Principles of prayer and prophecy Daniel 9:20-27 WBC 25.04.04pm
I read a little while ago about a woman baking a pie at home when the school rings and tells her her son is ill. She calculates she can get there and back before the pie is done- so pops it in the oven and sprints off. They arrive back and she puts the son to bed- but then remembers she forgot to collect medication for him. ¡¥he¡¦ll be okay for a few mins¡¦ she thinks- so she drives down to the chemists, picks up the medication¡K gets back to the car to find she¡¦s locked her keys in the ignition.
And then remembers the safety-hazard pie in the oven! She phones her son on the moby and he croaks ¡¥get a coat-hanger, Mum! That¡¦ll get you in!¡¦ She hangs up and eventually gets a wire coat hanger (not a plastic one)
All the frustrations of the day collapse on her and she began crying. Then she prayed, ¡§Dear Lord, my boy is sick and he needs this medicine and my pie is in the oven and the keys are locked in the car and, Lord, I don¡¦t know what to do with this coat hanger. Dear Lord, send somebody who does know what do with it, and I really need that person NOW, Lord. Amen.¡¨ She was wiping her eyes when a beat-up older car pulled up to the curb and stopped in front of her. A young man, twentyish-looking, in a T-shirt and ragged jeans, got out. The first thing she noticed about him was the long, stringy hair, and then the beard that hid everything south of his nose. He was coming her way. When he drew near she stepped in front of him and held out the wire coat hanger. ¡§Young man,¡¨ she said, ¡§do you know how to get into a locked car with one of these?¡¨ He gaped at her for a moment, then plucked the hanger from her hand. ¡§Where¡¦s the car?¡¨ She had never seen anything like it--it was simply amazing how easily he got into her car. A quick look at the door and window, a couple of twists of the coat hanger and bam! Just like that, the door was open. When she saw the door open she threw her arms around him. ¡§Oh,¡¨ she said, ¡§the Lord sent you! You¡¦re such a good boy. You must be a Christian,¡¨ He stepped back and said, ¡§No ma¡¦am, I¡¦m not a Christian, and I¡¦m not a good boy. I just got out of prison yesterday.¡¨ She jumped at him and she hugged him again fiercely. ¡§Praise God!¡¨ she cried. ¡§He sent me a professional!¡¨
From a sermon by Paul Decker
Intro:
Tonight is going to be an educated ramble covering prayer, guidance (as that¡¦s what much prayer is for) and prophecy. All 3 link together- and are here in Daniel 9
Background: 9:1-19. Daniel remembers the word of Jeremiah that Judah will spend 70 years in captivity- and is concerned because that time is drawing near. Sets to prayer
PRAYER- it¡¦s principles
The first thing I want you to see from this passage, tonight, about prayer (and specifically prayer regarding the future) is how quickly God answers
- a woman is desperate and prays ¡§Lord, please get me a parking space¡K near the doctor¡¦s surgery door. My appointment¡¦s about to start!¡¨. She hasn¡¦t even finished when she sees the reversing lights of someone coming out- right near the surgery. She made straight for it and as she pulled in, she said, "never mind God, something just opened up."
My aim is not to be flippant, or to make prayer a slot machine to you- but to give you confidence that when you pray about something¡K about your future- God hears and answers
- here, the angel says 9:23 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.
So- when it comes to things that matter to YOU (like this did to Dan)- start from the point of confidence that god hears and answers
- Jesus, Mt 6:8 ¡§your father knows what you need before you ask¡¨
- ISA 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear
So- guidance and prayer is NOT something you need to get up tight about. God IS on your side. You ARE highly esteemed. He will answer
- whether you see that answer or not, and whether it¡¦s what you expect or not!
But there are a few things you can glean from here that will help in your prayer:
1. Come to God humbly and (v20) confess your sin. Sin is a block to God- and can mean that he doesn¡¦t answer, or you are not able to SEE/receive the answer
- SA 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. ISA 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- In one sense this certainly applies to US as it¡¦s ¡¥your God¡¦
So- follow Daniel¡¦s example (of confession)
2. Spiritual warfare.
Here the answer is given and see immediately, but a few verses on 9a few years later):
DA 10:12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."
The prayer was heard, instantly- but it took a while for the answer to be seen because of some form of spiritual opposition¡K timescale that is generally not ours to understand
- this is why we need to
o be patient in prayer
o be persistent in prayer. We ARE in a battle. We are co-workers with God¡K and prayer IS work
„X Illustr: Mr C
There are delays: but the decisive answer IS¡K HAS BEEN¡K given
PLANNING- the future- guidance
Now I want to do some general rambling about guidance, itself- spurred by the confidence shown here, and from my observation of guidance
Guidance IS clearly given in the Bible. It¡¦s Abram and ¡¥leave this place and go to the place I¡¦ll show you¡¦. It¡¦s Samuel to Saul ¡¥when you leave here you¡¦ll meet some people carrying bread. ¡¥ It¡¦s Ananias ¡¥go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for Saul¡¦ etc etc
- but you need to realise that most of it is exceptional guidance, often given by prophets
- and God DOES make provision for normal Christian life when there isn¡¦t a prophet around¡K or we¡¦re not too hot on hearing His voice
he¡¦s not going to penalise us, just because we don¡¦t have a Paul Cain or TB Joshua with us!
- we need to be confident that He will guide us, anyway!
And most often it¡¦s not through the prophetic word- inspired in its minutiae
- you could even argue that, here. Daniel is concerned about the ¡¦70 years¡¦ captivity and God answers him- ¡¥well, 70 x7 years are allotted until the END¡¦
- a) it¡¦s like Jesus¡¦ answer to Peter ¡¥no! 70x7! Don¡¦t count¡¦
- b) it¡¦s a general figure- it¡¦s not necc 490. It¡¦s a way of saying 500
- c) It¡¦s like God says ¡¥pull your perspective from the minute¡K here and now- to the bigger picture¡K to the eternal plan¡¦
Now- they did get returned after ABOUT 70 years- so the Word to Jeremiah was true. But it wasn¡¦t an exact thing- as they went back in dribs and drabs (as well as being taken ¡V Dan 605 BC, Jerusalem 587BC)
But we must have confidence that god is working His plans and our prayers out
- when not much seems happening
- when the edges are a bit messy
- when there isn¡¦t a prophet present!
Often we look for specifics- and that¡¦s not right. We should look to
- be right with God
- do what it says in the Bible (ie HOW we live our lives)
And if God wants to say exactly ¡¥THIS is where you should work¡¦- he is able to, as long as we ask and are open
- for example: I wouldn¡¦t be asking the Lord ¡¥how much should I offer fro this house¡¦
o well- I¡¦d ASK¡K. But then I¡¦d use my noggin and work out what offer I should place- aware that he will overrule
„X (and he does!)
o asking for a ¡¥figure¡¦ is too open to- getting it wrong
Just remember- if your heart¡¦s in the right place- God¡¦s not looking to penalise you (whether you missed the exact prophecy or acted on a false one)
Now the 3rd thing I want to speak about is
PROPHECY- here
So what about this prophecy, here? What¡¦s this about?
I do think God is saying to Daniel
- don¡¦t get too specific about the immediate!
- Get your eyes off the current situation & detail & look UPWARDS
- This apples to the bigger picture
This is one of the main things that makes me think this IS talking about the coming of Jesus¡K the ¡¥anointed one¡¦, rather than it just applying to
- return from Babylon (short term)
- the next main punctuation mark in Jewish history that this book would have brought comfort to
o so much so that many theologians think it was written then (I think they¡¦re wrong)
lots in Daniel looks forward with help to a time about 170BC when a series of 13 Greek rulers from the Seleucid dynasty ruled that part of the world.
- Centre was Antioch, so were all called ¡§Antiochus¡¨ 1-13
- and one of them called (#4) himself Antiochus Epiphanes (god-manifest), killed the high-priest Onas in the temple, abolished sacrifice (from dec 167- Dec 164) and set up a greek altar in its place and even an idol of Zeus
o (= the original ¡¥abomination that causes desolation)
o many apostate Jews sided with him and hundreds of Jews who kept the Sabbath were slaughtered. Even in the temple
o (Maccabean revolt re-established the sacrifice and a new Hasmonean dynasty)
A ¡¥seven¡¦ is a week of years- ie 7 years- and if we apply those loosely to this fulfilment it kind of works- but only roughly and figuratively
- that might be okay. To me: lots of figures are figurative in the OT (that¡¦s because they are figures!)
- but it kind of leaves you thinking: there must be a clearer interpretation to this. It can¡¦t only apply to return to Jerusalem and Antiochus Epiphanes
And that¡¦s right! Because lots of prophecy in the OT has a double or triple interpretation. And the first interpretation is like an ¡¥echo¡¦ of the main one
- remember I didn¡¦t understand this when I first cam back to Jesus.
o Gave some Xians hard time: ¡¥but that¡¦s just applying to the guy who wrote it! Particularly Mt 2:15 ¡¥out of Egypt¡¦
- ie Ps PS 16:10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
PS 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
And particularly Is 53, where the servant of the Lord could be
- Isaiah¡K a holy man¡K. Israel
But they are BEST applied¡K fulfilled in Jesus. That¡¦s their DEEPEST meaning
And so with this prophecy
- the chronology applies interestingly to Him¡K and the ¡¥ultimate end¡¦
there were 2 words to ¡¥rebuild Jerusalem¡¦
- One in 538BC, by Cyrus (which led Haggai & Zechariah to return and start rebuilding the temple)
- 2nd one, Final one, was 7 years into king Artaxerxes¡¦ reign, it¡¦s found in Ezra 7:11 and it came on 458BC. This caused Ezra and Nehemiah to return and finish the job
DA 9:24 "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.
Ie- in between now and the end there will be 70x7s. &0 epochs of time
DA 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.
Decree to restore & rebuild Jerusalem ¡V 458 BC
7 x 7s & 62 x7s = 69 x 7s before the Anointed one (messiah) arrives in Jerusalem. = 483 years later
- means Jesus rode into Jerusalem about 25 AD. Jesus was born about 4BC, people think (!) and was on earth for 33 years. So- that makes His entering Jerusalem about 29AD
- I could fudge easily fudge things to get these figures to agree- but don¡¦t want to as there is a few years tolerance either side on most of these dates
26 After the sixty-two `sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
So- here was are after the 62- 7s,- 67 x 7s into the clock¡K. and it seems to stop
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. "
All these events are ¡¥telescoped¡¦ into the last week
- city destroyed: it was, by Titus in 70AD
- antichrist appears (ruler who will come)
- wars. Desolations
- final, main, ¡¥abomination that causes desolation¡¦ set up- maybe similar to Antiochus Epiphanes. Some blasphemous king or idol
- the final end
And this is correct: as Jesus say all these events ¡¥compressed¡¦, telescoped into the ¡¥last days¡¦- the era we have been in since Christ¡¦s resurrection
- awaiting His return. The end
And, as I¡¦ve said before- what is this final clock waiting for? What makes it tick?
M 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
