A Prayer of Restoration
Daniel 9:1-19
Message #12
We've got a ton of scripture to read today, and I'm glad I'm using the New Living Translation (NLT).
We are in the heart of the prophecy section of Daniel, and we're all interested in what God has to say about things to come. And Daniel was interested in that too. But at this point in Daniel - a great need for God's people hits Daniel like a truck. It seems out of the blue. God just rocks him. And Daniel deals with why God's people, Israel, are in the situation they're in. WHY? And he gets really clear on Israel's only hope to get out of their current, dire situation. And it's critical we do the same thing.
We've got to be able to say, "Lord, why are we in the place we are in today, and what is our only hope to get out of the situation I am in?" God reveals this critically important truth to Daniel today. And we must look for God to reveal the same critical truth - in our own lives, and then we must have the faith, have the courage, to be willing to respond accordingly and do something about it. Which is just what we'll see Daniel do.
Listen, this is critical. This section of Daniel applies to each of our lives, and the subject today will transform us far more than understanding every prophecy in this book.
Back in Daniel Chapter 5, we read about the Medo-Persian Empire actually conquering the Babylonian Empire. That was the famous "Hand-Writing on the Wall" message. And that night, Darius the Mede took over Babylon, which gives us our time frame for this prayer of Daniel.
Daniel 9:1 (NLT)
1 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.
The year was 538 B.C. approximately sixty-eight years after the Israelites had been exiled (taken captive) to Babylon. Sixty-eight years - this is important. Daniel would've been about 80 years old at this time, having been taken as a young teenager, and this prayer would have been written in the same year as the "Lion's Den" event of Daniel Chapter 6.
And it kind of seems this transfer of power from Babylon to the Medo-Persia (or maybe it was the Lion's Den) started Daniel thinking about how long the Israelites had been in captivity in Babylon.
Daniel 9:2 (NLT)
2 During the first year of his reign (Darius the Mede), I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.
Jeremiah prophesied this in the same year Jerusalem fell to Babylon, and Daniel and the Israelites were taken as captives. So, we don't know for sure if Daniel had read Jeremiah's prophecy before this time or not. Most scholars think he had and that the transfer of power from Babylon to Medo-Persia triggered a memory for Daniel. There was something Jeremiah had prophesied about this, and so Daniel began searching the Scroll of Jeremiah.
Let's turn over to Jeremiah, Chapter 25, to see what Daniel eventually came upon.
Listen, God's Word was a revelation to Daniel, and it rocked him on his heels, and it brought a very intense and determined response from him.
Jeremiah 25:4–11 (NLT) (Jeremiah is speaking to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem,
in the SAME year Babylon conquered Jerusalem)
4 "Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention.
5 Each time the message was this: 'Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever.
6 Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.'
7 "But you would not listen to me," says the Lord. "You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.
8 And now the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: Because you have not listened to me,
9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.
10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.
11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
Daniel saw the reality of the truths here - Daniel was living in the reality of the truths here.
Israel had REJECTED God
They had become CONSUMED with Worshipping Idols
They had become CONSUMED with Serving THEMSELVES
and Serving the things that brought them PLEASURE
And so, God did exactly what He promised He would do!
Listen, guys, the consequences of our unrepentant sin - listen, please note - the consequences of our unrepentant sin are just as guaranteed by God - as his forgiveness is when we do repent and turn from our sin and begin to follow him.
God promises to forgive us if we turn from our sin and put our trust in Him.
God also promises consequences of our sin - If we refuse to turn from it - and continue to reject Him.
Either way, God's promises are guaranteed. And Daniel was living exactly what God said through Jeremiah, as he had been living the past sixty-eight years (in captivity in Babylon) because of the sin of the nation of Israel.
The good news is - Daniel kept reading. (Always keep reading) and he kept reading until he got to Jeremiah, Chapter 29. Now, listen very closely, because I am going to blow some of your minds. I am going to read you a Scripture that is one of the most famous Scriptures in the Old Testament. But, unfortunately, like most famous scriptures, it's sometimes used a bit out of context. But I am going to put it in context for you today.
So Daniel keeps reading until he gets to:
Jeremiah 29:10–14 (NLT)
10 This is what the Lord says: "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.
(Here's the famous scripture)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
12 In those days WHEN you pray, I will listen.
13 IF you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
14 I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."
This is a wonderful, incredible promise from God, and absolutely one hundred percent true. But- it was originally written as a prophecy to a people who had turned from God - and rejected him and now were going to be turning back to him.
It's a prophecy to a people who have been under the consequences of sin for almost 70 years, and it's a promise from God that when they turn back to him, he will hear them, and he will embrace them, and he will restore to them all of his promises.
That is what Jeremiah 29:11 is about - IN CONTEXT. It's God's promise that when we turn from our sin and return to him wholeheartedly, he will RESTORE US completely to himself!
So, Daniel is reading (or re-reading) this Prophecy of Jeremiah just two years before the 70 years of captivity in Babylon comes to an end, and Daniel realizes two things:
#1) God has PROMISED that the Consequences of Israel's sin would End in the Next TWO YEARS
#2) There are Still CONDITIONS to that promise Coming to PASS even though God had promised it as prophecy...
The restoration of Israel was still only going to happen with the people of Israel would do what God says is required, which is repent of the sin that earned them these consequences in the first place and turn from their rebellion and begin to follow God wholeheartedly. AND THEN God's promise to restore them would absolutely come to pass.
Do you see it is both God's promise AND our choice to return to God?
So, Daniel, at 80 years old (after serving God his entire life), realizes God's people are at a critical point in their lives.
They have a ROLE
They have a RESPONSIBILITY
They have a PART TO PLAY in obtaining God's PROMISE of restoration.
And the time is short, and the need is urgent. And so, Daniel goes to prayer on behalf of God's people in confession and repentance, and he pleads for God's mercy to bring His promise to pass. And Daniel fully includes himself in this prayer as guilty, along with the people.
And please hear me - this is a prayer that's absolutely required for us to pray in our OWN LIVES if we ever desire to be restored to a right relationship with God.
This is one of the best prayers in the Bible for us to pray:
For OURSELVES
For OUR CHURCH
For OUR NATION
So mark this prayer - Remember it - Go back to it - because it is through this attitude of prayer that God's promises are brought to pass in our lives.
So please – pay attention and join in this prayer with Daniel - for your life. Personally.
Daniel 9:3-4 (NLT)
3 So I turned to the Lord God (Literally – Set My Face to God) and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: "O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.
Daniel starts with WHO GOD IS (who He EXISTS AS)
You are a great and awesome God!
You always fulfill your covenant
You keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands
That is who God is, and that is who he can be in your life too!
And then THIS is who WE are:
Daniel 9:5-6 (NLT)
5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.
6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.
God, YOU are the Great and Awesome God of Unfailing love
BUT - We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations, and we have refused to listen to your Word.
Now it doesn't seem necessary to clarify who is right and who is covered with shame - But Daniel does it anyway - just in case you weren't sure.
Daniel 9:7-8 (NLT)
7 "Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.
8 O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
Daniel is crying out - interceding - on behalf of the people of Israel. He's confessing and repenting, on their behalf, and he is including himself in the guilt of their sin.
All twelve tribes of Israel had ultimately turned from the Lord, and Daniel lists them ALL here as COVERED IN SHAME because of their disloyalty in turning from God and chasing after the things of this world.
And then again, Daniel goes back and forth between confessing God's greatness and confessing our sin.
Daniel 9:9 (NLT)
9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.
That is WHO God IS – He is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him and how we have rebelled against Him - Daniel explains in verse 10.
Daniel 9:10 (NLT)
10 We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.
We just choose not to obey God. I know that's what God says - but it's not what I want. So, I'm just going to do what I want, and God is just going to have to deal with it.
And - - God PROMISES that He WILL DEAL with it.
Daniel 9:11 (NLT)
11 All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. "So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa - Wait a Minute - I thought we weren't supposed to talk about that judgment stuff.
I thought the God WE created in OUR culture doesn't come with any of that judgment (consequence) stuff.
I thought he was supposed to do what we want him to do - and he's supposed to let us do whatever we want to do.
And he's supposed to just forgive us and make everything better so we can continue to live in whatever sin we want.
Let me just throw out a comparison for you.
If you approached your relationship with your spouse that way - Honey, there can't be any consequences for my sin in our marriage. You just have to be there for me, do whatever I want, and just keep forgiving me so I can keep on living in sin.
Some of you actually are approaching your marriage like that - and all I can say is - get ready for an ugly divorce because there are consequences of you choosing sin in your marriage relationship, AND there are consequences of you choosing sin in your relationship with God.
God's law promised both:
Blessing for walking WITH GOD in Obedience
Consequences for turning from GOD in Disobedience
God has made BOTH promises perfectly clear, and you can count on one thing: God will keep His Word.
Daniel 9:12 (NLT)
12 [God] You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem.
13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.
14 Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.
Guys, God will keep his word, and he will do exactly what he has promised - both in promises and in consequences.
Verse 13 uses the word "curse," - but it's not a "curse" like we would use the word today. In the Law of Moses, a curse is the opposite of a blessing. The English Standard Version (ESV) uses the word "calamity."
The double truth is this:
GOOD AND POSITIVE things come from WALKING WITH GOD
BAD AND NEGATIVE things come from REJECTING GOD
And BOTH are equally guaranteed.
But notice carefully the end of Daniel 9:13.
Daniel 9:13 (NLT)
(Even in the face of the consequences) Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.
Guys, God is a great and merciful God. He's always willing to forgive and restore because of his mercy. But that forgiveness and restoration will not come without our repentance from sin - and turning back to God. And without that repentance, the consequences that God promises - - will follow our sin.
One more time in verse 15, Daniel again contrasts the greatness of God with the wickedness of sin.
Daniel 9:15 (NLT)
15 "O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness.
God is great and merciful. We are lost in our sin. The contrast could not be any clearer. And because Daniel is so clear on WHO God IS and Who We ARE... his plea to God is not based on anything we could do. Daniel's prayer to God is based completely on who God IS, on his character - his nature - and his faithfulness. And we need to see (in Daniel's final prayer) the great faith displayed in HOW he approaches God.
All Daniel can do is:
Confess and repent of his people's sin
And commit to turn back to God - in complete faith.
And today, that is all we can do, and fortunately, that is all God asks us to do!
To recognize the great unfailing love and mercy of God
To repent of our sin (to turn from it)
To turn back to God - in complete faith - trusting Him completely and committing to follow Him.
That's what Daniel does on behalf of God's people, and that's what God requires of us.
Now, watch closely - Daniel doesn't ask God to do anything specific. He knows God has good plans for His people. And so, Daniel's prayer is based solely on who God is and not in any way on what the people deserve.
Daniel 9:16 (NLT)
16 In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.
17 "O our God, hear your servant's prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.
18 "O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.
19 "O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name."
We have got to learn to communicate with God at this level of humility - understanding who our God is and who we are not.
We have NOTHING to OFFER God
Except that we belong to Him
Except that we bear His name
And on THAT Truth Alone:
we come to God - to receive MERCY
we come to God - to receive FORGIVENESS
we come to God - to receive HIS GREAT PLAN for our lives.
First, - you have to belong to Him. THEN you can learn to come to Him in this humility.
BELONG to him - by IMMEDIATE ADOPTION
And COME to him - In this Great HUMILITY.
We are in the heart of the prophecy section of Daniel, and we're all interested in what God has to say about things to come. And Daniel was interested in that too. But at this point in Daniel - a great need for God's people hits Daniel like a truck. It seems out of the blue. God just rocks him. And Daniel deals with why God's people, Israel, are in the situation they're in. WHY? And he gets really clear on Israel's only hope to get out of their current, dire situation. And it's critical we do the same thing.
We've got to be able to say, "Lord, why are we in the place we are in today, and what is our only hope to get out of the situation I am in?" God reveals this critically important truth to Daniel today. And we must look for God to reveal the same critical truth - in our own lives, and then we must have the faith, have the courage, to be willing to respond accordingly and do something about it. Which is just what we'll see Daniel do.
Listen, this is critical. This section of Daniel applies to each of our lives, and the subject today will transform us far more than understanding every prophecy in this book.
Back in Daniel Chapter 5, we read about the Medo-Persian Empire actually conquering the Babylonian Empire. That was the famous "Hand-Writing on the Wall" message. And that night, Darius the Mede took over Babylon, which gives us our time frame for this prayer of Daniel.
Daniel 9:1 (NLT)
1 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.
The year was 538 B.C. approximately sixty-eight years after the Israelites had been exiled (taken captive) to Babylon. Sixty-eight years - this is important. Daniel would've been about 80 years old at this time, having been taken as a young teenager, and this prayer would have been written in the same year as the "Lion's Den" event of Daniel Chapter 6.
And it kind of seems this transfer of power from Babylon to the Medo-Persia (or maybe it was the Lion's Den) started Daniel thinking about how long the Israelites had been in captivity in Babylon.
Daniel 9:2 (NLT)
2 During the first year of his reign (Darius the Mede), I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.
Jeremiah prophesied this in the same year Jerusalem fell to Babylon, and Daniel and the Israelites were taken as captives. So, we don't know for sure if Daniel had read Jeremiah's prophecy before this time or not. Most scholars think he had and that the transfer of power from Babylon to Medo-Persia triggered a memory for Daniel. There was something Jeremiah had prophesied about this, and so Daniel began searching the Scroll of Jeremiah.
Let's turn over to Jeremiah, Chapter 25, to see what Daniel eventually came upon.
Listen, God's Word was a revelation to Daniel, and it rocked him on his heels, and it brought a very intense and determined response from him.
Jeremiah 25:4–11 (NLT) (Jeremiah is speaking to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem,
in the SAME year Babylon conquered Jerusalem)
4 "Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention.
5 Each time the message was this: 'Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever.
6 Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.'
7 "But you would not listen to me," says the Lord. "You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.
8 And now the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: Because you have not listened to me,
9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.
10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.
11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
Daniel saw the reality of the truths here - Daniel was living in the reality of the truths here.
Israel had REJECTED God
They had become CONSUMED with Worshipping Idols
They had become CONSUMED with Serving THEMSELVES
and Serving the things that brought them PLEASURE
And so, God did exactly what He promised He would do!
Listen, guys, the consequences of our unrepentant sin - listen, please note - the consequences of our unrepentant sin are just as guaranteed by God - as his forgiveness is when we do repent and turn from our sin and begin to follow him.
God promises to forgive us if we turn from our sin and put our trust in Him.
God also promises consequences of our sin - If we refuse to turn from it - and continue to reject Him.
Either way, God's promises are guaranteed. And Daniel was living exactly what God said through Jeremiah, as he had been living the past sixty-eight years (in captivity in Babylon) because of the sin of the nation of Israel.
The good news is - Daniel kept reading. (Always keep reading) and he kept reading until he got to Jeremiah, Chapter 29. Now, listen very closely, because I am going to blow some of your minds. I am going to read you a Scripture that is one of the most famous Scriptures in the Old Testament. But, unfortunately, like most famous scriptures, it's sometimes used a bit out of context. But I am going to put it in context for you today.
So Daniel keeps reading until he gets to:
Jeremiah 29:10–14 (NLT)
10 This is what the Lord says: "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.
(Here's the famous scripture)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
12 In those days WHEN you pray, I will listen.
13 IF you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
14 I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."
This is a wonderful, incredible promise from God, and absolutely one hundred percent true. But- it was originally written as a prophecy to a people who had turned from God - and rejected him and now were going to be turning back to him.
It's a prophecy to a people who have been under the consequences of sin for almost 70 years, and it's a promise from God that when they turn back to him, he will hear them, and he will embrace them, and he will restore to them all of his promises.
That is what Jeremiah 29:11 is about - IN CONTEXT. It's God's promise that when we turn from our sin and return to him wholeheartedly, he will RESTORE US completely to himself!
So, Daniel is reading (or re-reading) this Prophecy of Jeremiah just two years before the 70 years of captivity in Babylon comes to an end, and Daniel realizes two things:
#1) God has PROMISED that the Consequences of Israel's sin would End in the Next TWO YEARS
#2) There are Still CONDITIONS to that promise Coming to PASS even though God had promised it as prophecy...
The restoration of Israel was still only going to happen with the people of Israel would do what God says is required, which is repent of the sin that earned them these consequences in the first place and turn from their rebellion and begin to follow God wholeheartedly. AND THEN God's promise to restore them would absolutely come to pass.
Do you see it is both God's promise AND our choice to return to God?
So, Daniel, at 80 years old (after serving God his entire life), realizes God's people are at a critical point in their lives.
They have a ROLE
They have a RESPONSIBILITY
They have a PART TO PLAY in obtaining God's PROMISE of restoration.
And the time is short, and the need is urgent. And so, Daniel goes to prayer on behalf of God's people in confession and repentance, and he pleads for God's mercy to bring His promise to pass. And Daniel fully includes himself in this prayer as guilty, along with the people.
And please hear me - this is a prayer that's absolutely required for us to pray in our OWN LIVES if we ever desire to be restored to a right relationship with God.
This is one of the best prayers in the Bible for us to pray:
For OURSELVES
For OUR CHURCH
For OUR NATION
So mark this prayer - Remember it - Go back to it - because it is through this attitude of prayer that God's promises are brought to pass in our lives.
So please – pay attention and join in this prayer with Daniel - for your life. Personally.
Daniel 9:3-4 (NLT)
3 So I turned to the Lord God (Literally – Set My Face to God) and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: "O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.
Daniel starts with WHO GOD IS (who He EXISTS AS)
You are a great and awesome God!
You always fulfill your covenant
You keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands
That is who God is, and that is who he can be in your life too!
And then THIS is who WE are:
Daniel 9:5-6 (NLT)
5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.
6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.
God, YOU are the Great and Awesome God of Unfailing love
BUT - We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations, and we have refused to listen to your Word.
Now it doesn't seem necessary to clarify who is right and who is covered with shame - But Daniel does it anyway - just in case you weren't sure.
Daniel 9:7-8 (NLT)
7 "Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.
8 O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
Daniel is crying out - interceding - on behalf of the people of Israel. He's confessing and repenting, on their behalf, and he is including himself in the guilt of their sin.
All twelve tribes of Israel had ultimately turned from the Lord, and Daniel lists them ALL here as COVERED IN SHAME because of their disloyalty in turning from God and chasing after the things of this world.
And then again, Daniel goes back and forth between confessing God's greatness and confessing our sin.
Daniel 9:9 (NLT)
9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.
That is WHO God IS – He is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him and how we have rebelled against Him - Daniel explains in verse 10.
Daniel 9:10 (NLT)
10 We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.
We just choose not to obey God. I know that's what God says - but it's not what I want. So, I'm just going to do what I want, and God is just going to have to deal with it.
And - - God PROMISES that He WILL DEAL with it.
Daniel 9:11 (NLT)
11 All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. "So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa - Wait a Minute - I thought we weren't supposed to talk about that judgment stuff.
I thought the God WE created in OUR culture doesn't come with any of that judgment (consequence) stuff.
I thought he was supposed to do what we want him to do - and he's supposed to let us do whatever we want to do.
And he's supposed to just forgive us and make everything better so we can continue to live in whatever sin we want.
Let me just throw out a comparison for you.
If you approached your relationship with your spouse that way - Honey, there can't be any consequences for my sin in our marriage. You just have to be there for me, do whatever I want, and just keep forgiving me so I can keep on living in sin.
Some of you actually are approaching your marriage like that - and all I can say is - get ready for an ugly divorce because there are consequences of you choosing sin in your marriage relationship, AND there are consequences of you choosing sin in your relationship with God.
God's law promised both:
Blessing for walking WITH GOD in Obedience
Consequences for turning from GOD in Disobedience
God has made BOTH promises perfectly clear, and you can count on one thing: God will keep His Word.
Daniel 9:12 (NLT)
12 [God] You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem.
13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.
14 Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.
Guys, God will keep his word, and he will do exactly what he has promised - both in promises and in consequences.
Verse 13 uses the word "curse," - but it's not a "curse" like we would use the word today. In the Law of Moses, a curse is the opposite of a blessing. The English Standard Version (ESV) uses the word "calamity."
The double truth is this:
GOOD AND POSITIVE things come from WALKING WITH GOD
BAD AND NEGATIVE things come from REJECTING GOD
And BOTH are equally guaranteed.
But notice carefully the end of Daniel 9:13.
Daniel 9:13 (NLT)
(Even in the face of the consequences) Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.
Guys, God is a great and merciful God. He's always willing to forgive and restore because of his mercy. But that forgiveness and restoration will not come without our repentance from sin - and turning back to God. And without that repentance, the consequences that God promises - - will follow our sin.
One more time in verse 15, Daniel again contrasts the greatness of God with the wickedness of sin.
Daniel 9:15 (NLT)
15 "O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness.
God is great and merciful. We are lost in our sin. The contrast could not be any clearer. And because Daniel is so clear on WHO God IS and Who We ARE... his plea to God is not based on anything we could do. Daniel's prayer to God is based completely on who God IS, on his character - his nature - and his faithfulness. And we need to see (in Daniel's final prayer) the great faith displayed in HOW he approaches God.
All Daniel can do is:
Confess and repent of his people's sin
And commit to turn back to God - in complete faith.
And today, that is all we can do, and fortunately, that is all God asks us to do!
To recognize the great unfailing love and mercy of God
To repent of our sin (to turn from it)
To turn back to God - in complete faith - trusting Him completely and committing to follow Him.
That's what Daniel does on behalf of God's people, and that's what God requires of us.
Now, watch closely - Daniel doesn't ask God to do anything specific. He knows God has good plans for His people. And so, Daniel's prayer is based solely on who God is and not in any way on what the people deserve.
Daniel 9:16 (NLT)
16 In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.
17 "O our God, hear your servant's prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.
18 "O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.
19 "O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name."
We have got to learn to communicate with God at this level of humility - understanding who our God is and who we are not.
We have NOTHING to OFFER God
Except that we belong to Him
Except that we bear His name
And on THAT Truth Alone:
we come to God - to receive MERCY
we come to God - to receive FORGIVENESS
we come to God - to receive HIS GREAT PLAN for our lives.
First, - you have to belong to Him. THEN you can learn to come to Him in this humility.
BELONG to him - by IMMEDIATE ADOPTION
And COME to him - In this Great HUMILITY.