Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 16 - Daniel 9

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December 16 - Daniel 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Tuesday, it's the 16th of
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  December and it's great to have your company.
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  And I had someone say to me not long ago, how many people
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  actually listen on the day that it's intended.
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  Probably a bit under half of us listen on the day and the rest
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  catch up whenever it works for us.
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  So whatever day it is, it's great to have your company.
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  Thank you for tapping on play. We are going to continue working
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  our way through these visions that God gives to Daniel and
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  today's vision has a whole lot of talk of 70 years and 70 * 7
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  weeks and it all feels a little bit much.
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  What are these numbers referring to?
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  Well, if you cast your mind back to when God was giving His
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  people the rules about how they would go about living in their
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  new land, He spoke about the 7th year, the year of Jubilee,
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  right? Where the land rests and the
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  slaves are freed and debt is forgiven.
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  So this concept of seven is, is whole, this whole number of
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  seven and 10 is also a whole number.
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  So when you cross this whole number of seven and this whole
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  number of 10, you get the very whole number of 70.
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  And so when people talk about 70 years or 70 * 7 weeks, this
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  really is a complete time of rest or a complete time of
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  repentance or a complete time of restoration for God's people.
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  So when you hear about these amounts of time, this is a
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  perfect time of rest, a perfect time of change and
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  transformation that God's people have needed to go through in
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  their exile in Babylon, far away from their promised land.
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  So, friends, let us dive in and read all about Daniel's prayer
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  and Gabriel's answer as we read Daniel Chapter 9.
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  It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the
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  son of Ahazuerus, who became king of the Babylonians during
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  the first year of his reign. I, Daniel, learned from reading
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  the word of the Lord as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that
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  Jerusalem must lie desolate for 70 years.
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  So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and
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  fasting. I also wore rough burlap and
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  sprinkled myself with ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and
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  confessed. Oh Lord, you are a great and
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  awesome God. You always fulfil your covenant
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  and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love
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  you and obey your commands. But we have sinned and done
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  wrong. We have rebelled against You and
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  scorned Your commands and regulations.
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  We have refused to listen to Your servants, the prophets who
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  spoke on Your authority, to our kings and Princess and
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  ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
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  Lord, you are in the right, but as you see, our faces are
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  covered with shame. This is true of all of us,
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  including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel
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  scattered near and far wherever You have driven us.
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  Because of our disloyalty to You, O Lord, we and our kings,
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  Princess and ancestors are covered with shame because we
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  have sinned against You. But the Lord our God is merciful
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  and forgiving. Even though we have rebelled
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  against Him, we have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have
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  not followed the instructions He gave us through His servants,
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  the prophets. All Israel has disobeyed Your
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  instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to Your
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  voice. So now the solemn curses and
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  judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have
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  been poured down on us because of our sin.
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  You have kept Your Word and done to us and our rulers exactly as
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  You warned. Never has there been such a
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  disaster as happened in Jerusalem.
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  Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come
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  true, yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God
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  by turning from our sins and recognising His truth.
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  Therefore the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he
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  prepared. The Lord our God was right to do
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  all these things, for we did not obey Him.
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  O Lord our God, you brought lasting honour to Your name by
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  rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power.
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  But we have sinned and a full of wickedness in view of all your
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  faithful mercies. Lord, please turn your furious
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  anger away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain.
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  All the neighbouring nations mock Jerusalem and your people
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  because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.
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  O our God, hear your servant's prayer.
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  Listen as I plead for your own sake.
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  Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.
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  O my God, lean down and listen to me.
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  Open your eyes and seer our despair.
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  See how your city, the city that bears your name, lies in ruins.
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  We make this plea not because we deserve help, but because of
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  your mercy, O Lord, here, O Lord, forgive.
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  O Lord, listen and act for your own sake.
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  Do not delay, Oh my God, for your people and your city bear
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  your name. I went on praying and confessing
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  my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God
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  for Jerusalem, his holy mountain.
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  As I was praying, Gabriel, who I've seen in the earlier vision,
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  came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
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  He explained to me, Daniel, I have come here to give you
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  insight and understanding. The moment you began praying, a
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  command was given, and now I'm here to tell you what it is for.
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  You are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can
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  understand the meaning of your vision.
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  A period of 70 sets of seven has been decreed for your people and
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  your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to
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  their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting
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  righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision and to anoint
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  the Most Holy Place. Now listen and understand. 70
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  sets of 7 + 62 sets of seven will pass from the time the
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  command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler, the
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  Anointed One, comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with
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  streets and strong defences, despite the perilous times.
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  After this period of 62 sets of seven, the Anointed One will be
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  killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a
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  ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the
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  Temple. The end will come with a flood
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  and a war, and its miseries are decreed from that time to the
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  very end. The ruler will make a treaty
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  with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half
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  this time he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings.
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  And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a
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  sacrilegious object that causes desecration until the fate
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  decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.
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  Oh Lord, what a beautiful image this is.
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  Yes, beautiful of your servant Daniel, knees bent in prayer,
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  just pleading with you, seeing your just hand through the whole
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  history of his people through that terrible time of exile, and
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  then coming to you with the deepest desire of his heart for
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  his people to be restored back to their homeland.
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  And then, Lord, we hear this wonderful response from the
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  other side of the curtain that we so seldom get to see.
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  And we see that you, the moment Daniel begins to pray, you know
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  what his prayer will be. And you said about things to
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  bring about the end of that time, and you set things in
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  motion to answer His prayer. Our Lord continue to draw us
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  into prayer to you. And even when it feels like
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  nothing's happening, and when our prayer just lands empty,
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  Lord, give us faith to know that our prayers go to you and that
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  you in your perfect timing, respond before the words have
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  even left our lips. You know what that will be.
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  And you respond, Oh, you're a good God.
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  You are a great God and you are our God, and so we come before
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  you in prayer today and every day just laying down our lives
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  at the foot of your throne. For you are holy and wonderful
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  and loving. And thank you for showing us
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  your love in Jesus, in whose name we pray all of these
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  things. Amen.