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[0:00] In your bulletin, I think, is pretty much self-explanatory. And what we are concerned about is to what degree or to what extent does Daniel chapter 9, which is leading up to the 70th week of Daniel, which we refer to as the linchpin of prophecy, and this material precedes that, Daniel is praying for enlightenment, and he begins by confessing his sins and the sins of the nation.

[0:32] This is something that is always in order because we are all flawed human beings, and there is generally something on the plate of each and every one of us that isn't what it ought to be.

[0:45] And that is something that needs to be addressed. And that we do through prayer and confession and acknowledgement of our sin, thanking God for the forgiveness that has already been provided through the Lord Jesus Christ.

[0:59] So Daniel's enlightenment that he is going to receive from a messenger angel is preceded by this prayer. And the question that we are asking you is this.

[1:12] Are there any parallels here? Actually, as Paul would say, I speak as a fool. The answer to that is patently obvious. There are a number of parallels here between Daniel and his prayer on behalf of the nation of Israel and our current nation and the state of its affairs today as we know them.

[1:35] So we are not suggesting at all that the United States of America figures into the interpretation of Daniel chapter 9. We don't have that much of an active imagination.

[1:48] The things that Daniel is praying about concern the nation of Israel exclusively and nobody else. But as you read over Daniel's prayer, it becomes abundantly clear that what Daniel is confessing on behalf of his nation, the very same kind of issues that beset this nation morally and spiritually right now.

[2:14] So while the passage in Daniel 9 certainly is not to be interpreted of the United States of America or of any other nation other than Israel, yet the applications and the parallels are stunningly apparent.

[2:32] So I would ask you first, if you would, to take your Bible and turn to Daniel chapter 9. And I want to share the verses that precede what you have on the scripture sheet that was inserted in your bulletin.

[2:48] And that is where we will be spending most of our time. But prior to this time, we've got an introductory section that needs to be covered before Daniel begins his prayer.

[3:00] Now, the prayer is on that white sheet that you have in your bulletin and we'll be following along. But now I'm reading from the first few verses of Daniel chapter 9 until we get down to where the prayer begins.

[3:13] In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, 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 prophet, namely 70 years.

[3:47] So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

[3:59] And I prayed. And this is where the prayer begins on that white sheet. But before we go to the prayer and point out those items that need to be treated that are parallel to that text, I want to give you some very rapid-moving background that will bring us up to this time historically.

[4:19] And I want to do it in one setting so you'll have this composite picture all together because we're going to cover a whole lot of chronology. So bear with me, please.

[4:30] I'm reading this, and I will do it, trying as best I can to avoid stopping and injecting any other explanation. Here we go. We have repeatedly stressed the fact that the Jewish people and the state of Israel constitute the very core of the plan and program of God for the entire world, its history, and its future.

[4:54] Why this is so all stems from the covenantal promises God originally made to Abraham that were reconfirmed to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob.

[5:08] This covenant, called the Abrahamic covenant, first appears in Genesis chapter 12 and is concerned about a name and a land.

[5:19] In Genesis 15, the covenant is expanded to include seed or offspring that will ultimately number a huge multitude like the stars of the heavens.

[5:34] Genesis 15 contains a prophecy that will become a focal point in all of Israel's history and future. So very much is involved, both historically and prophetically, regarding the land.

[5:53] And that will necessitate considering, and I'm not going to go there because we've covered the material, I think, sufficiently in the past, but I'm talking about the entirety of Genesis chapter 15, where God confirmed the covenant, having Abraham take all of those various animals, cut them in two, lay half the animal's parts on one side, the other half of the animal's parts on another side, and Abraham and God are to walk between those animal parts.

[6:23] This was the confirmation of a covenant that existed in the culture of Abraham's day. This was the way a pact was sealed between two parties in the covenant.

[6:36] And they would walk arm in arm. They would make a deal, whether it was to buy or sell animals or land or whatever the agreement was, whatever the covenant was. They would divide these animal parts up, put half the animal here and half the animal there.

[6:48] Then they would walk arm in arm between those animal parts. And that was their solemn way of saying, as has been done to these animals, so may the same fate befall anyone in this covenant who does not keep the terms of the covenant.

[7:11] I suppose our equivalent would be signing a document in blood, something like that. The striking thing about this was when it came time for Abraham and the deity to walk between the animal parts, there was a smoking lamp and a burning furnace that represented the deity, and it representing the deity alone went through those parts.

[7:38] Abraham was in a deep sleep and in no position to even participate. And all of that signifies, read it at your leisure if you will, Genesis 15, all that signifies is that the fulfillment of that contract was dependent solely upon the party who gave it to Abraham.

[8:07] Abraham, God alone. Abraham's obedience or disobedience did not even figure into the mix. That's why we call it an unconditional covenant.

[8:21] God made the promises to Abraham. Abraham might very well have said, well, what do I have to do to fulfill my part? God would have responded, nothing, Abraham.

[8:31] God is going to care for it alone.

[8:43] It will be an unconditional covenant, not dependent upon the obedience of Abraham or anything else. This is nothing more than a very gracious act on the part of God, whereby he is taking full responsibility for that covenant.

[9:03] Years later, after the death of Abraham, and in verse 15 of chapter 15, Abraham dies. Before he does, God tells him, Abraham, in this place where God was conversing with Abraham, he tells him, you are going to have seed, a lot of seed.

[9:30] And your offspring are going to multiply, and in due time, they are going to journey to another land where they will be enslaved by the people of that land, and they will occupy a new place for 430 years.

[9:58] And after those 430 years, I will bring your descendants out of that land back to this place where you are standing right now.

[10:12] In verse 15, Abraham died. We know he begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob and Esau. Jacob begat the 12 sons.

[10:24] Joseph ends up being sold into slavery. While he is in Egypt, he arises to a position of prominence. Meanwhile, his brothers and sisters have been multiplying, and age Jacob is still alive, and he has 70 members now in his family.

[10:45] Sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters, and they number 70. And when this famine develops in the land of Israel, they decide to send to Egypt for grain.

[10:56] You know the story about the brothers going down, bringing back grain, not knowing who Joseph was, etc., having risen to a position of power and influence. And eventually, a pharaoh is raised up that doesn't know Joseph and begins persecuting and oppressing the Jewish people and making them contribute to their building program and all the rest just as slave labor.

[11:24] And they endure that for centuries until God raises up a man, Moses, to bring them out of the land. After dwelling in the land and multiplying, going through a series of judges who ruled over them, and then being ruled over by kings named Saul of Benjamite, David, David, the shepherd lad of the tribe of Judah, the one who slew Goliath, his son Solomon, and then Rehoboam, David's grandson, the nation of Israel experienced a breakup of the nation, and it's being divided into two kingdoms.

[12:04] The larger being called Israel, consisting of 10 of the original 12 tribes located in the northern part of Israel. The two remaining tribes would consist of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and they would be referred to as Judah.

[12:25] The 10 tribes in the north would be referred to as Israel. So Israel, the state, has been broken up. This division occurred in 931 B.C., almost a thousand years before the birth of Christ.

[12:42] In 722 B.C., which was a little more than 200 years after the division of the kingdom, those northern 10 tribes of Israel were invaded and defeated by the neighboring nation of Assyria.

[12:59] They were carried into captivity as slaves to the Assyrians, and now Israel is out of the land again. And by the way, this is going to be critical.

[13:11] Out of the land, back in the land. Out of the land, back in the land. Out of the land, back in the land. This is going to happen to Israel multiplied times. They're going to be like a yo-yo.

[13:23] In the land, out of the land. And each time God sees to it that they are brought back to the land. This is so important. Because the time is coming when there will be the final, ultimate regathering of Israel to the land.

[13:42] And it is going on right now. I don't know if you are aware of it or not. But only within the last two years have there been more Jewish people in the land of Israel than there is in the rest of the world.

[14:01] There was a time in my lifetime, in my lifetime, when there were more Jews in New York City than there were in the land of Israel.

[14:15] That has changed dramatically. There has been an enormous in-gathering. The Jewish people refer to this homegoing.

[14:29] And many of them go there to visit their homeland. And, of course, literally hundreds of thousands have poured into the land of Israel ever since the floodgates were opened in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia.

[14:45] Because for many, many decades, the Russians would not give permission to the Jewish people to leave the land.

[14:56] And finally they did. And hundreds of thousands of them from Russia alone have returned to the land of Israel, never having been there before. Of course, their ancestors were, but they never were.

[15:08] So let's back up. The in the land, out of the land thing that is going to be so critical. Then, the remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin would experience a similar fate about 135 years later, but from a different enemy.

[15:26] This would be the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. This would occur with successive raids, one of which was in 586 B.C. And now they're all out of the land again.

[15:39] The Jews in the northern kingdom, then carried into Assyrian captivity. They remained there. Many of them have been inaccurately referred to as the lost ten tribes, but they never were lost.

[15:52] They were assimilated. Some of them did come back, but they are not to be identified with what some refer to as the lost ten tribes. Meanwhile, in the south, with the two nations or the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, that, of course, included Jerusalem, which was the plum of the whole thing, because the temple was there, the priesthood was there, everything was there.

[16:20] And that was the strategic nerve center of all of Israel was Jerusalem. And that was maintained by the lesser populated two tribes, Judah and Benjamin.

[16:31] Now, they've been carried into captivity. And the thing that we need to keep in mind concerning both of these invasions by neighboring enemies, reduced to captivity, they were both overrun as a direct intervention of the deity.

[16:53] God himself brought those foreign nations against his own people. But not until adequate warning had been given time and time and time again.

[17:06] God spoke through the major and minor prophets to those northern ten tribes, to the kings, warning them, your idolatry is going to cause the collapse of the nation.

[17:18] You are going to be delivered and handed over into slavery. This was the message of the prophets. In the north, they preached this message. Some of the minor prophets had the responsibility of preaching against Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom, and warning the people, your idolatry is going to cause your demise as a nation.

[17:40] The people, of course, pooh-poohed it. Crazy old religious coots, they don't know what they're talking about. They're just trying to scare us. We're a strong people. We can handle any enemy. We're bigger and better than they are, and all the rest of it.

[17:53] Same thing happened in the south. Jeremiah preached his heart out to those who were dull of hearing. They ridiculed him.

[18:03] They persecuted him. They threw him in a pit. They mistreated him in every way that you could imagine, from the king on down. And Jeremiah repeatedly warned them.

[18:15] In fact, he even told them, you're going to be carried to a strange land against your will. You're going to be reduced to servitude, and you're going to be there for 70 years.

[18:31] And that's how long, that's how long the nation of Israel had offended God with their idolatry and with their not allowing the ground to lay fallow every seventh year, like the law of Moses said.

[18:49] Because when you let the ground lie fallow for a whole year, it has an ability to regenerate itself. And they refused to do that. And God based their refusal, and the number of years that they committed that, he used that for the timetable of determining how long they were going to be captive people in a foreign land, and that would be 70 years.

[19:12] So, let's hasten on. While the Jews were captives then in the land of Babylon, and remember, years earlier, the ten tribes were already gone.

[19:24] But did the two tribes in the south benefit and learn from the fate of the northern ten tribes? Of course not. Because in their arrogance, they probably thought, well, we're smarter than them.

[19:35] We can do what they couldn't do. And so, you know, it's just human arrogance. So, while the Jews were captives then in the land of Babylon, which is modern southern Iraq today, the Babylonians themselves would be invaded by the Persian Empire.

[19:55] This is almost like musical chairs, only you're playing it with nations, where one rises up and defeats another, and then somebody rises up and defeats them. They themselves would now be a defeated nation, that is, the Babylonians.

[20:10] And now, the Babylonians, who subjected the Jewish people, are themselves a people subjected by the Persians. And this all began on that fateful night in Daniel chapter 5, when Belshazzar was giving this huge drunken party, and everybody was soaked to the gills, and stuffed with the best food and all the rest of it, and people lying around and trying to sleep it off.

[20:36] And the enemy was at the gate. The Medes and the Persians had invaded the city under stealth, and the Babylonians didn't even know they were inside the city gates until it was too late.

[20:49] And that's when Daniel interpreted that writing on the wall, many, many, tekel luparsum, thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. And before he could figure out what that meant, the enemy was knocking at the gate, and it was too late.

[21:06] It was all over. Numerous threats to eliminate the entire Jewish race of people, no doubt instigated by Satan himself, had been miraculously foiled by people that God used, as in the case of Queen Esther.

[21:23] After several more years, as a captive people, of a captive people, we arrive at an elderly man and his experience that will deal strategically with Israel's being out of their land and returned to their land.

[21:44] And I want you to briefly look while you're in Daniel chapter 9, and I hope you are. If you're not, could you get there, please? Let's go right next door to Jeremiah chapter 25.

[22:01] Just skip past Ezekiel to Jeremiah chapter 25, and let me read for you verses 11 and 12.

[22:11] And this, of course, was written years before. This was written during the time that Jeremiah was being used of God to threaten Judah that an invasion was going to take place.

[22:27] And who would be bringing the invasion and what would be the results of it? And Jeremiah preached this message for years, years before it happened. And, of course, the people kept dismissing him as a religious old crackpot, and he's just trying to demoralize the people, or he's trying to sensationalize, or, you know, all kinds of motives.

[22:46] But in chapter 25, in verse 12, well, let's begin with verse 9. Let's begin with verse 8.

[22:57] Okay? Jeremiah 25, and verse 8. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, declares the Lord, and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, do you get that?

[23:18] You see what he's calling Nebuchadnezzar? My servant? Who is Nebuchadnezzar? He was a pagan. He was a pagan king.

[23:30] This is the guy who's going to get all puffed up, you know, and the one who's going to strut around the walls of Babylon and say, is not this great Babylon that I have built? And God is going to say, that's enough, Buster.

[23:43] On your all fours. And he is cursed by the Lord with a kind of mental illness and he crawls around eating grass with his fingernails and toenails growing.

[23:56] And that went on for years until he finally, one day, came to his senses. And did he ever do a 180 when he said, now I know that the Lord God, he is the only God.

[24:15] You talk about learning that lesson the hard way. That was Nebuchadnezzar. And Jeremiah is delivering this message. He even names who the king is going to be.

[24:26] And he calls him my servant because even pagans are servants when it comes to doing the will of God as he wants it done. And I will bring them against this land.

[24:36] What is this land? This is Israel. This is Jerusalem. This is the beloved city. God is going to do that.

[24:47] Now, of course, they thought, hey, we are the people of God. We are God's chosen people. We have the law. We have the temple. We have the sacrifices.

[24:57] You are saying that God is going to allow that to happen to his chosen people? You must be crazy. And of course, that's how they dismissed him. Nonetheless, Jeremiah kept on with his message.

[25:10] And by the way, many times he was reduced to tears for his people's unbelief. He wasn't dubbed the weeping prophet for nothing. He pled, oh, that my eyes were a fountain, that my tears might weep day and night for the slain of my people.

[25:32] He was a heartbroken prophet who knew what he was preaching was absolutely true. And he couldn't get the people to believe him.

[25:46] I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about. And I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing and an everlasting desolation.

[25:59] Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness. You know, whenever there is conflict, there are always refugees.

[26:15] See it in every war that was ever fought. There are always civilians who are fleeing, trying to get out of danger, trying to flee from the hot spots.

[26:29] and they hit the road with whatever they can carry on their back. The world has been filled with refugees from almost time immoral. And today, there is a generous supply of refugees in the Mideast.

[26:45] People running for their lives, carrying their possessions with them. And among the refugees, you will not find, you will not find joy.

[26:57] exaltation, gladness. All you find is sadness and despair and pessimism.

[27:11] I will take from them the voice of joy 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 lamp.

[27:22] These are all positives that were utilized in day-to-day living. And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

[27:38] Then it will be when seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation. Oh, his time is coming too, declares the Lord, for their iniquity in the land of the Chaldeans and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

[27:59] I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

[28:11] and then over a couple of pages to chapter 29 and verse 10. Thus says the Lord, when seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place.

[28:36] This is Jerusalem. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.

[28:51] All right? Now, if you'll take the sheet that was included in your bulletin and look at the one that is titled JB at the top, the JB simply stands for the Jerusalem Bible.

[29:06] That's the particular edition from which this text was taken. And Daniel has already consulted the prophet Jeremiah to see what he says about this.

[29:19] And Daniel knows how long he and his people have been there in the land of Babylon. Because you'll recall when the Babylonians first invaded, Daniel was just a lad.

[29:35] We don't know how old, but he may have been as young as 10 or 12 years of age. Now, or probably a teenager at the most. But now, this is 70 years later.

[29:48] Daniel is an elderly man. He has established himself as one who really has something to offer the government. And he fulfills his responsibilities and roles very well.

[30:01] But his heart is back in Israel. And now, he is beseeching God on behalf of his people. This is the same time frame as Nehemiah when it came time to go home.

[30:14] Remember, Nehemiah the cupbearer went into the king's presence, Ahasuerus, and he was all downtrodden. And the king looked at him and says, Nehemiah, what's the problem?

[30:26] Why are you looking so glum? Why are you so down in the mouth? And Nehemiah said, Well, Your Majesty, I've received word from my homeland.

[30:39] You know, I'm a Jew and I come from Israel. And I've received word that the walls of my city are all torn down.

[30:51] And the temple is in ruins. And everything is broken down and disheveled and in the state of ruination. And it just makes my heart so heavy to think of this.

[31:05] And the king is sympathetic because he's never been at war with the Jews. He was at war with those who defeated the Jews and took them into captivity. And he ends up bankrolling the effort with material and monies to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls under Nehemiah and start rebuilding the city.

[31:27] It's nation building in its earliest form. He was sympathetic to Nehemiah. And this is the time frame that we are talking about here. Now, Daniel is an old man.

[31:41] And he is going to pray on behalf of his nation. He is going to beseech God to fulfill his promise for his people to return after 70 years.

[31:55] And he's thinking it must be about time. But you know what? Listen. There has to be a change in the hearts and minds of the people to return home.

[32:08] And it has to be dramatically different than the attitude that was in the hearts and minds of the people that caused him to be invaded and carried into captivity. And it is, apparently.

[32:19] it's a new generation of people. Not too many have lived through the entire captivity period of 70 years. Most of them have died off.

[32:29] But those who started that 70 year stint as very young children like Daniel, they're still alive. And Daniel begins his prayer. Read along with me if you will, please.

[32:42] Oh, Lord God, great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness. You notice he said you.

[32:54] He didn't say we. He credits God with keeping the covenant. He blames himself and Israel for their sin.

[33:08] You keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you and keep your commandments. We have sinned. none of this stuff.

[33:19] There were times when we exercised poor judgment. We made our share of mistakes. No, no. We have sinned.

[33:30] You know, when people make mistakes, you know what characterizes a mistake? It's always unintentional. You didn't mean to do it. That's why we call it a mistake.

[33:43] Sin is not a mistake. It is a deliberate act. It is something we do because we intend to do it. We don't do it accidentally. We have sinned.

[33:56] We have done wrong. We have acted wickedly. We have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from them.

[34:07] We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

[34:22] Question. Is there any parallel here with the USA? Of course there is. And you know what? There's probably a parallel here with just about every other nation, too.

[34:33] Not just the USA. I mean, Great Britain is nothing to brag about. They've gone this way before us and we've simply followed them. True with most of Europe.

[34:48] Integrity, Lord, is yours. I love the bluntness and the straightforward nature of Daniel's prayer. No hedging.

[35:02] No waffling. Just flat out taking responsibility. Integrity, Lord, is yours. Which is another way of saying, we don't have any.

[35:17] We don't have any integrity. We don't lay claim to any integrity. You, O Lord, you're the only one who has integrity. Ours.

[35:29] The look of shame we wear today. That's the opposite of integrity. We, the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the treason we have committed against you.

[35:52] when you leave the revelation and the truth of the one and only God responsible for creation and sustaining the universe and you turn to a dumb idol.

[36:05] That's treason. That's holy treason. And Daniel calls it what it is. It's not an alternative lifestyle.

[36:16] to us, Yahweh. And this is a takeoff on the Tetragrammaton in the Hebrew.

[36:28] The four unalterable letters that spell out the name Yahweh, sometimes translated Jehovah. But this is how it's rendered in the Jewish Bible, Yahweh. We do not know this for sure, but that appears to be either the name or very close to the name that God gave to himself, his personal name in the Old Testament and it is rendered in the English Bible all in capital letters L-O-R-D.

[36:59] But in the Hebrew it is the Tetragrammaton. How would you pronounce the name? Y-H-V-H. How would you pronounce that? I have no idea because you leave out the vowels and all you've got to work with are their consonants and it doesn't make sense.

[37:16] But when you put them in, it comes out Yahweh. And some translate it in the English as Jehovah. To us, Yahweh, the look of shame belongs.

[37:29] Now, shame, shame can be realized only where there are standards that have been violated.

[37:39] this is one of the problems we have in our culture today. If people are above or beyond shame or embarrassment, you don't have much leverage with them.

[37:58] And shame and embarrassment, the potential thereof, go right out the window where there are no moral absolutes in place.

[38:10] When the only absolutes you have are those that you impose upon yourself, then you can't violate any standard moral absolutes because they don't exist.

[38:26] So there's no basis for shame. I haven't done anything wrong. I'm guilty of no wrongdoing. We hear this all the time. There are people, and listen, Washington, D.C.

[38:39] is adrift with these people who do not have a capacity for shame or embarrassment. They can tell flat out lies that they know down to their tippy toes is nothing but a big fat lie.

[38:56] And they tell it anyway, simply because it serves their purpose. And it isn't wrong if it attains the objective that you want.

[39:07] So there's no basis for embarrassment or shame. But Daniel's not buying that. He's saying, we've got a ton of shame, and it belongs to us.

[39:20] We need to own it. to us, Yahweh, the look of shame belongs.

[39:34] To our kings, our princes, our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God, mercy and pardon belong, because we have betrayed him and have not listened to the voice of Yahweh, our God, nor follow the laws he has given us through his servants, the prophets.

[39:58] Well, United States of America cannot say, well, we have official servants, the prophets, who have spoken power to our heads of state, to our governors, to our secretaries, etc., in high positions, so we don't have to answer to this.

[40:18] And, you know, to a certain extent, that is true. I mean, we cannot say, we cannot go to Washington, D.C., and say, you people here in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, you need to be listening to Jeremiah, because he's got a message for you.

[40:36] No, he doesn't. Jeremiah's message was for the Jewish people. But I'll tell you what, Jeremiah had a message for the Jewish people, much of which can be fully applied to you here in this nation's capital, just as it could be applied to Jerusalem.

[40:56] But, of course, you're not going to find anybody buying that, but perhaps just a handful of those in Congress who will see that there is even an application.

[41:08] The rest of them will just dismiss it out of hand, and whoever would be the one to bring it to their attention would certainly be categorized as a religious crackpot. The whole of Israel has flouted your law and turned away, unwilling to listen to your voice, and the curse and imprecation written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have come pouring down on us because we have sinned against him.

[41:43] Well, there's no question about it. We have excluded God officially from the public marketplace and from institutions of government, both national and state.

[41:59] We have just as much told God, take a walk. We cut him out of this and cut him out of other things. We just refuse to acknowledge him.

[42:10] Now, listen, nobody is saying God forbid. Nobody is suggesting that the United States of America should be forced to live under the Mosaic Law.

[42:20] You know, there are people who believe that. They are called dominionists. I mean, they actually, honestly, sincerely believe. And these are not stupid people. They're intelligent people.

[42:31] They believe that the United States of America should be governed by the law God gave through Moses to Israel. that it should be imposed upon the whole world, particularly right here in the United States.

[42:46] And they are called dominion theology. They believe that the United States should be a theocracy and that the Old Testament law should be invoked and people should be forced to comply with it.

[43:00] Of course, they start making exceptions in when it comes to animal sacrifice and stuff like that. So the whole thing breaks down and it's really just nonsensical. people. So while no one is claiming and certainly not this pastor is claiming that the United States of America should somehow submit legally and officially to Christianity and to what is stated in the Bible, and we cannot do that in good conscience simply because that invades other people's conscience and God allows everyone the freedom of conscience and we must defend that.

[43:37] So we are not saying that at all. But what we are saying is this. To a very serious degree, this nation, our government, has officially turned its back on any significant recognition or acknowledgement of God.

[44:02] We have taken him out of our schools. We have taken prayer out of the schools, which is tantamount to saying prayer is unessential or prayer is to a deity that we won't even recognize, so how can we have children praying to him?

[44:17] All of these things are part and parcel of simply refusing to acknowledge God. Nobody's saying that we ought to pass laws that make people go to church.

[44:28] That's nonsense. Nobody's saying we ought to pass laws that make people read their Bible or buy their Bible. This is all silly. And yet, there are some who believe that that's what evangelicals are stumping for, and that's just plain craziness.

[44:42] But we are saying there is a God in heaven, and the very least we can do is acknowledge him, his presence, his involvement in the founding of this great nation.

[44:59] Do you realize, do you realize that George Washington never won a significant battle against the English when we were fighting in the War of Independence?

[45:11] independence. And if it had not been for that surprise rout on Christmas Day, Christmas Eve in 1776, I believe it was, or 1777, if it had not been for that, that that was the thing that turned that whole war around.

[45:33] And there is no logical military reason why we should have ever secured our independence. independence. We were out generaled, out numbered, out gunned, out everything.

[45:46] And the only thing that turned it around was that defeat of the Hessian soldiers. These were mercenary German soldiers that the British had hired to fight for them.

[45:58] And that was at Trenton in New Jersey. And if it had not been for that, the war could very possibly have had a different outcome. And the reason that Washington had to attack then when he did was because most of his troops were leaving and going home the first of the year.

[46:15] Their hitch was up. They were done. Washington was desperate. They had to cross the Delaware. And the plan was to cross in three places, one upstream, one here in the middle, and one downstream.

[46:32] They had no communication between them at all because it didn't even exist then. And if you were going to communicate between commands, you had to have a runner or a horseman to carry the message.

[46:45] And they started across the icy Delaware River in three different contingent groups. One group didn't even make it across.

[46:57] And Washington didn't even know it until they got over there and were counting on them to be there and they weren't there. there. You can think the drinking habits of the Hessian soldiers for their being able to take them by surprise because that was the only thing that saved them.

[47:15] And these men crossed that icy filled Delaware river, made it to land on the other side. a number of them didn't even have shoes in the dead of winter and they marched to Trenton with bloody rags covering their feet, walking in the ice and snow.

[47:41] And that's what they did so you could be here sitting where you are today, enjoying what you're enjoying. God was in that. there were too many things that happened in that short span of time for which there is no human explanation.

[48:01] And we've turned our back on that God. We've told him we don't want you in our schools. We don't want our children praying to you or acknowledging you.

[48:17] That would be against the separation of church and state which is pure hogwash. There's no such thing.

[48:29] There needs to be a massive uprising of decent God fearing people who will hold this nation to account for the disastrous unthinkable treatment attitude that we have heaped upon the Almighty.

[48:46] Whatever is in store for this nation of a negative fear, we've got it coming. We deserve it, whatever it is.

[49:02] These are pretty much Daniel's convictions, too. No excuse, sir. It's the only reasonable answer you can give when your commanding officer calls you into question for something you did.

[49:15] no excuse, sir. That's all Daniel is saying to God. It's our fault. We have no excuse. You, Lord, you are the only one who has integrity in this thing.

[49:27] To us, shame belongs. What a tremendous acknowledgement. This is nothing but just gut-level honesty on the part of Daniel. And when he says we, you know who he's including?

[49:41] He's including himself. He's not saying those people, they, they, they. No, he's saying we. You know, I'm among them. They're my people.

[49:51] I'm part of them. I'm one of them. Wow. It all begins with taking responsibility, ownership, acknowledging who we are, what we've done, and the fact that we have no excuse.

[50:09] And we come to God on bended knee with an attitude of repentance pouring our head out to the Lord, acknowledging our sin, then God hears.

[50:21] Nothing delights the heart of God more than people acknowledging they're wrong. Because all they're doing is aligning themselves with reality.

[50:34] And God is a God of reality. Are there lessons here for us? I sure think so. My, oh, my. In fact, I don't know about you, but to me, they just kind of jump off the page and grab me.

[50:47] And it's just like, this is the USA, and this is Great Britain, and this is France, and this, hey, we're all in this thing. We're all part of this thing called the human race. And by and large, the world as a whole, as a whole, has really turned their back on the Creator.

[51:05] earth. We've even attributed creation itself to something that he wasn't even needed for. After all, one of our smartest scientists in the world said, because of the law of gravity, God isn't necessary.

[51:23] The universe is quite capable of creating itself. And we've all nodded our heads and said, yes, sir, the world's smartest physicist said so. Wow. You know what?

[51:37] We are in a position of insult to the Almighty. And I don't know how long his long suffering lasts.

[51:50] But the string may be getting shorter and shorter. And that's why we're gathering to pray on Wednesday night. If you want to join us, you're welcome. We'll be here at seven o'clock.

[52:02] And we're going to reiterate some of the things that Daniel does in his prayer because they sure are applicable to us. Father, we have the benefit, enormous benefit, of having these accounts such as that offered here by Daniel right before us.

[52:29] us. And all it does is give us fair warning, increase our intelligence about what could happen and what might happen, what should happen.

[52:42] gives us the benefit of learning from those who have gone in the past that we not follow in the same way.

[52:54] We believe that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.

[53:06] father, we don't want to be a people who do not benefit from the lessons of history. We don't want to elevate ourselves as somehow being better than those people who were before or smarter or more enlightened and intellectual.

[53:24] We want to confess with Daniel, we have sinned. We have rebelled. we have committed betrayal against the God of heaven.

[53:42] Whatever price you might see fit to bring upon us, it would be nothing but what's deserved. We believe you will assuage your anger and your fury and your righteous indignation if we as a people will admit our sin, acknowledge our wrong and turn to you.

[54:05] It's the very least we can do. It's also the most. We are so grateful for the warning, for the applications, to what extent we are to take this to ourselves individually or nationally.

[54:21]  You know, but we just want to be available for whatever. Thank you for it all in Christ's name. Amen.