Daniel 9:1-19 Dare to Repent
Theological Proposition/Focus: We are all fallen creatures before the holy God of the universe.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: The holiness of God should drive us to our knees in repentance, not just for the sins of today but for the fallenness of humanity.
Introduction: Memory Verse: 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Preview: Today we are going to talk about repentance but not just personal repentance, corporate repentance. We will see that repentance ultimately acknowledges that we sin against God and must appeal to his mercy.
Text: Daniel 3:1-19, read Daniel 3:1-3 first then back to title slide then Daniel 3"4-19, then first point.
Image: Anticipation
Have you ever waited for something for so long that when the time finally comes you can't do anything but think about it? For me this often happens at night. A couple of years back I was going to be ferrying a small plane that had some instrument failures from Colorado to Lincoln by myself before it got repaired. It would be the first time I had ever made that length of a flight by myself and since the airplane was in need of repair my nerves were a little more tense than usual. In the days leading up to the flight I didn't really think much about it. But the night before I could hardly sleep. I was excited, anxious, and just rimed to go. I remember thinking to myself, go to sleep, you need your sleep before this flight. Anticipation was driving me nuts!
Today we are going to be looking at Daniel 9 and anticipation will weigh heavy on Daniel. In order to understand Daniel 9 we need to take some time and dig into the historical background that brings us up to chapter 9.
Setting the Stage:
The Fall of Jerusalem
In 587 BC the city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. This campaign was part of a series of events that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of many Judeans to Babylon.
Several factors were at work:
Political instability: The Kingdom of Judah was politically weak and faced internal strife, making it vulnerable to external aggression. Disobedience to Babylon: Judah rebelled against Babylonian rule, which led Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem in 597 BC and later in 587 BC. Siege warfare: The Babylonian army surrounded Jerusalem, cutting off its food and water supplies, leading to famine and desperation among the inhabitants. Destruction of the city: After a lengthy siege, the Babylonian forces breached the walls of Jerusalem, resulting in the destruction of the city and its temple, including Solomon's Temple. Exile of the population: Many of the prominent citizens of Judah were taken into captivity and forced into exile in Babylon, marking the beginning of the Babylonian Exile, which lasted for several decades.
The reality underneath the visible reality was that God was at work.
The problems
At the beginning of Israel's history Moses had revealed the principle under which God intended to work with Israel
obedience would bring blessing, and disobedience would bring discipline. One form of discipline was that Israel would be subjugated to Gentile powers (Deut. 28:48–57, 64–68). Israel’s experience in Babylon was the outworking of this principle.[1]
However, Moses also promised that "the discipline would be lifted and the nation would be restored to blessing (Deut. 30). She would have to return to God and obey His voice; then God would turn back her Captivity and restore the people to the land from which they had been dispersed and shower blessings on them. [2]"
The prophets
Within the prophetic writings, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Judeans to Babylon were said to be consequences of the people's disobedience and rebellion against God's laws and commandments.
Throughout the Bible, there were numerous warnings from prophets such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, urging the people of Judah to repent and turn back to God. They prophesied about the impending destruction of Jerusalem if the people continued in their sinful ways, including idolatry, social injustice, and moral corruption. God's allowance of Jerusalem to fall to Babylon was in fulfillment of these prophetic warnings and as a demonstration of divine justice. God used the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar as an instrument of punishment to discipline the people of Judah and to bring about their repentance.
But hope was also promised in Jeremiah 25:11-12
11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever.[3]
Israel had messed up, but God was merciful and would restore the people. This is the context in which we find ourselves in Daniel chapter 9.
Let's read
Daniel 9:1-3.
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian[b] kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. [4]
Body
Repentance requires personal and corporate confession (4-6).
Most of us are familiar with the ideas of personal confession of sin.
But the reality is that we should also consider corporate confession..
Wickedness, rebellion, disobedience, and failure to listen rank among the top corporate sins.
Image:
MTR: Consider, what are some areas of corporate sin for which you should be repenting?
Repentance requires that we acknowledge that ultimately our sins are against the God of the universe (7-14).
When sin is allowed to linger it breeds shame.
Because sin is ultimately against God, God has the right to discipline.
God's discipline seeks to turn the sinner back to God.
Image:
MTR: Search your own heart, are there areas in which God is trying to get your attention?
Repentance requires an appeal to God not based on our righteousness but on His mercy (15-19).
Appealing to God is the correct response to sin.
Calling on the God who mercifully forgives is appropriate.
For the Christian our appeal for mercy is grounded in the cross of Christ.
Image:
MTR: Take a second consider the cross, come to God and ask for forgiveness, and joyfully praise the God who has forgiven.
- ↑ J. Dwight Pentecost, “Daniel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1359–1360.
- ↑ J. Dwight Pentecost, “Daniel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1359–1360.
- ↑ Jeremiah 25:11-12
- ↑ Daniel 9:1-3, NIV.
