20241110_Daniel

[0:00] Thank you today, Father, for your amazing love and for your amazing grace. We just can't get over it. We know we don't deserve it, but you give it to us just as a free gift. Wow, do we thank you for that.

[0:12] We thank you for the fact that forgiveness is our sins, and you've thrown them into the deep of sea. And some people just don't understand that. They just don't understand and can imagine how that could be.

[0:26] But we're just so thankful that that is what grace is all about. And we thank you for that and for what the Lord Jesus Christ did on that cross. So we just thank you for that.

[0:37] We just want to thank you for the things that's going over and on the Middle East right now. My goodness, there's so much going on there. And I'm sure people are sitting back and just saying, What in the world is going on?

[0:49] Is this world coming to an end? Well, Father, it's all in your timescale. We know that. And just give us wisdom as we learn about what's going on over there.

[1:00] And we just thank you for that. So we thank you for the day, Father, the opportunity to come this morning to worship with you and with fellow believers. We ask these things in Christ's precious name.

[1:11] Amen. All right, last week we were in Chapter 6. This week we're going to be in Chapter 6 and finish it up.

[1:23] And again, we've already done 7 and 8. So what's going to happen when we get done with 6, we're going to go to Chapter 9. And Chapter 9 is a very, one of the most important probably passages of the Old Testament because it outlines what's going to happen at the end times.

[1:44] And it gives us a time frame. So look forward to that. So anyway, last Sunday, Daniel was thrown into the lion den.

[1:55] And how did that happen? Well, it happened because of jealous leaders who say, wait a minute, to their king, you're putting these Jews who are captives into leadership positions.

[2:12] Matter of fact, you've made Daniel one of the top leaders of our country. He is watching over us. Now what kind of sense does that make? Well, the king wouldn't listen to that, so what do you do?

[2:26] Well, all you and all your cohorts get together and come up with a scheme. And their scheme was to go to the king and say, King, write this decree that I am the king and everybody will sit down and worship me and no other.

[2:47] And when that decree went out, of course, Daniel said, no, I'm not into that. And he still prayed in his house. And they all came and saw him. And they all went to the king and said, Oh, king, you said that nobody could worship anybody, no other god except you, the king.

[3:05] And Daniel is up there worshiping his god. What could the king do? He already made a decree.

[3:16] What happens when that king puts his signal ring on a decree? Nothing can change it. He already said, if anybody did this, they would be put to death and thrown into the lion's den.

[3:32] So he had no choice except to do exactly what he put in that decree. So that's where we start today. And it's in Daniel 6, verse 16.

[3:43] If you'll turn to that. Then Daniel gave orders and Daniel was brought in and thrown into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, Your God, whom you continually serve, will himself rescue you.

[4:01] And a stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. And the king sealed it with his own ring, signet ring, and with the signet ring of his nobles so that nothing would be changed regarding Daniel.

[4:12] Verse 18, Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

[4:25] Why do you think that was? Hey, he realized now that he was just tricked. He was set up. You know, he made this man, Daniel, one of the leaders.

[4:39] He had faith in him. And all of a sudden, he had to do this because he was set up. So it's amazing how God ties all the scriptures together.

[4:50] Last week we saw in verse 13 how the leaders came together to trap Daniel, which they did. And then in the morning's message, Nathan's message was an hour later and gave the account of Mark 14.

[5:04] When Jesus was taken into the chief priest and the chief priest, and all the council sought witness against him to put him to death and found none. For many bear false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

[5:20] The same thing was going on there. It's amazing how God has put his scripture out and how he spreads it out through the Old Testament and the New Testament. And it all ties together, doesn't it?

[5:34] If you read it and you study it and kind of take it back to where it goes, it's amazing how that works. So verse 18, without doubt, Daniel had better night's rest than desires the king.

[5:47] He came to be sure that Daniel prayed. All right, I just lost my document. What the heck happened?

[6:00] Yep. Up to my mouth? Okay. Well, that's not good. Okay. Well, hold on a second.

[6:22] I've got to see what I can do here. Uh-huh. Technology is good, isn't it? When it works. Sometimes it doesn't work.

[6:36] Well, I know how to use it, but it sure didn't work there. I don't know what happened. Yeah. I don't know what happened. One thing I have learned over the years with computers, that if you have a problem and you can't get salt away, turn it off.

[6:53] Turn it back on. So we'll see what happens with that. Oh, no, it didn't do it. Ah, there it is. Part of it.

[7:05] Part of it. Come on. Okay. Anyway, while we're doing this, Daniel spent his night in the lion's den.

[7:31] Daniel had no problem in the lion's den. Why is that? Pardon me? The lions kept him warm.

[7:41] The lions kept him warm. They cuzzled right up to him, didn't they? Yeah. He had a good time with the lions. Okay.

[7:57] I think we're back. There we go.

[8:09] Where was I? Yeah, verse 18. Without doubt, Daniel had a better night's sleep than the king did. Perhaps Daniel prayed Psalm 22, 21.

[8:20] Save me from the lion's mouth. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of assembly. I will praise you. Daniel was probably praying in that lion's den.

[8:32] And God was with him. In any case, he must have a glorious night with the lions and with the angels all night to keep him company. He was spending the night watches in grander style than the king was.

[8:46] Verse 19. Verse 19. Then the king got up at dawn at the break of day and went in to hurry to the lion's den. And when he came near to the lion's den, he cried out with a troubled voice.

[9:00] Then the king began speaking and said to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you continually serve been able to rescue you from the lions?

[9:11] Then Daniel spoke to the king. Oh, king, live forever. He still had respect, didn't he? After all the stuff that's going on, he had enough respect to say, oh, king, live forever.

[9:27] Verse 22. My God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions. Wow. And they have not harmed me since I was found innocent before him. Before who?

[9:39] Before God. And also toward you, oh, king, I have committed no crime. Verse 23. Then the king was very glad and gave orders for Daniel to be lifted out of the den so that Daniel was lifted out of the den.

[9:55] And no injury, whatever, was found on him because he had trusted in his God. What an amazing story. And that's been a story that's been around for years and people are just amazed by it.

[10:08] And everybody reads that. And it is an amazing story. God is with his people. Daniel was undeniably gillied of breaking the law, wasn't he?

[10:20] And when this edict came, he knew that he would be thrown into the den, to the lion's den. So Daniel affirmed that his safety was a miracle. The angel mentioned was not, this angel was mentioned was not identified.

[10:35] Some suggest it may have been the common angel or Michael, the archangel. And others believe it may have been a thing of Jesus Christ who sometimes they say that's what happened when the other guys was thrown into.

[10:51] To, pardon me? No. Back in chapter 3. Back in chapter 3.

[11:03] So anyway, there was an angel. Somebody was with him. And we can't be for sure who it was, but it's a great possibility it was Jesus Christ himself. Clearly, Daniel exhibited strong trust in the Lord during these perilous situations.

[11:20] Hebrews 11.33 says, Mentioned faith as having stopped the mouths of lions. However, when Jesus rules the earth, he will subdue the wild nature of lions and salvage beasts.

[11:33] Because in Isaiah 11.7 it says, The lion shall eat like the ox. That's amazing. That something like that is going to happen.

[11:45] But that's what has been foretold and that's exactly what will happen in the new earth. Daniel's enemies are now held into account. They had falsely told the king that Daniel had agreed to the decree they had proposed.

[12:00] Thus, they had committed fraud before the king. King Dazarus is furious at being used to accomplish their ambitious schemes. They told the king, hey, everybody in the senate, if you want to call that, and the house, they all agreed.

[12:19] Well, today, you know that's impossible, don't you? Well, it was impossible then too because Daniel did not agree. So they lied to the king. Now, verse 24, the king then gave orders and they brought those who had maliciously accused Daniel and they threw them, their children, and their wives into the lion's den.

[12:41] And they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed them all their bones. Then the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages who were living in all the land.

[12:57] May your peace be great. I issue a decree that all in the realm of my kingdom are to tremble and before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, enduring forever.

[13:11] And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. And his dominion will be forever. He rescues slaves and performs signs and miracles in heaven and on earth.

[13:24] He who has also rescued Daniel from the power of the lions. What a statement for this king to make. This proved that it was genuinely angelic protection that saved Daniel.

[13:38] It proves that there was no natural reason that the lions did not eat Daniel. I mean, wow. You throw some meat in front of a lion, what's going to happen?

[13:48] It's going to eat it. They didn't touch Daniel. They did not eat Daniel and was not due to the lack of hunger, because I think lions are always hungry. They were hungry enough when the enemies and their families were offered to them as a meal.

[14:05] Daniel, Daniel's accusers, perished in the same trap they had set for Daniel. What an amazing thing. And wow. That's the type of thing, judgments and laws that they had back in those days.

[14:21] You do something against God, or you lie to the king, you pay for it. And that's exactly what happened here. All those leaders were thrown into the lion's dammit.

[14:33] And wow. That kind of reminds me of what's happening right now. We've got to change the president coming. What's going to happen to the leadership there in Washington?

[14:45] They're not going to be thrown into the lion's dam, of course. But they're going to be displaced, aren't they? So it's not unusual for when something new happens, a new king comes on board.

[14:58] Today, a new president comes on board. You wipe out what was there before, and you start over. And this is what the king is doing here, because they all lied to him, and he put them to death.

[15:12] Okay. Concerning Darius the king, he ruled over all the people who worshipped many different gods in many ways.

[15:24] Many of them knew little or nothing about the God of Israel. Darius does not indicate that Daniel's god is the only god. He does not command people to set aside other idols.

[15:36] He only says that the Lord, worshipped by Daniel, should be honored by all. Now, what does that mean? All it means is, hey, people, we've got another god to worship.

[15:51] And this god is great. You've seen what just happened to Daniel. But if you're still worshipping, doing all this other stuff, that's fine. All these other gods, all I'm doing is adding another god into the mix.

[16:04] Apparently, at this point in his life, Darius believed that Daniel's god was only the most powerful, or the one of the most powerful, of many gods available to the Medes and the Persians.

[16:15] His decree resembles that of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4. He did the same thing. He said, oh, Daniel, you're god. And look what he did. All the miracles that he's performing.

[16:26] But when he told the people, he did not say, do not worship all these other gods. They were still worshipping them. But we know in the future every knee will bow in heaven and on earth, and every person will agree that Jesus Christ is the one and only Lord.

[16:46] Philippians 2.10, So that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.

[17:03] That is coming. That is coming. It hasn't yet. So Daniel 6, verse 28. So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Dazarus and the king of Osiris, the Persians.

[17:19] So Daniel prospered. One of the greatest blessings to come from Daniel 6 is to see that the story unfolded, a point to Jesus Christ and pointed to Jesus Christ.

[17:30] Consider this. A man without blame, faithful to God in all his ways, a man noted for prayer, sent to his death because of the jealousy of those who wanted to prevent his worship of the one true God.

[17:47] Jesus Christ was also contemned to death by the plotting of his enemies and the law of the land and thrown into a stone room meant to be his tomb.

[17:57] But praise to God, he did not stay there, did he? But we know how that turned also in the fact that he was not kept in that stone.

[18:13] He arose and is now seated with the Father. So what a glorious ending there. Any questions about chapter 6 or anything that we've done so far before we go into chapter 9?

[18:28] I know these are interesting stories you see here in Daniel. Yeah, Roger. It makes me wonder that when we have issues in the hospital or something like that, I know the night they took me over to the Columbus, all that, I kept hearing the doctor saying, you know, at least he's making tea and all that kind of stuff.

[18:53] I just wondered if there was an angel there with me. Yeah. It just makes sense that he still does that. Oh, yeah. Just rely on the Spirit.

[19:03] He is. We've got to have faith in all the situations that we're in. And our faith will see us through. Now, does he have an angel there with us?

[19:14] I don't know. He may have. But we know if we believe in Christ and we have faith in what he says, that no matter what happens to us, whether it's good or bad, if we're in God's will, we are in good shape.

[19:31] No matter. Roger? In today, in the age of grace, our blessings are in the heavenlies. We have to be careful about taking Daniel and trying to make an unusual example like Daniel as to what should be general for us.

[19:57] Well, if you just have enough faith, you'd be okay. Yeah. But, you know, let's go back to Peter, for instance.

[20:09] They put Peter in prison and an angel freed him. But there's going to be a day when Peter goes to prison and the angel won't be there to free him.

[20:21] Yeah. He was beheaded. He was going to go to heaven. Yeah. The same thing with Paul. Exactly. The same thing with Stephen. You know, I have to be careful that I don't say, well, if I'm living like I ought to live, I'm impervious to what the world throws.

[20:40] Because that's not true. Yeah. But we do always have the promise of eternal salvation. That is exactly right.

[20:51] And God says he will be with us in all things. That does not mean that we're not going to suffer bad things. And when bad things come along, we just take them.

[21:04] And we rely on the faith that God has given us. And he doesn't always get us out of that situation. And of course, we know that we're all going to die eventually. Yeah, Roger.

[21:15] Roger. Roger. The last month, I've had two people I thought were saved, saying, I hope I get to heaven. And I said, you're sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.

[21:28] Yeah. Read Ephesians again. I couldn't believe it. I'm just sure, you know, but he knows he don't measure up, humanly speaking. And I said, that's right, you don't.

[21:41] It ain't your work that did it. It's his work. It's all his work. And that's probably one of the biggest things, probably in the Christian community today, is the fact they do not believe that they are sealed.

[21:55] They do not believe that, hey, it's all done. Yeah, you don't deserve it. Yeah. No, I was just thinking that, you know, once you're a believer and the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within you, you always have the Holy Spirit with you all the time.

[22:13] It's there. So, it's like having angels come and help you, you always have the Holy Spirit right there. Yeah. That doesn't mean that, you know, the circumstances are not going to happen to you, but you do always have the Holy Spirit.

[22:26] They always have that Spirit within you. Exactly. And, when you believe and you finally figure out that, hey, when it says sealed, it means sealed.

[22:38] It doesn't mean that you've got to go to somebody and confess all your sins, be re-baptized, all these different things that people believe they have to do.

[22:49] It's just not like that. And, well, all that work stuff, am I good enough? It diminishes the work of Christ.

[23:00] Oh, absolutely. And Christ paid it all. And that, people need to realize that. Yeah. And you'll get a, you'll get a much better peace coming over you when you realize everything you've been paying for and you need to rest in that.

[23:16] Yeah. One thing that really brings this out to me is when I go to a funeral. Have you ever gone to a funeral of somebody you know that probably is not a Christian?

[23:31] What do you see at these funerals? You see people crying. You see people just saying, I just don't understand. Why could this happen? All this stuff. when you go to a place that somebody is a Christian, it's like a praise worship.

[23:49] We know that that person is with Jesus now. We know that he is being kept or she and it's a completely different situation.

[24:01] It's just a, an amazing thing. Yes. Well, what's even worse in those two scenarios are the people who think the saint, they've walked the same side that we're all one to have and we're all good and peace.

[24:13] Ah, yeah. You know, I'm going to see my ones and they don't have no idea. Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's a lot of that going on too. And that's, that's a false thing if they really have not accepted Jesus Christ into their heart.

[24:28] And that's that good news preaching that we hear today. You know, good news, peace, every good thing is going to happen to you.

[24:39] If you're a person that goes to church and does all of the right things and we know that that is not the case either. So, anything else? Before we go to chapter nine, turn to chapter nine.

[24:59] Chapter nine, Daniel chapter nine serves as a powerful testament to the potency of prayer, God's forgiveness and the unfolding of his divine plans.

[25:12] Despite Israel's repeated sin, God's enduring love and willingness to forgive after hope for restoration, the prophecies of the 77s reminds us of God's sovereignty over time and history and his ultimate plan for redemption.

[25:30] Wow. This chapter is loaded with that prayer of Daniel. Daniel realizes that, hey, this 70 years captivity is almost over.

[25:44] My goodness, I'm up in, almost in my 80s now. So, this time is over and you know, I've read Jeremiah Jeremiah. And Jeremiah says, after 70 years, the captives will come back to Israel, to Jerusalem.

[26:03] So, he's got this thing in his mind now and he says, I want to get this time span and what's going to happen and I'm going to God in prayer. And that's exactly what the first part of chapter nine is all about.

[26:15] When we get down to the last part of chapter nine, it's actually going to give us the 70 weeks. And the 70 weeks is a confusing item to a lot of people. They just can't understand what they're saying here.

[26:29] And it's, once you dig into it, it's amazing how the scripture all ties together. And we'll see a little bit of that as we go through here. And, so, let's get started with this.

[26:44] Verse one, we'll go there. This chapter is another of Daniel's prophetic messages, the beginning of the Zahra's reign came when the Babylonian king fell and the Mediapersian took control.

[26:57] We've seen that back in chapter five. Knowing the book of Jeremiah, Daniel realized that Israel's exile was likely nearing its end. At this moment, Daniel had likely been captive for around 66 years.

[27:11] Daniel was puzzled as to when all this will take place. He consults the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah. For Daniel, the 70 years are almost up. And he asked God to fulfill his promise.

[27:23] However, an angel comes and informs Daniel that Israel's sin and rebellion hasn't been fully dealt with by the exile. And their times of oppression under the nations will last seven times longer than Jeremiah had envisioned.

[27:41] That seven, remember, the seven in the Bible can be days, can be weeks, and it can be years. And I think what he's talking about, and we're going to see it later on, is the seven.

[27:54] It's seven times seven were that 490 years that we'll see in the 70 weeks. So why? However, in the ages came and informed Daniel that Israel's sin and rebellion has not been fully dealt with.

[28:10] Why? What's going on there? These people have been in captivity for 70 years.

[28:21] So why would that happen? Well, there's a lot of things, but mainly when this happened and they went back, all these people didn't go back.

[28:35] A lot of these people, you know, when they were in this captivity, they had jobs. It wasn't a captivity like they were slaves and they were being beaten and all this stuff.

[28:46] They lived in these countries they were assigned to. They had jobs. They had families. A lot of them were used to what was going on in their lives.

[28:56] And they were not willing to go back to God. So they still had the same feeling that they had before they were made captives.

[29:07] Now this is a different generation. You know, 70 years. And a lot of people maybe didn't know what was going on in their past history. But a lot of these people were not done with their sins and with being against God.

[29:23] So God said, hey, I'm bringing Israel back because that's my timeline. If I don't bring them back, I can't start this whole thing over again where it's going to go to the end.

[29:35] because them coming back is going to start one part of the starting of this timeline. So he had to bring them back. But all of them didn't come back.

[29:45] And he's saying here early that it's going to be 70 times 7. So Daniel 9.1. In the first year of Dazarus, the king was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.

[30:00] In the first year of the reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of years which was revealed as the word of God to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.

[30:17] So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplication with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. What's that all about?

[30:29] Hey, that was natural. That's what Israel did. When they came before the Lord, they did it by prayer, supplication, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

[30:40] Been done for years and years and years. In the first year of Dazarus, the king and the prayer that the vision recorded in the Daniel 9 occurred chronologically soon after the fall of Babylon recorded in Daniel 5.

[30:54] The Tsar Samid was a king who was over the Chaldeans as part of the greater Medo-Persian empire under Cyrus. We first met this man in Daniel 5 in the fall of Babylon which occurred in 539.

[31:07] This was also the same king that in Daniel 6 was persuaded to make a decree to cast Daniel into the lion's den. Daniel, a man of great faith and deep connection with God, understood the importance of studying scripture and seeking guidance from the word of the prophets who came before him.

[31:27] This demonstrates the significance of not only reading the word of God but truly meditating on it and allowing it to speak to your heart and guide your actions.

[31:40] Daniel did this. Daniel was, if you're talking about Ezekiel and Jeremiah, these people were put in captivity before Daniel.

[31:52] It was one of the first captivities before Jerusalem was completely taken over and these men were doing these prophecies that God had given them and Jeremiah or Daniel knew that and he knew what Jeremiah's prophecies were all about but he wanted to know more.

[32:13] When Daniel mentions that he understood from the scriptures the number of years that Jerusalem would remain decimate, he was referring to Jeremiah's prophecy in Jeremiah 25.

[32:24] Let's go to that. Jeremiah 25. Keep your finger on Daniel. And 25.11.

[32:43] This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror. These nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. Then it will be when 70 years are complete I will punish the king of Babylon which had already happened and that nation declares the Lord for the wrongdoing in the land of the Chaldeans I will make it an everlasting desolation.

[33:08] I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it and that is written in the book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14.

[33:19] For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them even them and I will repay them according to their deeds according to the work of their hands. For this is what the Lord says when 70 years have been complete for Babylon I will visit you and fulfill my word to you to bring you back to this place for I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord plans for prosperity and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.

[33:55] The prophecies are clear after 70 years Babylon would be punished and the exile remnant would be brought back to the promised land. Also in Azariah if you turn to that Azariah chapter 1 verse 2 Ezariah would be back after 2 Chronicles a couple books after that this is what the king of Persia says the Lord the God of heaven he has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to rebuild for him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah whoever there is among you and for all his people may his God be with him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord the God of Israel so he is prophesying also that these people would be coming back so Daniel's response to understanding these prophecies is to pray and seek

[35:07] God's guidance and forgiveness he humbles himself before the Lord knowing that the sins of his people who is that Israel acknowledged the sins of his people and appealing to God's mercy and faithfulness Daniel get back to Daniel now chapter 9 verse 3 so I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleading with the fasting sackcloth and ashes I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said O Lord the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and fulfills faithfulness for those who love him and keep his commandments we have sinned we have done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances more ever we have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings and leaders and fathers and all the people of the land hey these people really didn't have an excuse did they all through the kings they had prophets that went out and said hey people you're going against your

[36:17] God come back and they just didn't listen so Daniel knew well the history of his people and they missed the goal of being God's holy people and instead had broken his commandments they had practiced evil and rebellion against God in action and in attitude this theme of repentance and forgiveness runs throughout the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament for instance in Acts 2.38 it is written Peter said to them repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit also in 1 John 1.9 Romans 8 begins and ends in the same place in Christ where we find God's free gift of grace and the forgiveness of sins now the first second the second chapter of

[37:26] Acts and also 1 John is completely I think different than what we read here in Romans we got to remember when these things were written and who wrote them and in Acts 2 it was the beginning of the ministry after Jesus Christ was on the cross Paul had not came on the scene yet so the grace and all this stuff was not there yet they were still going by the law the same thing in 1 John John wrote to those who what were dispersed he was writing to the Gentile nations Romans 8 Paul is writing to us and it begins and ends in the same place in Christ we are where we find God's free gift of grace and the forgiveness of sins it's not an if if we accept Jesus Christ into our life we are forgiven and forgiven of all sins that's present future and past also so these verses reinforce the message of Daniel's prayer and God's enduring promise of forgiveness to those who turn back to him

[38:37] God wanted his people turn back to me I am your father turn back to me so believers can humbly confess their sins and God's righteousness and seek his mercy and restoration in times of need by following an example set by Daniel in this prayer just go before God and tell him what is going on and what he did was tell about the nation of Israel and how they went straight away from him verse 7 righteous belongs to you Lord but to us upon shame and it is the day to the men of Judah the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all of Israel those who are nearby and those who are far away and all the countries to which you have driven them he driven them in all these different countries their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against you open shame belongs to us Lord to our kings our leaders and our fathers because we have sinned against you he leaves nobody out he leaves nobody out to the

[39:45] Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness because we have rebelled against him and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his teachings which he set before us through his servants the prophets in verses 7a Daniel continues by confessing that God has just scattered them throughout the nation Daniel agrees that God is righteous and Israel deserves shame because of their unfaithfulness to him in verses 9-15 Daniel confesses that the Lord God has actually been compassionate and forgiving toward them that people had disobeyed the Lord and rejected following him so the Lord only carried out the consequences he had forwarded them about so they have no complaint here all the prophets had forewarned them what would happen if you strayed from God but they did anyway God holds his people accountable to their actions highlighting his righteousness in this passage

[40:51] God's justice is a reoccurring theme in scripture underscoring the idea that he is fair and just and his dealings with humanity even in times of discipline and judgment God's righteousness shines through offering the promise of restoration for those who repent and turn back to him so even that God is disciplining us he is still with us and he gives us that opportunity to come back to him and that's what he wants that's what he wanted with the nation of Israel and that's what he wants with us when we stray and if we're disciplined he wants us to come back and a lot of times we do stray but we do have the fact know that if we know the fact that when we stray God is going to be with us then that's a big change in our life because we have that assurance so let's see let's do verse 11 and then we'll probably have to quit 9 11 indeed all

[41:57] Israel has violated your law and turned aside now remember this is Daniel praying to God not obeying your voice for the curse he gushed forth on us along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God because he has sinned against him 9 12 so he has confirmed his words which had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us to bring the Jerusalem was Israel as far as they were concerned so any questions about what we covered in this part of the prayer this prayer goes on all the way down to verse 24 so

[43:10] Daniel is laying himself out here he's saying I want to know and I'm coming to you God and I'm giving you these things and before his prayer is over God is going to give him somebody and he's going to send Gabriel down to give him the instructions of what's going to happen and of course we'll see that in the rest of chapter nine the last part of it which is fascinating it's just amazing the thing how God lays this out so any questions comments okay we'll see you next week