Daniel
gives us the year here of this writing – in the first year of Darius reign
A) Going
back again – time when the Medes and Persians conquered
B) Daniel has lived into his
own interpretation of
C) First year of the reign
of Darius – 538BC
1) Since
Daniel was brought into
D) He
has been in
Daniel
is a Prophet – Visions and dreams
A) He is an important man in
the Kingdom – He has been an advisor to kings –
B) But
I want you to note what he is doing here. He is not sitting in the lotus
position waiting for some revelation – no – He is studying the word of God.
MAN
OF THE WORD: Somehow he has a copy of the scroll from Jeremiah and he is
studying it:
A) Note that: Every OT
prophet used greatly by God – was a great man of the word
B) Thursday nights studying Titus with a
group of young guys in our shepherds School who want to be in ministry.
C) Looking
at the qualifications of an Elder – last thing Paul says is they need to be men
who are
D) Bible guys Men of the word – Men
studying the word – given over to the word –
1) Studying
Theology – studying the word – Choosing – instead TV video games
E) Daniel is a man of the
word –
Studying – and in his Study he discovers something concerning the time reason
and the time frame of the Captivity of Israel in
Daniel
is studying from
Imagine
how excited Daniel must have been when he realized that there were to be only
three more years before they would be released to go home!
Why Seventy Years?
A) "Why did God choose seventy years to chastise the Israelites?" Was
seventy just a number that God picked out of a hat?
B) Was there a reason for it? Yes, there was a reason.
Back in the book of Leviticus, when God was giving Moses the laws for the
people to obey, He said,
Leviticus 25:2-4 “...When you
come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath
to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune
your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land
shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field
nor prune your vineyard."
God
warned that if they did not obey Him and observe the commandments, He would
remove them from the land and scatter them among the nations.
A) Force
the land to have a Sabbath Leviticus
26:34-35 “Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the
desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and
enjoy its Sabbaths. All the days of {its} desolation it will observe the rest
which it did not observe on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.”
For
490 years, the Israelites lived in the land, but never gave it the Sabbath rest
commanded by God.
A) The Purpose of the Sabbath was for Rest and trust –
B) On a personal level God Knows that pp need a rest – It is not
healthy to work 7 days a week.
1) I work 6 days Monday is my Sabbath – I need it –
C) God knows we are built that way –
The
Sabbath rest for the land was more about trust – A)Would the people be willing to trust God
by giving their farms a year off –from harvesting.
B) Would they be
willing to trust God to provide – they weren’t.
They rebelled – for 490yrs
1) Plus they
turned to idols and carnality
Bb) God finally said enough – I call that patience! 490yrs
C) So they were in the land
for 490yrs – they missed a Sabbath every 7yrs – They owed God 70yrs
D) The Babylonians
attacked, killing many, burning the temple, and stealing the treasures.
1) And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to
So
God was going to punish them for 70yrs – but note when the 70 yrs were done God
declared
“For thus says the Lord: After seventy
years are completed at
God's
love for
A) The Punishment would have a purpose –
Getting the nation back on track seeking the Lord.
B) God’s punishment is always meant to bring us to a place of
seeking Him again – Restoration is goal
3 Then I set my
face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with
fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
S0
Daniel reads this and he can do the math – he realizes the 70 yrs are almost up
and an era of change is approaching – He is driven to Prayer –
A) He does so with great humility and urgency – the purpose behind
the fasting sackcloth and ashes – Humble heart -
Lets read together Daniel’s
prayer – powerful prayer – Stand – I am going to read even # verses starting with v.4 you read the odd down to v.19
Notice how He
begins v.4 I prayed to the LORD Capital LORD - - the name Jehovah or Yahweh –
appears 7 times in the 9th chapter and no where else in the book of
Daniel -
Important
because Yahweh was the Covenant name used for God I AM - Covenant keeping God
A) Daniel is
approaching Him based on the covenant that God made with the nation of
B) That is extremely important for us to see today because of the
Preterist and Amill and replacement theology that is in the Church today
{ Church is
C) Israel still
has a place in God’s
1) Some in the history of the Church failed to see this
Didn’t know what to do with
Augustine
was writing in the 4th century – influenced Calvin and Luther who
would write and leaders in the Church in the 16th century- 1500’s
A) Influenced
today’s resurgence in reformed theology
B) Those men
gave us great stuff on Justification – Salvation by faith thru grace alone
C) God used them
to get the Church back to the Bible
D) But they didn’t help us at all in the area of
eschatology –
Which
I understand because they were writing during a time when
A) Augustine wrote
230yrs after AD 70 when
B) Calvin and
Luther wrote over 1400yrs after AD 70 still no
C) So they all
interpreted that the events in the tribulation happened at AD70 and the
promises for
1) since Paul declared that we who are in Christ are the true
Circumcision
I
can understand how they would be prone to think those Prophetic passages have
to be past because it is clearly talking about
A) When they were writing and
leaders in the Church –
B) But when
1) that
Revelation hadn’t happened it is yet future
C) The reemergence of
32 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its
branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is
near. 33 So you also, when you see all
these things, know that it is near — at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation
will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Now
whenever this passage is read everyone gets hung up on the word – Generation –
how long is a generation 40yrs 100yrs
A) The word is actually Genos – means this race of pp this family
of pp this Kind of people will not pass
away or off the scene until all these things are fulfilled
B) So when you see the budding of the fig tree – when you see the
rebirth of the nation of Israel Know that things are at the very door!
C) So
when
1) End times
Scenario – Jesus comes back – no more Jew and Gentile – all just followers of
Jesus
D) But God has a
special plan and heart for
3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of
God
has loved
A) He has made a covenant with
B) So Daniel is praying to a Covenant keeping God – that is
important to note
C) Prayer is
mostly Confession part request
1st
Confession:
A) 11 times he uses the Phrase we he says "we have" or "we
are."
B) Look
at the words he uses to describe the sin of
v.5,15 …done wickedly…v.6 not heeded your prophets
V.9…rebelled…V.11,14 refused to obey …
V.18 Not prayed
A) Perhaps
the strongest statement comes in verse 7:
O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as
it is this day
B) That’s not a Politically
Correct statement, is it?
1) After
all, we live in a shameless society filled with shameless people who do
shameless deeds.
C) The whole idea of
"shame" seems to belong to another time and place.
1) We’re
not ashamed of anything anymore. We don’t blush because we aren’t embarrassed
because we’ve seen it all and heard it all.
D) But the truth is Sin
always brings shame and always separates us from God.
E) What I love about
Daniel’s confession is He makes no excuses for their sin. And He includes
himself
Confession
of sin is the Answer for us as individuals and as a country
A) The
answer is not in a trillion dollar stimulus package
B) Not
in Uniting the party’s –
C)
All that we are hearing is that attitude that says we can fix ourselves –
Americans are very prideful – risen to prominence so quickly –
D) Fail to recognize God’s
hand on us
E) We Love to point fingers
cast blame –
Facts
we pushed God out of our Schools and out of our GOVT
A) We encouraged
B) We have killed millions
of babies through abortion
1) Pornography is our
biggest industry
We as a nation have sinned –
We need to repent
A) That is our only Hope
What is true
of us as a nation is also true of us as individuals
A) Spent
money we didn’t have to please our flesh
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His
word is not in us.
B) We
become lazy and complacent
Daniel
starts by confessing sin
A) But
He doesn’t stop there – He also confessed that the punishment was Just and
right and deserving – V.12-15
B) Three times he refers to
the "disaster" that befell
C) His whole point is to
say, "Lord, you promised you would do this if we sinned.
1)We
sinned and you did what you said you would do. We have no complaints against
you.
D) We deserved what happened
to us."
Taking the prayer as a whole, we discover that
everything Daniel says is based upon God’s character:
You are
awesome—(4)
You always keep your promises—(4)
You are righteous—(7)
You are a forgiving God—(9)
You have a great name—(15)
You are a merciful God—(18)
A) In many
ways verse 18 is the theme of the whole prayer: "We
do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great
mercy."
B) What
a crucial insight that is. So many times we pray because we secretly think we
have "earned"
the right by our good behavior to ask God to bless us.
Daniel’s
approach was the exact opposite. "Lord, we don’t deserve to be heard by you because
we have sinned greatly against you.
The only
reason we come to you is because you are a God of love and grace."
When we approach God with
that attitude, we will discover that he welcomes us into his presence and
listens graciously to every word we say.
A)
“God resist the proud but gives grace to
the Humble.”
B) Another key observation
in v.21 – Read v.20-21
20 Now while I
was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,
and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my
God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen
in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about
the time of the evening offering.
But
note when Daniel prayed it was at the time of the evening sacrifice.
A) Now understand pp they
weren’t sacrificing in
B) But
it says that Daniel is praying at the time of the evening sacrifice – which was
3Oclock in the afternoon
1) Which is the same time
that Jesus would die on the cross – the time of the evening sacrifice
Note
this Daniel is close to 90yrs old and he still marking his life by what he
learned back home in
A) His body has been in
B) He is patterning his life
around the time of the sacrifice – Why is that so interesting in light of
Daniel’s prayer –
1) What
is he doing – He is confessing sin and asking for mercy
C) What did the sacrifice
represent ? Confession and mercy
The
worshipper would bring a lamb – it would be examined by the Priest – the
Worshipper was not examined the lamb was
A) The worshipper being there
was an admission of Guilt – but the worshipper wasn’t examined – the lamb was
examined –
B) The
lamb’s blood was shed – the lamb was sacrificed – and the worshipper would go
away cleansed covered and forgiven – because of the blood of the lamb
C)
Something of that is still in Daniel’s heart after 67yrs
D) He is praying and confessing sin and asking
for mercy and it is at the time of the evening sacrifice –
Dd)
Because he knew there was no better time to pray that at the time when the lamb
was sacrificed to pay the price for sin
Where this prayer leads
A) Insight
– True prayer always leads to new
insight and deeper understanding.
B)
“Draw near to
God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be
turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of
the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
Sometimes sin is the
blockage – not receiving insight – deal with the sin – come to God – He will
draw near to you
Encouragement
Dan 9:22-23
22 And he
informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come
forth to give you skill to understand. 23 At the beginning of your
supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are
greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
The last phrase of verse 23
tells us how God evaluated Daniel the man: "greatly loved." Some
translations "For you are highly esteemed." others say use the word
"precious,"
This teaches us that God
hears our prayers not because we are good or because we deserve to be heard,
but simply because he loves us.