This is a part of a sermon series in the book of Daniel. You can watch more here.
Bit of a transition from a comedy show, but in 2021 my mother passed away from
Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia. In 2022 my brother passed away from kidney failure. In
2024 my father-in-law passed away from a brain aneurism, so that at some point along the
way my wife and I found ourselves turning to the Lord and saying, “Lord, what are you
doing?”
Have you had moments your relationship with God? Maybe at a personal level? Maybe at a
global level? In those moments, it feels like God isn’t doing what WE expect Him to do,
which is comical (pause), and it’s in those moments that we throw our hands up so as to
say, “Lord, what are you doing?”
In the book of Daniel, we see the Lord ruling over His people, even in a foreign land
(Babylon), and the Lord rescuing His people, even if it is different than what they might
expect, and then starting in chapter 7 we start to see these supernatural visions from the
Lord.
You know those moments where you are thinking, “Lord, I need some good news.” I need
to catch a break. I need the clouds to part.
Daniel is in that place, it’s like the Lord says, “Nah, how about visions of difficulty and
hardship!” If anyone would be asking, “Lord, what are you doing, it would be Daniel.” Let’s
look at verses 1-2:
Daniel 9:1, “1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was
made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel,
observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of
the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of
Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.”
In verses 1-2 we see Daniel is recounting the promises of Jeremiah, before Israel ever ends
up in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah tells Israel, “If you don’t repent, Babylon will come and
bring judgment, but the Lord will restore Israel” and in verses 1-2 Daniel is reflecting on
the words of Jeremiah. Just take that in for a second!
God’s Word is recording Daniel reflecting on God’s Word in Jeremiah, so that sometimes
people get distracted because God’s Word is written through human authors, but it’s all
God’s Word. God’s Word speaking God’s Word through God’s Word. Isn’t that good?
In our church family we are challenging one another to read God’s Word every day, and in
verses 1-2 we see Daniel reading God’s Word in Jeremiah, so that if the guy who is used by
God to write God’s Word is reading God’s Word, maybe it would be necessary for us to read
God’s Word?
In addition, verse 2 is telling us that Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25 / 29) tells Israel Babylon would
come to bring judgment on Israel, but it would only last 70-years, and in Daniel chapter 9
Israel is getting really close to the end of those 70-years, and it is this timeline that drives
Daniel to pray. Look at verses 3-6:
Daniel 9:3-6, “3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and
confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and
lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned,
committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your
commandments and ordinances. 6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the
prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people
of the land.”
Do you see the context for the prayer? In this prayer, Daniel is functioning as the spiritual
leader for Israel as a nation. He is confessing, “We, as in Israel, have sinned, acted wickedly,
rebelled and turned aside to the Lord.”
Our culture doesn’t like to talk about words like “sin.” Our culture tells us that religions
around the world use this type of language to make people feel guilty, and so our culture
tells us through movies, songs, and education that we need to “shed off this Puritan /
Religious language, so that we are free to express ourselves.”
This is why you hear things like in our culture like, “You do you, your truth, I was born this
way” and this is all self-empowering language to help you not feel weighted down by
oppressive / religious language.
Here’s the problem. It isn’t working. People feel more anxious today than ever. People feel
more depressed today than ever. People are more divisive and argumentative than ever, so
that when you see the word “sin” in God’s Word it is God’s way of helping us have language
to identify what’s wrong with our world.
God is holy. God is perfect. God created everything to be holy and perfect, but because of
our sin, Genesis 3, we see a broken world around us today at the global level and the
personal level.
The reason we see countries in conflict is because of our sin. The reason we see human
beings at war with one another is because of our sin. The reason we see creation groaning
in pain with natural disasters is because of our sin.
Therefore, in verse 5 Daniel prays, “We have sinned.” Including himself. We have acted
wickedly. We have rebelled. And the reason Daniel can have those honest types of
confessions is because Daniel knows the character of God’s glory being gracious, merciful
and forgiving, so Daniel knows He can come to the Lord with an honest heart. Does that
make sense?
Of course, our culture thinks we need to hide our faults, embrace our flaws, because our
culture doesn’t know the glory of God! It is the character of God, being rich in mercy, that
moves Daniel to confess, to be honest, to be forthright, that moves Daniel toward honest
confession. Does that make sense?
We need to see that in our passage this morning, because if we don’t know the character of
God we’re not going to want to be honest in our relationship with God. But, if we know He
is full of mercy, then we will run to Him. (Right, Joy?) That’s why we want to be in God’s
Word every day, so that we might know the character of God. Look at verses 7-10:
Daniel 9:7-10, “7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this
day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby
and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of
their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 Open shame belongs to us,
O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To
the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set
before us through His servants the prophets.”
Again, see the contrast of honest confession layered in the Lord’s compassion and
forgiveness. In the context of our passage the leaders of Israel have turned from the Lord
over and over. They have ignored the voice of the Lord over and over, so that it is to their
shame. Do you see that in verses 7 and 8?
Our culture says, “Shame is wrong, we shouldn’t feel shame.” We don’t want to sit in our
shame. We don’t want to wallow in our shame, but all of us like sheep go astray. We all
turn from the Lord, so that is to our shame, and at the same time it is the Lord who is full of
compassion and forgiveness. We want to hold those two together!
Let us not underestimate how easy it is for us to doubt the glory and goodness of God when
we are in seasons of asking the Lord, “What are you doing?”
It is in those seasons of financial difficulty, marital challenges, physical pain, and heart ache
that we will have thoughts enter our brain like, “Oh, the Lord must not care. He must not
be good. He must not be able to do anything.” Because we can’t fathom, from our
understanding, why these layers of hardship and difficulty would be taking place in our life.
So that in Daniel 9 we see Daniel is absolutely in a place of wondering, “Lord, what are you
doing?” Why are we still in Babylon? Why are you giving me visions of difficulty and
hardship? The 70-years are almost up.
We should be entering into joy and rescue, and all you are showing me is difficulty and
hardship, so that in the midst of Daniel’s questions we see Daniel clinging to the character
and glory of God. Look at verses 11-12:
Daniel 9:11-12, “11 Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not
obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is
written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 Thus He
has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled
us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been
done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.”
In verses 11-12 Daniel is reflecting on Israel’s relationship with the Lord, but it is
important to see that the relationship the Lord has with Israel hasn’t changed. Israel as a
nation has ignored the Lord, turned from the Lord, and the Lord has brought judgment and
discipline, but the Lord hasn’t cut them off, so as to be done with Israel.
The Lord will bring judgment to soften their hearts. The Lord will allow the earthly
consequences for their decisions. The Lord might even withhold His blessing for a period
of time, but it isn’t to be mean. It is to soften their hearts and draw them back to Himself.
It is the same in our life today. There will be moments that we will want to do what think is
right in our own eyes. There will be moments when we harden our heart to the Lord.
There will be moments we are stubborn, but when we belong to Him by grace through faith
in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, then He will never cast us aside. His love will never
decrease. His interest in us is never less than because of our stubbornness. He is faithful,
and we see that in His relationship with Israel. Look at verses 13-14:
Daniel 9:13-14, “13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet
we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving
attention to Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it
on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done,
but we have not obeyed His voice.”
Do you see the stubbornness of Israel in verses 13-14? Now, it’s important to remember,
just because we are experiencing difficulty and hardship in life, it doesn’t mean we have
hardened our hearts to the Lord. Right?
It’s always a good question we should consider when we go through difficulty and
hardship. We want to have hearts and minds that are open to something in our life that is
misaligned with Him, but if nothing comes to mind, then we can trust the Lord must be
working in ways we don’t understand. Jump down to verses 17-19:
Daniel 9:17-19, “17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his
supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate
sanctuary. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations
and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications
before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great
compassion. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own
sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
In verses 17-19 we see Daniel calling on the promises of God. This isn’t about the glory of
Israel. This is about the glory of God. This is about the promises of God, so that in verse 19
Daniel is desperately calling out to the Lord, “Hear, forgive, listen and take action!”
In Daniel chapter 9 Daniel is desperate for the Lord, and in the same way, we want to live
our lives and our church family to be in a place of desperation for the glory of God to show
up.
I know our church family is going through some challenges right now, but I love that we are
in a place that is desperate for the Lord to show up. As a church family, we never want to
be in a place where we are so comfortable that we don’t need the Lord to show up. We
always want to be in a place where we are taking steps of faith to trust Him and cry out to
Him, “Hear, forgive, listen and take action!”
Not this Sunday, but next Sunday evening we are going to gather as a church family to pray,
and we want to pray these types of prayers to the Lord for our church family. Sometimes
we struggle with prayer because we think, “If the Lord already knows, then why do we
need to pray?”
Our prayers aren’t for Him, our prayers are for us! When we pray we are inviting the Lord
into our thoughts and emotions and it’s in our time in prayer that the Lord will show us
where He is already at work!
It’s in our time in prayer that we will find understanding from the from Lord, so put it on
your calendar now to come and cry out to the Lord, “Hear our prayers! Forgive our sin!
Listen and take action!” Look at verses 20-21:
Daniel 9:20-21, “20 Now 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 in behalf of
the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel,
whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the
time of the evening offering.”
Love that we see the phrase “While Daniel was praying.” The Lord responds in the midst of
Daniel’s prayer. Sometimes people will say to me, “I don’t feel like God ever speaks to me.”
I will say, “Are you putting yourself in a place to hear Him?” We’re running 100 miles in
life, music blaring and saying things like, “God never speaks to me.”
He is speaking. We have to put ourselves in a place to hear Him. When we show up to
worship on Sunday mornings we are slowing down to hear from the Lord. We’re not here
to hear from me, we are here to hear from the Lord.
He might speak to us through the music, through the teaching, through the prayers of
someone else, but it is in these moments when our thoughts might become clear, a verse
might come to mind, and in those moments, we are “hearing from the Lord.”
When we gather in groups throughout the week to study God’s Word the Lord can use that
time to speak to us. When we pause every day to read God’s Word the Lord can use that
time to speak to us, and in our passage this morning we see “while Daniel was in prayer”
the Lord speaks to Him. Look at verses 22-23:
Daniel 9:22-23, “22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have
now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your
supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly
esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”
This is the Lord reminding Daniel that difficulty and hardship are coming but the love for
Daniel and Israel hasn’t changed, so that in verses 24-27 we are about to read some of the
most difficult verses, so lean in with me. Most pastors just skip these verses, but we’re
going to tackle them together! Look at verse 24:
Daniel 9:24, “24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city,
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most
holy place.”
At base level, verse 24 is about what Jesus, and what Jesus does for us in His life, death,
resurrection and return. In the context of Daniel 9 there is Israel returning to Jerusalem,
but in verse 24 there is supernatural language of “make an end to sin, make atonement for
iniquity, and everlasting righteousness” so that there is some discussion as to when verse
24 is accomplished. Is it in the next 400 years? Is it just in the life, death and resurrection
of Jesus when the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed? Is it in New Heaven’s and New Earth?
Just like last Sunday, I think it is “both / and.” Verse 24 is talking about some relief in Israel
that is coming, but we won’t see the complete fulfillment until Jesus comes in New Heavens
and New Earth, and it’s because of the finality of the wording. Look at verses 25:
Daniel 9:25, “25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.”
Again, base level, the Lord is faithful! Daniel had just cried out in prayer, “Lord, hear,
forgive, listen and take action” and while Daniel is praying the Lord answers his prayer.
That’s awesome!
Verses 24-27 are a little complicated. You know Daniel was excited to hear from the Lord,
and we can assume Daniel was like, “Okay, this is good, but what?”
The focus of our passage is that the Lord hasn’t given up on Israel. Judgment, hardship, and
difficulty doesn’t go on forever! One day, there will be an end to shame. One day there will
be a complete removal of our sin. One day, there will be everlasting righteousness. Praise
God!
Are there some difficult questions in verse 25? Yes, what decree is in reference in verse
25? Is the “Messiah the Prince” a human figure in history or Jesus? Does the reference to
weeks mean days, weeks or years, because in the original language “weeks” means “units of
seven” so that could be “seven days, seven weeks or seven years?” So many questions!
Look at verse 26:
Daniel 9:26, “26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and
have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the
sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations
are determined.”
Is this when Jesus is cut off from the Father as Jesus is taking our sin at the cross? Is this
when Rome destroys the temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD? Is this talking about an immediate
time in history that is to come for Daniel?
In my opinion, the language in verse 26 sounds like it is something that is more than just
the next 400 years, so that again, there is a “both / and” taking place in verse 26 of partial
fulfillment and a future fulfillment that is to come.
Either way, we see the Lord is faithful to Israel, but He is faithful in ways that Daniel
probably wasn’t expecting. This isn’t a military success of Israel overpowering their
enemy. This is supernatural. This is bigger than Israel.
So that in the same way, there are going to be moments in our life where we are expecting
the Lord to move at a certain time and in a certain way, and when it doesn’t happen on our
timeline through our understanding we assume, “I guess the Lord isn’t working.” No, He is
working, He is just working in ways we didn’t expect. Look at verse 27:
Daniel 9:27, “27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the
middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing
of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one
that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Who is making a covenant with the many? Is it the same person from verse 26? Again, is
the week a day, a week, a year or a symbolic period of time in the future?
In my opinion, the context of verse 27 isn’t a positive description but a hostile description
of a future threat that is far greater than we could imagine, so that verse 27 appears to be a
description of a “man of lawlessness” or antichrist that is coming “to stop sacrifice on the
wing of abominations.”
So that Daniel 9 is not only giving Israel a call to get ready for difficulty and hardship that is
to come in the near future, but also a call for us to get ready today in 2025.
From our perspective we can look back at the unfolding of history to see the difficulty and
hardship that did come for Daniel, therefore, how much more should we not take God’s
Word seriously to put our trust in Him and get ready.
Do we know Him? Are we stirring our soul for Him? Are we taking steps to put Him first in
all areas of our life? He isn’t coming with just a band-fix to get us through the day, but He is
coming with a glorious fix for our sin and shame that is more glorious than Daniel could
ever imagine.
Daniel was asking for the Lord to turn down the difficulty and hardship in the life of Israel
and the Lord’s response is lifting Daniel’s eyes to see something far greater and more
glorious. His name is Jesus!
There is a day when sin and shame is removed. There is a day when the “lawless man” who
seeks to steal, kill and destroy will not only be disarmed and defeated, but completely
destroyed. Amen?
That’s why we bow our head in prayer to the Lord. It isn’t some religious habit, so that we
feel close to God. It is because He is the creator of all things, so that all things are by Him,
through Him and for Him.
He is the One who knows all the details of eternity. He is the One who takes the greatest
hardship and difficulty upon Himself, not because of His sin, because He was found to be
perfect in every way, but because of our sin. Let’s lock our eyes on Him!
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in Austin. established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
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