CHURCH AND STATE IMPOSSIBLE TO SEPARATE!

CHURCH AND STATE IMPOSSIBLE TO SEPARATE!

In the midst of feasting and reckless abandon Belshazzar heard a voice and saw a disembodied hand write his epitaph on the wall. In spite of the hard lesson learned by his father he continued to relegate God to a corner of his kingdom and to treat the God of the universe as if he were one of his servants. He brought the sacred things from the temple and used them as goblets from which to drink wine. God had had enough!

Dan 5:21-28

21 And he [Nebuchadnezzar] was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

23 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:

24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.

25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Mene is an Aramaic word which simply means “numbered”. It is used twice for emphasis! The meaning is clear. God had tallied up Belshazzar’s kingdom as one would count coins in his pocket. It was a true audit and was less than was claimed.

Tekel is also an Aramaic word and means simply “to balance.” Once the sum was known it was then weighed against what it should have been and was found wanting. His kingdom was numbered and it came up short. It was weighed and it came up light.

Upharsin or Peres is the Aramaic word Perac which means “to split up” or “to break up.” So the strong government was scattered because it failed to acknowledge the One who ruled over all.

Church and state would not be such a difficult subject if religion were, as the Court apparently thinks it to be, some purely personal avocation that can be indulged entirely in secret, like pornography, in the privacy of one's room.

           For most believers it is not that, and has never been.  Religious men and women of almost all denominations have felt it necessary to acknowledge and beseech the blessing of God as a people, and not just as individuals, because they believe in the "protection of divine Providence," as the Declaration of Independence put it, not just for individuals but for societies.

n     Justice Antonin Scalia in Lee v. Weisman.

Ps 66:7

7 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.

Dear Lord, please heal our land. AMEN