Looking for Restoration.
Jeremiah 25:8
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.
This is Jeremiah’s message to the people of Judah. Years of sin and ignoring Gods prophets, has led him to have to subject them to punishment They don’t listen to Jeremiah, and they seal their own fate. Jerusalem is taken, the temple is destroyed and the people are led into exile. The book of Daniel is written during this period of exile. Daniel, a young intelligent man at the time the exile begins, is whisked off to serve at the Royal Court.
Daniel, in many ways is a predecessor to Jesus. He refuses to sin by eating anything unclean showing complete faithfulness. Those around him become jealous of his success and try to accuse him. Not able to find anything wrong in his life, they make out that his faithfulness to God is in direct defiance of his dedication to the king. The ruler reluctantly sentences him to death. God spares Daniel’s life and because of Daniel’s faithfulness, even unto death, his enemies are condemned, and people of all nations and languages are brought to fear God. These are just some of the many parallels between his live and Jesus’.
Many Jewish scholars don’t rate Daniel among the major prophets, because he lived in luxury, unlike people like Jeremiah, and because he wrote the book away from the promised land. The truth is they ignore him, because he points to Jesus being the messiah probably more than any other book. Daniel suffered for his faith and proved he Had a heart after gods own. because even while he lived in relative luxury, his overpowering desire was to see Jerusalem and the Temple rebuilt. Daniel never forgot his roots.
I want to look at how Daniel came to see his desire for Jerusalem fulfilled. I want to pick the book up at Daniel chapter 9.
Daniel 9:1
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.
3: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...
(Daniel continues his prayers of repentance.)
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 lime 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:
This chapter is written at the end of Israel’s captivity. I am not sure who Darius is, as Babylonian record of their kings are not brilliant. Some scholars suggest that it might be another name for Cyrus the Persian or that he is a ruler under him. Either way, the death of his predecessor spelt out the end of Babylonian rule. By this time Daniel and his fellow exiles had been away from Jerusalem for seventy years and it must have felt like they would never again call Jerusalem their home. Here we see in verse 21 that God sent his angel Gabriel, to answer his prayer. But why? What made Daniel so special? How did he manage to get his answer?
1: A Godly desire.
Throughout this book we can see that Daniel is a man of vision. Here we can see that he has a desire to see his city restored. He has a burden for it. With all the privileges afforded to Daniel in his position, and all the temptations that must have been all around him, it is amazing that his desire is to see a ruined city restored. Daniel however isn’t interested in bricks and mortar, it is the relationship with God that he is most concerned with. Daniel is able to ignore what is going on around him and fix his eyes on what is most important. Until we can do this, then we can’t expect God to answer our prayers.
Daniel has been away from the city for seventy years, and yet it is still his priority. Are their things that use to burden you that have now grown cold? If we want to see Gods answers, we need to fix are minds on the things that are important, primarily our relationship with him.
2: Searching the scriptures.
Daniel searched the scriptures. We started off by reading from Jeremiah 25:8-10. Daniel read on from here and found this.
Jeremiah 25:11
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 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 for ever.
Daniel read and understood this scripture, recognising the signs of the times. Babylonian rule had ended, and it was time for the people to be freed. Daniel knew Gods promise from the scripture and so was able to stand on it. It increased the burden inside him. it caused him to realise that the situation that they were in was because of their own sin. We need to read the scripture and understand its application. If we are waiting on God we should use it to give us greater burden, to stand on his word and to show us the need for repentance. It is so easy when we have a burden for something to turn to other things. We would rather consult people rather than studying the word of God, as we find it easier. If you don’t study the bible daily, then I want to encourage you right now. It is the only place that you will find the right answers.
3: A Prayer of Repentance.
Daniel’s next attribute is his repentant heart. He pleads with God in prayer, petition, fasting and sack cloth and ashes. Here we see a man who is not just saying he is sorry, but showing a real desire to change. It may seem odd that Daniel should need to petition God to restore his people, when Daniel has just read that God has already promised it.
Daniel however realises that although God has promised restoration, his people don’t deserve it, and so Daniel asks that He might do it out of his mercy, Daniel states:
Daniel 9: 18
... We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
If we want God to answer our prayers, we have to realise that God gives us them out of his mercy, and nothing of what we deserve. Even when God has promised us something we still need to ask with a repentant heart.
4: Gods Love.
God answers Daniel’s prayer because he loves him.
Daniel 9:23
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:
The N.I.V. uses the word greatly esteemed. Other versions simply say, because God loves you. Here we see Gods reason for answering his prayer. Daniel quite rightly prays recognising God his a righteous God, and because of which he has to punish his people. Yet Gods righteousness is twofold, it results in punishment for the wicked, as well as mercy for the oppressed. When we are looking to God for an answer we can trust in the fact that He loves us and he actually wants to answer our prayers. God is a Holy God, but He is also a loving father who wants to bless his children.
We can often think that we don’t deserve Gods blessing and his promises, and as Daniel quite rightly pointed out, we don’t. However we can stand in the fact that we serve a loving God and we can ask out of His mercy.
Conclusion.
Daniel had a burden for an answer, he searched the scriptures, he prayed with a repentant heart and he was loved by God. Because of this God answered him. If you are seeking God for something today then you need to do the same. If you don’t know Jesus then he is the answer. It is only by having a burden for change, believing in Jesus through the bible, coming before him in repentance, and trusting in his love that you will not only find the answer to your immediate situation, but to your life.
Daniel was seeking an answer from God in relation to the restoration of his people. What he got was far greater than that, Daniel received the knowledge of the coming of Christ. Daniel was only seeking God to help him and his people in the situation that they were in, he didn’t expect God to reveal the end plan to him.
Daniel 9:25
"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 desolation’s have been decreed.
Here Daniel is told of the coming and the death of Jesus.
We might only be seeking God because of the situation that we are in. Maybe sickness, family or marriage problems. If we come to God like Daniel did, refusing to sin, with a burden to restore your relationship with him, searching the scriptures, and with a repentant heart, then God, through his love will not only answer your prayer, but can take you further then you have ever imagined. God does not just want to sort out your problems now, but he wants to give you a future with him.
