Daniel 9 Part I: A Prayer for the Nation
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Daniel’s perusing of the Word
Daniel’s perusing of the Word
New time frame and a new order of things
Babylon is no more, the next movement of leadership has begun
what does this mean for the nation of Israel?
The significance of this event and why Daniel is looking to the scrolls of Jeremiah - Daniel looks to God’s Word for answers to a National/Worldwide Situation
God’s instruction to the nation who was about to be taken into captivity:
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.
8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
The new chapter has begun, Israel is supposed to be released, why are they still in captivity?
Something has to happen that has not yet happened
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
This sets the stage for the remainder of the chapter and Daniel’s prayer
Lesson for us: the simple complexity of humility
Comfort in sin
Arrogance of self
Blindness to grace
Daniel’s Prayer
Daniel’s Prayer
Posture of humility: lead with the final statement: Daniel 9:15
15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Israel’s guilt
What the nation has done
We sinned, we didn’t listen, we’ve disobeyed, we’ve committed treachery, we’ve rebelled
Importance in the acknowledgement of responsibility before God
What does this posture do:
Rightly places the consequences of actions and results upon the perpetrator of the sin. In this case it is Daniel approaching God on behalf of the nation. As the representative Daniel is acknowledging the sins of the nation of Israel, those who had been richly blessed by God, set apart by God, and had rebelled against God
What the nation has received for it’s sin
we deserve shame, we’ve received great calamity, we’ve been dispersed, the curse of the oath of Moses has been poured out on them Leviticus 26:14-18 , “14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins,”
How are the actions and consequences we see here, reflective of our experience?
we are shocked at school shootings…but why? what has our nation embraced over the course of time?
a nation that has denied the existence of God (if not in word certainly in deed); we have devalued life and those created in the image of God (whether it be through the murder of children in the womb as well as infanticide when an abortion fails and child is born), the calling for the death of those who oppose our points of view, euthanizing and giving credence for those who are tired of life; elevated lifestyles that are contrary to God’s design, and demonized those messengers that would point this out;
Elevated the self above the savior; denied our need for mercy; denied our need for forgiveness; all at the altar of self.
Yet we have the audacity to display outrage and sorrow while politicizing the death of children. The words we as a nation speak are hollow and have no meaning. They are empty pleas lacking humility and contriteness and submission to a Holy God.
We continue to exalt ourselves instead of humbling ourselves. Crying out remove the guns, put more security in place, lock down the schools, all while at the same time denying our hearts are rotten and our lives betray the Glory of God and what He has given. We are a nation in rebellion against God seeking relief from elected officials who are but men and women that have no authority other than that which God has given them. If our hearts are rotten then it makes sense that God would bring us elected officials that are rotten. The Nation receives the Leaders it deserves.
You see Daniel’s plea is one we would do well to recognize ourselves in. We are a nation that has rebelled against God, we are a nation that in it’s own haughtiness and arrogance has seen fit to deny God and exalt self, we are a nation that in it’s refusal to turn to God in contriteness of heart will endure the consequences of our own depravity, and yet we have the audacity to blame others when we are confronted with the results of our rebellion. Until we acknowledge our responsibility, we are on a train that is headed for destruction.
we must acknowledge our rebellion whilst acknowledging the authority and glory of God. We do this both at a corporate level (meaning together) and at an individual level. Humble yourself saint; Look to our savior for mercy and grace.
Exaltation of God
Great and awesome, keeps his covenants; sends His messengers to warn; owns righteousness, mercy, and forgiveness
Leads to the recognition of the need of God and His grace and mercy in our lives
what does it look like when we begin to live out this contrite heart and exaltation of God
A call to mission: Godly children in school (parents make your decision where you send your children in prayer):
Malachi and the Lesbian
Nolan and the suicidal teen
Why do we give out snow cones?
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
What happens when we engage and the outcome is changed hearts? As a nation the expectation of honorable actions from leaders
In spite of us, exalt yourself through our deliverance vs 16-19
Continues with a contrite heart; seeks Glory for God not for self
What should we do in response to this?
“When you start to humanize your enemy, you will often get dehumanized by your community” Cassie Jaye