LEARNING FROM THE MISTAKE OF OTHERS
And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
As believers, we are to study the accounts preserved in the Bible and contemporary biographies of people to learn valuable lessons from the lives they lived. We borrow a leaf from the good ones and strive to avoid the errors of others. For the Bible says in Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
The passage before us is about Nebuchadnezzar and his grandson Belshazzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon who was helped by God to attain greatness, dominion and majesty. He was so strong and powerful and his authority was absolute and uncontrollable. But in all these, he behaved insolently towards God and became proud and haughty. Thus, God judgement came upon him.
Daniel 5:20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
Belshazzar was a living witness to the judgement that has befallen Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 5:22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
Belshazzar never learnt any lesson from the judgement that befell his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar. He too fell into the same sin of arrogant and pride.
He did not humble himself in his heart. He did not learn any lesson from the dealing of God with Nebuchadnezzar. Like his grandfather, he exalted himself against God. He praised the god of the idol and refused to glorify the true God who gives life to all.
God weighed his actions and he was found wanting. The judgments of God equally fell on him.
*Brethren, let's always recognise other people error and failure and take them to heart.
There is a saying that if we fail to learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.
We don't need to repeat the errors of others. If we are opportune to know about the error of others, we should do all we can to avoid them and make progress.
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
* Do not overestimate yourself.
Some learnt about other people errors, instead of avoiding them, they felt that those that were punished for acting in the wrong way, were not smart enough and that was why they were caught, and they go-ahead to do the same thing.
1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
*Allow the Word of God to Be your Guide
Psalms 119:9-11 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
May God help us to be wise to learn from the errors of other people and to move forward with our life in Jesus name.
God bless you👋
