What D'Ya Know?

“Yet you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this…” Daniel 5:22

“What d’ya know?” It’s a phrase I (and others) often use in greeting instead of “How’s it going?” or “How are ya’ doin’?” The typical response is usually something like, “The sky is blue”, or “2+2=4”, or even “As little as possible”! I never ask that question expecting an answer that actually reflects all the questioned individual knows!

But have you ever noticed how often life subtly asks us that question and expects not a rote repetition of rules, regulations, and routines, but a response that acts upon our knowledge? For example, when the alarm goes off in the morning, the expectation is that we not only know how to turn off the alarm, but what to do after we turn it off. When we get into our vehicles, it is anticipated that we not only know how to turn them on, but all the necessary rules and how to follow them as we drive. Throughout our day, we run up against situations where we are expected not just to know the rudimentary basics, but how to apply those basics to reach a reasonable conclusion. The knowledge is important, but the application is what makes it useful. This was a lesson that apparently eluded King Belshazzar.

Daniel makes it clear in Daniel 5 that Belshazzar was well acquainted with all that had happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Given the fact that there were only 6 years between Nebuchadnezzar’s death and the time Belshazzar took the throne, many scholars believe Belshazzar had more than a passing knowledge of Nebuchadnezzar’s “final exam”. Many believe he was part of the nobility who witnessed Nebuchadnezzar’s most humbling experience, his return to sanity, and his praise and recognition of the One True God. The problem is, Belshazzar never took it beyond knowledge to application. For him, what happened to Nebuchadnezzar was simply a contemporary history lesson, nothing that he needed to apply to himself. And so, he never did; and it cost him his life.

The warning in the story of Belshazzar seems clear. The real question is not, “What d’ya know?”, but “What are you doing with what you know?” If I know how to turn off the alarm clock, but then roll over and go back to sleep, what is the real point of the alarm? If I know all the laws and rules for driving and ignore them, or figure they don’t apply to me, eventually I’m bound to learn otherwise, thanks to the dedication and persistence of the men and women in blue! In the same way, if the whole point of Bible study for me is simply to gain more knowledge, I become nothing more than a walking lexicon. I am no better than Belshazzar because the lessons are never applied…my spiritual eyes are never opened…my heart is never humbled. It is only through actively seeking to understand what God is trying to teach me through His Word that I learn to apply it…that I begin to not only know the Word, but to know THE Word.

Seeking to know Him and all His ways,

Sherri