Monthly Archive for April, 2002

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Daniel 9:16

Published on April 20, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:16 “‘O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.’”
 
 16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
Again, Daniel appeals to the righteousness of God.  The restoration of Israel will come “according to all Your righteousness.”  There is no tension between God’s righteousness and His mercy.  Daniel confessed his sin, so he has the right to appeal to the righteousness of God.  He appeals to the righteousness of God and to the plan of God for the Jews so that Israel will be restored to the land. 
The prophet makes an appeal based on God’s people, city and holy mountain.  Daniel’s appeal goes beyond mercy to that which brings glory to God.  God will be glorified when Israel loses its reproach and returns to the land.
Daniel turns to the import of his prayer.  After presenting a clear picture of who God is, Daniel makes two requests:
1.       “Let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem” (v.16) – This is a request for mercy.
2.      “Cause your face to shine on Your sanctuary” (v.17) – This is a request for the grace to worship in the temple again.  
Daniel uses the name Adonai for God in this verse.  This shift from Jehovah to Adonai focuses on God’s sovereignty.  God controls all the events in the life of Israel. 
PRINCIPLE:  We have a right to fellowship with God because Jesus paid for all our sins. 
APPLICATION:  We have the right to appeal to the righteousness of God when we confess our personal sin.  Christ judged our sins upon the cross, so all sin is already judged.  That satisfied the Father’s judgment of sin. 
Confession of sin is referral back to what Christ did.  God’s righteousness demands that He forgive us when we confess that what Christ did on the cross forgives us completely.  This is the principle of double jeopardy – we do not pay for the same sin twice.  Since God judged Christ for our sins, He does not judge us for them. 
How we feel about our sins is inconsequential.  We may feel sorry for them, but what Christ did for them is the main issue.  All sins – past, present or future – have already been poured out on Christ.  God will not judge you, because He already judged Christ for your sins.  Since God is righteous, He cannot do otherwise. 
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Daniel 9:15

Published on April 19, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:15 “‘And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!’”
 
 15 “And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!”
Beginning with this verse, Daniel prays for the restoration of Israel to her land (9:15-19).  He reminds God of when, in great power, He restored Israel from captivity in Egypt.  Daniel recites precedence.  He appeals to God’s reputation in doing this. 
Daniel delineates acts of God’s past grace to Israel.  God made a name for Himself by His great acts of power in Moses’ day.  Israel did not deserve to be liberated from Egypt but God delivered them in grace.
This is no self-serving request, for Daniel appeals to the reputation of God’s name for these things to be accomplished.
PRINCIPLE:  Humility is the foundation for confession. 
APPLICATION:  We do not deserve to be liberated from our sin and discipline from God, but He will extend His grace to us if we confess our sins.  We do not deserve this but God gives it because of the sacrifice of His Son.  God is faithful to us even though we do not deserve it. 
We appeal to the essence of God for grace to get back into fellowship with God.  All forgiveness must line up with God’s grace provision of sacrifice for our sin.  God always operates according to His character.  He never responds to us according to our character.  God’s love and God’s righteousness are satisfied in the cross of Christ. 
As God delivered the Egyptians with a mighty hand, He will deliver us with a mighty hand.  God does the work so God gets the glory. 
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Daniel 9:14

Published on April 18, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:14 “‘Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.’”
 
14 “Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.”
The “disaster” of this verse is the seventy-year captivity of Israel.  God had no other alternative but to bring judgment on the Jews even though He is a God of mercy.  If we spurn God’s mercy, discipline is inevitable.  God was faithful to keep His Word in both blessing and cursing. 
PRINCIPLE:  If we spurn God’s mercy, discipline is inevitable. 
APPLICATION:  God is in the business of disciplining those He loves.  When the nation Israel got out of fellowship with God, He sent them into captivity. 
Le 26:14 “But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, 15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, 16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.”
When the believer steps out of fellowship with God in a protracted way, God sends discipline into his life for the purpose of correction but not punishment.  God does this because He loves His children. 
He 12:5 “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.’
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?”
God is fair but we are unfair to Him (“God is righteous in all His works”).  He waits to deliver and bless us.  We are the only ones standing in the way.  Freedom from slavery is useless unless we have an attitude of freedom.  Our attitude of freedom comes from appropriation of God’s truth to experience. 
Confession avoids disaster.  It turns cursing into blessing. 
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Daniel 9:12-13

Published on April 17, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:12 “‘And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.’”
 
12 “And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.”
Now Daniel details the divine discipline God brought upon Israel for her sin and rebellion against God’s Word. 
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.”
Moses warned Israel about departing from God but Israel disregarded the warning in Moses, so God brought discipline upon them.  The remedy lies in the repentance of Israel. 
PRINCIPLE:  Non-confession of sin sends us pell-mell toward spiritual degeneration. 
APPLICATION:  The more we neglect fellowship with the Lord, the worse our discipline becomes.  There is a degenerating process if we do not confess our sins.  Knowledge and application of the principles of the Word will save us from protracted discipline.  All effective Christian living rests on the principles of the Word. 
Effective prayer rests on the principles of the Word.  Prayer should not be hit or miss: “Lord, bless the lilies and the little bunnies of the field!”  That is a shotgun approach to prayer or confession.  True confession lies in specifying our sin. 
Genuine confession involves acknowledging specific sins.  It is not enough to pray, “I confess my sins.”  We must tell God precisely how we violate Him.  If we order a computer, we order a specific computer within certain specifications and price limits.
When we recognize that we are utterly unworthy in the presence of an absolute, Almighty God, we have the right attitude for confession and prayer.  The more holy we are, the more conscious we are of our sin.  We have a sense of our unworthiness.  Justification of self will not help us to grow in the Lord.  Evading and minimizing our sins will lead us further astray.  Our hope lies in admitting our unworthiness and casting ourselves on the mercy of God.  Humility is the foundation for confession.
Ge 18:27 “Then Abraham answered and said, ‘Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord…’”
Is 6:5 “So I said:
‘Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.’”
Confidence in the character of God is at the root of all trust in God.  If God’s favor falls on His people, everything else will follow in its place.  A characteristic of God’s glory is that He is good to His people. 
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Daniel 9:9-11

Published on April 16, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:9 “‘To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 “We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.’”
 
9 “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.”
Daniel contrasts God’s “mercy and forgiveness” to Israel’s rebellion against Him.  He acquits God of any wrong in sending Israel into captivity.  
10 “We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.”
The word “laws” is literally instructions.  The next two verses focus on Israel’s neglect of God’s Word.  God blesses those who take Him at His Word. 
11 “Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.”
Israel’s discount of God’s Word brought the curse of Gentile captivity upon her (De 28:15-68).  Israel was obstinate in her rebellion in the face of God’s judgment, so God brought a “curse” on her. 
De 28:63 “And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.”
PRINCIPLE:  We get back into God’s blessings and fellowship by confession of personal sins. 
APPLICATION:  How do we get back into fellowship with God once we sin?  Confession.  We find the principle of confession in Romans.
Ro 6:13 “And do not present (yield) your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
Ro 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present (yield) your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
The word “yield” refers to allowing God to control our lives.  We will not control our lives with sin.  This has nothing to do with a “one time” yielding to God in service but to a yielding to God in principle.
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Daniel 9:8

Published on April 15, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.”

 

8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.”
Daniel details the extent of the sin of Israel.  It went even to the leadership. 
PRINCIPLE:  Taking personal responsibility for our sin is the first step toward spiritual maturity. 
APPLICATION:  We should not blame God or others for our failure.  Making someone else a patsy for our problems is a fast way to put us off-track spiritually and keep us off-track.  Each one of us must take responsibility for our own actions.  Taking full responsibility for our failure is the first step toward spiritual maturity. 
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Daniel 9:6-7

Published on April 14, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:6 “‘Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.’”
 
6 “Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.”
Daniel details the sins of Israel in both overt transgression and subtle omission.  Israel disregarded God’s words through the prophets (2 Chr 30:10).  Rejection of God’s authority is the beginning of spiritual failure.  Genuine repentance always comes with honesty and integrity.  Daniel did not rationalize, minimize or justify the sin of his people, but honestly faced the Word of God with courage. 
7 “O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.”
Daniel contrasts the righteousness of God with the failure of His people.  Daniel reveals the culprits responsible for rebellion against God’s Word, and it is not God. 
We normally see a person’s shame in his face.  This was true in Daniel’s people “driven” into captivity because of their treachery and “unfaithfulness.” 
Ps 44:15 “My dishonor is continually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me…”
PRINCIPLE:  Confession preempts chastening. 
APPLICATION:  God is in the business of disciplining those He loves.  When the nation Israel got out of fellowship with God, He sent them into captivity. 
Le 26:14 “‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, 15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, 16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.’”
When the believer steps out of fellowship with God in a protracted way, God sends discipline into his life for the purpose of correction, not punishment.  God does this because He loves His children.  God is fair but we are unfair to Him (“God is righteous in all His works”).  He wants to deliver and bless us.  We are the only ones standing in the way.  Freedom from slavery is useless unless we have an attitude of freedom.  Our attitude of freedom comes from appropriation of God’s truth to experience. 
He 12:5 “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.’
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Confession avoids disaster.  It turns cursing into blessing. 
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Daniel 9:5

Published on April 13, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:5 “’we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.’”
 
5 “we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. ”
Daniel’s confession for himself and the nation runs from this verse to the fourteenth verse.  He serves as a spokesman for the nation’s confession.  In the face of God’s faithfulness to His people, His people were not faithful to Him. 
Four parallel words for sin give the core of Daniel’s confession.  “Sinned” is to miss the mark of God’s righteousness.  “Iniquity” is a distortion of God’s character.  “Done wickedly and rebelled” is doing what we know is wrong and then transgressing that clear standard of God. 
All these sins come by “departing” from God’s Word.  The reason Israel committed the preceding sins is that they departed from God’s “precepts” and “judgments.”  “Precepts” are God’s authoritative standards or principles, and “judgments” are His wise ways of dealing with life. 
PRINCIPLE:  Grace is to rest in God’s finished work. 
APPLICATION:  God gave the Jews a reminder of His grace in His system of sabbaths.  Sabbath means rest.  They were to work for six days and rest on the seventh day.  God rested on the seventh day.  The point is not that He was tired but that He accomplished and finished His work.  The believer is to rest in God’s finished work, not in his own work.  This is the principle of grace. 
We rest in the work of God by belief or trust in what He did and does.  We can do nothing for salvation or spirituality.  God makes all the provision for that.  He accomplished our salvation before the foundation of the world. 
Every seventh year, Israel was to rest the land for fertilization purposes.  They were to trust the Lord to provide for that year.  During Daniel’s day and for many years before, the temptation to work the land on the seventh year became too great.  For seventy sabbatical years (spanning 490 years), Israel failed to rest the land, so God said, “You will rest the land all at once – for seventy years.” 
Ex 23:10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.”
2 Chr 36:20 “And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”
God wants every believer to operate on the principle of grace.  The life of the believer is one of resting on the provisions of God.  If we do not learn this lesson, then God will send us into discipline. 
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Daniel 9:4

Published on April 12, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:4 “And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, ‘O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments…’”
 
4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,
Verses 4-14 are Daniel’s prayer of confession.  His prayer began with confession to the transcendent God.  He recognized God’s faithful commitment to His people by the word “covenant” and His love to them by the word “mercy.”  God’s people were not loyal to God, but God was loyal to them. 
Daniel addresses God by His personal name, Yahweh (LORD).  Daniel uses this name for God seven times in chapter nine, but nowhere else in the book. 
God is “great and awesome.”  “Great” refers to God’s sovereignty and immensity.  An “awesome” person is someone to be feared or deeply respected.  He is also a God of “covenant and mercy.”  God is faithful.  God is both transcendent (great) and immanent (covenant and mercy).  God is faithful to His contracts and He always extends His love to His people.  The word “mercy” carries the idea of steadfast love.  Daniel had a clear understanding of the essence of God. 
Those who love God and are true to His Word will benefit from God’s promises.  God is reliable so we can trust Him. 
PRINCIPLE:  We can measure the discipline in our lives by our response to the principles of the Word. 
APPLICATION:  We can measure the disaster in our lives by our attitude toward the Word of God.  Non-compliance with the Word of God or rebellion against the principles of the Bible will put us on a deep slide. 
It is impossible for God to be unfair.  He is absolute and perfect veracity.  God cannot change Himself but believers must adjust to the perfect character of God to fellowship with Him. 
Deut 28:45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.”
As the Jews were custodians of God’s Word, so it is our responsibility to carry the principles of the Word in our lives to shine as stars before those without Christ.
 
Ph 2:15 “…that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.”
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Daniel 9:3

Published on April 11, 2002 in Daniel. 0 Comments
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Daniel 9:3 “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”
 
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel was purposeful in prayer – “I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications.”  He left nothing out of his prayer life.  He used every utility to prayer he could.  This is a stamp of effective prayer. 
As Daniel saw the end of the seventy years approaching, he prayed for the restoration of the exiled Jews.  Jeremiah had challenged his people to pray for that restoration (Je 29:12-14).  Daniel prayed that prayer in verses 3-19.  Prayer was a means whereby God accomplished His prophetic Word. 
The word “prayer” carries the idea of intercession, and “supplications” the idea of entreaty for mercy.  The ideas of “fasting, sackcloth and ashes” also portray Daniel’s attitude in prayer.  His attitude was more important than his words. 
PRINCIPLE:  Attitude is important in prayer. 
APPLICATION:  Our attitude is important in prayer: “God, I can only look to you for an answer to my problem. I depend on your grace for everything.”  This is not self-effacement or false humility but a reflection of God’s provision. 
A specific category of prayer–confession–is the means of getting back into fellowship with God.  God does not forgive us by our feeling sorry for sin.  That is to take the punishment for sin on ourselves.  That also shifts the focus off what Christ did on the cross for our sins.  We cannot possibly say to the Lord, “Move over Jesus, I am going to mentally climb up on that cross with you to do some suffering for my sin.  What you did was not quite adequate.  I will do some suffering myself.”  That curses what Christ did on the cross. 
Forgiveness comes by naming our sins and recognizing that the suffering that Jesus did on the cross was sufficient to forgive us.  God already judged our sins so we do not have to suffer for them. 
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