In Daniel 4:13, Daniel tells of his experience when King Nebuchadnezzar asked Daniel to explain his dream about a watcher and a holy one. In the dream, the watcher was a guest, though uninvited, at Belshazzar’s sacrilegious feast, decades later, after which his kingdom was taken from him.
The king let wine, power, and pride control him, and he took the lead in the riotous blasphemy occurring at this feast.
This same watcher who had come to Nebuchadnezzar, looked on this scene of debauchery and the desecration of the sacred temple articles during Belshazzar’s feast, and soon, the unseen and uninvited guest had seen enough and made His presence felt. At the moment when the sacrilegious revelry was at its height, a bloodless hand came forth and moved along the wall, tracing flaming characters of doom.
“ ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin’ was written in letters of fire. Only four characters were traced by that hand on the wall facing the king, but they showed that the power of God was there.”
Belshazzar had been given many opportunities to know and do God’s will. He had seen his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, banished from the society of men. He had seen the intellect in which the proud monarch gloried taken away by the One who had given it. He had seen the king driven from his kingdom and made the companion of the beasts of the field. But Belshazzar’s love of amusement and self-glorification overshadowed the lessons he should never have forgotten; and he committed sins similar to those that had brought judgments on Nebuchadnezzar. He wasted the opportunities graciously granted him, neglecting to take advantage of the opportunities within his reach to learn the truth. “What must I do to be saved?” was a question that the great but foolish king thought unworthy of consideration.
We know the rest of the story. Daniel was called in to explain to the king the meaning of the words that the hand of the Omnipotent one had burned into the wall of the banquet hall.
Could the curtain be rolled back before those who have never given their hearts to God, with others who are Christians in name but who are unrenewed in heart and unsanctified in temper, they would see that God’s eye is ever upon them. They would feel as shaken from their carnal security as was the king of Babylon. They would realize that in every place, at every hour in the day, there is a holy Watcher who balances every account, whose eye takes in the whole situation, whether that situation is one of faithfulness or one of disloyalty and deception.
This scene should remind us that we are never alone. We have a companion, whether we choose Him or not. Remember that wherever we are, whatever we are doing, God is always with us. To our every word and action, we have a witness—the holy, sin-hating God. Nothing that is said, or done, or thought, can escape His infinite eye. Our words may not be heard by human ears, but they are heard by the Ruler of the universe. He reads the inward anger of the soul when the will is crossed. He senses the offense we feel when we think we have been slighted. He hears the expression of profanity, whether vocalized or not. In the deepest darkness and solitude, He is there. No one can deceive God; none can escape from their accountability to Him.
While this fact should be a cause for alarm to the unfaithful, it is a reason for hope and encouragement for the faithful. Knowing that our God watches over us every moment of every day should be of great comfort to those who continually seek to know and do His will. David undoubtedly had this thought in mind when he wrote Psalm 139.
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.” Psalm 139:1–18
Thus, David speaks of the omnipresence of God:
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
Acknowledgment of this component of God’s personality, for want of a better word, leads to consideration of another aspect of God that is now manifested and will be even more magnificently revealed once time and eternity meet—His omnipotence. The combination of the two—His omnipresence and His omnipotence—speak to the incomprehensible nature of His power.
Consider these statements from the pen of Inspiration that address this all-powerful aspect of His nature.
BAPTISM
“The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, powers infinite and omniscient, receive those who truly enter into covenant relation with God. They are present at every baptism.” God’s Amazing Grace, 143
Undoubtedly, more than one baptism occurs at any given time throughout the world. Nevertheless, we are told that Jesus is one of the Holy Three who are present at every one.
Baptisms might be considered singular events. At any baptism, it is usually one person being baptized at a time. However, Inspiration speaks of events when there will be untold numbers of saints being served, apparently in incomprehensibly quick succession, if not simultaneously.
“My brethren and sisters, God is your strength, and He does not want you to go crippling along in this life. And when you enter the gate of the New Jerusalem you will read over the gate, ‘Blessed are they that do His commandments.’
“Jesus will welcome you, and with His own hand place the crown upon the brow of all those who enter there.” Sermons and Talks, Book 1, 45, 46
Just how many are there upon whose brows Jesus will place the crown of life? In Genesis 32, we find the story of Jacob’s return from serving Laban and his anticipation of meeting Esau, who he fears is intent on his destruction. In verse 12, appealing to God for protection, Jacob reminds God that He had assured him that his descendants would be as the sands of the sea.
We can speculate about how many that might be, but the Internet provides a clue. It reports that one cup of sand can contain anywhere from two million to 15 million grains of sand, depending on the size of the grains and their degree of packing density. The total number of grains of sand worldwide is a number too great for finite minds to comprehend. Nevertheless, we are assured that Jesus Himself will individually crown all of Jacob’s descendants, “which cannot be numbered for multitude.”
In Exodus 32:13, Moses is pleading with the Lord to spare the rebellious Israelites who have just made and worshiped a golden calf. He states, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom you swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven … .’ ”
Here is another number that is too great for the finite mind to comprehend. There are an estimated 200 billion trillion stars in the observable universe, according to astronomers. That’s 200 sextillion, or a 2 followed by 23 zeroes. This number is derived by multiplying the estimated number of galaxies in the universe by the average number of stars, like those found in the Milky Way, in a galaxy.
Just how Jesus will crown that many is another fact beyond the comprehension of the finite mind.
Now consider this statement:
“… those who love and obey God will partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb in the kingdom of God, and Jesus Himself will serve them.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 63
That will be quite a feast, and the thought of being individually served by the Master Servant is quite humbling.
Clearly, the Son of God possesses attributes that we cannot comprehend from our finite, human perspective. When we read these inspired statements regarding His accomplished acts, which seem completely impossible to us, we can only exclaim in awe, “Our God is an awesome God.”
John R. Pearson is the office manager and Steps to Life board member. He can be reached by email at johnpearson@stepstolife.org or by phone at 316-788-5559.