What Have You Done?
1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.
7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers[b] and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
Daniel 5:1-7
The scene is one of merriment at a party given by a pagan king, Belshazzar, 2nd in command of the Babylonian Empire.
In a move perhaps born of pride, he calls for the golden goblets that had been taken years before from the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem. These goblets had been sanctified and therefore set aside for the worship of the God of the Hebrews. In view of this sacrilege, the figure of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall “Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.” None of the wise men of Babylon could interpret it, so Daniel, a captured Hebrew, rendered the interpretation. Simply it meant, “You have been weighed in the scales and have been found wanting.” God moves quickly by the power of the Persian army to conquer Babylon as an immediate judgment.
Despite the lack of Biblical knowledge in our day, “the hand-writing is on the wall” is spoken of frequently. It is a statement inferring judgment for past shortcomings or actions.
Another saying known by most everyone is “The Buck Stops Here” This motto or declaration sat on the desk of President Harry Truman in 1945 at the end of WWII. Germany had been defeated but Japan showed no desire to surrender. President Truman gave the order to drop 2 Atomic Bombs on separate cities in Japan. The Japanese surrender quickly followed. Protestors over the years have uttered “What have you done?” The carnage of atomic warfare stopped the war and prevented even a greater loss of life.
7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
1 Samuel 13:7b-12
Once the Children of Israel occupied the Promised Land they were unlike their neighbors since they had no king. They clamored for one and the Prophet Samuel anointed Saul as their King. He was both tall and shy and initially very humble. The shyness quickly evaporated and was replaced with pride and self-importance. The scripture from 1st Samuel finds Saul waiting impatiently on the arrival of the Prophet Samuel to ask God’s blessing on his military undertaking. Samuel’s delay prompts Saul to assume an office for which he is not qualified. He performs the duties of a prophet or a priest in the religious ritual of sacrifice. Samuel’s question is “What have you done?” As a result of his disobedience, the kingship is taken from him and given to David the son of Jesse who God identifies as a “man after his own heart.” Such a man or woman would seek the activity that God both requires and demands.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Living by faith in the Christian life requires that you embrace two main characteristics of faith. One is salvific in nature and depends upon one’s complete reliance upon Jesus as the Savior from the consequences of sin. If you have confessed your sin, followed the difficult teachings of Jesus and such has caused you to love both God and neighbor, your sins were dealt with 2000 years ago on the bleeding, abused and dying body and soul of Jesus of Nazareth. His sacrifice is sufficient to free us from penalty of our sins. Sanctifying faith is learned in the experience of trusting God to lead us in this realm to prepare us for the next. As the result, we escape a personal judgment for sin and pursue fellowship with God to His glory.
The judgment seat of Christ of 2nd Corinthians 5 is not for sin. Why? By seeking Jesus as Savior, following Him in obedience, and being transformed to love both God and neighbor, He has confirmed that we have accepted Him as such and know that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
The question asked of the true followers of Christ is “What have you done?” with the spiritual gifts that Christ gave you when your soul was reborn in His image? Did you hide your gift or gifts in the ground or did you apply them for the glory of God? Your heavenly eternal reward is dependent upon “What have you done?” Failure in this opportunity does not condemn one to a separation from God for eternity. However it does lessen the reward for the follower of Jesus in the Kingdom of God.