epcblog

Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Daniel 9

Daniel believed the word of God. He understood the prophecies of Jeremiah to be authoritative. According to Daniel’s understanding, the time had come for the fulfillment of the Lord’s Word in Jeremiah 25:11 that they would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. Because of this, Daniel turned to God in prayer, humbling himself before the Lord and earnestly seeking mercy for God’s people.

He spoke to God with an acknowledgement of the Lord’s greatness and righteousness and with confession of the sins of the people. The exile to Babylon was not a result of something lacking in God, but a long-expected discipline of the Lord’s people for their sin, for they had not been true to the Word. Earlier prophets had spoken to those in authority and to the people at large both in the northern and southern kingdoms, but the Lord’s people had not listened to them. Daniel confesses the treachery of the people, but he also confesses that mercy and forgiveness belong to God.

This trouble that has come upon Israel and Judah should not have been a surprise, since Moses had warned them so many centuries before about the chastisement that would come upon the people if they did not obey the Lord. What had taken place was not simply the result of anonymous geopolitical movements from economic or military disadvantages of Israel compared to the empires from the north and east. The God of Israel had patiently warned them over many centuries, and had finally brought upon them the calamity that He had promised. What is amazing, and what we have seen previously in the account of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, is that even after all of this happened, the people did not really turn to God and repent. Nonetheless the mercy of God remains a delightfully steadfast fact. Daniel calls upon the Lord with a confident expectation that this discipline was to be for a given period of time. If the Lord dealt with us only according to the Law, there could never be any hope for us, but with God there is abundant mercy.

Daniel’s plea is based on the Lord’s own Name, and His love for Jerusalem and for the Lord’s sanctuary which was now desolate. He cries out to God based upon the Lord’s own Word and a secure understanding of the character of our Maker and Defender. He cannot plead the righteousness of the people, for they have not been righteous, but He can ask God to act for His own Name’s sake, and to do what is consistent with His own sure promises. Why would the Lord even continue to care for those who were obviously disobedient? The reason is that the city and the people are somehow united to the Lord, just as the church of Jesus Christ today bears the Name of the Son of God.

Daniel was heard. The angel Gabriel spoke to the prophet this comforting fact: “You are greatly loved.” God hears the pleas of His people in accord with His own good purposes. He has loved us with a great love in His Son Jesus Christ. Because of this we have been made alive, we believe in His Word, and we approach the Lord in prayer through the perfect mediation of Jesus Christ.

Though the words spoken to Daniel are supposed to give insight and understanding, as with the prior chapter, this does not mean that the prophet is given a full understanding of what is being spoken or that these words are simple or straight-forward. What we should be able to see is that the sovereign Lord has the future in His own hand. He will finish transgression. He will put an end to sin. He will atone for iniquity. He will bring in everlasting righteousness. He will complete special revelation, and he will anoint a most holy place with his presence. This will not take place without much suffering and opposition, but it is obvious from words that are otherwise quite challenging, that the mercy and righteousness of the Lord will be victorious.

The fullness of the wonder of these words cannot be entirely understood in the earlier tokens of fulfillment that come prior to the birth of Christ or in the inception of the New Covenant era. There is something here that moves us forward to the complete answer for sin and the fall, and the end to every abomination that brings desolation. There is a temple here that is beyond any structure in Jerusalem, just as there is a trouble here that goes beyond the Greeks and the Romans.

Beyond everything else we should see here a Man greater than Daniel who made loud cries and supplications to God and was heard. We are told in Hebrews 5:7 that He was heard because of His reverence. By His one sacrifice He has accomplished all of the hopes of every prophetic revelation. We see in His own life, death, and resurrection the beginning of the new resurrection life that will come when the Lord returns. Now we long for an end to all transgression, iniquity, and sin. We have this already in Christ because He has atoned for our sins through the cross, but when He returns He will bring in the perfect kingdom of everlasting righteousness. He will anoint His church as the most holy place, and we will enter into the joy of the fullest eternal communion with our God and His people.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 6:00 AM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home