You Never Know How Much Time You Have

Last updated on: March 12, 2020 at 5:00 am by Mark Driscoll

You Never Know How Much Time You Have 2020-02-18T16:22:40-05:00 Mark Driscoll

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Daniel 5:24-31 – “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Perhaps 15,000 people packed into the palace in Babylon for the greatest party of the year. With the music blaring, drinks pouring, people dancing, and commandment breaking no one could have guessed that not only would the party end early that night, so would the nation. It just goes to show, you never know how much time you have. We’ve all lost someone we loved and were stunned that they were gone. The world pauses when someone like Kobe Bryant is taken from life without warning. These moments remind us of the frailty and mortality of humanity.

Today, like the days of Daniel, people will die without being ready to stand before God because they wrongly thought they had more time. God continually warns us that life is short, judgment is real, and heaven and hell are forever.

We see this same thing in the days of Daniel. Consider the following prophecies that were simply ignored:

150 years before Daniel, Isaiah 13:1, 17-19 said, “The oracle concerning Babylon…Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them… its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.”
50 years before Daniel, Jeremiah 27:4-7 said, “‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: ‘It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.’”

The reason why they, and we, ignore warnings from God is because we build fortifications for our lives that allow us to think we are safe, having created our own heaven on earth without need for God. In Babylon, they had impenetrable fortified walls that kept them safe from invaders. Outside the walls were a moat. Inside the walls were years worth of food, massive wealth largely in gold, and a constant flow of fresh water from the mighty Euphrates river.

While the king threw a drunken party of deviancy among men and women that dishonored God, the joint armies of the Medo-Persian Empire had marched to the city walls as predicted decades prior in Daniel 2. The date was my birthday, October 11, 539 B.C. The ancient historian Herodotus reports that this was one of the most genius cases of military tactics in the ancient world. Unable to penetrate the city walls, they simply diverted the river upstream. Once the riverbed dried out, the invading army simply walked under the walls to seize the capital and nation as the king and his staff were getting drunk and being naughty. The prophecy written on the wall by the finger of God and interpreted by Daniel came to pass that very night. It just goes to show, you never know how much time you have, and you are never secure unless God is your fortress.

Are you ready to die and stand before Jesus Christ to give an account for your life today? If not, spend some time praying to Him making sure you are ready today and every day.

In addition to this introduction to and overview of Daniel, you can find the corresponding sermons, daily devotions, men’s ministry resources, and hundreds of additional sermons and Bible teaching resources for free at markdriscoll.org or on the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

To visit the Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, you can plan your visit at thetrinitychurch.com.

Daily Devotions

Previous Post

March 11, 2020

Don’t Believe Fox or CNN. Do Believe the Bible.

Next Post

March 13, 2020 How Daniel Dealt with Office Politics

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ask Pastor Mark Blog Daily Devotions Sermons Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many children did Job lose in the disasters at the beginning of the book?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ten Five Seven Twelve