[0:00] Welcome to the service this evening. We look to God to bless our time together around this world.
[0:11] We shall begin by singing from Psalm 138. Psalm 138, singing from the beginning to verse 6. Thee will I praise with all my heart.
[0:26] I will sing praise to thee before the gods and worship will toward thy sanctuary. I'll praise thy name even for thy truth and kindness of thy love.
[0:39] For thou thy word hast magnified all thy great name above. Thou didst me answer in the day when I to thee did cry. And thou, my fainting soul, didst strengthen inwardly.
[0:54] All kings upon the earth that are shall give thee praise, O Lord. And as they from thy mouth shall hear thy true and faithful word. Yea, in the righteous ways of God with gladness they shall sing.
[1:09] For great's the glory of the Lord, who doth forever reign. O God be high, yet he respects all those that lowly be. Whereas the proud and lofty ones are far off lowly.
[1:25] And so on. We can sing these verses. Psalm 138 from the beginning. Six stanzas. Thee will I praise with all my heart.
[1:36] I will sing praise to thee. Thee will I praise with all my heart.
[1:50] I will sing praise to thee. Before the gods and worship will.
[2:06] Toward thy sanctuary. I'll praise thy name.
[2:19] For thy truth and kindness. O thy love.
[2:31] For thou, thy word, O thy great name above.
[2:48] Thou didst me answer in the day where I to thee decry.
[3:07] And thou, thy faith in the day where I to be. So respect didst strengthen in worthy.
[3:24] All kings upon thee. Hear, thou, thy heart shall give thee grace, O Lord.
[3:43] When I say from thy mouth shall hear, Thy true and faithful word.
[4:02] Yea, in the righteous ways of God. With gladness they shall sing.
[4:20] For this the glory of the Lord. Who doth forever reign.
[4:38] Though God be higher. He respects all those that lowly be.
[4:56] Where does the proud and lofty ones. Let us join together in prayer.
[5:07] Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Most holy and almighty God. We give thanks that we can come.
[5:18] And words of praise upon our lips. And that we can do so with a measure of appreciation of what we are about when we come into your presence.
[5:34] Even though we are in many respects in need of the power that is contained within your being.
[5:49] To be made known to be known to be known to be known to be known to us.
[6:06] And that by direct experience. Rather than by reputation.
[6:19] Or by the knowledge that is gleaned from the reading of your word. Lord, we know that your word is true.
[6:32] And we know that there have been occasions that have been writ large within the pages of scripture. That speak to us of an awesome encounter between a holy God and creatures that have been brought face to face with the fact of their own sinfulness.
[6:56] So much so that they cried out for mercy. At times acknowledging that the ground upon which their feet was set was holy ground.
[7:13] And that by reason of your presence before them. We read of your servant, the prophet, as he experienced the disclosure of the holiness of that God.
[7:30] As you entered into the temple. And as he was brought face to face once again with that very God that was his God.
[7:48] We pray that you would bring such a God before us today. If it is our need. If it is our situation and circumstance that we have entered into an experience of living our life here in this world.
[8:12] And God is far removed from us. If indeed you entered into our thinking at all. We recognize that any one of us can succumb to such a way of living.
[8:33] Even your own people can fall into pursuing things that they know are legitimate and that are in accordance with their calling.
[8:47] And yet they are just that. Things that they do because they know it to be right for them to do them. Things that they say even as they bow their knees before a throne of grace.
[9:03] How easy it is for us to glibly gather together the words of scripture and to fill our mouth with them. And to all intents and purposes.
[9:17] It appears that we are engaging in a very lofty act of worship. And yet we are reading a word of two who believe themselves to be doing that very thing.
[9:35] But one, his prayer was the prayer of somebody who thought that he was right with God.
[9:47] And the other who thought that there was no possibility of that being so. This cry was a cry limited to but a few words.
[9:58] And yet it was a cry that was full of meaning. Lord be merciful to me the sinner. We marvel at the way your word so specifically uses even the small words to bring home to us.
[10:21] A truth. A truth that testifies to the nature of your own spirit. Interacting with our spirit.
[10:34] Bringing home to us our fallenness. As part of a fallen race. But our fallenness as individuals. So that our sinfulness that is acknowledged is not merely the acknowledgement of corporate sin which is rightly ours.
[10:55] But the acknowledgement of personal sin for which we are answerable. Help us to come before you this evening with such an acknowledgement.
[11:09] We pray for your blessing upon every person present. Thankful that while we do not know where they stand before you. The God of heaven and earth.
[11:22] We can bring them to you and lay them in your care. And seek from you that you would deal with them. Mercy fully. And deal with them in accordance with whatever their need may be.
[11:37] If their faith is genuine. But trembling. Strengthen it. If they are fearful. If they are fearful.
[11:48] And if they are in any way doubting their relationship with you. Bring them once again to a place of safety and certainty.
[12:01] Bring them to a state of assurance. That they are indeed building upon the rock. And that rock is Christ. Where their faith is genuine.
[12:13] May they understand that it is not the strength or the caliber of their faith. That is of the greatest import. But the one upon whom their faith rests. Even Jesus Christ.
[12:26] We pray for any who may yet have to come to knowledge of that Christ. Whatever their knowledge of them.
[12:38] And it may be that they know much about them. They may have been taught from the knee about the gospel. And the truths the gospel contain.
[12:51] And yet these truths are not their truths. They have not brought themselves to a place where they can yield their hearts and minds to the Christ.
[13:06] Who is willing to take them to himself. And to give to them the ability to place their trust in him and him alone.
[13:19] We pray for all who are concerned about their health. About their well-being. About the needs that they have as creatures in a world that has got many challenges to bring to all your creatures.
[13:34] Especially mankind as it is at the present. We know that there are many fearful because of the current climate.
[13:45] Where there are challenges to our financial well-being. And there are ongoing facts of that on businesses and those who are dependent upon these for their security.
[14:05] These are things which we ought to pray for. And we do pray earnestly that you would remember us measurefully. And bring home to us the need that there is to keep an account with God that is always in the black.
[14:24] And that we would discover the truth of what it is. To relinquish our tenuous hold on the material things of this world that we are so dependent upon.
[14:39] And rather rely upon the God of heaven who is always able to meet our need far more than we ever ask.
[14:50] Remember those who belong to parts of the world that are suffering from poverty and want. Think of these places that know much of what it is to live in famine situations.
[15:03] If they are not suffering from drought they are suffering from floods and the damage that storms bring. We see others who are constantly caught up in wars.
[15:18] Be they civil wars or wars against neighbours. And we see the damage that creates. We pray for these nations that are embroiled in such.
[15:29] And we pray for peace to reign. We are the God of peace. It is not without reason that you possess that name. Because you are the peacemaker.
[15:40] And you have enabled us to have peace with you through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray for peace with you through the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, may be, at the heart of our lives. And at the heart of our experience to us to give impetus to all that we would seek to do for others.
[15:58] Remember our government. Westminster and Edinburgh. Remember those who are engaged in the activity of government.
[16:14] Those who honour you and serve you and love you, may they be held up, even in the face of those who are openly hostile to any who would profess your name.
[16:26] May the enemies of the king be distracted, so that the purposes of the king may be brought to fruition. We remember our king and we pray that he too would come to acknowledge the king of kings as his king, and that his service would be a service that is marked because of that knowledge of salvation in and through our Redeemer.
[16:56] So hear our prayers, encourage you people in a life of prayer. Continue to watch over us and remember all that we would leave in your care and keeping this evening, any for whom health concerns are an issue, and those that we know of who are sorrowing afresh this day.
[17:16] Mercifully undertake for us all pardon sin. In Jesus' name. Amen. We shall sing to God's praise from Psalm 110.
[17:27] I'm going to sing verses 1 through 5. Five stanzas from the beginning of the psalm. The Lord did say unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes a stone, whereon thy feet may stand.
[17:45] The Lord shall out of Zion send the rod of thy great power. In midst of all thine enemies be thou the governor. A willing people in thy day of power shall come to thee.
[17:57] In holy beauties from morn's womb thy youth like dew shall be. The Lord himself hath made an oath and will repent him never.
[18:07] Of the order of Melchizedek, the water priest forever. The glorious and mighty Lord that sits at thy right hand shall in his day of wrath strike through kings that do him withstand.
[18:22] And so on. Verses 1 to 5 of Psalm 110. The Lord did say unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand. The Lord did say unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thy foes a stone, Whereon thy feet may stand.
[19:07] The Lord shall out of Zion send, The rod of thy great power.
[19:26] In midst of all thy enemies be thou, He loves a governor.
[19:43] How will he be the light of day? All power shall come to thee.
[19:59] In holy beauty's bronze morn's womb, thy youth like you shall be.
[20:17] The Lord himself hath made an old, and will repent him ever.
[20:37] Of the order of Melchizedek, thou art a priest forever.
[20:52] The glorious and mighty Lord, that sits at thy right hand, shall in his day of frost strike through, kings of heaven with shine.
[21:30] Amen. Amen. You can hear God's word now, as we have it in the Old Testament scriptures, the book of Daniel, in chapter 9.
[21:42] And we can read from verse 20 to the end of the chapter. The book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 9, taking up the reading at verse 20.
[21:58] And whilst 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, yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision of the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me above the time of the evening oblation.
[22:29] And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
[22:41] At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee, for thou art greatly beloved. Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
[22:55] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
[23:21] Know therefore and understand that, from the going forth of the commandment to restore, and to build Jerusalem, and to the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks, the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times.
[23:44] And after threescore and two weeks, shall Messiah be cut off, and the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war, desolations are determined.
[24:05] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice, and the oblation to cease.
[24:17] And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation. And that determined, shall be poured upon the desolate.
[24:31] Amen. And may the Lord add his blessing to this reading of his word. In his name be the praise. I'm going to sing from Psalm 37.
[24:44] Psalm 37, from verse 3 down to verse 9. Psalm 37, Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, and be thou doing good.
[25:02] And so thou in the land shalt dwell, and verily have food. Delight thyself in God, he'll give thine heart's desire to thee. Thy way to God commit, him trust, and bring to pass shall he.
[25:18] Like unto the light he shall thy righteousness display, and he thy judgment shall bring forth like noontide of the day. Rest in the Lord, and patiently wait for him.
[25:31] Do not fret. For him who, prospering in his way, success in sin doth get. Do thou from anger cease, and wrath see thou forsaken soul.
[25:44] Fret not thyself in any wise that evil thou shouldst do. For those that evil doers are shall be cut off and fall. For those that wait upon the Lord, the earth inherit shall.
[25:59] And so on. Now we sing these verses. Psalm 37, verses 3 to 9. Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, and be thou doing good.
[26:10] Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, and be thou doing good.
[26:24] And so thou in the land shall dwell, and better be after.
[26:45] Delight thyself in God. He'll give thine heart desire to thee.
[27:03] Thy way to God, commit in trust. It bring to pass shall he.
[27:21] And like unto the light he shall, thy righteousness this way.
[27:38] And he thy judgment shall bring forth, like new tide of the day.
[27:56] Rest in the Lord, and patiently wait for him, do not fret.
[28:13] For him who brought a spring in his way, such as sin sin doth yet.
[28:31] Do thou from anger cease and run, see thou forsake also.
[28:47] fret not thyself in many ways, that evil thou shouldst do.
[29:06] For those that evil doers are, shall be touched off and fall.
[29:23] But those that wait upon the Lord, the earth is headed shall.
[29:41] Amen. Amen. Amen. Can we turn to the passage that we read together, the book of Daniel, chapter 9. And we're going to look at the last part of this chapter.
[29:57] You can read again at verse 20. Verse 20. 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.
[30:15] Yea, yea, whilst I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision of the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening population.
[30:29] So, last Lord's Day, we looked at the opening section of chapter 9.
[30:42] And we spoke about it just looking at two main points, two main thoughts really. Looking at the prayer that was offered by Daniel, and what it said about the situation that they found themselves in that necessitated the prayer.
[31:05] How they understood, how he understood his needs and the needs of the people. And again, the content of the prayer and how it revealed some understanding of the God to whom the prayer was offered.
[31:24] And the prayer was prompted and stimulated by Daniel's reading of the scripture, at least partially.
[31:37] It seems that he has read or been reading parts of the prophecy of Jeremiah, and in that prophecy he understands that the promise of God with regards to the bondage of the people of God is about to come to an end.
[32:02] And he wishes that to be confirmed to him. And he worries and is concerned that there should be nothing that would frustrate the purpose of God with regard to that fulfillment of prophecy.
[32:21] Now, he's not wrong in worrying about that, because inevitably you have this kind of conflict in your own thinking.
[32:34] You know what God said, and yet you see the context into what he has said, into which what he has said is going to be executed.
[32:49] You know, God makes a promise about this world and the gospel as it comes to this world, and that it is going to prosper and that sinners will be converted, and the church would grow and increase.
[33:04] And yet, if you're in a situation where you're seeing no evidence of that, it's inevitable that you would conclude that God's word is in some way flawed.
[33:17] And yet, if we limit our understanding to what we see, rather than the possibility that God might work elsewhere, or in ways that we're not aware of, then we would possibly succumb to doubt and belief.
[33:40] And I think there's a measure of this in the experience of Daniel. Daniel was somebody who was, as an individual, very different to the masses of the people of God.
[33:57] There were very few like him, if any. And the vast majority of the people who bore God's name were not believers in the same way Daniel was a believer.
[34:14] So it was no surprise to see that he would wonder at the promises of God being fulfilled, in the way that he anticipated that they should be fulfilled.
[34:27] We see from the context that his prayer, which we went into last week, is supposed to be summarized in verse 20.
[34:43] While I was speaking, he says, 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 mine.
[34:56] God. His prayer, he speaks of it as a speaking to God, supplicating, bringing supplications into the presence of God, confession of sin, not only the sins of the people who he represented, and who were riddled with sin, and who were riddled with sin, despite him being considered a holy man, an exalted man of faith.
[35:28] And yet he confesses his sin, along with the sins of the people. And he presents these supplications before God. And he says, as we read our introduction into this next part of the chapter, is as his prayer is on his lips.
[35:53] As his petitions are offered to God, almost as soon as these prayers are coming off his lip, and I don't know who was saying, we don't know how long he was praying for.
[36:07] There's no time placed upon the duration of his prayer. He could have been praying for a long time.
[36:18] He could have been praying earnestly for days. He could have been praying, looking to God to answer his prayer for a long time before an answer came.
[36:29] But what we are told here is, as he prayed, an answer did come. Whilst I was speaking in prayer, even the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in a vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
[36:49] As he prayed, God answered. And, you know, that's something we find difficult to believe. Based upon our own experience, we pray, and yet God doesn't respond.
[37:10] We pray, and there's no doubt in our mind, but that we're praying earnestly. But the response is not instant. There could be any number of reasons for that.
[37:24] But sometimes the truth is that we pray, but we don't really believe that what we're praying is going to be answered. Surely it shouldn't be like that, and we all believe it shouldn't be like that.
[37:38] But nine times out of ten, I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm different to everybody here. If we prayed always, a prayer that was saturated with faith, confident that not only was God hearing our prayer, but that he was willing to answer our prayer, would we be more aware of that prayer being answered when God answered it?
[38:19] Well, what we read here is that even as Daniel prayed, Gabriel was sent to him. Not just sent to him, he was caused to fly swiftly.
[38:36] He was caused to come rapidly to respond to Daniel as he prayed. And it's interesting that we are told when he responded, at the time of the evening oblation.
[38:55] And that may not mean much to any one of us. What's the significance of that? But the fact is that his response really is something that God promises to the believer an instant response.
[39:14] A response that we have every right to expect because he gives us that undertaking. You know, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, the prophet tells us there, it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer.
[39:30] And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The same prophet in chapter 30, he goes perhaps a wee step further, but the same truth has brought our attention.
[39:46] He shall, God who is able to and willing to hear the prayers of his people and to respond to them, he does so when he feels it right to do so.
[40:01] In chapter 30, verse 18. Verse 18. Verse 18. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you. And therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you.
[40:15] For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are they all that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion and Jerusalem. For Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more.
[40:26] He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry. When he shall hear it, he will answer. Now if that is the case, if God is saying to us that he will answer when we cry, he will respond when he hears your prayer, then either God is saying something that he is not willing to do or that he is not prepared to do or perhaps we are not praying as we should be praying or praying with the expectation that belongs to us the expectation that God will answer our pleas, our cries, our petitions of supplications on the basis of his own righteousness and holiness and goodness and the promises that come from that God now Daniel comes to God with such a prayer and he receives his answer expeditiously
[41:40] Daniel has an answer from God by way of the end angel Gabriel and he touched him about the time of the evening oblation and what does he do when he comes to Daniel well he says he informed me and talked with me and said O Daniel I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding at the beginning of thy supplication at the commandment came forth and I am come to show thee for thou art greatly beloved therefore understand the matter and consider the vision so there we have it so there we have it the answer is an answer to the question that Daniel presents before God in prayer question questions how his mind is in turmoil how his heart is grieved because of sin how he is desperately wanting to receive answers to his limited appreciation or understanding of what God's word is saying he is lacking discernment by his own confession he needs to understand what God's word is saying you might think that that's not fair because here we have one of the saints of God not just one of the saints of God but one of God's chosen vessels who is able to display holiness in a way that few sinful men are somebody you would expect to be familiar with the scripture to be adept at interpreting the scripture applying it to the circumstances of life present, past and future to be relaxed about what God was saying and yet by his own admission the beginning of the chapter we are told
[43:56] I Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem I set my face unto the Lord to seek by prayer and supplication and so on he applies to God for the light that he clearly needs and his prayer we looked at and considered but as he prays God visits him in this way and he grants to him what he needs and I don't think God would give him what he didn't need maybe sometimes God gives us more than we ask for but look at what God gave him he informed me obviously he gives him information that he did not profess he talked with him he gave him the confidence of knowing that this was God speaking to him through his servant the angel or archangel he gave him skill and understanding he showed him because of
[45:17] God's love for him so clearly God was addressing a need that Daniel had and only God could meet that need and then we come to this most mysterious part of the chapter and I have to confess that you know having having read a lot of what is said by many modern commentators if I were to bring some of what they said to you you would be even more confused than you are when you read this because if they're not confused they give every impression that they are verse 22 tells us what Daniel was told directly verse 23 tells us more of the same and I find it so difficult to believe that having been told by the angel what the angel told him that he would be in a state of confusion after it that he was left handling what seems to so many a mystery that is unfathomable you know the approach of many is to look at this passage in one hand and the history books in the other and they look at the history books and they say well this is where the history belongs and they plunge it on top of the scripture and they say this is how it must be this is what Daniel was told this is how it must be understood and there's no other way of understanding it you know one of the commentators just for example he presents seven different calculations based upon this promise of 70 weeks which are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression then you've got in verse 25 seven weeks and three score and two weeks and after three score and two weeks shall
[47:59] Messiah be cut out there's a whole host of of interpretations brought to bear upon these three verses the rest is meaningless the rest the fact that this is a prayer that God is answering is irrelevant the fact that the angel of God is sent to explain things to Daniel is irrelevant he's presenting a mystery on top of a mystery so how can God be able to resolve the difficulty of Daniel by giving something that's even more perplexing and difficult to understand now when you read this passage there's no doubt but that Daniel is presented with two scenarios that that often accompany prophecy you've got a prophecy that's fulfilled in part and a prophecy that is fulfilled in the future part of it has an immediate understanding and application and part of it spans the centuries and is yet to be realized part of it is present part of it is future part of it is escalade it is looking to a future that has yet to come it involves the coming of the
[49:48] Lord Jesus it involves the coming of the day of judgment it involves what Christ is to do yet when he comes some people are so obsessed with this that they think well it must be that it's got to be that it has to be you know this these years that are to be understood 70 times 7 it is a figurative understanding of a number of years that that will be understood either literally or they will be understood in a way that is entirely figurative it speaks not exactly of the literal years that will pass but some indiscriminate number of years that cannot be pinned down the future but the future in what sense well when you when you don't know which one of the commentators
[50:55] I read made a simple point he said if this prophecy that was made by Jeremiah that was interpreted by God through the angel to Daniel to help him understand it is so important and it is so deeply mysterious that you would expect it to be referred to at least more than once in the New Testament that you would expect life to come from the New Testament era that would help you understand the meaning of what Daniel was taught and yet there is no such passage there is no such interpretation given to us my own understanding such as it is is that what
[51:56] Daniel is told here has to do first and foremost definitely it has to do with this initial inquiry about the coming to the end of the bondage in Babylon of the people and the return to Jerusalem but as he goes on the angel explains to him or describes to him how a greater act on the part of God was going to take place and that was where the sin of this world was to be dealt with in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ you know these words when you try and apply them in any other context the finishing of transgression the putting an end to sin the atoning of iniquity the bringing in of everlasting righteousness the sealing of visions and prophecy the anointing of the most holy place where would you expect that to happen how would you expect it to happen who would initiate it in what way would it be carried out well it's not difficult for you to know through other prophecy that when the messiah would come these are the very actions that he was responsible for these are the very things that were entrusted to him he was to deal with the state of this world he was to deal with the sins of mankind he was to bring in everlasting righteousness the complete and unique work of the messiah the lord jesus christ the answer to prayer took daniel further than his initial prayer but that shouldn't surprise you when we do receive an answer to prayer sometimes god answers far in excess of our asking that says more about us than it says about god we have every you know we should be coming asking for great things from god and it's not that daniel wasn't asking for that but that god because of who he was i have now come forth to give his skill and understanding and to show thee for thou art greatly beloved he said therefore understand the matter and consider the vision he was presenting them with an image of the passion of the lord jesus christ and the work that he was to undertake on behalf of his people you know if you were to dissect this passage forget the numbers forget the numbers are important fair enough but the discrepancy in the way people add them up is not fair enough because they're trying to fit in the history of this world into their understanding of the measurements that god gives of his own involvement in the salvation of this world i've told you before you know how when i became a christian i assumed i always thought that the jewish people were a head start above every one of us if we were converted if a jew was converted and if i was converted my thinking was that bearing in mind the knowledge the jew
[55:56] had of the scriptures of the old testament that when faith came into their experience that they would have a flying start as it were at the life of faith but i was so wrong much of what the jew is taught and what the jew believes is so far removed from what the scripture teaches that they have no basis for building on unless god himself supplied because the scripture has been added to and other things have been done by others from the time they departed from the truth one example of that was the hasidic jews who who look at the scripture and who have this practice which is called geometria and it's all to do with figures and numbers and dates and working them together and taking them apart adding them up and subtracting one from another and ending up with who knows what and the more miraculous the additions are the subtractions are the multiplications are the more spiritual they consider to be because they find some satisfaction in doing that simply based on the scripture but so loosely that you would hardly believe that the scripture had anything to do with it now some people have that attitude with regard to god's promises and they look at these figures that we have here and there's no doubt that they may be difficult for us to understand but if we approach them with the insistence that they are meant to be literally understood then we've got a problem but if we understand what's being done there we see that the scripture supports each other in telling us what is happening look at verse 25 just for example know therefore understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build
[58:08] Jerusalem unto the Messiah the prince shall be seven weeks threescore and two weeks the street shall be built again and the wall even in troublous times after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself do these last words do they ring a bell in your head do you remember them from anywhere else is there any other part of scripture telling you that the Messiah the prince is going to be cut off well we know there are there's one passage in the old testament and I'm sure many of you are familiar with it which is Isaiah 53 and the prophet Isaiah there tells us that the Messiah Jesus of whom he is speaking prophetically he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken there was the prophet
[59:14] Isaiah looking forward to what was to be carried out by the Messiah and Daniel has here been reminded of that told that same truth the angel Gabriel has come to him with that message that he's looking for something that's going to happen here and now that his greatest desire is to see the people of God restored to their land Israel brought home to the promised land this is the great thing this is the wonderful thing this is the blessing of God but Daniel has been taught a lesson God is going to do something greater than that God is going to bring his people back to the land but he is going to bring his son into the world to deal with the sin of the world is that much more important we may press much detail unnecessarily into boxes that are not meant to contain them but we cannot ignore what seems plain on the basis of our difficulty understanding the how or the why or the when because we're not able to handle these bits of information many years ago I was told that there is a commentator with the name Matthew
[60:41] Poole and if there was a criticism of what he had to say it was that he was very brief he was notoriously brief in the answers that he gave to passages of scripture he did go into great detail but while that was true about him he never allowed brevity to to stop him getting to the crux of the matter he never sacrificed the truth for the sake of brevity in other words and in his consideration of this passage he says the following the sacrifice for sin brought all others to an end the Lord Jesus by his death and by the execution of his wrath did abrogate and put an end this laborious service and made it to cease forever and that's what Daniel is being pointed to that an outcome of the coming of the
[61:54] Lord Jesus Christ would be the cessation of sacrifice of all description once the sacrifice for sin would be fulfilled there would be no more need for it and it's at the heart of what Daniel was told not only that the fall of Jerusalem is predicted by the hand of the Romans the destruction of that city and it's so convoluted in a sense but at the same time so pointed that that is what is being prophesied here and Daniel has it explained to him and we can't get into the mind of Daniel as he receives that information you know I mentioned earlier I'm going to stop with this how you know the mention made here at the beginning of this section how Gabriel came to Daniel at that point where the time of the evening oblation it says the time of the evening oblation the ninth hour that's when it was and strangely enough perhaps it is coincidentally that is the very hour to which this passage is pointing the very hour at which Christ died on the cross the very hour at which he gave his soul to death the ninth hour where he breathed his last it could be coincidence it could be just a minor minor point but the word of
[63:50] God is never never a word that treats detail in such a way and Daniel is being prepared for a truth that is for a truth that is beyond his ability to conceive of without the help of God he shall confer in the covenant with many for one week in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate difficult words no doubt but descriptions nevertheless of what God had promised to do and what God did whatever you do with the maths I was never good at maths and when you read many of the commentators they're good at arithmetic but where it takes them is something else but I'm sure the angel was not interested in teaching teaching Daniel arithmetic but he was interested in teaching Daniel the word of
[65:10] God the prophecies of God and what they meant what they meant for the believer what they meant for the world in which the believer lived what they had every right to anticipate and expect and rejoice because of well may God enable us to read this word sit down with our commentators if you want you'll find someone to to accord with your approach perhaps but if you want to understand it in the way God means us to understand it make sure you look for Christ in what the prophet has to say that Daniel wants to find well may encourage us to do that let us pray Lord help us to understand your word there are times when we have to acknowledge that we may struggle to seek and to find the meanings that you have said before us there that is our problem not a problem of your making but we thank you and we bless you that we can follow your servant's example and come to our knees and look for light and insights into the truth and every one of them can take us a step further in finding
[66:36] Christ as the answer to all the predicaments that life may bring our way cleanse from sin pardon us in his name amen we're closing psalm 68 psalm 68 verse 15 thou hast o lord most glorious ascended up on high and in triumph victorious led captive captivity thou hast received gifts for men for such as did rebel yea even for them that god the lord in midst of them might dwell blessed be the lord who is to us of our salvation god who daily with his benefits as plenteously doth lord he of salvation is to god who is our god most strong and unto god the lord from death the issues to belong these verses thou hast o lord most glorious ascended up on high thou hast o lord most glorious ascended up on high hat and in
[68:14] And for such a sin rebel Ye, for them the God, the Lord In this song that might dwell Blessed be the Lord who is to us Of our salvation, God Who daily wishes benefits As they can lead the Lord He of salvation is the God
[69:22] Who is the God most strong And unto God the Lord From death the issues do belong May we make grace, mercy and peace From God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Rest and abide with you all, never and always Amen