Daniel Lesson 18

Daniel Lesson 18

Daniel lesson 18

Text: Daniel 9:1-20

Intro: tonight we will look at Daniels cry for the nation.

  1. Daniel’s Prayer,

    1. Daniel’s Burden,

      1. Daniels Study,

        1. the life of Jeremiah and Daniel overlap a little, although Jeremiah began his ministry a little earlier.

        2. It is in the first year of Darius, 538 B.C. or there about.

        3. Jeremiah 25:8-11Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

          • so this was before Nebuchadnezzar, made his first entry into Jerusalem.

          • So we can conservitaly say this was written at least 60 years before Daniel studied his writing.

        4. Jeremiahs letter to the Exiles….

          • Jeremiah 29:10-14For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

            • so this was a letter that Daniel may have personally held.

      2. Daniel’s Confession, vs.3-6

        1. This is a pretty good primer of prayer:

          • I Went to the Lord (set my face, looked to God)

            • sackcloth and ashes is a symbol of humility, and fasting is about denying our self.

            • Made my confessions, this was not to complain about what others have done, but what he had done.

            • Vs.5, we have sinned, (Genesis 3, Adam and Eve, ….but I did eat…) committing:

              • Iniquity- perversions, crooked ways.

              • Wickedly- violated, to make trouble, do wrong

              • Rebelled- to refuse to submit to God’s authority

              • Departing form Thy Precepts- the commands of God (literal the law)

              • Departing from Thy Judgments- verdict, God’s determinations,

              • Hearkened not to the prophets-

              • Then He list who have not heard: Kings, Princes, Fathers, and All People

                • Yes, the word came first to the king, then lower, then lower, then to the individual

                • this should be a warning, that yes, our leaders will be held accountable for their actions, but, we are not released because they refuse, we still make our own choice.

            • II Chronicles 7:14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

    2. God’s Judgment,

      1. What is God’s, What is Man’s

        1. God’s Belongings:

          • Righteousness, vs.7

          • Mercies, vs.9

          • Forgiveness, vs.9, these are God’s to give.

            • It is not earned by us, or Israel, it is God’s gift to give.

        2. Israel’s Belongings:

          • Confusion of faces- because of their trespasses,

          • Vs.8 once again names the linage all the way down the line.

      2. God is The One In Control,

        1. once again, does the owner have the right to do as He pleases with what is His?

        2. Leviticus 26:13-17 “I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. 14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: 16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.”

          • if you want to read a very worrisome verse, read the next one there: Lev.26:18

        3. Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee

          • So God warned the Nation.

    3. Israel’s Punishment,

      1. Therefore, vs.14,

        1. the expression, when we see the word therefore, we should look and see what it is there for.

        2. He followed what He said He would do, He watched the evil, then he brought it on them.

          • vs.14 once again, Daniel observes, the Lord is righteous, and all His works are.

            • Yet they obeyed it not.

        3. But, look at vs.13,

          • even when the trouble started to fall on them, they still didn’t repent and turn to God.

            • I see this in the world today, people who know, or should know the truth, watch their world come tumbling down, yet they still don’t turn to God.

              • We can fix it some other way.

              • II Thessalonians 2:9-12Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

                • this is speaking of the Anti-Christ, but can we see it today?

          • Why?

            • John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

      2. A Plea for Mercy,

        1. what is mercy? Withholding what is deserved. Judgment, and punishment.

          • Notice that Daniel doesn’t rely on his good works, or life, neither does he rely on the people of Israel, but

          • vs.16 “…. According to all Thy Righteousness…”

        2. Also note, Daniel is not praying to turn away the evil here, rather “…Cause Thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary….”

          • Light and Darkness, we do not have to capture and box up darkness to get it out of a room, all we have to do is turn on the light. The darkness will cease.

          • The same is true for evil,

            • Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

              • the Babylonians? The Mead’s, Persians, Greek? Romans?

        3. What a plea for mercy, found in vs.19,

          • if only today more people had a repetitive and passionate heart as Daniel, what could we see?