But please do have a seat and let's pray together.
Father God, we thank you so much for the God that you are,
for the grace that you've shown,
for the mercy you've poured out,
for the price that it cost you in your Son, the Lord Jesus.
So Lord, I pray this time together gathering in your word would be useful to us,
that we would hear you speak through your word,
that we would leave clinging to your Son, the Lord Jesus,
and we would do it all in the power of your wonderful Holy Spirit,
who lives in us to conform us to his glorious image.
So bless us and help us, be with us, give us attentive minds, open hearts,
malleable wills, and eyes ready to be fixed on Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
So we're in Daniel's world.
We're in the really tricky second half.
Today we're going to focus predominantly in chapter 9.
And the question I think that lies behind this chapter is,
will the exile work?
I wonder, have you ever been to prison?
Have you ever been to prison?
I've been to prison over 40 times.
But not as an offender, not in handcuffs or a jumpsuit.
I've been to prison about 40 times,
because when I was at university, I did some work in this place,
Crag Inches Prison, to the south of Aberdeen in the district of Torrey.
What we did in prison is, me and a load of mates from university,
we went in to play football with the inmates.
It was prison rules.
It was pretty brutal.
I wish I had more than one pair of shin pads on at the time.
But we would play football.
We would get to know the guys.
We would then sit around afterwards.
We would share some testimonies, short talks from the Bible.
We would drink Coke and eat Mars bars.
And we all had a great time.
And I remember one guy in particular called Harry.
Harry became a good friend.
I think he was also a good friend to a lot of the prison staff.
They saw him quite a lot.
And I remember we were talking about the next week and who was free to play.
And Harry said this to us,
I won't be able to play next week.
I'm getting released.
But I'll probably be able to play the week after.
And sure enough, we missed him for a week.
And then the next week, there he was in his Celtic top,
beaming from ear to ear,
ready to kick us up and down the park all over again.
It's a major issue, isn't it, in the criminal justice system.
Do we send people to prison for correction,
or do we just send them there for punishment?
Is it rehabilitation, or is it merely incarceration?
Does prison work?
Is it a suitable deterrent?
Do people come out with changed lives and changed attitudes?
It's a big question that's going around in our political system at the moment.
What is the purpose of prison?
And I think a very similar question lies behind Daniel chapter 9.
Daniel chapter 9.
Is it a real key period for Daniel and the people of Israel in Babylon?
They've been in exile.
It's not been a prison like crag inches, but it's kind of the same idea.
On account of their sin,
their repeated disobedience,
their failure to honor God and worship Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength,
God allowed them to be deported,
to be exiled in the grip of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire.
And I don't think we truly appreciate the horror of this.
That in God allowing His people to go into exile,
God was kind of undoing what He had been doing for His people for the last thousand years.
That He promised Abraham that you would have a land,
that you would be my people and I would be your God,
that you would be a blessing.
And with the exile, it seems that everyone packs up,
and that plan that God had been working out amongst His rebellious people
goes back to the bottom of the pile.
So what we read in Daniel chapter 1 verses 1 and 2
about Jehoiachin being taken captive
and people being exiled to Babylon is a national disgrace.
And people would wonder, why is this happening?
So I think if we get that in our minds,
that God's people have gone into exile as punishment,
then I think we start to get a bit more of a handle
and a bit more behind what's going on in chapter 9.
So let's have a look at Daniel chapter 9,
and just the first three verses as we see Daniel's preparation.
In the first year of Darius, son of Xerxes,
a Mede by descent who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom
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 70 years.
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition,
in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes.
It's the first year of King Darius.
This happens in the same year that Daniel goes into the lion's den.
We don't know whether this is before or after.
And Daniel is reading his Bible.
He's reading his Bible and he's most probably reading something from Jeremiah,
probably chapter 25 or chapter 29.
And as he reads, he discovers what the plan is.
Jeremiah 29 puts it like this.
This is what the Lord says.
When 70 years are completed for Babylon,
I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, declares the Lord,
and will bring you back from captivity.
I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,
declares the Lord,
and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.
So Daniel's reading his Bible.
As he reads his Bible, he learns of God's plans.
As he learns of God's plans, it drives him to prayer.
I wonder, does that happen in our lives?
That as we read of who God is, what he's done for us,
does that drive us to prayer?
Does our Bible reading fuel our prayer?
Because it certainly seems to work in Daniel's life and he's all the better and stronger for it.
So when Daniel's reading Jeremiah, he hears of this 70 years.
And the thing for Daniel is these 70 years are nearly running out.
Daniel is exiled in about 605 BC.
The first year of King Darius is about 539 BC.
Using my calculator this week, I realized that this is the 66th year of a 70-year exile.
They're nearly finished.
And when Daniel realizes that, he prays.
Daniel's been a remarkable man of prayer.
He prays in chapter 2 earnestly because his very life depends on him being able to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
He prayed after he got the interpretation of the dream,
giving thanks to God that he was the God who reveals mysteries.
In chapter 6, we learn that he repeatedly, habitually, perpetually set aside three times a day for prescribed prayers to seek his God.
Day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade for 66 years during his exile in Babylon.
And look at him, he's earnest.
This isn't sitting down for a quiet time with a cup of tea and your slippers on.
He does it with prayer and petition in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes.
It is an appropriate physical expression of the attitude he comes to God with.
He has come to do real business with the Lord.
This isn't ticking off the checklist of the day.
Oh, I should pray today. Check.
This is an emergency prayer offered in the heat of the moment.
This is a deliberate act to come before God for prayers and petitions with a penitent heart.
We see sackcloth and ashes in Nineveh.
At the preaching of Jonah when all the people of Nineveh repent.
We see it in Esther's time before Esther goes before the king.
They all put on sackcloth and ashes.
So their physical expression is a mark of their earnestness.
And I guess the question is, why then, if they're nearly home,
does Daniel spend so much of the chapter praying a prayer of confession?
Surely he would be singing, Daniel's coming home.
He's coming home.
Daniel's coming home.
That's what we would do.
It's nearly over.
The time is nearly through.
But why does he spend so much time in confession?
Well, Leviticus 26, I think.
Moses foreshadowing the exile.
This is what it says.
If you still do not listen to me, says God,
I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries.
And I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.
I myself will lay waste the land so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.
I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you.
Your land will be laid waste and your cities will lie in ruins.
Then a little bit further down.
But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors,
their unfaithfulness and their hostility towards me,
which made me hostile towards them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies.
I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac
and my covenant with Abraham.
And I will remember the land.
But Moses says, exile is coming all that time before.
And he says, if they confess their sins, seek me with all their heart.
I'll remember them and bring them back.
So in chapter 9, there is real excitement about the return.
Exile has been really tough.
And yet Psalm 137,
And by the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and wept when we remember Zion.
This has been a difficult stint.
There's real excitement about getting home.
But there's real apprehension.
Will God's people have learnt their lesson from exile?
If sin caused their exile in the first place,
then are they going back as different people?
Or will the cycle just start all over again like Harry?
Goes to prison, comes out, goes to prison, comes out.
Will it be exile, sin, and then exile again?
That's what Daniel is worried about.
And so we see him in chapter 4, praying.
And so let us read this together.
I've written it out for you.
What I want you to do is all read the green bits.
The green bold bits.
The bits about sin, as it so happens.
Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him and keep his commandments.
We have sinned and done wrong.
We have been wicked and have rebelled.
We have turned away from your commands and laws.
We have not listened to your servants, the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors,
and to all the people of the land.
Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame.
The people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel,
both near and far,
in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you.
We and our kings, our princes, and our ancestors are covered with shame.
Lord, because we have sinned against you.
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,
even though we have rebelled against him.
We have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws.
He gave us through his servants and prophets.
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.
You have fulfilled the word spoken against us and against our rulers
by bringing on us great disaster.
Under the whole heaven, nothing has ever been done
like what has been done to Jerusalem.
Just as it is written in the law of Moses,
all this disaster has come on us,
yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God
by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.
The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us,
for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does,
yet we have not obeyed him.
Now, 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.
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 ancestors
have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn.
to all those around us.
It's pretty powerful stuff, isn't it?
He's not playing at that.
He's not whizzing through the adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication
that we so regularly structure our prayers around.
And notice that it's confession in two directions.
It is confession about God's goodness,
his rightness, his character,
and it is confession about their wrongness,
how far they've fallen,
how they have not only sinned,
but they have willfully refused to obey.
They've not done this in ignorance,
they've done it in arrogance.
And so they say things like verse 7,
Lord, you are righteous,
but this day we are covered with shame.
You are righteous,
we are covered with shame.
And that's the truth that lies at the very centre of the Bible.
That God is good and righteous.
And that we, on account of our sin,
willfully rebelling against him,
are covered with shame.
And until we get that,
until we get the depth of our sin,
we will never turn to God as a saviour.
Until we get that before a holy God,
we have fallen so short,
and are covered in so much shame.
Until we pray prayers like Daniel,
God can do nothing to help us.
You are righteous,
and we are covered with shame.
The very essence of Christianity
is that it is a rescue religion.
It is a religion where God rescues us.
Yet again, the kids talk falls so perfectly in line.
Why does God send Moses
to rescue his people from Egypt?
Daniel knows that the exile was thoroughly deserved,
but he is worried that the 70 years won't have worked.
They may get home,
but they are still just as sinful,
so they won't be home for good.
And Daniel takes time to contemplate his sin.
It's quite a long time in the chapter to pray.
It's a significant proportion
where he declares his sin
and the sin of his people.
He is not dodging it.
He is owning it.
This is Daniel,
who seemingly is the holiest guy
on the planet at the time.
He has been this model,
this example of what holiness looks like.
And he is here on his knees
in sackcloth and ashes and fasting,
saying,
I failed and we failed.
Face down,
broken on the floor on account of his sin,
pleading to God.
Not brushing over it,
not making excuses,
saying,
we have sinned.
And it's got to be something
that we cultivate in our hearts,
that we own our sin.
That as we own our sin
in relation to God's holiness,
it will cultivate a humility,
a dependence,
and a thankfulness
for the Lord Jesus.
Until we realize that our sin
is our biggest problem,
we will never cling to Jesus,
our final answer.
Jesus says,
Mark chapter 2,
it is not the healthy
who need a doctor.
There's no one queuing up
at the Brunsfield doctor surgery
who is in fighting fit health.
It's not the healthy
who need a doctor,
but the sick.
I've not come to call
the righteous,
but sinners.
Until we own the fact
that we are sinners
covered in shame,
we will always be slow
to come to Jesus
and ask for help.
Until we realize
we're very lost,
we won't ever come
to the one who finds us.
Until we realize
we're eternally exiled
from God's presence,
we'll never come to Jesus
in order that we'll come home.
It's not just a first time thing.
Daniel is not an unbeliever.
He is a true Christian
who is serious about his sin,
who comes to God
pleading for help.
If we turn to Jesus,
then everything we have done
is given to Jesus
and everything he has done
is given to us.
That one of the beautiful things
about the gospel
is that I come as a sinner
and Jesus comes as a savior.
And as I come to Jesus,
he takes my sin
and gives me his salvation.
This is all over the New Testament.
There's some wonderful verses.
2 Corinthians 5, 21.
God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us
so that in him
we might become
the righteousness of God.
He himself, Jesus,
bore our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we might die to sins
and live for righteousness.
By his wounds
you have been healed.
If we confess our sins
he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins
and purify us
from all unrighteousness.
My fear for myself
and my fear for our church
is we're all too comfortable
with our sin.
We're all too ready
to keep on making
the same mistakes
day in, day out
and never take it seriously.
And yet the Bible says
we are to war
against our sin.
We are to hate our sin.
We are to put off
the old man
and put on the new self.
That we are to be
growing in holiness.
And I think for myself
and maybe some here
we're all too readily
defeated by sin
and just keep on going
in the same rut
doing the same thing.
And surely the first way
to wage war against sin
is to own it.
And to confess it to God.
And if we have trouble
then that's time
to bring in some accountability
and invite others.
Because until we get
serious about sin
we will never be
defeating it in our lives.
And that is one thing
that we see
loud and clear
from Daniel
that he is serious
about his sin
and is determined
to defeat it.
Because he knows
his very life
depends on it.
And whether he'll be
safely home
or not.
Second thing
is Daniel's confession.
Third
Daniel's petition.
This comes in the end
of the
chapter.
The end of the prayer.
Now 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.
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 ancestors
have made Jerusalem
and your people
an object of scorn
to all those around you.
Now our God
hear the prayers
and petitions
of your servant
for your sake
Lord.
Look with favour
on your desolate sanctuary.
Give ear our 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.
Lord listen
Lord forgive
Lord hear and act.
For your sake
my God
do not delay
because your city
and your people
bear your name.
See how God
focused the petitioners.
Daniel is not there
saying
God we have done
our time
it is time
to let us out.
God I have been
so good for you
in Babylon
surely you could
just let me go home.
His concern
is for God's glory
and God's reputation.
It is your city
your holy hill
it is your people
the people
that bear
your name
it is your reputation
God that we want
to be seen
by the whole world
so would you
bring us home
to show that
you're not only
a right and good
God who punishes
his people
but you are a saving
God who is merciful
and forgiving
and who will bring
them home
and rescue.
It is a
God's glory
focused prayer.
This isn't Daniel
coming with a shopping list
would you do that
would you give me that
would you sort that out
he's saying
God would you glorify
your name
and that's massive
that is massive
for me when I look
at my own prayer life
and how me centered
it so readily
becomes.
Daniel's pleading
because God
has attached
his name
graciously to his
people
to Jerusalem
and to the temple
and he says
God
restore your glory
and let everyone
see it.
and see how he
comes
verse 18
this is an
incredible verse
one that I think
we could keep
right in the
forefront of our
minds as we pray
we do not make
requests of you
because we are
righteous
we're not coming
to cash in
our good things
we have no right
to request
anything
but we come
humbly
before you
because you
God are great
in mercy
that would
revolutionize
our prayer lives
if we don't
come as
dependent
children
who have
kind of
earned our
way
God I did
five quiet
times this
week
it's now
time for
the blessing
it's not
a slot
machine
we don't
make these
requests
because we
are righteous
but because
of your
great
mercy
and these
short
statements
Lord
listen
Lord
forgive
Lord
hear and
act
God
you're in
charge
you're the
Lord
you're the
creator
I am the
creature
you're the
boss
all the
stuff that
I've learnt
through so
far being
in Babylon
is that
you're the
boss
and so I'm
coming to
say listen
forgive
hear
and act
will it
work though
have God's
people been
reformed
will they be
home for
good when
they get
back
from Babylon
well let's
see God's
reaction
verse 20
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
while I was
still in
prayer
Gabriel
the man I
had seen in
the earlier
vision of
chapter 8
came to me
in swift
flight about
the time of
the evening
sacrifice
he instructed
me and said
to me
Daniel I
have now
come to
give you
insight and
understanding
as soon as
you began
to pray a
word went
out which
I have
come to
tell you
for you
are highly
esteemed
therefore
consider the
word and
understand the
vision
this is such
an encouragement
to pray I
think before we
get into all
the weeks and
what it means
I think there's
some real gold
to encourage us
in these three
verses
I remember
I had coffee
with Fraser
last Friday
and his watch
was still on
Boston time
which was
slightly unhelpful
as I did need
to know what
the time was
and had no
idea what
the time
difference was
that was
because Fraser
had been in
Boston recently
Daniel has
been in
Babylon for
66 years
and yet he's
still on
Jerusalem time
do you see
that
about the
time of the
evening sacrifice
he is in
Babylon but
he's definitely
not of Babylon
he is still
holy God
it's great
isn't it
God is so
infected his
vision and
his life
that he runs
his whole life
depending on
God
verse 23
as soon as
you began
to pray
God wasn't
even waiting
for Daniel
to finish
his prayer
before he
sent the
answer
I just get
the sense
from this
that God
is so eager
to hear
and answer
our prayers
he's like
in the starting
blocks
eager to hear
desperate to
hear from his
people
longing
that we would
turn to him
and pray
there seems to
be a more
eagerness in
God to hear
our prayers
than there are
in his people
to be eager
to pray
I think that
is wonderful
if we could
grasp that
that God
is eager
to hear
our prayers
he's not
just tolerating
us
he's not
just like
oh there
goes John
again
he needs
some help
but he
is eager
as soon
as you
started
to pray
a word
went out
if that
doesn't put
a bit of
fuel
and energy
into our
prayer lives
I don't know
what will
and then look
what he says
end of verse
23
as soon as
you began
to pray
a word
went out
which I
have come
to tell
you
for you
are highly
esteemed
that God
highly
esteems
Daniel
that Daniel
has been
in Babylon
for 66
years
loads of
what he's
done has
been behind
the scenes
as far as
we know
we've only
got details
of a few
days
of his
life
and yet
throughout
it all
he has
been consistent
he has
been loving
God
he has
been
pursuing
holiness
he has
been
prayerfully
inclined
and God
says you
are highly
esteemed
because I've
seen it
all
it's an
encouragement
isn't it
to do
stuff
behind
the scenes
and then
we get
this vision
that seems
that more
people have
written about
than you
could ever
imagine
no one's
very clear
I'm not
very clear
this is the
blind leading
the blind
I feel like
I'm leading
you all across
a frozen
lake where
the ice is
very thin
and some of
us stand
every chance
of falling
in but
this is
what I've
gleaned
so far
God's
solution
let's
read it
let's
read verse
24
first
seventy
sevens
are decreed
for your
people in
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
place
I think
that is
the summary
of what
is to
come
that God
says
this is
what will
happen
Daniel is
worried
that the
exile won't
be what he
wants it to
be and they'll
be back in
exile and God
says
actually I'm
working on a
far longer
time period
it is not
now we're
home after
seventy years
but he says
seventy seven
sometimes translated
seventy weeks
I am working on a
far longer
time scale
than
than you
and I know
you haven't
changed
so it is
going to be
me
who's going
to do these
things I'm
going to
finish
transgression
I am going
to put an
end to sin
I'm going to
atone for
wickedness I'm
going to bring
in everlasting
righteousness I'm
going to seal up
vision and
prophecy which
it takes to
mean fulfill
it all so
there's no
more mystery
and I'm going
to anoint the
most holy
place
this is what
God will
ultimately do
all the
things that
caused God's
people to go
into exile he
will bring an
end to
he will do it
himself it'll be a
gracious act
some of it has
been done in the
Lord Jesus that
we'll see
that the
penalty for sin
was conquered
by the Lord
Jesus but
transgression and
sin and wickedness
still is prevalent
he will bring in
everlasting
righteousness
that'll be a
perfect kingdom
where God rules
and reigns
forever he will
seal up vision
and prophecy that
everything will be
clear it will no
longer be looking in
a mirror dimly it
will be seeing face
to face and to
anoint the most
holy place which I
take is the
ultimate end of
what the temple was
meant to be God
dwelling in the
middle of his
people not
symbolically but
forever
it's a wonderful
vision
and then we get
the weeks which
you know I think
that's the main
thing and the
plain thing this is
what I've got we
can disagree at the
door and fight
afterwards if
necessary
not to seven weeks
hope returns
seven to 62 weeks
the city is rebuilt
but in distressing
times
after 62 weeks
Messiah is killed
the anointed one
will be put to
death and we'll
have nothing
the city will
then be destroyed
the final week
there'll be
opposition distress
difficulty this
ruler will rise
he will make a
covenant pulling
people away from
God and then in
the end there'll be
an end of sin
an end of God's
enemies and he
will rule and reign
all the things that
he promises to do
in verse 24
so Daniel is
worried he says
God will it work
will the exile
mean that we're
finally home
and God says no
I am working on a
far longer time
scale
you thought 70
years was enough
I'm talking about
70 sets of seven
however long they
are
and then you'll
finally be home
and safe
forever and I
will ultimately be
your God face to
face and you will
be my people in
perfect obedience
and you will be in
the place that I'm
establishing forever
not because you were
righteous but because
God is great in
mercy and now a
little bit further
along than Daniel
was we see the
true depth of that
mercy as God would
enact his plan to
send his only son
to live a perfect
life we failed to
live the only man
who didn't need to
pray Daniel's prayer
who never turned
away who always
obeyed God even
to the point of
giving up his life
on a cross so
that we who have
disobeyed can be
treated as those
who always obeyed
and those who
deserve to be
exiled forever can
be welcomed in
God's presence
I think this
passage encourages
us to be more
honest about our
sin to own it
and to confess it
it encourages us
to admit all the
things that are
true about God
that he is
righteous and good
and merciful and
forgiving that we
might turn to God
for forgiveness
we might cling to
the Lord Jesus
with all we've got
so that we might
be home forever
with God because
of the Lord Jesus
let me pray
Father God we
come to confess
to you that we
have not been the
people we should
have been
we have arrogantly
disobeyed you
Father we know
what is right
what is good
what is holy
what is pleasing
to you
and we have
turned away
we've refused
to listen
we've stubbornly
disobeyed
Lord we are
covered in shame
and yet Lord
we come
pleading
asking that you
would be gracious
to us not because
we are righteous
but because of the
great mercy you've
shown us in your
son the Lord Jesus
that our sin was
indeed deeper than
the sea and your
grace went deeper
still
and so Lord
cleanse us
give us a pure
heart
Father give us a
real desire to
wage war against
our sin let us do
it dependently
on your Holy
Spirit working in
us
that Jesus might be
an example to
us
and that we might
live all of life
that you might be
pleased
and we might be
those of whom you
say you are highly
esteemed
because of your
love and devotion
to the Lord Jesus
Father bless us
and help us
discomfort us
where necessary
and comfort us
where we need it
and we ask this
all for Jesus
sake
and in his name
Amen