Israel's Future, Pt 1

Daniel 9:20‑24

Tonight I want to draw your attention back to the ninth chapter of Daniel where we left off three months ago.  And we got through the first 19 verses before we went away and we're going to pick it right up  there for our Bible study tonight.  What a great week it's been for me in the adventure of this tremendous tremendous chapter.  In fact, this afternoon, I spent a couple of hours just reading through another paper dealing with the intricacies of the prophecy of this particular text, just to fill my mind with even more of the wonderful things that the Spirit of God has given us here.

As we come to chapter 9 verses 20 through 27, we come to the most marvelous, exact, amazing prophecy in all of the Bible.  It is in the mind of some writers the single greatest defense of the divine authorship of Scripture.  In fact, Sir Isaac Newton once said, quote:  "We could stake the truth of Christianity on this prophecy alone, made five centuries before Christ," end quote.  We could stake the truth of Christianity‑ on this prophecy alone."  A powerful statement, monumental prophecy and you'll see as it begins to unfold.  Frankly, I want to tell you at the beginning, we're not going to get through the whole thing tonight; it's just too rich, there's too much in it.  We're going to take our time so that you can understand the fullness of all the Spirit of God is saying.

Now let me remind you of the scene a little bit as we approach the ninth chapter of Daniel because it's been a few months since we talked about this and you may need some refreshing.  You remember, that after the reign of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two parts:  the northern kingdom known as Israel, the southern kingdom known as Judah.  Israel had been taken into a form of captivity and they were dispersed and never really returned.  So, Israel at this particular time is out of existence as such, that is the northern kingdom.  The southern kingdom of Judah, the southern half of the divided kingdom has also been taken into captivity, this by the nation Babylon.

There were a series of three deportations.  Nebuchadnezzar came, first of all, in about 605, or 606, and he carried away the young men of the nobles and the princes, among them a young man named Daniel and his three friends‑‑Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah who became known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Babylonian terms.  So, the nation of Judah, the people of God, had been captive in the land of Babylon.  Babylon was the first great Gentile world empire of which there would be four:  Babylon, Medo‑Persia, Greece and Rome.

Now Daniel, who was taken captive, because of the amazing commitment to God that he had and because of the marvelous quality of his character, had risen to become the prime minister of Babylon.  Even though he was a Jew in exile, his quality caused him to reach the very highest place in the land.  And so, Daniel, at this particular time in chapter 9, is the prime minister.

The Babylonian Empire has, however, been defeated.  And for one year the Medes and the Persians have been in power and the king by the name of Darius whom I believe is the same as Cyrus‑‑Darius being a title rather than a name‑‑is in power.  And so we find then, at this particular time, that the people of God had been in captivity for nearly 70 years.  They‑ have endured the Babylonian Empire and the fall of the Babylonian Empire and they are now living under the power of the Medo‑Persians.

Interestingly enough, Daniel again, because of the prowess of his nature, because of the character of his life, because of the impact he had made on society, maintained his position in the Empire even though the structure of the Empire changed.  So, Daniel is still prime minister in a foreign land.

Some scholars believe it's about 537 B.C., or so.  And Israel has been captive, or Judah has been captive, nearly 70 years by now.  In fact, some believe from the first deportation, it's in the sixty‑ninth year.

And since Daniel was in the first deportation, he's very concerned that the 70 years is fast coming to an end, for Daniel had been exposed to the writings of Jeremiah.

Look back at verse 2 of chapter 9.  "In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, or Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years.  He was reading in the Old Testament canon, "...Concerning which the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah."  Now Jeremiah had mentioned several times that the captivity would be a captivity of 70 years.  And so Daniel knew that if God began to count with the first deportation, that 70 years was nearly up.  Now he didn't know whether God started with the first deportation or the second deportation or the third deportation, which was in 586, so he really didn't know specifically when it began and therefore didn't know specifically when it ended, but he knew that it was imminent.  Now Daniel is too old to go back to the land, but he has in his heart the people of God.  I'm sure he knew that he wouldn't go back, but his heart longed to see the people go back.  For 70 years their nation had been a rubble.  For 70 years they had been dispossessed.  And worst of all, they‑ had been under Gentile domination.

And so Daniel in chapter 9 begins to pray.  And he is asking God to bring the captivity to an end.  He wants the people to be brought back to the land.  Now, in answer to his prayer, God gives him a monumental prophecy and that is what occurs from verses 20 to 27.  His prayer is from verse 3 to 19.

Now keep in mind that this is not the first great prophecy given to Daniel.  Daniel was the recipient of other amazing statements from God.  You will recall the first two great prophecies that Daniel received were in chapter 2 and in chapter 7.  And both of them dealt with the Gentile world empires.  Chapter 2 gave to Daniel a broad outline of Gentile world history: the four great empires to be succeeded by a fifth and last great empire which was the Kingdom of the Most High God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then in chapter 7, God gave him that same vision in another format and He added to it the whole element of the antichrist and how he would rule over the final form of the final phase of Gentile world power.

So Daniel's visions to this point have been related primarily to the Gentile world powers.  But from chapter 7 verse 28 on, the focus turns away from the Gentiles and it turns toward the Jews‑‑ Israel, God's people.  And chapter 9 gives us this great prophecy of the people of God.

If you look at verse 24, it will give you a hint.  "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy holy city."  And that is an affirmation of the basic content of this prophecy that it relates to Israel, or to Judah if you're looking at it from the southern kingdom viewpoint.  As chapter 9 opens, the people are still in depression, they are under foreign rule, their land is in heathen hands, their holy city is a heap, their temple is in ruins and they're ready to go back.  And Daniel knows the time is near.  And so he prays.

Now, as this unfolds to us, from verses 20 to 27, I want you to see three features‑‑three features and three main characters.  Number one, the circumstances of Daniel; number two, the coming of Gabriel; and number three, the communication of God.  Three features, three main characters‑‑the circumstances of Daniel, the coming of Gabriel, and the communication of God.

Let's look, first of all, at the circumstances of Daniel in verse 20.  And by the way, we find him in very familiar circumstances.  And while I was speaking and...what?...praying." If ever there is a man in the Bible who is associated with praying, it is Daniel, is it not?  In fact, he was so committed to prayer that it got him in a lion's den.  Daniel was a man of prayer.  Daniel was praying.

If you go back to verse 3 of chapter 9, you'll find the beginning of his prayer.  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by‑ prayer and supplication with fasting and sack cloth and ashes and I prayed unto the Lord my God." I mean, this is a man who is serious about his prayer.  This is not whimsical.  This is not a passing fancy.  This is a man who settles into prayer with great commitment.  Daniel was a man of prayer.  In fact, it was in chapter 6, you'll remember, that his great commitment to prayer was the trap that they used to get him thrown to the lions.  But he never wavered.  If you go back to chapter 6 verses l0 and 11, you'll find that it didn't matter what the decree of the king was, Daniel was going to pray no matter what and God sustained him because of his faithfulness.  He faced Jerusalem as was his custom and he prayed three times every day because that's the way he had been trained and that was what he was committed to doing.  And so we find him in a common circumstance.

Now look again at verse 20 and you'll find four verbs there that are important.  "And while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God..."  Four verbs:  speaking, praying, making confession, and laying up supplication.  Just four ways of speaking about his prayer, four elements, four ingredients, four facets.  And I think in a way they are there to sort of sum up verses 3 through l9.  All of those four verbs, by the way, are repeated somewhere in the prayer in verses 3 to l9.  And so, this is the Holy Spirit's way of saying ‑ Now while Daniel was praying that prayer ‑ and the Holy Spirit just picks out four verbs selected from within the prayer to sort of sum it up.  While Daniel was in the midst of that prayer.  In other words, the idea is before the prayer had ever ended, while it was still going on, God began to move.

Now we could say a lot about Daniel but I guess maybe.  the greatest thing about Daniel is at the end of verse 20, in terms of the focus of his prayer.  There are a lot of things you could focus on in prayer, Daniel had the right focus.  Most people have the wrong one.  Believe it or not, most people, most of us included, most of the time  pray to consume it upon our own lusts.

That's just basically the way we pray.  "Lord give me this."  "Lord, protect me from that." "Lord, make sure I get my needs."  "Lord, me, me, me, me." But that was never Daniel's focus.  He was speaking and praying and confessing his sin and the sins of his people Israel and presenting his supplication, laying it up before the Lord my God.  And for what purpose?  "For the holy mountain of my God."  It was for the sake of Zion.  It was for the character of God.  It was for His holy name, the mountain being representative of all of His glory.  He prayed for God's glory and that was the heart and the focus of his praying.  It grieves me so much when I hear people say, "Well, you need to demand this from God and demand that from God and you tell God what He has to give you and you lay claim to these and that."  Daniel prayed for God's glory, not his own indulgence.  And in response to that, he got a prophecy without equal.

And I guess as I was thinking through this, I couldn't help but think Daniel got such an incredible answer, I wonder if my prayer life could be so altered that God could be so gracious to do in my life just a portion of the marvelous things He did in Daniel's.  And as a result of that, I went back over the chapter again and started to relearn because I had forgotten some of them already, relearn the characteristics of Daniel's prayer that released such a word from God.  I couldn't help but think what is it in Daniel's prayer that caused such a response.  In fact, in verse 2l it says, "Yea, while I was speaking in prayer the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly, touched me." Now get this.  I mean, the guy didn't even say "Amen" before the angel had arrived with the answer.  Now that's the way to pray.  And when the answer came, it was a more marvelous answer than anyone could have ever imagined.

How can one so pray to receive such a divine response?  How can one so pray to be so blessed?  So, I went back over the chapter and I do it just briefly for you.  What was right about Daniel's praying?  What made it so answerable?  What made it so that God touched Him?  Because it seems sometimes that we pray and we don't have the sense of the touch of God.  What was it?  Be reminded, will you?  First of all, he prayed in response to the Word of God. He prayed in response to the Word of God.  His prayer was born out of experience in the Word.  That's verse 2.  "I understood by‑ books the number of the years, I was reading Jeremiah and I set my face to the Lord." In other words, the parameters of his prayers were established by‑ the Word of God.  He prayed within the bounds of the revelation of God.  He probably read Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:l2, Jeremiah 29:l0 cause all of those verses talk about the 70 years.  And he said, "I know what God's purpose is.  God's purpose is 70 years.  And consistent with God's revelation, I can now pray for God to send my people back because it's consistent with the time frame He's established in His own Word."

So, the first thing you learn about prayer is that prayer is to be lined up with the revelation of God.  You cannot pray rightly unless you understand the eternal purposes of God, you see.  Second thing, and I have to add that just because it's so obvious, he prayed not only in response to God's Word but in accord with God's will.  He said, "Lord, You've already said You're going to do it, so do it."  In fact, the only request in the whole prayer and all of the stuff from verses 3 through verse l8 is just preparation, and he finally comes down to verse l9 and here is the request, "O Lord, hear.  O Lord, forgive.  O Lord, hearken, and do." That's the request, one word, do it.  You said You're going to do it, it's in Your Word that You're going to do it, it's Your will to do it, do it, according to God's will.  If you ask anything in My name and in accord with My will, I'll do it.  So Daniel says You said You'd do it, do it.  That's the way to pray.

He prayed also, thirdly, with fervency.  Verse 3, "I set my face..."

That's a Hebraism for a resolute spirit.  "I set my face unto the Lord God." And he got serious.  He fasted.  In fact, some commentators think that Gabriel started the fly when he began to fast, before he'd even started to pray.  Because God sure didn't wait to hear his request before He knew what he was going to ask. He was resolute, fervent.

He prayed with self‑denial, verse 4, "I made my confession."  I mean, the man began with the fact that he was not worthy, right?  Whenever you go into the presence of God you have to go in on that premise, that you are not worth‑v.  And he prayed for others.  That was really the heart of his prayer.  You notice in verse 5, we; verse 6, we, our, our, our; verse 7, us, unto all Israel; verse 8, us, our, our, we; verse 10, we, us; verse 11, all Israel, us, we, us, us.  There was nothing selfish about his prayer.  He prayed for Israel.

So, he prayed‑ in response to God's Word,  in accord with God's will, with fervency, self‑denial, prayed for others, prayed with confession, didn't he?  That's number six.  Verse 5, he says