Intercession
Daniel 9; Jeremiah 25:1-14; Deuteronomy 30
November 24, 2002
Intro:
A. Today we’re going to mix things up a bit…
1. I invite you to put your songbook away and get out your Bible and sermon outline and calculator.
2. We’re going to study the Word first this morning and see where God leads after that.
B. Today we come to the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel…
I. Study of God’s Word
Daniel 9:1-2 (NIV), In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom-- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
Jeremiah 25:1-14 (NIV), The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years--from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day--the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, "Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you." 7 "But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves." 8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."
A. In the first verse we see that we’re back in the Medo-Persian Empire again.
1. Last week we studied chapters 7 & 8 and we found that we had jumped back to the Babylonian Empire and the reign of Belshazzar, which would place those two chapters chronologically between chapters 4 & 5.
2. Now we are back in the correct time order again.
3. Cyrus is actually the King of the entire Empire while Darius is in his first year as ruler over the Babylonian kingdom.
B. Verse two tells us what Daniel was doing in his spare time.
1. You may recall that Daniel had been overseeing one third of the Babylonian kingdom and Darius was considering putting Daniel second in command under himself over the entire Babylonian kingdom.
2. However, the other two administrators and the 120 governors got upset with him and conspired to get him thrown Daniel into the lions’ den.
3. Daniel survived the lions’ den, but the 122 did not.
4. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Daniel ever got that promotion, but we could assume that he did since everybody else with experience was gone.
5. So Daniel was busy doing his job of overseeing the Babylonian kingdom, but he also tells us what he was doing in his spare time.
6. Daniel was studying the writings of another prophet.
C. Daniel was a prophet, but there was another prophet living back in Jerusalem.
1. That other prophet was Jeremiah.
2. Jeremiah was actually much older than Daniel and had been prophesying prior to Daniel’s deportation to Babylon.
3. Jeremiah had prophesied at the end of the divided kingdom of Israel.
4. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem, the kingdom of Israel had been divided into two halves.
5. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was prophesying that it would happen.
6. Jeremiah was prophesying the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews refused to believe him.
7. Jeremiah commanded them to submit to the sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar because it was God’s way if punishing them for not keeping God’s commands.
8. The Hebrews therefore thought of Jeremiah as a traitor and was therefore disregarded.
9. Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet because he lamented the fall of Jerusalem and Israel.
10. He actually wrote a book that is called “Lamentations” which means “weepings.”
11. Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem because he was much older and was not one of the young men chosen with Daniel and the others to be deported.
D. Daniel tells us in verse two that he had been reading the Scriptures according to the word of the Lord that was given to Jeremiah the prophet.
1. Daniel said he was reading the part about the desolation of Jerusalem and how it would last seventy years.
2. The passage that Daniel was concerned with was what we call Jeremiah 25:1-14.
E. Let’s look at that passage briefly…
1. First Jeremiah tells us that God gave him this particular prophesy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
a. Now as Daniel tells his story, it began in the third year of Jehoiakim.
b. So Daniel’s story began within a year of this prophecy of Jeremiah.
c. That’s when Daniel’s first chapter actually took place, but when Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s writing, it was about 67 years later.
d. 67 years after God had given Jeremiah this word, Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s written account of it.
2. In verse 3 Jeremiah tells the people of Judah that he had been prophesying to them for the previous 23 years and they had not listened to him.
3. Jeremiah said in verses 4-6 that there had been many whom God had sent telling them to repent so that God would not harm them.
4. So in verses 7-10, Jeremiah predicts that God is going to use Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish His purposes in destroying Jerusalem and punishing His people for disobedience.
5. About 19 years later Jerusalem was destroyed.
6. Then in verses 11-12, Jeremiah says that the punishment of the people would last 70 years.
7. This is what Daniel had been studying from the Bible.
8. So what did Daniel do when he “understood from the Scriptures, …that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years?
II. Intercession for God’s mercy
Daniel 9:3-19 (NIV), So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame--the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
A. What did Daniel do when he understood the Scripture about the 70 years of the desolation of Jerusalem?
1. Daniel prayed!
2. I find that interesting!
3. I have tried to put myself in Daniel’s shoes and I don’t think that would have been my response.
4. I think I would have rejoiced and celebrated.
5. You see when Daniel read this Scripture, he understood that the 70 years were almost over.
6. I think that I would have started praising God, but that is not what Daniel did.
7. Daniel got down on his knees and prayed.
8. So what did he pray about?
B. Confession of national sin.
1. Daniel right away began to confess sin.
2. But notice that it wasn’t his sin; he was confessing his people’s sin.
3. Daniel had already been vindicated and rewarded for repeatedly being obedient to God’s word.
4. Daniel was not confessing his own sin but the sin of the people.
5. Daniel began by stating that God is an awesome God who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey his commands.
6. Daniel recognized that God keeps His covenant with those who keep their covenant with Him.
7. Daniel understood the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
7. You see, the reason Daniel prayed instead of celebrated is because he understood the words of Moses and God’s conditions.
8. Daniel understood that blessing was contingent upon obedience.
9. Daniel understood that the consequences of obedience are blessing and the consequences of disobedience is curse.
10. Daniel understood that obedience brings life and disobedience brings death.
11. And Daniel understood that his people had been disobedient.
12. Daniel understood that his people had not done anything to deserve to be released from captivity.
13. Daniel understood that they had sinned and done wrong.
14. Daniel confessed the national sin of his people.
15. Daniel confessed that his people had been wicked and had rebelled and had turned away from God’s commands and laws.
16. Daniel confessed that “we” have not listed to the prophets God has sent.
17. Daniel confessed the national sins that they had committed.
18. Daniel confessed and repented of the sins that they had committed.
19. Daniel prayed and fasted for the sins they had committed.
20. Daniel clothed himself with burlap sacks and ashes as a sign of repentance.
C. Intercession for national mercy.
1. After he had confessed their national sin, Daniel interceded for mercy for his people.
2. Daniel petitioned God to let them out of their 70-year punishment.
3. Daniel acted as an intercessor, a go-between between God and his people.
4. Daniel pleaded with God for mercy for his people.
5. Daniel pleaded with God to forgive their sin so that they could be free again.
6. When Daniel understood that God’s time was close, he pleaded with God on behalf of his people.
7. And notice what Daniel received when he interceded on behalf of his people…
III. Revelation of God’s will
Daniel 9:20-27 (NIV), While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-- 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: 24 "Seventy ’sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ’sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ’seven.’ In the middle of the ’seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
A. Daniel received the revelation of God’s will.
1. Daniel received another revelation of what was to take place in the future.
2. Daniel understood from the Scripture about the previous 70 years and now God is giving him (through the angel Gabriel) and indication of what was going to take place in the future.
B. Daniel is told that there were going to be Seventy “sevens” for his people and Jerusalem.
1. Now, there is no consensus about the definition of this word “seven.”
2. Different scholars have come up with several different definitions of the world.
3. The KJV uses the word “weeks” to translate that Hebrew word while the NIV uses the word “sevens.”
4. Some have tried to define it as “days,” and some have tried to define it as “weeks” and others have tried other definitions, but neither of those and none of the others have made much sense historically unless we translate it as “years.”
5. You may recall back in Daniel 4:24 and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue that seven “times” would pass by while he lived like an animal.
6. You see there is a lot of difficulty in the book of Daniel defining times—with good reason: It is because we aren’t supposed to know the times.
7. Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 (NIV), "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
8. Making sense of the times in prophecy has been a big stumbling block to understanding Biblical prophecy.
9. Daniel asked the angel Michael later in Daniel 12:9 (NIV) what the outcome of all this would be, He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
10. But as we draw closer to the time of the end, the prophecies are beginning to be unsealed and we are beginning to understand much more of them than Daniel could.
11. And one of the things that we think we have unsealed (we could be wrong though) is that we believe all of these words that have to do with time are actually years.
12. That’s the only definition that has made any historical sense and it is the only definition that seems to fit Biblically.
a. First, let’s think about the Scripture…
1) Daniel said that he was reading Jeremiah the prophet and we have concluded that he was reading Jeremiah 25:11 & 12.
2) And there Jeremiah was writing about 70 years.
3) The Hebrew word is pretty clear that it means years.
4) So if Daniel is reading about 70 years of desolation and Gabriel comes and tells him that there are going to be 70 “sevens” to make up for it, it would stand to reason that Gabriel was referring to 70 7-year periods (or 490 years).
b. Second let’s think about history…
1) Historically, “days” and “weeks” hasn’t made much sense, but “7 Years” has.
2) So let’s think through history then using the definition “7 years” for “sevens.”
a) First Gabriel said in verse 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
b) So there are first 7 7-year periods and then 62 7-year periods with one remaining 7-year period to make a total of 70.
c) 7 + 62 + 1 = 70 (Did you bring your calculator? J)
d) But since they are 7-year periods and there are 70 of them, how many total years would that be? 490 years.
e) So Gabriel is saying the there will be a total of 490 years to atone for the wickedness of Israel.
f) So the history of this goes as follows…
(1) There was first 7 7-year periods (49 years) beginning with the issuance of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, which was issued in 538 B.C.
(2) That was followed by 62 7-year periods which leads us up to the Triumphal Entry after which Gabriel said the Anointed One (Jesus) would be cut off. That Triumphal Entry took place on Sunday and Christ was crucified (cut-off) later that week.
(3) Then that leaves one seven year period remaining which Gabriel said would commence with the singing of a covenant between a certain ruler (anti-Christ) and God’s people the Jews.
(4) I believe that Gabriel speaks of Christ in the first sentence of verse 26 “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.”
(5) But then I believe Gabriel switches to the anti-Christ and jumps to the future in the next sentence: “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ (or after 3 ½ years) he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
(6) There is a cross reference to this passage that also confirms our Biblical interpretations of ‘sevens’ as 7 year periods.
(7) Revelation 13:5 (NIV), The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
(8) That verse also Biblically confirms our definition of “sevens”.
(9) So as far as this prophecy goes, where are we in this time line? Somewhere between the 69 sevens and the last seven.
(10) All that remains in this prophecy is the last seven years—the seven years of the antichrist.
Conclusion:
A. Now (as usual), I want us to look beyond the prophetic to the practical: What can we learn from this?
1. Well obviously we should learn that the time is short and we’d better get ready!
a. We’d better get ourselves ready because the antichrist could appear and make his covenant with Israel at any moment!
b. And we’d better be warning as many people as we can!
c. We need to warn people that their life is in danger with more urgency than we would warn them that their house was on fire and they’d better get out because their eternal life is much more important than their physical life!
2. So what are some things we can learn from Daniel about getting ready and staying ready?
a. First we need to study God’s word and seek understanding like Daniel did!
b. Second, we need to understand the importance of and make a priority of interceding on behalf of our people and seek God’s mercy for them!
c. Third, we should wait for God’s revelation of His will to us!
B. So with the rest of our time together today, I want us to do what Daniel did…
1. Let’s praise and thank Him.
2. Let’s repent of our sin.
3. Let’s intercede on behalf of our people.
Intercession
Daniel 9; Jeremiah 25:1-14; Deuteronomy 30
November 24, 2002
Intro:
A. Today we’re going to mix things up a bit…
1. I invite you to put your songbook away and get out your Bible and sermon outline and calculator.
2. We’re going to study the Word first this morning and see where God leads after that.
B. Today we come to the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel…
I. Study of God’s Word
Daniel 9:1-2 (NIV), In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom-- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
Jeremiah 25:1-14 (NIV), The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years--from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day--the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, "Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you." 7 "But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves." 8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."
A. In the first verse we see that we’re back in the Medo-Persian Empire again.
1. Last week we studied chapters 7 & 8 and we found that we had jumped back to the Babylonian Empire and the reign of Belshazzar, which would place those two chapters chronologically between chapters 4 & 5.
2. Now we are back in the correct time order again.
3. Cyrus is actually the King of the entire Empire while Darius is in his first year as ruler over the Babylonian kingdom.
B. Verse two tells us what Daniel was doing in his spare time.
1. You may recall that Daniel had been overseeing one third of the Babylonian kingdom and Darius was considering putting Daniel second in command under himself over the entire Babylonian kingdom.
2. However, the other two administrators and the 120 governors got upset with him and conspired to get him thrown Daniel into the lions’ den.
3. Daniel survived the lions’ den, but the 122 did not.
4. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Daniel ever got that promotion, but we could assume that he did since everybody else with experience was gone.
5. So Daniel was busy doing his job of overseeing the Babylonian kingdom, but he also tells us what he was doing in his spare time.
6. Daniel was studying the writings of another prophet.
C. Daniel was a prophet, but there was another prophet living back in Jerusalem.
1. That other prophet was Jeremiah.
2. Jeremiah was actually much older than Daniel and had been prophesying prior to Daniel’s deportation to Babylon.
3. Jeremiah had prophesied at the end of the divided kingdom of Israel.
4. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem, the kingdom of Israel had been divided into two halves.
5. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was prophesying that it would happen.
6. Jeremiah was prophesying the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews refused to believe him.
7. Jeremiah commanded them to submit to the sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar because it was God’s way if punishing them for not keeping God’s commands.
8. The Hebrews therefore thought of Jeremiah as a traitor and was therefore disregarded.
9. Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet because he lamented the fall of Jerusalem and Israel.
10. He actually wrote a book that is called “Lamentations” which means “weepings.”
11. Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem because he was much older and was not one of the young men chosen with Daniel and the others to be deported.
D. Daniel tells us in verse two that he had been reading the Scriptures according to the word of the Lord that was given to Jeremiah the prophet.
1. Daniel said he was reading the part about the desolation of Jerusalem and how it would last seventy years.
2. The passage that Daniel was concerned with was what we call Jeremiah 25:1-14.
E. Let’s look at that passage briefly…
1. First Jeremiah tells us that God gave him this particular prophesy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
a. Now as Daniel tells his story, it began in the third year of Jehoiakim.
b. So Daniel’s story began within a year of this prophecy of Jeremiah.
c. That’s when Daniel’s first chapter actually took place, but when Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s writing, it was about 67 years later.
d. 67 years after God had given Jeremiah this word, Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s written account of it.
2. In verse 3 Jeremiah tells the people of Judah that he had been prophesying to them for the previous 23 years and they had not listened to him.
3. Jeremiah said in verses 4-6 that there had been many whom God had sent telling them to repent so that God would not harm them.
4. So in verses 7-10, Jeremiah predicts that God is going to use Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish His purposes in destroying Jerusalem and punishing His people for disobedience.
5. About 19 years later Jerusalem was destroyed.
6. Then in verses 11-12, Jeremiah says that the punishment of the people would last 70 years.
7. This is what Daniel had been studying from the Bible.
8. So what did Daniel do when he “understood from the Scriptures, …that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years?
II. Intercession for God’s mercy
Daniel 9:3-19 (NIV), So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame--the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
A. What did Daniel do when he understood the Scripture about the 70 years of the desolation of Jerusalem?
1. Daniel prayed!
2. I find that interesting!
3. I have tried to put myself in Daniel’s shoes and I don’t think that would have been my response.
4. I think I would have rejoiced and celebrated.
5. You see when Daniel read this Scripture, he understood that the 70 years were almost over.
6. I think that I would have started praising God, but that is not what Daniel did.
7. Daniel got down on his knees and prayed.
8. So what did he pray about?
B. Confession of national sin.
1. Daniel right away began to confess sin.
2. But notice that it wasn’t his sin; he was confessing his people’s sin.
3. Daniel had already been vindicated and rewarded for repeatedly being obedient to God’s word.
4. Daniel was not confessing his own sin but the sin of the people.
5. Daniel began by stating that God is an awesome God who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey his commands.
6. Daniel recognized that God keeps His covenant with those who keep their covenant with Him.
7. Daniel understood the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
7. You see, the reason Daniel prayed instead of celebrated is because he understood the words of Moses and God’s conditions.
8. Daniel understood that blessing was contingent upon obedience.
9. Daniel understood that the consequences of obedience are blessing and the consequences of disobedience is curse.
10. Daniel understood that obedience brings life and disobedience brings death.
11. And Daniel understood that his people had been disobedient.
12. Daniel understood that his people had not done anything to deserve to be released from captivity.
13. Daniel understood that they had sinned and done wrong.
14. Daniel confessed the national sin of his people.
15. Daniel confessed that his people had been wicked and had rebelled and had turned away from God’s commands and laws.
16. Daniel confessed that “we” have not listed to the prophets God has sent.
17. Daniel confessed the national sins that they had committed.
18. Daniel confessed and repented of the sins that they had committed.
19. Daniel prayed and fasted for the sins they had committed.
20. Daniel clothed himself with burlap sacks and ashes as a sign of repentance.
C. Intercession for national mercy.
1. After he had confessed their national sin, Daniel interceded for mercy for his people.
2. Daniel petitioned God to let them out of their 70-year punishment.
3. Daniel acted as an intercessor, a go-between between God and his people.
4. Daniel pleaded with God for mercy for his people.
5. Daniel pleaded with God to forgive their sin so that they could be free again.
6. When Daniel understood that God’s time was close, he pleaded with God on behalf of his people.
7. And notice what Daniel received when he interceded on behalf of his people…
III. Revelation of God’s will
Daniel 9:20-27 (NIV), While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-- 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: 24 "Seventy ’sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ’sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ’seven.’ In the middle of the ’seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
A. Daniel received the revelation of God’s will.
1. Daniel received another revelation of what was to take place in the future.
2. Daniel understood from the Scripture about the previous 70 years and now God is giving him (through the angel Gabriel) and indication of what was going to take place in the future.
B. Daniel is told that there were going to be Seventy “sevens” for his people and Jerusalem.
1. Now, there is no consensus about the definition of this word “seven.”
2. Different scholars have come up with several different definitions of the world.
3. The KJV uses the word “weeks” to translate that Hebrew word while the NIV uses the word “sevens.”
4. Some have tried to define it as “days,” and some have tried to define it as “weeks” and others have tried other definitions, but neither of those and none of the others have made much sense historically unless we translate it as “years.”
5. You may recall back in Daniel 4:24 and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue that seven “times” would pass by while he lived like an animal.
6. You see there is a lot of difficulty in the book of Daniel defining times—with good reason: It is because we aren’t supposed to know the times.
7. Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 (NIV), "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
8. Making sense of the times in prophecy has been a big stumbling block to understanding Biblical prophecy.
9. Daniel asked the angel Michael later in Daniel 12:9 (NIV) what the outcome of all this would be, He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
10. But as we draw closer to the time of the end, the prophecies are beginning to be unsealed and we are beginning to understand much more of them than Daniel could.
11. And one of the things that we think we have unsealed (we could be wrong though) is that we believe all of these words that have to do with time are actually years.
12. That’s the only definition that has made any historical sense and it is the only definition that seems to fit Biblically.
a. First, let’s think about the Scripture…
1) Daniel said that he was reading Jeremiah the prophet and we have concluded that he was reading Jeremiah 25:11 & 12.
2) And there Jeremiah was writing about 70 years.
3) The Hebrew word is pretty clear that it means years.
4) So if Daniel is reading about 70 years of desolation and Gabriel comes and tells him that there are going to be 70 “sevens” to make up for it, it would stand to reason that Gabriel was referring to 70 7-year periods (or 490 years).
b. Second let’s think about history…
1) Historically, “days” and “weeks” hasn’t made much sense, but “7 Years” has.
2) So let’s think through history then using the definition “7 years” for “sevens.”
a) First Gabriel said in verse 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
b) So there are first 7 7-year periods and then 62 7-year periods with one remaining 7-year period to make a total of 70.
c) 7 + 62 + 1 = 70 (Did you bring your calculator? J)
d) But since they are 7-year periods and there are 70 of them, how many total years would that be? 490 years.
e) So Gabriel is saying the there will be a total of 490 years to atone for the wickedness of Israel.
f) So the history of this goes as follows…
(1) There was first 7 7-year periods (49 years) beginning with the issuance of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, which was issued in 538 B.C.
(2) That was followed by 62 7-year periods which leads us up to the Triumphal Entry after which Gabriel said the Anointed One (Jesus) would be cut off. That Triumphal Entry took place on Sunday and Christ was crucified (cut-off) later that week.
(3) Then that leaves one seven year period remaining which Gabriel said would commence with the singing of a covenant between a certain ruler (anti-Christ) and God’s people the Jews.
(4) I believe that Gabriel speaks of Christ in the first sentence of verse 26 “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.”
(5) But then I believe Gabriel switches to the anti-Christ and jumps to the future in the next sentence: “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ (or after 3 ½ years) he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
(6) There is a cross reference to this passage that also confirms our Biblical interpretations of ‘sevens’ as 7 year periods.
(7) Revelation 13:5 (NIV), The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
(8) That verse also Biblically confirms our definition of “sevens”.
(9) So as far as this prophecy goes, where are we in this time line? Somewhere between the 69 sevens and the last seven.
(10) All that remains in this prophecy is the last seven years—the seven years of the antichrist.
Conclusion:
A. Now (as usual), I want us to look beyond the prophetic to the practical: What can we learn from this?
1. Well obviously we should learn that the time is short and we’d better get ready!
a. We’d better get ourselves ready because the antichrist could appear and make his covenant with Israel at any moment!
b. And we’d better be warning as many people as we can!
c. We need to warn people that their life is in danger with more urgency than we would warn them that their house was on fire and they’d better get out because their eternal life is much more important than their physical life!
2. So what are some things we can learn from Daniel about getting ready and staying ready?
a. First we need to study God’s word and seek understanding like Daniel did!
b. Second, we need to understand the importance of and make a priority of interceding on behalf of our people and seek God’s mercy for them!
c. Third, we should wait for God’s revelation of His will to us!
B. So with the rest of our time together today, I want us to do what Daniel did…
1. Let’s praise and thank Him.
2. Let’s repent of our sin.
3. Let’s intercede on behalf of our people.
Intercession
Daniel 9; Jeremiah 25:1-14; Deuteronomy 30
November 24, 2002
Intro:
A. Today we’re going to mix things up a bit…
1. I invite you to put your songbook away and get out your Bible and sermon outline and calculator.
2. We’re going to study the Word first this morning and see where God leads after that.
B. Today we come to the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel…
I. Study of God’s Word
Daniel 9:1-2 (NIV), In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom-- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
Jeremiah 25:1-14 (NIV), The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years--from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day--the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, "Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you." 7 "But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves." 8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."
A. In the first verse we see that we’re back in the Medo-Persian Empire again.
1. Last week we studied chapters 7 & 8 and we found that we had jumped back to the Babylonian Empire and the reign of Belshazzar, which would place those two chapters chronologically between chapters 4 & 5.
2. Now we are back in the correct time order again.
3. Cyrus is actually the King of the entire Empire while Darius is in his first year as ruler over the Babylonian kingdom.
B. Verse two tells us what Daniel was doing in his spare time.
1. You may recall that Daniel had been overseeing one third of the Babylonian kingdom and Darius was considering putting Daniel second in command under himself over the entire Babylonian kingdom.
2. However, the other two administrators and the 120 governors got upset with him and conspired to get him thrown Daniel into the lions’ den.
3. Daniel survived the lions’ den, but the 122 did not.
4. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Daniel ever got that promotion, but we could assume that he did since everybody else with experience was gone.
5. So Daniel was busy doing his job of overseeing the Babylonian kingdom, but he also tells us what he was doing in his spare time.
6. Daniel was studying the writings of another prophet.
C. Daniel was a prophet, but there was another prophet living back in Jerusalem.
1. That other prophet was Jeremiah.
2. Jeremiah was actually much older than Daniel and had been prophesying prior to Daniel’s deportation to Babylon.
3. Jeremiah had prophesied at the end of the divided kingdom of Israel.
4. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem, the kingdom of Israel had been divided into two halves.
5. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was prophesying that it would happen.
6. Jeremiah was prophesying the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews refused to believe him.
7. Jeremiah commanded them to submit to the sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar because it was God’s way if punishing them for not keeping God’s commands.
8. The Hebrews therefore thought of Jeremiah as a traitor and was therefore disregarded.
9. Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet because he lamented the fall of Jerusalem and Israel.
10. He actually wrote a book that is called “Lamentations” which means “weepings.”
11. Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem because he was much older and was not one of the young men chosen with Daniel and the others to be deported.
D. Daniel tells us in verse two that he had been reading the Scriptures according to the word of the Lord that was given to Jeremiah the prophet.
1. Daniel said he was reading the part about the desolation of Jerusalem and how it would last seventy years.
2. The passage that Daniel was concerned with was what we call Jeremiah 25:1-14.
E. Let’s look at that passage briefly…
1. First Jeremiah tells us that God gave him this particular prophesy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
a. Now as Daniel tells his story, it began in the third year of Jehoiakim.
b. So Daniel’s story began within a year of this prophecy of Jeremiah.
c. That’s when Daniel’s first chapter actually took place, but when Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s writing, it was about 67 years later.
d. 67 years after God had given Jeremiah this word, Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s written account of it.
2. In verse 3 Jeremiah tells the people of Judah that he had been prophesying to them for the previous 23 years and they had not listened to him.
3. Jeremiah said in verses 4-6 that there had been many whom God had sent telling them to repent so that God would not harm them.
4. So in verses 7-10, Jeremiah predicts that God is going to use Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish His purposes in destroying Jerusalem and punishing His people for disobedience.
5. About 19 years later Jerusalem was destroyed.
6. Then in verses 11-12, Jeremiah says that the punishment of the people would last 70 years.
7. This is what Daniel had been studying from the Bible.
8. So what did Daniel do when he “understood from the Scriptures, …that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years?
II. Intercession for God’s mercy
Daniel 9:3-19 (NIV), So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame--the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
A. What did Daniel do when he understood the Scripture about the 70 years of the desolation of Jerusalem?
1. Daniel prayed!
2. I find that interesting!
3. I have tried to put myself in Daniel’s shoes and I don’t think that would have been my response.
4. I think I would have rejoiced and celebrated.
5. You see when Daniel read this Scripture, he understood that the 70 years were almost over.
6. I think that I would have started praising God, but that is not what Daniel did.
7. Daniel got down on his knees and prayed.
8. So what did he pray about?
B. Confession of national sin.
1. Daniel right away began to confess sin.
2. But notice that it wasn’t his sin; he was confessing his people’s sin.
3. Daniel had already been vindicated and rewarded for repeatedly being obedient to God’s word.
4. Daniel was not confessing his own sin but the sin of the people.
5. Daniel began by stating that God is an awesome God who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey his commands.
6. Daniel recognized that God keeps His covenant with those who keep their covenant with Him.
7. Daniel understood the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
7. You see, the reason Daniel prayed instead of celebrated is because he understood the words of Moses and God’s conditions.
8. Daniel understood that blessing was contingent upon obedience.
9. Daniel understood that the consequences of obedience are blessing and the consequences of disobedience is curse.
10. Daniel understood that obedience brings life and disobedience brings death.
11. And Daniel understood that his people had been disobedient.
12. Daniel understood that his people had not done anything to deserve to be released from captivity.
13. Daniel understood that they had sinned and done wrong.
14. Daniel confessed the national sin of his people.
15. Daniel confessed that his people had been wicked and had rebelled and had turned away from God’s commands and laws.
16. Daniel confessed that “we” have not listed to the prophets God has sent.
17. Daniel confessed the national sins that they had committed.
18. Daniel confessed and repented of the sins that they had committed.
19. Daniel prayed and fasted for the sins they had committed.
20. Daniel clothed himself with burlap sacks and ashes as a sign of repentance.
C. Intercession for national mercy.
1. After he had confessed their national sin, Daniel interceded for mercy for his people.
2. Daniel petitioned God to let them out of their 70-year punishment.
3. Daniel acted as an intercessor, a go-between between God and his people.
4. Daniel pleaded with God for mercy for his people.
5. Daniel pleaded with God to forgive their sin so that they could be free again.
6. When Daniel understood that God’s time was close, he pleaded with God on behalf of his people.
7. And notice what Daniel received when he interceded on behalf of his people…
III. Revelation of God’s will
Daniel 9:20-27 (NIV), While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-- 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: 24 "Seventy ’sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ’sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ’seven.’ In the middle of the ’seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
A. Daniel received the revelation of God’s will.
1. Daniel received another revelation of what was to take place in the future.
2. Daniel understood from the Scripture about the previous 70 years and now God is giving him (through the angel Gabriel) and indication of what was going to take place in the future.
B. Daniel is told that there were going to be Seventy “sevens” for his people and Jerusalem.
1. Now, there is no consensus about the definition of this word “seven.”
2. Different scholars have come up with several different definitions of the world.
3. The KJV uses the word “weeks” to translate that Hebrew word while the NIV uses the word “sevens.”
4. Some have tried to define it as “days,” and some have tried to define it as “weeks” and others have tried other definitions, but neither of those and none of the others have made much sense historically unless we translate it as “years.”
5. You may recall back in Daniel 4:24 and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue that seven “times” would pass by while he lived like an animal.
6. You see there is a lot of difficulty in the book of Daniel defining times—with good reason: It is because we aren’t supposed to know the times.
7. Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 (NIV), "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
8. Making sense of the times in prophecy has been a big stumbling block to understanding Biblical prophecy.
9. Daniel asked the angel Michael later in Daniel 12:9 (NIV) what the outcome of all this would be, He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
10. But as we draw closer to the time of the end, the prophecies are beginning to be unsealed and we are beginning to understand much more of them than Daniel could.
11. And one of the things that we think we have unsealed (we could be wrong though) is that we believe all of these words that have to do with time are actually years.
12. That’s the only definition that has made any historical sense and it is the only definition that seems to fit Biblically.
a. First, let’s think about the Scripture…
1) Daniel said that he was reading Jeremiah the prophet and we have concluded that he was reading Jeremiah 25:11 & 12.
2) And there Jeremiah was writing about 70 years.
3) The Hebrew word is pretty clear that it means years.
4) So if Daniel is reading about 70 years of desolation and Gabriel comes and tells him that there are going to be 70 “sevens” to make up for it, it would stand to reason that Gabriel was referring to 70 7-year periods (or 490 years).
b. Second let’s think about history…
1) Historically, “days” and “weeks” hasn’t made much sense, but “7 Years” has.
2) So let’s think through history then using the definition “7 years” for “sevens.”
a) First Gabriel said in verse 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
b) So there are first 7 7-year periods and then 62 7-year periods with one remaining 7-year period to make a total of 70.
c) 7 + 62 + 1 = 70 (Did you bring your calculator? J)
d) But since they are 7-year periods and there are 70 of them, how many total years would that be? 490 years.
e) So Gabriel is saying the there will be a total of 490 years to atone for the wickedness of Israel.
f) So the history of this goes as follows…
(1) There was first 7 7-year periods (49 years) beginning with the issuance of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, which was issued in 538 B.C.
(2) That was followed by 62 7-year periods which leads us up to the Triumphal Entry after which Gabriel said the Anointed One (Jesus) would be cut off. That Triumphal Entry took place on Sunday and Christ was crucified (cut-off) later that week.
(3) Then that leaves one seven year period remaining which Gabriel said would commence with the singing of a covenant between a certain ruler (anti-Christ) and God’s people the Jews.
(4) I believe that Gabriel speaks of Christ in the first sentence of verse 26 “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.”
(5) But then I believe Gabriel switches to the anti-Christ and jumps to the future in the next sentence: “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ (or after 3 ½ years) he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
(6) There is a cross reference to this passage that also confirms our Biblical interpretations of ‘sevens’ as 7 year periods.
(7) Revelation 13:5 (NIV), The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
(8) That verse also Biblically confirms our definition of “sevens”.
(9) So as far as this prophecy goes, where are we in this time line? Somewhere between the 69 sevens and the last seven.
(10) All that remains in this prophecy is the last seven years—the seven years of the antichrist.
Conclusion:
A. Now (as usual), I want us to look beyond the prophetic to the practical: What can we learn from this?
1. Well obviously we should learn that the time is short and we’d better get ready!
a. We’d better get ourselves ready because the antichrist could appear and make his covenant with Israel at any moment!
b. And we’d better be warning as many people as we can!
c. We need to warn people that their life is in danger with more urgency than we would warn them that their house was on fire and they’d better get out because their eternal life is much more important than their physical life!
2. So what are some things we can learn from Daniel about getting ready and staying ready?
a. First we need to study God’s word and seek understanding like Daniel did!
b. Second, we need to understand the importance of and make a priority of interceding on behalf of our people and seek God’s mercy for them!
c. Third, we should wait for God’s revelation of His will to us!
B. So with the rest of our time together today, I want us to do what Daniel did…
1. Let’s praise and thank Him.
2. Let’s repent of our sin.
3. Let’s intercede on behalf of our people.
