DANIEL: Being a Christian in Babylon, chapter 9 // Sunday, June 13, 2021

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Daniel:  Being A Christian in Babylon

Daniel 9 (Part 1)

Chronological Order of Daniel

1              Babylonian Exile

2              Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

3              Nebuchadnezzar’s Image

4              Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride

7     The Times of the Gentiles

8     The Ram and Goat

5              Babylon falls to Persia

9     Prophecy of the 70 Weeks

6              Daniel in the Lions’ Den

10 - 12  Closing Visions

Daniel 9: 1 & 2 (NLT)

   It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.

Jeremiah 29: 10 - 14 (ESV)

   This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

Ezra 1: 4 (NLT)

   In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 

   3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”

Daniel 10: 1 (NLT) 

   In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision…

Daniel’s Response

1.               Literal interpretation

2.               Intercession

3.               Confession & National Repentance

Deuteronomy 30: 1 - 3 (NLT) 

   “In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. 2 If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. 

Daniel 9: 3 (NLT) 

    So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting.

I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.

Principles for Effective Prayer: 

1.               Faith in God’s Word.  (Earnestness)

2.               Proper attitude of mind & heart.   (Humility)

3.               Unhurried confession & petition.    (Reverence)

Daniel 9: 4 - 14 (NLT)

    4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:  “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.  6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.  

    7“Lord, you are in the right; but as  you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. 8 O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 

   9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.  10 We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. “So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.  12 You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem.

   13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth. 

   14 Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.