WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:08.640 This podcast is brought to you by Grant Parkway Factory. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:12.480 Helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:17.920 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:19.440 Pray together. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:27.839 Lord, we relate to David when he said in the 23rd Psalm, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:35.679 Your goodness doesn't just follow us, it chases us down to remind us and reorient us around God and the goodness that only God can bring. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:37.119 And so, Lord, we don't want to run. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:44.079 I pray for those that are running today, that are trying to flee because they would owe you a debt of gratitude if they slowed down long enough. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.560 But you're faster than they are. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:50.479 And so catch them today, not for destruction, but for instruction. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.880 Surely goodness and mercy has been following me all the days of my life. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.600 Most of us, if we were honest, we'd have to say, when people ask, how's it going? 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:03.119 Better than I deserve. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.120 Better than I deserve. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:10.079 Our water pipes froze, our children's building got water in it, and God's still good. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:12.799 And so, Lord, we're not we're not discouraged. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.519 The rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:17.599 And so, Lord, where our hope is in you. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.159 We're not, God, we're not hoping that or hoping for. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:21.599 We're hoping in today. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:23.760 And so, Lord, reorient us. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.079 We repent of hoping that and hoping for. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:27.519 We want to hope in today. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.480 We say with the psalmist, I will lift my eyes up to the hills. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:31.920 Where does my help come from? 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:33.439 My help comes from the Lord. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.079 That's just not just something we say, it's what we believe, it's what explains our life. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.159 And so, Lord, come to the aid of your people. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:40.959 Now we pray. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:46.799 Illuminate the scripture so we have understanding when we walk out of here that we did not have when we walked in. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.319 This is our prayer guide. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:49.439 We prayed in Jesus' name. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:51.359 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:51.760 Amen. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:53.120 You could have a C if you got a Bible. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.519 I invite you to take it and open up to Daniel chapter 9. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:56.719 Daniel chapter 9. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:01.680 If you're our guests, we're preaching through the book of Daniel, what's called expositorily, which just means verse by verse. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.799 We believe that's the way you nourish a congregation over the long haul. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:06.640 And so uh we're in Daniel 9. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:08.159 I'll start reading verse 20. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.879 I want to talk to you this morning about the perspective of hope. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:19.439 Uh, while you're finding Daniel 9 and getting your coffee set down and our online congregation at home, I want to say welcome while you're kind of getting things squared away. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:28.240 Uh let me just say this that uh years ago, a man named Andrew Del Bonco wrote a book called The Real American Dream, a meditation on hope. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:29.840 And in the book, he makes this statement. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:34.159 He says, to best understand what a culture is about, just look at what their hope is in. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:35.199 Let me say that again. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:40.560 He said, to best understand what a culture is about, just look at what their hope is in. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:44.800 And in the book, he goes on to say, in the 18th century, our hope was in God. 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:45.759 It was in God. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:49.840 In the 19th century, our hope was in the nation, our nation. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.120 In the 20th century, our hope is in ourself. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:59.439 And so we are on this kind of, we're sliding slowly away to a smaller and smaller source of hope. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:05.039 But again, he says the best to best understand what a culture is about, just look at what their hope is in. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:18.080 It's one of the reasons you see so much violence in our culture today, because when man looks to man to meet his deepest needs, to when you put your hope in man, the byproduct is going to be violence because that person is going to let you down. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:19.840 Does that make sense to anybody but me? 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:20.719 Say amen. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.599 And so I just think it's interesting that a long time ago this guy wrote this book. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:31.120 And so I as I was reading and studying for today, I just thought there's a perspective of hope in here. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:35.199 It's not hoping that or hoping for, but it's hoping in. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.560 And let me say two things by way of introduction that I want to read the text. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.840 Uh, the first thing I want to say is I want you to get the context of what we're gonna read. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:44.400 That Daniel's been reading in the book of Jeremiah. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:53.520 Early in this chapter, he tells I was reading uh in the book uh in Jeremiah, and he realizes that the exile is going to be 70 years long, and it's getting to the end of that. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:55.680 And so Daniel starts like anybody else would. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.240 Hey, you know, I saw in the Bible we're gonna be in exile, Babylonian captivity here for 70 years. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.000 That's kind of beginning to go get to the end of that. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:05.520 So he's getting excited. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:10.400 Uh, and and all of a sudden he's like, Oh, and then God says, No, no, no, I don't want you to have a false hope. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.599 I don't want you to have escapism, I want you to practice engagement. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:17.120 I don't want you to think, oh man, just a few more years and this is gonna be done. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:20.079 And God sends this angel named Gabriel to him. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.199 He says, I want to give you wisdom and understanding. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:29.920 And he explains to him, it's not just that you know 70 years, it's 70 times seven years, as we'll see in the text today. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:32.480 And Daniel's not, oh, are you kidding me? 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:40.720 It's like you your last child's getting ready to go off to college, and the week before you take them to school, they go, you know what, I just think I want to stay home and live with you and mom and dad forever. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.959 You're like, no, no, you get in the car right now. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:47.120 I'm gonna duct tape you to the root to the roof. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:49.120 We're driving to Alabama, let's go. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:51.120 Uh, it's the same thing here. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:52.000 That's the first thing I want. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:53.199 So, this is the context. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.519 Here's the second thing I want to just say by way of introduction. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.879 There's a principle of biblical interpretation, it's real simple. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.279 And it says this you should understand and interpret what is unclear in light of what is clear. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:12.319 You should interpret when you read things in the Bible, because we're gonna read, we get down to verse 24, 5, 6, and 7. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:19.839 And someone once said, this biblical scholar I read in preparation for today, he says, This is the swamp of Old Testament exegesis. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.279 This is thick, you get bogged down in this, it's overwhelming. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:27.360 So let me just say up front, we're gonna read some things, and you're gonna be like, What the woody? 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:27.759 What? 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:29.680 Stay with me, okay? 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.720 Because the Bible, God's God doesn't want to be mysterious, He wants to be known. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.040 Okay, He wants to be known. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:38.079 So just relax. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:40.480 If you don't understand some things, that doesn't mean you're dumb. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.560 It just means no one's ever explained it to you. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:50.720 And my goal is to get to the end of this till you have this perspective of hope, and you don't hope for or hope that you hope in, okay? 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.199 Daniel chapter 9, starting in verse 20. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:02.399 Daniel says, While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:10.639 While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:17.120 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:23.360 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.480 Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:40.879 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, to anoint a most holy place. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:50.560 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:55.040 Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:02.319 But in a troubled time, and now and after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.560 And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.160 Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:19.279 Desolations are decreed, and he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to the sacrifice and offering. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:26.079 And on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:28.160 Any questions? 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:31.040 Let's stand for the benediction. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:31.680 No. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:34.160 Stay with me, okay? 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.000 Again, the perspective of hope. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.160 There's five things in the text I want to point at. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.560 Four of them we're gonna kind of move quickly to. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:45.360 And then the fifth one, which is the last verses 24 to 27, we're gonna kind of just slow down. 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.000 We're gonna go from snorkeling to scuba diving. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.000 If you've ever gone scuba diving, say amen. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.480 It's a little bit of a pressured environment, but the view is much better. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:55.040 Okay? 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:58.399 Tourist snorkel, local scuba. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:04.720 So we're gonna snorkel a little bit, and then we'll drop down a little bit, and we'll just kind of descend to the depths and kind of look at it. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:09.120 So let me just point out five things from the text that kind of enhances our perspective of hope. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.439 Number one, prayer moves God to action. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:12.800 Prayer moves God to action. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:13.839 It's verse 21. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:22.319 He says that when immediately when Daniel began to pray, he says, I was praying, confessing my sin, the setting of my people, and I was I was praying for the temple. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:24.000 That's the holy hill of my God. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:25.120 Look at verse 21. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:30.800 While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in a vision at the first, came to me in swift flight. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.360 Wouldn't you love to pray an angel show up? 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:34.639 That's what happens here. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:36.559 And by the way, this has never happened to me. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.320 I still pray, uh, and and I think I'd be okay with it. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:42.240 I'd be like, Are you sitting from the Lord? 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:43.600 Let's let's square this up here. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:48.639 But I just want to say that sometimes if you're not careful, you'll pray and you'll wonder if anything is happening. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:52.159 You'll convince yourself that nothing has happened, and then eventually you'll just quit praying. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.799 You're just like, I'm just saying things to make myself feel better. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:55.919 This doesn't matter. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.200 Yes, it does. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:58.240 Yes, it does. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.200 I want you just to know that prayer moves God to action. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:02.639 It's the first thing we see in the text. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:06.879 Secondly, Daniel lives in Babylon on Jerusalem time. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:12.480 Daniel lives in Babylon, very pagan culture on Jerusalem time. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:13.120 What do you mean? 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:20.320 Look at the last phrase of verse 21 after he says, He came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.480 Now, sometimes the Bible is really loud and sometimes it's very subtle. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.080 It's like psst, psst. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:27.360 You see what I did here? 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:30.559 This is one of those times where it just goes, it just keeps going. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:33.360 What do you mean at the time of the evening sacrifice? 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:35.600 Uh, there is no evening sacrifice. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.519 Daniel's been captive in Babylon. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.399 Best we can tell in chapter 9, he's 82 years old. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.840 He was taken into captivity when he was a young boy, was a teenager. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.279 And so it's been 70 years or so since he was back. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:56.559 There is no temple, there is no sacrifice, but it was 70, it's been 70 years since he was a little kid and he went to temple or his parents took him to temple or whatever. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:00.000 And so, some 70 years later, he's now 82 years old. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:01.279 He's gone through all this stuff. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:09.120 He's not mad at God, he's not bitter, he can throw out the Bible and then just embrace philosophy and nihilism and start listening to Trent Restor music. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:09.679 No, no, no. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:15.039 He is 82 and he is still, he is in Babylon, but he's thinking Jerusalem. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:19.919 So, what this is what I mean when I say Daniel lives in Babylon on Jerusalem time. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:25.600 You got to ask yourself, parents, what are you exposing your kids to that will still affect them at 82? 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:33.200 That's why I never apologize to my kids or feel bad for saying to my kids, get your narrow behinds out of bed, we're going to church today. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.919 And now, by the grace of God, my kids love church. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.240 My oldest is in ministry uh right now. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.480 She's working at a church in Richardson, loves it. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:47.039 People say, Hey, your preacher's kids seem to kind of enjoy the church because we we taught our children that worship is a privilege. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:48.720 You get to be a part of the people of God. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:50.080 Don't ever take that lightly. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:58.639 Uh, there's some things gonna come up every once in a while that you can't be here, but but for the most part, you need to gather and start your week in worship with other believers. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.360 And they're like, Okay, dad, we got it, we got it. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:05.519 I'm like, there's coffee in the kitchen, but you can't have none of it, but smell it, it'll motivate you. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:06.480 That's all mine. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:10.559 And they're like, Okay, we understand. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:17.279 Uh uh it's been 70 years, it's been 50 years, uh almost 50 years, since the temple was destroyed in 586 BC. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.679 So there are no sacrifices for 50 years, and yet Daniel still thinks in terms of the evening sacrifice. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:24.480 Why? 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:27.519 Because he lives in Babylon on Jerusalem time. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.039 He doesn't look around the culture and think, man, this is getting out of hand. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.720 They're writing executive orders every week and changing the culture in which I live. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:40.480 See, if you've got to have a culture that agrees with you before you to be a Christian, you'll never live like a Christian. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:43.120 Yes, is the culture hostile? 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.519 Absolutely, probably gonna get worse, and that's a great thing for the kingdom. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.799 It's not so great for religious people, but for Christians, they're like, bring it on, Skippy. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:53.919 This is great. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:59.039 This is to quote that great theologian Maverick, this is a target-rich environment right here. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:03.840 Third thing you see in the text is that God wants Daniel to know what he thinks about him. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.159 God wants Daniel to know what he thinks about him. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:07.440 Verse 23. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:10.720 He says, at the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:14.399 And I've come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:16.879 At the beginning of your pleas, a word went out. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.320 God issued a divine decree, a word, a logos. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.240 He spoke something into existence and said, I want you to go give this to Daniel. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:25.039 Well, why? 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.279 He says, Because you are greatly loved. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:28.799 Because you are greatly loved. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:35.039 A lot of times before God reveals something to you, uh He that He wants you to know, He wants you to know how He feels about you. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.600 Now, you say, I I I don't want to understand. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:38.559 Let me say that again. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:47.200 A lot of times before God reveals something to you, some information or some piece of knowledge, He's like, Oh, by the way, I want you to know you're greatly loved. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.720 Like, for example, if this has ever happened to you, you'll never forget it. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.000 Before I was a pastor here, I traveled priests all over the country. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.879 In the summers, I would do like 10 weeks of youth camp, okay? 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:57.679 And it was great. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:59.200 I loved it, I enjoyed it. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:00.559 I don't miss it at all now. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:01.200 Amen. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:03.279 Uh and so, but back then I loved it. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:08.080 But it would be back to back to back to back, then a break, and then you know, back to back to back, and you'd finish the summer. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:14.559 And so I'm about week six of camp, and I get home, I'm home for a day and a half, gotta catch another plane, have a lay over in Atlanta. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.120 I'm at the Atlanta airport, I know exactly where the Starbucks is. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.919 I go down, get my Starbucks, and I am toasted. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.320 I am fried, dried, and laid aside. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:29.360 I I don't want to be around teenagers, and the and the guy that's that's leading the camp goes, we got 2,600 students and they're pumped that you're coming. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:30.320 I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:31.679 I want to throw this phone out the window. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:33.200 So I'm sitting in the airport. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:34.080 I'm so tired. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:35.200 I don't even want to look up. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.559 I don't want to see anybody there. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:42.799 Hey, hey, are you and so I'm just holding a cup of coffee against my head, just like, oh Jesus, I don't want to do this anymore. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:44.159 Can you come back right now? 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:46.159 I don't want to hear myself talk anymore. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.919 I don't want teenagers talking to me. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.799 I don't want youth pastors in the lobby of my uh my hotel when I get back at night at 11:45 at night. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.559 Hey, can we go to the Waffle House and talk? 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:57.039 No, your marriage is screwed up beyond repair. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.000 Stop talking. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:13:59.360 So I'm not in a good way. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.000 I'm like, Jesus, I don't need to go talk to teenagers. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:10.240 And I'm sitting there and my eyes are closed, and every once in a while I open them and I'm just looking down, and all of a sudden I see two feet like right there, pointed at me. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:12.559 And I'm like, I'm not even gonna look up. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.559 Because it's gonna be some person going, hey, hey, are you Neil McClendon? 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:17.759 You spoke at my disciple now. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:18.720 No, no, I'm not. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:19.440 No, I'm not. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:25.600 Um, and finally they weren't moving, and so I was just like, and I just took the coffee away and looked up, like, really? 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:34.639 And it was some older lady like your grandma, like in her 70s or 80s, and she had these two bonfires for eyes, and they were wet with tears. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:41.279 And she looked at me and she said, with her hands folded, just like this, you have no idea how much he loves you. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:47.039 Yeah, yeah. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:48.720 Except I just started bawling. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:50.240 I was like, just hold me. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:54.720 And she just said, He loves you. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:56.960 Oh, he loves you. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.919 And she just folded her arms and turned and walked off. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:08.000 And there I was, just sitting there in those uncomfortable chairs in the Atlanta airport, just but I tell you what, I wasn't tired anymore. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.720 I was filled up, I was ready to go. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.799 Whoa! Thank you, Lord. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.879 That was better than a nap right there. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:15.600 Why? 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:24.879 Because sometimes before God tells you anything he wants you to know, information, revelation, knowledge, he's like, by the way, have I reminded you lately that you're greatly loved? 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.200 He wants Daniel to know what he thinks about him. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.639 He said differently, if you knew and believed, hear that. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:36.720 If you knew and believed the way God felt about you, would it change the way you listen to him, read the Bible, or pray? 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:41.120 Here's the fourth thing I want to point to in the text is that revelation comes with responsibility. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.120 Revelation comes with responsibility. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:44.879 It's verse 22 and 23. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:46.960 You you always have to exert yourself. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:52.559 He says, The angel Gabriel says, I have come out to give you insight and understanding. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.840 And then he says a few more things and he gets to the end. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:59.840 Next verse, and he says, Consider the word and understand the vision. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:10.320 The gift of uh uh uh uh uh of insight and understanding doesn't absolve Daniel from saying, from from considering and understanding the vision. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.639 Translation, put forth a little effort. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:14.320 Think about it a little bit. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:20.320 We in the American church have made everything so seeker friendly, we don't produce deep Christians anymore. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:29.279 We kind of satiate the consumer that's kind of looking to scratch where I'm itching, sing the songs that make my liver quiver, or I went really down for that. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:34.240 So there's not really deep and durable people being cranked out by the American church. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:42.399 Now, here's the last thing that last point of the sermon, and this is where I want to kind of just descend down just a little bit. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.039 Prophecy is for perspective. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:49.519 Prophecy, things that where God speaks things that are not. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.000 He said, Hey, this is gonna happen. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:53.120 It hadn't yet happened. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.200 I'm not telling you this, so you'll be a know it all. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:01.039 I'm telling you this so that when it happens, it'll increase your faith in, trust in, and enjoyment of me. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.400 You'll have a perspective of hope that other people don't have. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:05.200 What do you mean? 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:06.799 Prophecy is for perspective. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.720 It's verses 24 to 27. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:14.319 Now, this is in this section is intended to give us a long faithfulness towards our final hope. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:19.920 A long faithfulness towards uh because some of it is already and some of it is not yet. 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:21.039 So let's just dive in. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:25.440 Verse 24, he says, 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:26.880 Let me just stop right there. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:30.480 70 weeks is not like 77-week periods. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:35.359 We don't have time to go into this, but just put in your notes if you're ever a note taker, Leviticus 25. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:44.480 You can go to Leviticus chapter 25 and read, talks about the year of Jubilee, and what you'll see is that 70 weeks is really a reference to 77-year periods. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.640 A week is a seven-year period. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:51.359 And so, really, what you have is 490 years that he's referencing here. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:52.960 Uh, you say, Well, how do you know? 00:17:53.039 --> 00:18:00.880 Remember the biblical principle is that the things that we do not know, uh, we understand and interpret what is unclear in light of what is clear? 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:06.240 Because here's how we know what one of the things that validates this is what he says after that. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.519 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:10.480 Why that long? 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.000 He lists six reasons. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:25.359 Number one, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and profit, and to anoint a most holy place. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.799 Now, stop right there. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.160 Look at that list up there. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:30.160 Now you say, What in the world is all that? 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.200 I'll explain it to you. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:32.799 To finish the transgression. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.880 The Bible in the New Testament, it says things like, Haven't you spent enough time? 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:41.359 Haven't you wasted enough time doing what the pagans do who do not know God? 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:46.640 Anybody ever here ever sinned in your past, and you got to a point you just woke up one day and you said, You know what? 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.440 I'm tired of giving in to this same specific sin. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:51.519 If you've ever had that feeling, say amen. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:53.279 Yeah, sure you have. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.680 This is what it means when it says to finish the transgression. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:00.079 God says, You people are gonna get tired of transgressing, of breaking my law. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:07.359 Like if you see my wife who's running around here somewhere, uh, ask my wife, when's the last time you had sugar smacks? 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:10.880 Now you should be thinking, What? 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:13.680 You're a strange little man. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:15.599 You shouldn't say things like that. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.440 How many do you know what sugar smacks are? 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.000 The sh the cereal little brown things look like a football. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.759 When my wife was about third, fourth, fifth grade somewhere in there, she loves sugar smacks. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.720 But one day she ate so many of them she got sick. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.279 And so she hadn't had sugar sugar smacks since then. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:33.920 She can't even smell them to make her nauseous. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.240 She she just finished with sugar smacks. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:37.519 She can't do how many more? 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.039 God says, Hey, by the way, I'm gonna finish the transgression. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.559 You people are gonna get tired of sinning against me. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.039 Secondly, he says, to put an end to sin. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:48.319 To put an end to sin. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:49.440 The first three deal with sin. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:51.759 Finish the transgression, put an end to sin. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.480 See, this is how we know it's already and not yet. 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:56.319 Has in has sin ended? 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.119 Have you watched the news lately? 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:00.960 I mean, people think away. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:09.119 I saw the day on the news, this girl uh killed her older sister while her parents were sleeping in the next door, in the next bedroom. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.279 I'm just like, what is again? 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.000 When man looks to man to meet his deepest need, the byproduct is violence. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:16.480 Okay? 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.200 He says, so to atone for iniquity, that's the cross. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:21.759 The fourth one, to bring in everlasting righteousness. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.039 That's the kingdom. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.440 To bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and profit. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:29.440 Now, there's two schools of thought on this. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:31.359 I happen to come down on one side. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:37.839 Uh, there's one school that says uh to seal both vision and profit means that there's gonna be no more visions and no more prophetic. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:44.400 In other words, it it's just going to end seal like cutting a pipe that bursts in your attic and capping it off, okay. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:44.960 Last week. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:45.920 We're sealing it up. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.200 I don't think that's what it means. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:51.039 I think it has more to do with putting his stamp of approval, his validation. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.000 God says, I'm going to seal both vision and prophet. 00:20:54.160 --> 00:21:02.640 In other words, I'm going to speak and I'm going to give vision to the prophets, and these things are going to come true, and you're going to go, I wish we would listen to that person. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.240 Uh, and then he says this he says, to anoint a most holy place. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:07.599 That's a reference to the temple. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:08.079 Okay? 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.960 Now, uh, that that's verse 24. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.880 These six things have to happen over this next 490 years. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:21.680 It's a one week is seven years, and there's 62 weeks, and and then there's this last week, the 70th week. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:24.720 So 62 and 7 is 69. 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:25.839 The 70th week. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:28.400 Remember, there's already and not yet. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:30.319 Already and not yet. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.920 Some of these things already happen. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.400 Some of these things not yet. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:39.920 Now, verse 25, 26, and 27 focus on three major events. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:42.000 The first one is the rebuilding of Jerusalem. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.079 Verse 25, look at what he says. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:58.720 He says, Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks, seven, seven year periods, forty nine years. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:03.839 So notice when he says Says, from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:05.519 Now, there's a lot of different takes on this. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:06.480 Who's he talking about? 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:07.119 Who's that? 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:14.960 I believe it's when King Artaxerxes said to Ezra, uh the the scribe and the prophet, uh, he said, Hey, go back and rebuild your city. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.279 And then Nehemiah, remember the book of Nehemiah? 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.000 Because he says later on that this is gonna happen in a trouble, this will be in a troubled time. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:27.279 Because he he says in the next verse, he says, uh, there shall be seven weeks. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:33.200 Then for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.839 In other words, he's talking about Jerusalem and the temple is gonna be restored, but it's gonna be a troubled time. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.359 If you read the book of Nehemiah, you'll see that Nehemiah is trying to build this wall around Jerusalem and restore the city. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.519 And he has adversaries all around him. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:52.079 He has two guys, Sanbalat and Tobiah, that every day get up and just pester him and try to distract him from the work. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:53.920 It is a troubled time. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.400 It is, people will not listen, okay? 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.160 And so what he's talking about in verse 25 is the rebuilding of Jerusalem. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:05.519 Secondly, the the second major event that these verse talk about is the coming and the death of Messiah. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.000 You say, What do you mean? 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:15.279 After he says to restore and rebuild and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:20.720 Then for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and a moat, but in a troubled time. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.079 Verse 26, this is the coming and the death of Messiah. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:28.960 And after the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:31.680 Now, let me say something random. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.079 The next time, have you ever gotten frustrated? 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.039 Say yes. 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:38.400 The next time you're frustrated, just pray this prayer. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.680 Ask God this question. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:44.079 What is there something better I could be doing with my energy right now? 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:47.200