There are themes are throughout the book of Daniel, the biggest being that the Kingdom of God is greater than all of the kingdom's of man. The kingdom's of man will turn to ruin...to dust, but God's kingdom will grow and grow and last forever. God showed himself to be greater than the god's of the Babylonian's and he will show himself to be greater than the god's of the Medes and Persians and all the nations that rule after. God is willing to deliver his people. He remembers his people. Judah was attacked, conquered and many were taken into captivity. Why the captivity? One reason is the people were to restore the Sabbath rests. Leviticus 26: 344-43 (ESV). Another reason was to purge them from idolatry. The people were serving other god's and mixing it into their worship of God. They were tolerating practices that they should not have been tolerating. (See Jeremiah 7) Ultimately God purged them from their idolatry for their good. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
To set the scene... Daniel had a scroll from Jeremiah. Jeremiah would have prophesied during Daniel's childhood and then continued to prophesy in Judah when the people were in exile. Jeremiah was then taken by force to Egypt where he continued to prophesy. A Christian historian Tertullian (he died in 220 AD), said that Jeremiah was stoned in Egypt by Jews because he prophesied things they didn't want to hear.
Daniel had access to the scroll, he knew that it was the word of God and he knew it was true.
Daniel 9:1-19 (ESV)
Jeremiah had prophesied that the people would be in exile for 70 years. If you count the years from when the first exiles were taken until when they began to return it was about 70 years. If you look at the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the time it was rebuilt...it was about 70 years. As Daniel is reading this scroll he realized that the time was close for them to return to Jerusalem.
I. Approach God with fear and humility
We can get into the trap of familiarity. We can forget who we are and who God is and how mighty he is and how small we are. In vs. 3 Daniel is in mourning for his people and he was fasting. It is important to see how Daniel approaches God. He has the right "posture". How we pray (physically and spiritually) is important. Is our heart rebelling against God or are we surrendering humbly before God. Should we "demand" things from God? We should approach God with confidence, but also with reverence and fear.
Hebrews 12:28 (ESV) "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,"
Daniel was in the habit of praying. He would pray 3 times a day. It was a regular practice.
II. Approach God with adoration
Taught to pray using ACTS
A. Adoration
C. Confession
T. Thanksgiving
S. Supplication
In Daniel's prayer we get adoration, confession and supplication. In vs 4 we see adoration. In Babylon and Persia when the people, including Daniel, would approach the king they would say "O king live forever". When we approach God it is good for us to thank God for who he is, for mercy, for his faithfulness, his trustworthiness, his unchanging love.
Mary's song in Luke 1: 46-55 is a great example of this, Mary thanks God for being a savior, for her humble estate, for being merciful, for being strong, that he humbles the mighty, fills the hungry, and he helps his servant. We serve a good and gracious and powerful king, let's say it and set our minds on those things.
III. Confess YOUR sins
Daniel did a lot of confessing. He was the one who would not eat from the king's table, he would not worship the king. This is the same Daniel whom God had blessed with wisdom and knowledge. As Daniel was confessing he kept saying WE. He aligned himself with his people saying he was involved with the rebellion too. In vs 14-15...after all you've done for us we have done wickedly. The biggest chunk of Daniel's prayer is confession. It is real easy for us to look around the world (room) and say they are wrong...they are wrong...they need to hear this message. We are never in need of changing our own hearts.... we need to look in the mirror as Christian's and see our own failure.
IV. Confess to God daily
Psalm 32:5 (ESV) "I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin."
God is a good, gracious and forgiving god.
1 John 1:9 (ESV) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Hopefully we are all doing that. We can confess our sins directly to God, we do not need to sit in a box and confess to a priest. However it is also good for us to confess our sins to one another.
James 5:16 (ESV) "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
When should you confess to other people?
1. If you have done someone wrong.
Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV) "So if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the alter and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."
The confession should be handled how the sin was committed. If you have hurt someone privately then you should handle your confession/apology privately, but if it has affected everybody then you should have a public confession/apology. It is also good to confess your sin when you need accountability. A great person to start with is your spouse. When you confess you take the power away from the accuser. Confession also has a way of disarming the sin, taking the power that the sin has over you. You don't have to confess your sins to everyone, but it is good to have someone to keep us accountable. Confession is a powerful weapon.
V. Be an intercessor
Daniel was a great intercessor. We should be intercessors too. Daniel was praying on behalf of his people. He was not just concerned with his own well being, but also the well being of his people. We see all through scripture good and godly people who would intercede for the people. They didn't want them to be punished, they threw themselves in with their people interceding for them to God. Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses interceded for the people of Israel after the golden calf. Samuel called for a time of repentance and sacrifice and turning to the Lord before going into battle against the Philistines. Esther called for a time of fasting and prayer before going before the king on behalf of her people.
In his confession Daniel mentioned 3 things that the people failed to do.
1. We failed to listen to the truth. Your prophets...we didn't listen to them.
2. We failed to obey. God gave them clear commandments. We did what we wanted to do.
3. We failed to repent. When confronted with our sins we just kept on going. In truth we are not much different. Daniel knows that God is about to physically restoring the people to their homeland, but he is also concerned with their heart, about their spiritual wellbeing. Are we concerned about that? We should be concerned with getting back to God, where the church stands out and stands up. We need to repent, we need to change. We need for people's hearts turn back to God.
We ought to pray to God to grant repentance and lead our hearts back to him.
Closing Prayer
Psalm 85:1-7 (ESV) "LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation."
No comments:
Post a Comment