Object Lessons - King Belshazzar

“You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself.”

Daniel 5:22

In an uncomfortable conversation with his teenage son, a father recounted in detail some of the mistakes he had made in his youth. He described his former days of drug and alcohol use, troubles with the law, and immorality.

After a moment of awkward silence, the youth asked, “Why are you telling me this stuff, Dad?”

“Because, Son,” the father replied, “I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I’ve made.”

The mistakes of others, including those close to us, can be object lessons for what does and does not work in life. The Old Testament book of Daniel contains the account of Belshazzar, a foolish king who refused to learn from his grandfather’s mistakes.

Belshazzar, successor to the Babylonian throne of Nebuchadnezzar, had surely heard stories of how his grandfather long refused to bow before the Lord. He had also heard how God humbled this once-great king by causing him to live like a wild animal. He had listened to reports of how Nebuchadnezzar had finally repented and spoken words of praise for the God of Israel.

Yet the pride-filled Belshazzar dishonored God when he brought out gold cups from the Temple in Jerusalem for use at a drunken, idol-worshiping party at his palace. As Daniel solemnly explained to him, his days as king had come to an end (see Daniel 25:30).

Belshazzar knew the stories and their characters. He knew that the God of Israel honored humility and opposed pride, but he refused to learn anything from it. Perhaps he thought of it as myth or as coincidence, or perhaps he didn’t think of it at all. God saw to it that he learned, and it was the last thing Belshazzar ever did.

History can yield valuable object lessons of mistakes to avoid and examples to follow. Though it doesn’t help to dwell in the past, it is a good biblical idea to learn from it. What lessons from the past jump out at you?