A Serious Warning to @Episkopos and @ScottA: Remember What Happened to Belshazzar
Episkopos and ScottA, I want to bring something to your attention from Daniel chapter 5, and I sincerely hope you will take the time to consider it. This isn't about winning another argument or proving who knows more about the Bible. This is about the danger of claiming to speak for God while teaching things that cannot be established from His written Word.
In Daniel 5, King Belshazzar was enjoying a great feast with a thousand of his nobles. He went so far as to bring out the sacred vessels taken from God's temple in Jerusalem and use them to drink wine while praising false gods. He apparently thought he could dishonor the Lord of heaven without consequences.
But then something happened that changed everything. The fingers of a man's hand appeared and began writing on the wall. The king was terrified, and none of his wise men could explain what was written. Daniel was brought in, and he didn't flatter the king or tell him what he wanted to hear. He told him the truth.
Daniel reminded Belshazzar of how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar because of his pride. Then he said something that should get the attention of anyone who claims to represent God:
"But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this." (Daniel 5:22)
That is what makes this account so serious. Belshazzar wasn't ignorant of what God had done. He knew, yet he refused to humble himself. Daniel then told him, "And the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified" (Daniel 5:23).
Episkopos and ScottA, neither of you is a king, and I am not suggesting that your circumstances are identical to Belshazzar's. But the warning about pride, refusing correction, and failing to honor God's Word certainly applies to anyone who claims to speak for Him.
You both speak with great confidence about spiritual things, but confidence does not make a teaching true. Claiming spiritual understanding does not establish that God has revealed something to you. And insisting that others simply cannot see what you supposedly see is no substitute for opening the Scriptures and demonstrating that what you teach is actually written there.
God has already given us a standard for examining such claims. Isaiah 8:20 says, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
And James 3:1 warns, "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment."
That should concern anyone who takes it upon himself to teach others in God's name.
I am not claiming to know your hearts, nor am I claiming to speak a personal judgment from God against either of you. But I am warning you that teaching what contradicts Scripture, while refusing to be corrected by Scripture, is a serious matter.
Look at how Daniel 5 ends. God declared that Belshazzar had been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Then Daniel 5:30 tells us, "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain."
Belshazzar had no idea when that evening began that it would be his last. His position, wealth, and power could not protect him from God's judgment.
Neither of you knows how many days you have remaining, either. The God who held Belshazzar's breath in His hand holds yours and mine as well. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."
I am not saying God has pronounced Belshazzar's particular judgment upon you. Scripture gives me no authority to make that claim. But the same God who judged Belshazzar will judge every one of us, and those who presume to teach in His name will answer for what they have taught.
So I am urging both of you to examine yourselves honestly before God. Stop treating your own understanding as though it carries the authority of Scripture. If you believe something is from God, establish it from His Word in its proper context. And when Scripture contradicts what you teach, humble yourselves enough to accept correction.
I have no desire to see either of you perish. Second Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
Belshazzar knew what God had done, but he would not humble himself. Don't make the same mistake. You may not be kings, but you are accountable to the very same God.
And remember, this warning applies to me just as much as it does to you. None of us stands above God's Word, and none of us will escape giving an account to Him.