

He lives like nothing and no one can touch him.

And in order to double down on this sinful and idolatrous behavior, he requests that the golden vessels stolen from Judah’s temple would be used for boozing.

These are the vessels that Solomon crafted for the temple in 1 Kings 7.

These are vessels dedicated for the worship of Yahweh.

And yet, as they hold these vessels in their hand, the lords and concubines and wives and Belshazzar toast the false gods.

In other words—they mock the only God who could truly protect them and they drunkenly worship the false gods who can do nothing for them.

This is all idolatrous blasphemy before the Most High God.

By taking consecrated things and desecrating them, this king is driving his own soul off a cliff.

He is crossing a line with God no human in their right mind should ever want to cross.

Application

When we observe this scene, we get a good look at how empty the pursuit of idolatry truly is.

Here we have a man in a desperate situation.

His father has been defeated.

The kingdom is crumbling around him.

And his response is to “Eat, drink and be idolatrous.”

His response is shake his fist at the one true God and to dive deeper into the worship of dumb, mute idols who can do nothing to fix his situation.

This is a picture of idolatry.

Humanity is a desperate situation because of sin.

Their souls are in great danger.

And yet their response is so often the same as Belshazzar’s— “Let us eat, drink and be idolatrous.”

It may not be the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

We are too sophisticated for all that these days.

But it is the gods of sex and success, possessions, power and pleasure

And yet, in the end, they profit nothing.

Temporarily, there may be satisfaction.

But in the end, these gods cannot deliver from the diseases of the heart.

Sex and success can’t fix depression and despondency.

Possessions and power can’t repair the sorrow of the heart.

Physical Pleasure can’t save the soul.

Furthermore, not only is idolatry a pursuit that is empty, it is a pursuit that brings other sins along with it.

Idolatry is like a Queen Ant.

It might stand alone as the ruler of the colony, but it is never, ever alone.

It directs the sins that work for it to go out and devour all the sweetness of the soul until there is nothing left but bitterness and rottenness.

In this passage, the Queen Ant comes with debauchery and blasphemy.

The scene is disgusting.

Here is this gluttonous man feasting and getting drunk and he is surrounded by his horde of wives and concubines. This is debauchery and immorality.

And this is not enough for him. He must request the consecrated, holy vessels that Nebuchadnezzar stole from Solomon’s Temple.

He must mock the Most High God that was worshipped by his forefather, Nebuchadnezzar, as he gets slammed drinking from items made for worship. This is blasphemy.

For these reasons, we must avoid idolatry all together.

For these reasons, we must repent of idolatry and continue in it no more.

It is a worthless pursuit and it is an affront to God.

It leaves you with empty hands and an egregious amounts of shame.

Listen to Isaiah the prophet:

Isaiah 44:9 ESV

All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.

The one who makes the idol is nothing

Those who worship the idol are spiritually blind—they neither see nor know

And in the end, the idol-worshipper is put to shame

Do not be like Belshazzar.

If your soul is crumbling, the answer is not idolatry, but intimacy with God.

Isaiah 43:3 says HE is the Lord your God—the Holy One of Israel—your Savior.

Turn to the Savior.

Turn away from the empty pursuit of idolatry.

The Spurning of Light

Let’s move to our 2nd point today:

2. The spurning of light is deadly (v. 5-23).

We can say that some people in the world engage in idolatry with a level of ignorance.

They know from Creation that there is a Creator and they are without excuse for their idolatry—this is what Paul tells us in Romans 1.

And yet—they are ultimately ignorant in the sense that they may not know the name of the one true God and certainly do not know the plan of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

But then there are others who have had exposure to the light of the Scriptures and the grace of the Gospel and yet—with full knowledge, they harden their hearts and carry on in idolatrous sin.

Belshazzar would fall into this second category.

Exposition

Handwriting on the Wall (v. 5-12)

And his willful rebellion is exposed in a haunting way.

The fingers of a human hand appear and writing on wall of the king’s palace (v. 5)

Belshazzar’s face changes.

He is no longer red-faced from his drinking

Now he is white as a ghost because he is seeing something otherworldly

When v.6 says that his limbs gave way and his knees knocked together, the original language literally says the “knots of his joints were loosened.”

Our English Bibles don’t quite capture the Aramaic that this was written in.

What the Aramaic is conveying is that this dude lost control of his bodily functions.

There was a puddle under the chair if you know what I mean.

So he does what we have seen Nebuchadnezzar do on a couple of occasions—he calls together the wise men of Babylon and offers them great reward if they can interpret the writing. (v. 7)

He will even make them the third ruler of the kingdom after himself and Nabonidus.

But like in the days of his forefather Nebuchadnezzar, they can’t do it. (v. 8)

And this leaves him terrified and perplexed. (v. 9)

But in v. 10-12 the queen mother hears about this and she takes action.

This is probably Nabonidus’ wife, since all of Belshazzar’s were already at the feast.

She comes in and reminds him of Daniel.

She reminds him of how Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar.

She reminds him of Daniel’s light and understanding and wisdom.

She reminds him of the position that Daniel held with Nebuchadnezzar because of his excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams and explain riddles and solve problems.

She tells him to call for Daniel

Daniel’s Interpretation (v. 13-23)

In v. 13-17, Daniel is brought in and the junior king explains the situation and he offers him the same deal he offered the wise men.

I will make you royal and rich. You will be the third man in charge.

But Daniel has no interest.

He tells him that he can keep his prizes or give them to someone else.

He is here to read the writing and seeks nothing in return.

And at this point, he begins to give him a history lesson about his own family.

Most historians believe that Nabonidus got into this family by marrying a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar.

If that is true, Belshazzar is the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel is about to remind Belshazzar of something he already knew about Nebuchadnezzar and he had apparently forgotten.

In v. 18-19, Daniel explains the sort of kingship and greatness and glory and majesty that Nebuchadnezzar has.

Belshazzar has none of this by the way.

Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world.

Belshazzar is a guy left on watch whose greatest recorded moment is a feast he threw for himself.

They are nothing alike, outside of their pride.

But in Nebuchadnezzar’s case—that pride was broken.

In v. 20-21 Daniel explain how the great Babylonian king was brought down into the dew of the grass and he was made to live like a beast, so he would realize the Most High God is the true ruler of mankind—not Nebuchadnezzar.

Then in v. 22-23, Daniel indicts Belshazzar.

He tells him that he has lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven.

He has done this by desecrating the consecrated vessels.

He has done this by worshipping false gods.

He has done this by stuffing his face and filling his stomach with drink after drink.

And the worst part of all of it is that HE KNEW BETTER.

Daniel says it at the end of v. 22—YOU KNEW ALL THIS.

It is like the prophet is saying, “No excuses, pal. You have see God work. You saw your father humbled. And you keep on with your incessant pride.”

He tells him that the only reason he is breathing is because of the God that he has dishonored.

In other words—you have blasphemed the One who can take your life.

APPLICATION

We cannot ignore the thrust of what Daniel is saying to Belshazzar and what it means for our own lives.

Belshazzar could not claim ignorance.

He could not claim that he never had an opportunity to understand and respond in repentance toward the Most High.

Daniel tells him plainly— YOU KNEW ALL THIS.

But you pressed forward in prideful, idolatrous blasphemy and debauchery anyways.

You KNEW and you SPURNED THE LIGHT.

This is something that we have to constantly guard against.

We do not want to found guilty of spurning the light of God.

We do not want to be indicted in God’s courtroom for hearing the truth of the Gospel and hardening our hearts against it so that we can continue on in the desires of our flesh and the ways of the world.

See—you and I live in a land of religious light.

Our society is growing more secular, but Christianity is hardly a ghost in our culture.

We hear the hymns at Christmas in department stores.

We see Bibles for sale at Walmart.

They still read the Christmas story at Disney World every year.

Every President we have had for the last 25 years was sworn in with their hand on a Bible.

We have loads of great biblical teaching at our fingerprints with the coming of the Internet age.

It has never been easier for anyone who can read to grow in theology, biblical understanding, doctrine and walking with Christ.

But above all of this, the exposure to Gospel light you have in this church is abundant.

With every sermon...

With every Bible study...

With every song we sing...

With every Sunday School class...

With every reception of God’s Word in God’s church, we are the recipients of light that we are accountable to

Listen to the back half of Luke 12:48

Luke 12:48 ESV

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

If much light is given to you, much is required in terms of repenting and hating sin and believing in Jesus Christ and loving Him.

Or Jesus’ words to His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion:

John 15:22 ESV

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

In this passage, He is telling the disciples that the world will persecute them.

And as they persecute them, they cannot claim ignorance because God has come and revealed Himself to the world in His Son and the persecutors know this.

They are spurning the light as they are scourging Jesus’ followers.

Why People Spurn the Light of the Truth

I think people typically spurn Gospel light for a few reasons:

1. They know the truth, but they plan to delay responding to it so that they may continue in sin.

This is the “I’ll get to it,” response to Gospel light.

But this is foolish.

Don’t assume that you can repent whenever because there is no promise that another opportunity is coming.

2. They know the truth, but they are inoculated.

Inoculation is when you immunize someone by introducing infectious microorganisms or vaccines into the body.

By getting exposure to the the virus, their body learns to fight it and they become immune.

This might be good in medicine, but it is terrible in spirituality.

When your exposure to the Gospel has left you immune to it, you are in a dangerous place with the Judge of the Earth.

3. They know the truth, but they have chosen to believe lies.

So many have heard the Gospel and maybe even have been stirred by it at times, but they choose to reject it and believe lies.

A couple of examples would include:

“True freedom means I get to decide who I am—not God.”

“I’m a pretty good person and God’s not going to judge me to Hell.”

Anything that teaches you that there is a way to eternal life outside of turning from sin and trusting in Jesus Christ is falsehood.

Whichever one of these you may be—if you are spurning light this morning, you are treading on dangerous ground.

It is dangerous grounds because there is a line with God you do not want to cross.

The Invisible Line

See—Daniel’s words in v. 23 tell us something.

Belshazzar crossed a line with God and there was no coming back.

When he lifted himself against the Lord and desecrated God’s holy things, he stepped over an invisible boundary.

And there were no more opportunities for repentance.

There would only be judgment now.

There’s a line we can cross with God.

We don’t know where it is, but we don’t want to find out.

You don’t want God to give you up to your sin.

We can see an example of this in Hosea 4:17

Hosea 4:17 ESV

Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.

Ephraim is the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Ephraim was the biggest tribe in Northern Israel so their name was like a shorthand for the whole Northern Kingdom.

They knew the Law. They had prophets. And yet, they pressed on in rejecting God for idols.

And due to their rejection of God and their embrace of idols, God tells the prophet to leave them alone.

These are some of the most grave words in all of Scripture.

It goes on in chapter 9:

Hosea 9:11–12 ESV

Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them!

Woe to anyone God departs from.

Woe to anyone who crosses that line with God by spurning the light.

I’ll illustrate this in this way before we go to our final point:

In 1961, when East Germany started closing off its border to West Germany, a lot of people didn’t realize what was happening.

Some West Germans crossed the invisible line separating zones before the wall was erected in August of 61 and they were trapped in East Germany.

They crossed an invisible line and became separated from their families as a result.

This is a picture of what happens if we keep spurning the light.

None of us know where that line with God might be.

None of us know when it may be our final opportunity to repent and trust in Christ.

But once you cross that line—the way Ephraim did—you experience divine abandonment that stretches in eternity.

Instead of playing a deadly game with God where you spurn light and move closer to a line you can’t see, count TODAY as the Day of Salvation.

Turn to him and trust in Him and be saved.

The Judgment of God

So we have seen that:

The pursuit of idolatry is empty.

The spurning of light is deadly.

And now our final point this morning:

3. The judgment of God is weighty (v. 24-30).

EXPOSITION

The handwriting is on the wall for Belshazzar.

That term is thrown around a lot figuratively—even by people who have not read the Bible.

But here—the handwriting is literally on the wall.

The hand has written these words:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN

These are Aramaic words.

MENE, MENE is referring to the Babylonian kingdom. (v. 25-26)

Like all of the words on the wall, this was a measurement term in Babylon.

This was the equivalent of the wall saying, “Numbered! Numbered!”

And Daniel interpret the message as “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.”

Babylon’s time is up.

To speak in the terms of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in ch. 2, the golden head is giving way to the silver chest and arms.

TEKEL is not referring to the kingdom, but the junior king.

A TEKEL is the equivalent of one shekel and it sounds a lot like the Aramaic word for “weighed.”

Daniel interprets this as “you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (v. 27).

The final word is PARSIN, but as Daniel interprets it, he uses the singular version of the word—PERES. (v. 28)

PERES was a half-mina and it is a play on words.

It sounds like the Aramaic word for Persia.

Daniel interprets and says—your kingdom is divided and it will be given to the Medes and Persians.

Persia had conquered the Medes in 550 BC, ten years before they sieged Babylon.

They were the new power player on the block.

For his interpreting troubles, Daniel gets the things that were promised.

His newfound place in the kingdom would carry over to Darius the Mede, as he will still be in a place of authority as a high official in Daniel 6.

But for Belshazzar, there is no good news.

He died at the hands of the Persians that very night. (v. 30)

But that isn’t really what got him was it?

APPLICATION

The handwriting on the wall said it all.

Numbered! Numbered! Weighed! Divided!

It is God who took Belshazzar’s kingdom and his life.

Cyrus the Great of Persia did not write on that wall.

Darius the Mede did not write on that wall.

The message came from heaven.

And it is the Most High who ultimately judges Belshazzar—the Medo-Persians are just tools in His hands.

Notice there is no opportunity for Belshazzar to repent and break off his sins.

That was offered to his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, but not him.

Belshazzar is heading straight for the gallows.

He has crossed a line with God and the judgment he will receive is weighty.

Daniel tells him:

Babylon’s days are limited.

Your life has been weighed in the justice scales of God and it is found lacking.

And all that belongs to you will be taken from you.

These are heavy words we should never want to hear from God.

We should never want to be given this GUILTY verdict.

We know our days are numbered.

In the Psalms, Moses says you get 70 to 80 years at best.

But far be it from us that we would ever hear the finality of God’s judging gavel dropping on the court case of our lives.

Far be it from any of our souls that we would see the Lord writing on the wall and saying, “Your life has been weighed and it is lacking. All that you have will be departing from you.”

You could have everything in this life and in this world.

It doesn’t matter.

Once God drops His gavel of judgment, you will lose it all forever.

And you will be condemned to something much worse than a physical death at the point of Medo-Persian sword.

It will be a spiritual death that lasts forever and of which there is no way out.

And as Stuart Olyott explains, you don’t have to do anything unique to suffer this judgment:

You do not have to choose a special road to go to hell, you just have to stay on your road long enough.

Stuart Olyott

GOSPEL CALL

Again my friends—it does not have to be this way.

You do not have to perish in your sins.

You do not have to stay on a sin-paved road that leads to Hell.

You do not have to suffer under the weighty judgment of God.

Today is the Day of Salvation and God has provided a way for you to be saved TODAY. To know you are a Christian TODAY. To know that you are not judgment-bound TODAY.

See there is another King that cannot be ignored in this passage.

The Most High Himself has a Son.

And the Most High, whose kingdom endures from generation to generation has told His Son, “I will give you the nations as your inheritance.”

And His Son is a King who will rule the nations and His Kingdom is that unmovable mountain from Daniel 2 that spreads out and covers the whole earth after the kingdoms of man have passed away.

Unlike Belshazzar, this Son who is the King, is not idolatrous and blasphemous.

He is holy and perfect.

Unlike Belshazzar, He does not spurn light, but He Himself is the Light and walks in the Light.

And yet, like Belshazzar, the days of the this King were numbered.

He was destined to die under the God’s wrath and judgment.

But it was not for His own sins.

It was for the sins of the people He died in the place of.

As the gavel fell again and again and Jesus paid the fine for guilty sinners, He cried out, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken Me?”

He felt the pain of divine abandonment, even though He never treated His Father the way Ephraim did.

And when He died, the King said, “It is finished.”

He has done the work of dying for our sins.

But again, unlike Belshazzar, this King did not stay dead.

He resurrected from the tomb and declared the victory over sin and death for all who turn and trust in Him.

Who is this King?

We know.

His name is Jesus.

He is the King of glory.

And He wants to be the King of your heart.

When I was a kid, there was a song by the rapper Tupac that said, “Only God Can Judge Me.”

And for millenials, that became a bit of an anthem of freedom.

“I can do whatever I want because no one can judge me but God.”

This is the opposite reaction that we should have.

If Only God Can Judge Us, then it is God we should surrender to and live for—not ourselves.

And God will judge us, if we do not trust in Christ.

He died on the Cross as if the weight of His scales were lacking.

If you repent of sin and trust in Him, you will receive a full pardon for your sins and God will look at your scales on the day of judgment and see the full weight of His Son’s righteousness.

If you are in Christ—you will not be lacking.

Pursue idols, spurn light—you end up with nothing in judgement forever.

Turn to Christ, believe the light of the Gospel—you end up with everything in and through Christ for endless decades and centuries and ages.

Believe in the Son of the Most High—the true King.