Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
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Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Daniel 9:20-27; The Seventy Weeks
Jason Sterling November 10, 2024 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL
Bulletin
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The following message is from Faith Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Join us on Sundays for our 8, 15, and 11 am worship services. For more information, visit us online at faith-pcaorg or download the Faith PCA app. Thank you for tuning in to Faith's podcast ministry.
Speaker 2:If you have a copy of God's Word, let's dig in this morning to Daniel, chapter 9. So, daniel, chapter 9, it's printed in your bulletin. If you have a Bible, it would be helpful to open that as well, just to get more of the context. We've been studying through the book of Daniel this fall and if you've been here, you know that we've encountered some pretty difficult passages along the way. Well, daniel, chapter 9, particularly the end of Daniel 9, 24 through 27,. The vision or the prophecy of the 70 weeks is considered get this to be one of the most difficult, mysterious and challenging passages in all the Bible. One commentator said I read this at the very beginning of my study this week Called this passage the dismal swamp of Old Testament studies. That was very encouraging this week for me and as we think about this passage, the temptation and this is what people do with passages like this, and they've done that with this passage is to get consumed with the 70 weeks and to immediately focus on that and to be so eager to figure something out that hasn't been figured out in 2,000 years of church history. And if we do that, you know what happens we miss the beauty, we miss the wonder and the power of this passage, and I don't want to do that this morning. And so then, the question is how do we avoid that? Well, we avoid that by remembering some key Bible study principles. One 2 Timothy 3.16. This is God's Word, it is breathed out by Him and it is useful all the Bible, this passage is useful for us this morning to teach us, correct us, rebuke us and train us in all righteousness.
Speaker 2:The other thing we need to remember is that we're back in apocalyptic literature. This is a vision, and remember what we said about apocalyptic literature it's not meant to confuse us. It's not a secret code to unlock. Apocalyptic literature in the Bible is meant to reveal, not conceal. Meant to make clear, not confuse. In other words, god's not trying to trick us. God is not playing hide and seek with us. These visions are meant to make an impression on us, that reveal truth about God and his world. They're not meant for us to hyper-scrutinize, because if we hyper-scrutinize them, we miss the entire point, we miss the beauty and the power of the passage. And then, lastly, we need to remember, remember context is king. Context, context, context. This vision of the 70 weeks has a context. You remember what the context is in Daniel, chapter 9, verses 1 through 19?
Speaker 2:Prayer, it's Daniel's devotional life, and we need to remember. When we get to verse 20, guess what? Daniel is still praying. He's in the middle of his prayer. He's confessing sin, he's confessing the rebellion of God's people, and I think that helps us because it keeps us on track and it keeps us from becoming so focused, unnecessarily so, on verses 24 through 27. And so, with those principles in mind, let's enter the swamp, shall we, this difficult, challenging passage Daniel 9, 20 through 27.
Speaker 2:This is God's holy word. While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of the people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord, my God, for the holy hill of my God, 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. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying O Daniel, I have now come to you to give you insight and understanding. 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. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.
Speaker 2:Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin and to atone for iniquity and to bring an everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet and to anoint a most holy place. 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. A prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then, for 62 weeks, it shall be built again, with squares and moat, but in a time of trouble. And after 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood and to the end there shall be war, 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 sacrifice and offering, and on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate.
Speaker 2:This is God's Word. Let's pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to help us. Let's pray together. Father, we do ask for your help. Please come, be with me as I preach. Help me to make this clear Be with those who are listening. May you give us ears to hear this morning. It is no accident that you've brought us to this place and all the things we've got going on in our lives. You have brought us here for a reason and I am praying that you would give us and plant this word in each and every heart this morning Show us Jesus, show us your love and your goodness. It's in his name we pray, amen.
Speaker 2:Well, since the context is a prayer, we looked at that last week, the context of Daniel 9, we're going to look at this passage again through that lens, through the lens of Daniel's prayer and devotional life, and we're going to see if we might just find something that will help us as we think about our own prayer life and our own devotional life. And I realize, when we start talking about prayer life, devotional life, that brings up all sorts of things in you. For some of you, maybe it brings up lots of good things. However, for others, maybe it brings up lots of guilt. Maybe you think, when you talk about prayer life and devotional life, well, I need to pray more, or it's not what it should be, or maybe you don't have the desire to even pray or spend time with God, or maybe your prayer life feels dry and boring.
Speaker 2:And as I looked at this passage this morning, this crazy passage in Daniel, chapter 9, believe it or not here was the thought that kept going through my mind over and over this week as I studied here. It is the things that we find here in this passage, I kept thinking, actually make me want to pray. The things in this passage actually make me want to pray and I think that after we look at them this morning, my hope and prayer is that it will do the same in you, that it will make you want to pray and move towards God in your prayer and devotional life. Because we see three things in this passage that fuel and motivate our prayer and devotional life with God. Here they are. The things that motivate our devotional life with God here they are. The things that motivate our devotional life in prayer is the fact that God hears. Number one hears and answers our prayers. Secondly, god loves us. And thirdly, god forgives and rescues us. That's the roadmap this morning.
Speaker 2:Let's look at our first heading God hears and answers when we pray. Look at verse 20. These are some amazing verses when you dig into them. Verse 20,. Follow along with me when I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin, the sin of Israel, pleading with God. Verse 21, again, when I was speaking in prayer, the angel Gabriel comes and I love this phrase in swift flight, in other words quickly. Verse 23, at the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out and I came to you. Okay, so let's stop and think about this. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 2:This is one of the most unique passages in all of Scripture. We don't have many like them in the Bible. It's deeply encouraging and unique because it shows us what happens in heaven when Christians pray. You see it here Gabriel tells him that a decree went out from the throne as soon as swift to flight, as soon as Daniel began to pray. He's not even done with his sentence, he's mid-sentence and a word goes out in all of heaven, and Gabriel is there. It's amazing stuff.
Speaker 2:And here's the point. God hears your prayers immediately when you pray them. Now, to be clear, that doesn't mean God answers them immediately, and it doesn't mean that God answers yes to all of your prayers. Jesus didn't receive a yes to everything he prayed for. Remember he was in the garden and he said take this cup from me, and God said no. However, the thing that I want you to see here is that, immediately, your prayers are heard and every prayer is answered. Now, of course, the answer might be yes, the answer might be no, the answer from God might be wait. The answer might be yes, but it might look differently, might look even better than you thought it would, because, you see, god answers our prayers and it's always right and it's always good and it's always right on time, even when we don't understand and can't see it.
Speaker 2:I think a helpful way to think about this is to think about children. Think about seeing if you've been around children with their parents. They're not afraid to ask their parents for things. How often do children ask for things? All the time, non-stop, over and over. How do they ask for things? Shamelessly, boldly, persistently. They are not afraid. What do they ask for? Anything and everything, and sometimes they ask for things that are unwise and would not be best for them, which is why parents do not say yes to every single thing a child asks for. You don't give them and same with God, everything they ask for, because you love them and because you want what's best for them.
Speaker 2:I heard a pastor once say about his children. He said that a Sunday school teacher taught his children everything they needed to know about prayer. Every single week in Sunday school, this teacher would look at his children and say two things. One, he'd look at all of the children in the class and he'd look them in the eye and say, if it's important to you, it's important to God. And then they would sing a song which we won't sing, but perhaps you know the song. And the song goes like this Sometimes God answers yes when I pray.
Speaker 2:Sometimes God answers wait, when I pray, sometimes God answers no, just because he loves me. So, but I know that God always answers, and let's add, and hears when I pray. And so what's the takeaway? Pray. The takeaway is to pray, because you have a God who is listening to every prayer and hears them. And therefore we should pray boldly, shamelessly. We should pray what's on our hearts, we should pray persistently, we should pray in wait, in eager expectation.
Speaker 2:Secondly, god loves you. Look at verse 23. A word went out in heaven and I have come to you for you are greatly loved. I don't know about you, but that might be the most encouraging verse in all of the Bible. Think about this with me Again.
Speaker 2:Context Daniel has been confessing his sin and he's been pouring out his heart about the rebellion of God's people and he's been pleading for God to forgive and show mercy. And before he can even finish the sentence, god says I love you, all of the things that they've done. That's the first thing God moves towards him with compassion and assures him of his deep love for him and for his people. And the other thing that stuck out is think about it. You see the. Therefore, notice you're greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word. And about it. You see the. Therefore notice you're greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand it. God assures Daniel did you catch this of his love for him before he gets the answer to his prayer?
Speaker 2:And I think that's really important, maybe the most important thing of the passage, because oftentimes, if you're anything like me, we determine God's love for us based on what, how he answers our prayers, and this corrects us and says no, always start with God's love. That's the foundation. God's love for us is the foundation, and it's through God's love that we look at our prayers and how God answers them. And did you notice verse 21? It seems like a throwaway phrase, but we get the time of Gabriel's coming with the phrase in verse 21 about the time of the evening offering. That's very interesting, and again, it doesn't seem like much at first, until you remember it had been 70 years since Daniel had been in Jerusalem and been in the temple and offered an offering for the sacrifice and forgiveness of sins. And yet, 70 years later, it still marked Daniel's life.
Speaker 2:And so what does that mean for us? This morning, we live this side of the cross. We live looking back on Jesus, the Lamb of God, who came for the sacrifice, the final sacrifice for our sins. Who came for the sacrifice, the final sacrifice for our sins. How much more should His life and His work mark our prayers, the work of Christ for His people? You see, every time we pray in Jesus' name, it reminds us of something that God didn't just simply send an angel to assure us of His love for us. No, god sent His Son Jesus to assure us of His great love. You see the cross, friends, it is the pledge of God's love for you. And maybe you're here this morning and you doubt God's love for you or you are doubting his love for you. Look at the cross. God didn't send an angel, he sent the death of his son to assure you of his great love.
Speaker 2:I had a friend who was meeting someone for coffee recently and he walks in and the friend this guy that's sitting there waiting he has this real weird look on his face, strange look. And my friend goes what's wrong? What happened? And he said well, I was sitting here reading my Bible, waiting on you to come, and while I was doing it, an older gentleman walked up to me and he looked at me and said did you know? God has a picture of you in his wallet and he goes around showing that picture to all the angels in heaven. And then he said the man just walked off.
Speaker 2:And yeah, listen, that's cheesy, but the sentiment is not. Because we know what that's like, don't we? If you have children, you know what that's like, don't we? If you have children, you know what that's like to be talking with someone and saying let me tell you about my children, and to pull out your iPhone and say let me show you a picture of my children. Perhaps you even have them on your home screen on your phone. Why do you do that? Because you love them. You love them deeply and you want to show them off to the world. The same is true of God, you could say in a sense, he has a picture of us in His wallet and he shows us off to the angels of heaven.
Speaker 2:Why is that so important that we remember God's love for us, especially as we think about our devotional and prayer life? Because it stabilizes us. It allows you to say, while you're waiting for God to show up and answer, or it allows you to say in the midst of God, saying no. Or it allows you to say, when maybe your story's being written in a way that you didn't want it to be written or you didn't think it would be written, or maybe God's bringing something difficult into your life, knowing the cross and what Jesus has done for you allows you to look at that and say God, I don't know why you're doing these things, but I know what it can't be. It can't be because you don't love me. It can't be that Nothing not cancer, not your sin, not disease and sickness and freak accidents and chronic pain can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Speaker 2:1 John 3,. What great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are, friends. You believe that you want to talk about putting wind into your devotional and prayer life and bringing that to life. You believe that then you will start to come boldly and joyfully to the throne of grace and your prayer life will start to move from I have to to I get to, I get to pray and I can't wait to be with a God who loves me this much. Lastly, god's forgiveness and rescue.
Speaker 2:Now for the fun part. You ready? We're told look at verses 22 and 23, that one of the reasons Gabriel comes to Daniel in the middle of his prayer is to help him understand this vision of the 70 weeks and this prophecy in verses 24 through 27. And I think the fact Daniel obviously is struggling to understand it, and I actually think that's comforting to us as well, because it helps us make sense why scholars for thousands of years have also not been able to fully understand it, have also not been able to fully understand it.
Speaker 2:One of the commentators I was reading said there were nine scenarios or interpretations for understanding this vision, and so I thought this morning we would take the rest of our time and we would go through each one of those nine in great detail. How about that? I'm glad you're laughing, you know me well. No way, we're not going to do that. We're not going to get into the weeds. Why? Because I don't think that would be helpful. But even though people haven't been able to fully work out this 70 weeks and this vision, there is enough here in the big picture that actually gives us hope and encouragement this morning. And so let's lock in. We're almost done. Lock in with me. I told you we would have to do some hard work in these later chapters of Daniel. Today is one of them. Let's lock in. I'll summarize the vision briefly and then we'll do a so what? Why does it matter? And then we'll close. You ready. Let's jump in Notice the word decreed Three times. You see that word used in those verses Verse 24, 26, and 27.
Speaker 2:At the center of this vision is the fact that God is working out His plan and His purposes to rescue and restore the world. And I think it's helpful, as we look at these verses, to think of the three sections it lays out for that restoration and rescue plan. Stage one, or section one, is for the immediate context of Daniel. Look at verse 25. There was a word going out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Okay, so, daniel, that's what he's been praying for. The people of God have been in exile. God, you've promised to restore us. Now do it. And that's exactly what God does. This stage in promise was fulfilled in 538 BC, when a decree from Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and rebuild the temple and rebuild the temple. That's stage one, verse 25.
Speaker 2:Stage two he talks about the coming of the long-awaited Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 24. The coming of Jesus. It seems very clear that the six things in this verse that were anticipated were all accomplished in principle by Jesus. Look at it. Sins atoned for Transgressions have been removed from us. The word of the prophets have been vindicated.
Speaker 2:And then you get to verse 26. And in line with Isaiah 53.8, in Isaiah's prophecy, jesus would come, but not in the way people thought Jesus would be, but not in the way people thought. Jesus would be a suffering Messiah and he would be cut off, crucified and left with nothing. And we see in the Gospels that's what happens. And the difficult part of the passage happens after. Or this vision happens, after Jesus is cut off. Even after Jesus has cut off, there, it says, will be difficult times. There will be trouble for God's people. There will be wars and rumors of wars. A prince will come again and destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the destruction that's spoken of here is considered to be AD 70, when Jerusalem and its sanctuary would be destroyed again in exactly the same way it had been in Daniel's day and for the same reason, because the people of God would reject the Messiah. They would reject Jesus as the one sent by God.
Speaker 2:Verse 27, the final stage of restoration who wins, god triumphs, his grace triumphs. You see, the decreed end is to be poured out on the desolator and all things in the world will be made right and Jesus will bring a new Jerusalem. He will bring an eternal city and we will see God face to face. So what? What does that, as we like to say, mean for you? On a Tuesday afternoon at 2 pm? It means that you can pray with hope and confidence because God has dealt with your sin and you are forgiven.
Speaker 2:Remember the context Daniel's confessing sin. That's the core of his prayer Verses 1 through 19,. You see that the people are full of rebellion, open shame and sin, and Daniel is pleading for God's mercy. He's pleading for God's forgiveness. And God's answer to Daniel is this vision. And in this vision verses 24 through 27, god is laying out a plan to deal with sin and he is showing Daniel that he is steering all of human history towards a messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the final sacrifice for our sins and through him, forgiveness is offered to his people and to those who trust in him.
Speaker 2:Now, did Daniel get all of that? Did he understand all of that? Did his people understand all of that? Probably not, but we do, because we're in a different stage of redemptive history. This event, mysterious to Daniel, becomes clear to us, doesn't it? In the Gospels, where we find the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and we could look at verse 24 and all of those six things and how Jesus accomplishes all those things. We won't do that, but I do want us to look at one, the last phrase, and I want you to see this Again. We could go through all of those, but let's focus on one to anoint a most holy place. The most holy place is referenced to the Holy of Holies in the temple, and the temple was a picture of the Garden of Eden. The temple and the curtain in the temple was full of all sorts of symbols that were echoes of Eden. What do we know about the Garden of Eden at the beginning of the Bible? Well, in the beginning humankind and God had a perfect relationship. There was peace between them. They were reconciled.
Speaker 2:Genesis, chapter 3, god's people and the people rebel against God and there's disruption. And then, from that point on, there's this huge curtain and wall put up between God and humankind and we get kicked out of the garden. And you keep reading the Bible and you get to the day of atonement and you realize that the high priest would go and he would kill an animal and sprinkle the blood and go behind the curtain of the holy of holies and he would offer sacrifices so that our sins could be forgiven. And you keep reading in the bible. You see this plan. We get to mark chapter 15 and jesus, the lamb of god, is being crucified. And you know what mark 15 says. As jesus is being crucified, and you know what Mark 15 says as Jesus is being crucified, you know what happens. That massive curtain was ripped from top to bottom. It was God's way of saying Jesus is the once and all sacrifice for our sins, so that now anyone who trusts in Him can have their sins forgiven and be reconciled to God. The barrier is gone. Now you, by faith, can go into the presence of God.
Speaker 2:Wow, you want to talk about a plan. Is that not amazing? Doesn't it make sense now? Doesn't it make sense now why all of heaven is swift of flight to go and communicate that to Daniel. You see, god's answer when Daniel pleased for forgiveness was essentially this Daniel, I love you and I love my people so much that from the beginning, I have been orchestrating all of human history to forgive my people and to bring them home. And it will cost me, daniel. It will cost me everything. It will cost me, daniel. It will cost me everything. It will cost me my son, but I will do whatever it takes to forgive your sin because I'm in covenant with you. You are mine, you belong to me and I love you.
Speaker 2:You see, that's the point In the midst of this swamp of Old Testament studies in which we could focus on a number of things that could get us off track. That, my friends, is the takeaway this morning the Bible and the world is a story about a God who loves his children and comes to rescue his children in the person of Jesus Christ and to forgive them, and who promises to one day come again and bring them home. So what's your story this morning? Some of you are looking for the way home. Some of you maybe you say, jason, you don't know what I've done.
Speaker 2:Friends, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, or what you brought into this room. Here's what I want you to hear God has come to rescue you. The curtain has been ripped from top to bottom. Here's what I want you to hear God has come to rescue you. The curtain has been ripped from top to bottom. The barrier is gone. There is forgiveness and grace for you. Will you come and rest in the Lord Jesus Christ, let's pray. Father, thank you for loving us so much that you planned, before the foundation of the world, to save us and to rescue us and to make us your own. Would you forgive us for thinking that you don't hear our prayers and that you don't love us? Holy Spirit, work the love of God through Jesus Christ into our souls so that it changes us and so that we find joy in being with you In Jesus' name, amen.