SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning and welcome to Sacred Mission Church.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Jared, and I'm one of the pastors here.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry if you want to say good morning, I cut you off.
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome to do that.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to begin this morning posing a question to reflect on, to think through, and to ask yourself as you sit here.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do when you realize that your season of waiting might actually be part of God's answer?
SPEAKER_00: Now that's not an easy question, especially if you're like me, in the middle of waiting, you rarely have clarity.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you're asking, that's why you're seeking.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know why things aren't moving forward.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know what God is doing behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_00: You just know for sure that you're in it.
SPEAKER_00: You're in the midst of this.
SPEAKER_00: And it's usually only after the season has passed, that time that you're going through, that then you can look back and see how God was working.
SPEAKER_00: And it could be years before you know the reason.
SPEAKER_00: But in that moment, it often feels like silence.
SPEAKER_00: Last week, Pastor Justin walked us through Daniel 8, and he brought up and reminded us about Psalm 13, where David cries out, How long, O Lord?
SPEAKER_00: The cry is honest, it's real.
SPEAKER_00: Because when it feels like we've been forgotten, we need to be reminded of this truth that God is sovereign over all things.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning he's in control of all things.
SPEAKER_00: And that truth should bring us comfort, even in the midst of our time of waiting.
SPEAKER_00: And so this morning, as we come to Daniel chapter 9, we're going to see how this plays out with Daniel himself.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the main idea I want to work from throughout the rest of our time this morning.
SPEAKER_00: It's this God is faithfully unfolding his sovereign plan to save his people.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithfully unfolding his sovereign plan to save his people.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're going to see how God reveals that to Daniel and what that means for us today.
SPEAKER_00: So as we begin, Daniel 9, we need to be dropped into the context of what's taking place in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: And I love when we're given some details to kind of help us place ourselves more realistically into what's happening in the story.
SPEAKER_00: And so before we jump into Daniel 9, let's take a quick look at the big picture.
SPEAKER_00: First, we'll get a sense of kind of this moment in history, what's taking place, and then we're going to look at what Daniel was doing in response from reading scripture to praying.
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll see how God responds.
SPEAKER_00: And I've broken this down into two sections where I think the chapter really plays out well.
SPEAKER_00: Section 1, verses 1 through 19, and then section 2, verses 20 through 27.
SPEAKER_00: So let's jump into section one, looking at verses 1 through 19, and our summary this morning is this man's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Man's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: What we get is a historical point right at the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: Because Daniel, what he does is he opens up in verse 1 with the first year of Darius as king.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why does this matter?
SPEAKER_00: It gives us a timestamp in history.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to place us so we can understand what's happening.
SPEAKER_00: It drops us into a specific moment that we can kind of understand a little more about history.
SPEAKER_00: It's similar to when you start a movie and the screen fades and there's a date in a city at the bottom, 1944, Normandy.
SPEAKER_00: 2029, New York City.
SPEAKER_00: You have an understanding, okay, what's going on around this in history, and you can kind of place yourself mentally in the midst of what's taking place.
SPEAKER_00: It's a simple cue that helps us understand what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: It sets the tone, the tension, in the context.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what Daniel is doing here in verse one.
SPEAKER_00: He's anchoring us in a time so that we better understand the weight of what's about to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, from history, we understand that Darius comes into power around 539 BC.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's important about that is if we go back to the day at the beginning of Daniel, all the way back to chapter 1, we learn that Israel was taken into captivity in the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim, which was around 605 BC.
SPEAKER_00: And this allows us to understand a little better that this is around the 70-year mark of Israel now being in captivity in Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: Now look at Daniel 2.
SPEAKER_00: Says this.
SPEAKER_00: So Daniel, what he does is he mentions the prophet Jeremiah in verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the same prophet that bears the name of Jeremiah, the book we have in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And when Daniel mentions this, we can kind of zero in and understand where Daniel was studying in the book of Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_00: We can drill down to Jeremiah 25, 11 through 12, and Jeremiah 29, 10.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what we have from the prophet Jeremiah here in these verses, 25, 11 through 12.
SPEAKER_00: This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
SPEAKER_00: Then after 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon in that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.
SPEAKER_00: Then in Jeremiah 29, 10.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Now did you catch what Jeremiah prophesied in 29 10?
SPEAKER_00: At the end of seventy years, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise to bring you back to this place.
SPEAKER_00: So you can imagine Daniel here in this moment as he's studying the book of Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_00: He's studying these prophets' words.
SPEAKER_00: Does Daniel go out to the rooftops and start proclaiming to all of Israel, hey, the time is near?
SPEAKER_00: Does he create a social media post?
SPEAKER_00: Does he run to his friends?
SPEAKER_00: Does he start proclaiming all of this?
SPEAKER_00: No, he turns his face to the Lord and begins to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Which should not surprise us at this point as we've walked through the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he consistently does over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel 6, he knows the threat of death with the lion's den, and yet he still prays.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to make a statement, and I don't believe I'm stepping out of line here when I make this statement.
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
SPEAKER_00: Most Christians struggle with prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Be honest with yourself right now.
SPEAKER_00: Legitimately ask yourself, is this you?
SPEAKER_00: Do you struggle with prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Does it come naturally for you?
SPEAKER_00: Is it easy?
SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
SPEAKER_00: I believe Donald Whitney, who's a professor and author, said it best in his book, Praying the Bible, when he said, it's this book right here.
SPEAKER_00: We actually give these out in the front.
SPEAKER_00: Phenomenal book.
SPEAKER_00: I read it a few weeks ago, and it's one of the most easily accessible books to understand prayer a little better and actually gives you great understanding on how to pray more consistently.
SPEAKER_00: He says this I maintain that people, truly born again, genuinely Christian people, often do not pray simply because they do not feel like it.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason they don't feel like praying is that when they pray, when they do pray, they tend to say the same old things about the same old things.
SPEAKER_00: Is that you?
SPEAKER_00: Let me think about your prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If you pray, it's probably the same things over and over again, which leads you to get bored and give up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, he goes on to say the solution to praying is praying the Bible, meaning that you read a verse, that's God speaking to you, and you pray back what comes to mind.
SPEAKER_00: Having a conversation with God through prayer, all stemming from the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: George Mueller, who lived from 1805 to 1898 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest men in history of prayer, often said that his prayer life truly came alive when he began praying after first spending time in God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why would I bring up prayer stemming from time in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: Because look at Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: He's just been studying and reading the prophet Jeremiah, the same book of Jeremiah we have in our Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And it drives him to prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel earnestly begins to pray to God, and we see this prayer in verses four through 19, we see it broken down into three sections: adoration, confession, and petition.
SPEAKER_00: He starts with adoration.
SPEAKER_00: And adoration is the act of worshiping God for who he is, and we see this in verse four.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's interesting about verse four is when we read the word Lord, if you have a Bible in front of you or in your app if you have that open, what you'll probably notice here in this moment is the word Lord is in all caps, L-O-R-D.
SPEAKER_00: It's translated from Yahweh, which typically was written in the Old Testament, Y-H-W-H in all capitals.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Daniel 9 is the only chapter of Daniel where God, that name, is written like this.
SPEAKER_00: The only time.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason for this was because it signified the reverence that Daniel had for God.
SPEAKER_00: This adoration that Daniel was proclaiming is I prayed to Yahweh and confessed.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just flowery language that Daniel is bringing, it's a cry of clarity and a world of confusion.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel, we have to remember, is surrounded by idols.
SPEAKER_00: He's in a culture of idols, saturated with little g gods, gods of power, gods of success, gods of fertility, gods of war that people would pray to and call out to.
SPEAKER_00: And yet Daniel lifts his voice and says, Yahweh, you alone are God.
SPEAKER_00: The great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
SPEAKER_00: Yahweh is like an anchor in the storm for Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine, picture a ship for a moment being tossed around by violent waves.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you notice the flooding that happened over the past couple days in Texas, and you see cars floating down the river, the violence of what water can do.
SPEAKER_00: Other ropes with this ship would snap, anchors would move, but this anchor holds.
SPEAKER_00: When Daniel adores God, he's grabbing hold of that anchor.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, in a world of shifting ideas, shifting tides, I know who you are and you do not move.
SPEAKER_00: God keeps his promises.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't leave you when you're hurting.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't change his mind halfway through your story.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't fail.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, this is the same God who rescued Daniel from the lion's den in chapter six.
SPEAKER_00: This is the same God who rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace in chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: And as Daniel says in verse 4, I prayed to the Lord my God, this is a personal God.
SPEAKER_00: God is not some distant figure to Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: This is like a child calling out, Dad, in the dark, and knowing his father is on his way.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but I've experienced that on both sides.
SPEAKER_00: I've experienced it as a son who can literally, right now, pick up my phone, call my dad, and he'll answer.
SPEAKER_00: I've also experienced this on the other side where one of my own children frantically cry out and I run to them.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Daniel believes about his relationship with his God.
SPEAKER_00: And because of this relationship and who God is, Daniel is driven to confession in verses 5 through 14.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 5 through 14, what Daniel does as he begins his time of confession is a transition from a me or I to a we or us.
SPEAKER_00: He transitions from a personal relationship into a corporate relationship.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just about Daniel and his God, but about God's people, Israel, and how they have rejected their God.
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately leading them to the mess that they find themselves in, which Daniel acknowledges.
SPEAKER_00: Everything we're facing right now is because of us, the choices we've made, how we've turned our back on you.
SPEAKER_00: If we work our way down through verses 5 through 14, listen to all that Daniel confesses.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5, we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned aside from your commandments and rules.
SPEAKER_00: That's just verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6, we have not listened to your servants, the prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7, treachery that has been committed against God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8, we have sinned against God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 9, we have rebelled against God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10, not obeyed the voice of the Lord Yahweh, our God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11, transgressed your law and turned aside, refused to obey your voice, and we sinned against God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, not obeyed his voice.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel doesn't hold back.
SPEAKER_00: What's interesting about this long list of confessing sins is that twice Daniel mentions the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7, to you, O Lord, belongs righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, for the Lord Yahweh, our God, is righteous in all the works that he has done.
SPEAKER_00: What Daniel's doing here is he's comparing and contrasting Israel to God.
SPEAKER_00: We are sinful, we have messed up, we are broken, we continue to reject our God.
SPEAKER_00: But who is our God?
SPEAKER_00: He is righteous.
SPEAKER_00: What Daniel is showing us is that Israel's current suffering they're in is a direct result of their own rejection of a righteous God.
SPEAKER_00: Think of it like this God is like the Son, the physical sun, not Jesus in this situation.
SPEAKER_00: It's constant, it's blameless, and it's brilliant.
SPEAKER_00: If we turn our backs and we walk into the shadows, the darkness we experience isn't the sun's doing.
SPEAKER_00: It's our own turning away from its light.
SPEAKER_00: See, Israel's suffering in this moment is the chill of the shadow, not because the sun failed, but because they walked away from its warmth.
SPEAKER_00: See, Daniel's prayer is simply a cry for mercy.
SPEAKER_00: It's a recognition of God's righteousness and a confession of Israel's sin.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel's understanding of God's holiness leads him into a time of confession.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think we fully grasp the holiness of God and the impact of what sin really is.
SPEAKER_00: See, we see a similar response in Isaiah 6.
SPEAKER_00: When the prophet Isaiah sees the Lord seated on his throne in all his glory, Isaiah hears the seraphim calling out in verse 3 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: The whole earth is full of his glory.
SPEAKER_00: And what is Isaiah's response in chapter 6?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5, Isaiah the prophet says, Woe is me, for I am a man, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
SPEAKER_00: For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: When we come back to Daniel, we understand that he is acknowledging that their exile in Babylon is just and right.
SPEAKER_00: Due to their rejection of a righteous God, they deserve what they're getting in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: What does Daniel say in verse 14?
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
SPEAKER_00: Dale Davis was a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary and an author, and in his commentary on Daniel, he said the following.
SPEAKER_00: Israel has a history of rebellion and idolatry and has suffered God's judgment for it, but it has not driven them to godly grief and genuine repentance.
SPEAKER_00: What good will it do to have a people back in the land with still no sense of their sin and no exercise in repentance, who have never been crushed in spirit over their idolatry.
SPEAKER_00: It's not Israel alone.
SPEAKER_00: Humanity in general is averse to admitting sin and guilt.
SPEAKER_00: That last line, cut deep.
SPEAKER_00: Humanity in general is adverse to admitting sin and guilt.
SPEAKER_00: During a couple of summers, I had the opportunity to intern with Child Evangelism Fellowship.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know who that is, if you've ever heard of Backyard Bible clubs, you know that's who it is, it's Child Evangelism Fellowship.
SPEAKER_00: And so what they would do is each week we would set up with someone's backyard twice a day, typically morning and afternoon, where we'd roll in Monday through Friday and we'd play games with neighborhood kids.
SPEAKER_00: We'd tell Bible stories and we'd we'd share the gospel and have snacks and all sorts of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And random kids would show up every week and uh different kids throughout each week because we were in different neighborhoods.
SPEAKER_00: And every day, without fail, at least one child would want to talk more about sin in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Many of them would openly admit to things like disobeying their parents, telling lies, having unkind or hateful thoughts about other kids and friends.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, even after acknowledging these actions, naming them, they would still go on to often admit that they had never sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: I can still remember a kid's face as I so you've told a lie, yes.
SPEAKER_00: So you've sinned, no.
SPEAKER_00: Like just, I mean, I was like, I can't, I don't know what to do here.
SPEAKER_00: I can't keep going.
SPEAKER_00: But that kind of denial isn't limited to children.
SPEAKER_00: How many of us, even as adults, wrestle with the same reluctance to acknowledge the sin and guilt in our own lives?
SPEAKER_00: It's like standing in front of a mirror with your face covered in dirt, but insisting we look clean rather than ignore the smudges than face the reality that we need to be cleaned and washed up.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what Daniel's that's what makes Daniel's prayer so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't shy away from confession, he actually leans into it.
SPEAKER_00: So in Daniel's prayer, after praising God, adoration, and admitting sin, confession, petition is Daniel's way of asking God for mercy, guidance, and intervention.
SPEAKER_00: See, for Daniel, it's a humble request for God to act on behalf of his people.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's pause and consider what petition really means.
SPEAKER_00: Think of a child who trusts their parent.
SPEAKER_00: After saying, I love you and admitting I messed up, they finally ask, Will you help me?
SPEAKER_00: That's what Daniel's doing here.
SPEAKER_00: He's not demanding, he's not trying to manipulate God.
SPEAKER_00: He's asking from a place of dependence, reverence, and trust in Yahweh, in his Lord.
SPEAKER_00: See, petition is not presenting a wish list to God.
SPEAKER_00: It's more like bringing your wounds, fears, and hopes to the only one who can do anything about them.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel knows God is just and that Israel doesn't deserve anything, and yet he still asks.
SPEAKER_00: That's the beauty of petition.
SPEAKER_00: It's bold but not arrogant.
SPEAKER_00: It's trusting but not entitled.
SPEAKER_00: This week, when you pray, don't be afraid to ask, not because you've earned it, but because he's merciful.
SPEAKER_00: Mercy meaning we don't get the punishment we deserve.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about following Daniel's example.
SPEAKER_00: Start by remembering who God is, confess your sin, and then ask boldly and humbly for what only God can do.
SPEAKER_00: A.W.
SPEAKER_00: Pink was a theologian and author who passed away in 1952, and I love what he said about prayer in his book, The Sovereignty of God.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude, an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God.
SPEAKER_00: And we see this with Daniel's prayer of petition in verses 15 through 19.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to how Daniel transitions.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel brings up how God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: So he goes back to the history of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's connect what Daniel had previously said in verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel is asking God to do what he previously had done for Israel when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: He finishes verse 15, acknowledging their sin.
SPEAKER_00: We have sinned, we have done wickedly.
SPEAKER_00: Then, verse 16, he begins by asking for mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, according to all of your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away.
SPEAKER_00: And notice David, or David, Daniel doesn't minimize the sin.
SPEAKER_00: He's not doing that at all.
SPEAKER_00: He's not sugarcoating what the people have done.
SPEAKER_00: He fully acknowledges the depth of their rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: He's already confessed all of Israel's sin, how they've acted wickedly and turned aside from God's commandments.
SPEAKER_00: And what is Daniel basing his request on?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18 We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel knows that Israel, the people he's representing and calling out to God for, they have no bargaining chips.
SPEAKER_00: They have no moral leverage.
SPEAKER_00: They definitely don't have a track record of goodness to appeal to.
SPEAKER_00: He isn't coming to God saying, Look how much we've learned our lesson, or we're better now, so just give us another shot.
SPEAKER_00: There's no mention of Israel deserving anything.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, Daniel appeals to the God's character, his mercy, his compassion, his faithfulness, his own name.
SPEAKER_00: This is where we see the heart of true repentance in biblical prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel's request is not grounded in human worthiness, but in divine mercy.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a world, think about it, where everything is merit-based.
SPEAKER_00: You have to earn everything.
SPEAKER_00: You work hard, you get a paycheck.
SPEAKER_00: You follow the rules, you gain respect.
SPEAKER_00: You break the rules, you suffer the consequences.
SPEAKER_00: And yet God's mercy breaks that cycle.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel teaches us that it's not about earning, it's about receiving.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about righteousness we bring, it's about the righteousness God gives.
SPEAKER_00: This passage anticipates the very heart of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 5 8.
SPEAKER_00: But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast.
SPEAKER_00: See, Daniel models that kind of prayer that understands the only ground we can stand on before a holy God is a ground of grace.
SPEAKER_00: So we pray not because we've cleaned ourselves up, not because we've figured it all out, not because we're better than we were last month or last year, we pray because He is merciful.
SPEAKER_00: And God answers.
SPEAKER_00: So in verses 1 through 19, we see man's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Now in verses 20 through 27, our summary is this God's response.
SPEAKER_00: God's response.
SPEAKER_00: Now remember what our main idea is as we continue to work down through this.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithfully unfolding his sovereign plan to save his people.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're seeing.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel has been praying that God would show Israel mercy, that he would rescue them.
SPEAKER_00: And while Daniel is still praying, Gabriel, the angel, comes to him in swift flight.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the same Gabriel that was mentioned back in the vision in Daniel 8:16, verses 22 through 23.
SPEAKER_00: He comes to Daniel, and I love what we read here.
SPEAKER_00: He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, Oh Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.
SPEAKER_00: At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and I've come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
SPEAKER_00: For you are greatly loved.
SPEAKER_00: Remember Daniel's context here.
SPEAKER_00: He's in exile, broken over the sins of his people.
SPEAKER_00: He turns to God in humility, fasting, and prayer, and how does God respond?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just send an answer.
SPEAKER_00: He sends Gabriel with a personal message.
SPEAKER_00: The heart of that message isn't just prophetic insight, it's affection, it's identity-shaping truth.
SPEAKER_00: This statement anchors everything that follows.
SPEAKER_00: Gabriel says, Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you can receive this word, this hard, complex, even overwhelming vision, because it's coming from the one who loves you.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we come to verses 24 through 27, these verses are hard, complex, and even overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: What do they mean?
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, remember our main idea God is faithful and folding a sovereign plan to save his people.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I say this?
SPEAKER_00: Because the final verses of chapter 9, we are given some numbers and times.
SPEAKER_00: Now hear me what I'm about to say.
SPEAKER_00: I am in no way saying that these numbers are not important because they are.
SPEAKER_00: But it's very easy in our time, in this day and age, as we read through the Bible to become so focused on numbers, dates, and times that we miss what God is actually trying to help us understand.
SPEAKER_00: It's like saying, don't miss the forest for the trees.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get so caught up in the details that you miss the overarching point of what God wants you to grasp.
SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean we don't dig into details.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean that we don't look at these issues, but we must make sure that we understand them in their context to help us understand the overarching point God wants us to understand.
SPEAKER_00: Because throughout the next few verses, this idea of weeks is brought up.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 24, 70 weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, 62 weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 27, one week.
SPEAKER_00: Now, how should we understand what a week means here in the book of Daniel?
SPEAKER_00: This is where the Bible interprets the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever you come across really difficult passages, you need to look at the context of what's taking place there, the preceding verses, the verses after, look at footnotes in your Bible, look at cross references, because what the Bible loves to do is interpret itself.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible helps us understand the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what we read in Leviticus 25, 8.
SPEAKER_00: You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you 49 years.
SPEAKER_00: So when we read the word week here in Daniel 9, we can understand it better as one week equaling one year.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's zoom out and look at the big picture.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful, unfolding a sovereign plan to save his people.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Israel here rescuing them once again as God always does, but even bigger.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
SPEAKER_00: Six different ideas are mentioned here.
SPEAKER_00: Finish a transgression, put an end to sin, atone for iniquity, everlasting righteousness, vision and prophet sealed, anoint a most holy place.
SPEAKER_00: Or if you look at your Bible, you might see a footnote that states in the place of anoint a most holy place as thing or one.
SPEAKER_00: If you have spent time, any time in the Bible, you should be left thinking, wait, this sounds a lot like Jesus and what he was going to do at that point moving forward and what he has already done.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince.
SPEAKER_00: Very soon after this moment, with the angel Gabriel, Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt as prophesied.
SPEAKER_00: But how long would that restored temple be needed?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we understand until the death of Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: See, when Jesus dies, the curtain in the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, signifying and helping us understand that now the way to the Father is through the Son.
SPEAKER_00: No longer would we need priests or sacrifices.
SPEAKER_00: He became both the high priest and the sacrifice once for all.
SPEAKER_00: Then in verse 26, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.
SPEAKER_00: We believe this is a direct reference to the death of Jesus, the Messiah, who would be rejected and crucified.
SPEAKER_00: This verse goes on to say, the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary.
SPEAKER_00: And we believe that this is actually pointing forward to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD when the Romans attacked and tore it down, just as Jesus had predicted.
SPEAKER_00: James Montgomery Boyce was a theologian and author who passed away in 2000.
SPEAKER_00: I like what he says about this moment in his commentary of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: He says, by whatever set of calculations one makes, the point is that by the end of the 69 weeks of years, or shortly after, the great work of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ for sin should be completed.
SPEAKER_00: You see, at this moment, Daniel was focused on their immediate exile, pleading for mercy, for restoration, for relief.
SPEAKER_00: He was heartbroken over the ruins of Jerusalem and the suffering of his people.
SPEAKER_00: And God answered, but not just for that moment.
SPEAKER_00: He gave Daniel a glimpse of God's ultimate plan to deal with sin, to restore his people, and to bring justice and redemption through the Messiah, through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Then in Daniel 9, 27, it's mentioned, on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus takes this verse even further in Matthew 24, 15.
SPEAKER_00: He says this, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place.
SPEAKER_00: He warns of future tribulation, Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: Not just about the destruction of the temple, but an ongoing spiritual conflict.
SPEAKER_00: I believe this abomination represents not just a single futuristic Antichrist, but the recurring opposition to God's truth throughout this present age.
SPEAKER_00: It may culminate in a final rebellion, but the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work.
SPEAKER_00: Israel's at war?
SPEAKER_00: Like what's happening?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think what we have to grasp is what Jesus is showing us here in Matthew 24 is yes, history will repeat itself, evil will rise, truth will be attacked, and holiness will be mocked over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, Christ will return to bring final judgment and full restoration.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the big picture that Jesus gives us.
SPEAKER_00: He reminds us what's coming so we don't lose heart in the midst of what's right now.
SPEAKER_00: When we come back to Daniel here in chapter 9, we zoom in on a moment that feels anything but victorious.
SPEAKER_00: In a moment of desperation, Daniel was focused on the trees instead of the forest, and that's our story today as well.
SPEAKER_00: We focus on the moment while God sees the whole.
SPEAKER_00: See, when life feels uncertain or broken, we zero in on the urgent, right?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're different than me.
SPEAKER_00: But that's me.
SPEAKER_00: Things happen, and I zero in on the pain, the problem, the immediate need.
SPEAKER_00: We beg God to move right now.
SPEAKER_00: God, just give me an answer.
SPEAKER_00: A few months back in February, I was praying and asking God for some next steps, and all I kept coming back to was be still.
SPEAKER_00: And that was terrifying.
SPEAKER_00: We want God to move right now, fix my situation, make it all go away.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Daniel, we often find ourselves playing, praying from a place of desperation, focused on the moment rather than the bigger picture.
SPEAKER_00: We long for relief, and in so doing, we sometimes forget that God's timeline is eternal.
SPEAKER_00: His purposes are far more expansive than our present struggle.
SPEAKER_00: Is that you?
SPEAKER_00: Is that where you are this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Are you currently going through a difficult moment and you're praying for momentary rescue?
SPEAKER_00: And I get it.
SPEAKER_00: I understand why.
SPEAKER_00: You want something to change right now in your time and in your way.
SPEAKER_00: Are you asking God to fix what's right in front of you while his plan is something different?
SPEAKER_00: Something you can't even imagine right now.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, Daniel was praying for a momentary rescue, and I understand why.
SPEAKER_00: Bring us back to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And what God reveals through Gabriel is so much bigger than this moment.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was looking for Israel's restoration.
SPEAKER_00: God was orchestrating a greater redemption.
SPEAKER_00: Gabriel shows up not just to answer Daniel's prayer, but reveal something greater, someone greater, to say, yes, Daniel, your prayer has been heard, but the answer is even bigger than you could imagine.
SPEAKER_00: Which brings us to our gospel conviction this morning, and it's this Jesus brings a better kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus brings a better kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Now fast forward more than 500 years from this moment that Daniel has Gabriel visit him.
SPEAKER_00: Same angel, same God, same mission, announce the anointed one.
SPEAKER_00: Gabriel, the same angel, reappears in Luke 1.
SPEAKER_00: This time to Zechariah and a young girl named Mary.
SPEAKER_00: Not in Babylon, but in Nazareth.
SPEAKER_00: To bring what?
SPEAKER_00: Good news.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what Luke in the Gospel of Luke pinned.
SPEAKER_00: He said this in verse 1, nine, in chapter 1, verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel.
SPEAKER_00: I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
SPEAKER_00: What is the good news?
SPEAKER_00: Well, listen to what Gabriel comes back when he visits Mary and he says in verses 26 to 33.
SPEAKER_00: In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a it's Gabriel, he's coming.
SPEAKER_00: There's the horns, the trumpets.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is, here it is.
SPEAKER_00: I said be prepared.
SPEAKER_00: In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
SPEAKER_00: And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one.
SPEAKER_00: Sounds similar to what he said to Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: You are greatly loved.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is with you, but she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
SPEAKER_00: The angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
SPEAKER_00: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom there will be no end.
SPEAKER_00: I love what Gabriel does.
SPEAKER_00: He makes it clear, Mary, you're favored, but it's not about you.
SPEAKER_00: It's about the one who's coming.
SPEAKER_00: It's about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's the great one.
SPEAKER_00: The anointed one, Daniel, heard about that kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Heard about that person, that anointed one.
SPEAKER_00: He's now here.
SPEAKER_00: The restoration Daniel prayed for, it's now flesh and blood.
SPEAKER_00: Not just the rebuilding of a city, but an arrival of God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Remember in Daniel how God revealed two kingdoms?
SPEAKER_00: You had man's kingdom that will not last, and you have God's kingdom that will last forever.
SPEAKER_00: And who is reigning over that forever kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Back in Daniel 9, we saw how Daniel was so focused on the problem they were currently facing that God sent Gabriel to raise his eyes to someone better.
SPEAKER_00: What about you?
SPEAKER_00: Have you become so consumed with today's difficulty that you've lost sight of the eternal purpose God is working out in your own life?
SPEAKER_00: Don't mistake God's delay for his absence.
SPEAKER_00: Don't confuse your current hardship with his final plan.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel wanted out of exile.
SPEAKER_00: God had a bigger picture and a bigger plan than a momentary exile.
SPEAKER_00: It was a plan that would redeem us from an eternal exile.
SPEAKER_00: It was a plan that would come forth, and God is doing more than we can often see.
SPEAKER_00: So when we pray, when you plead, when you feel stuck in the middle of exile, lift your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: God may not give you the answer you expect, but he always hears and he always will do what is actually best for you.
SPEAKER_00: The truth is, the real rescue you and I need doesn't come from anything this world can offer.
SPEAKER_00: No political victory, no earthly comfort will ever solve your problem.
SPEAKER_00: It can only come from the King who is our Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So where do we go from here?
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's our gospel vision this morning, and it's this since God has unfolded his saving plan, we live with confidence, praying, repenting, and hoping in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: See what Daniel does in Daniel 9 is he reminds us that even in exile, even in waiting, God is at work.
SPEAKER_00: His plan isn't just to get you through that moment, it's to shape you for all of eternity.
SPEAKER_00: And he's already sent the answer.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, the anointed one, the true rescuer.
SPEAKER_00: So today as you leave and tomorrow as you begin your week, start by praying boldly, confessing honestly, waiting patiently, and not confidently.
SPEAKER_00: Because the God who answered Daniel's prayer is the same God who sent his son for you.