Sunday, March 30, 2025

“Before Your God” [Matt's Messages]

“Before Your God”
The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
March 30, 2025 :: Daniel 10:1-11:1  

In Daniel chapter 10, old Daniel is still praying.

In Daniel chapter 10, old Daniel is not done praying for his people.

We’ve learned a lot about prayer by watching Daniel pray in this book. Daniel prayed in chapter 2, and God revealed the king’s dream and the true interpretation of the king’s dream to Daniel. Daniel faithfully prayed in chapter 6 and got thrown to the lions for it (and saved from the lions by that same Lord). Last week, in Daniel chapter 9, Daniel was desperately praying for the end of Israel’s exile as Jeremiah had prophesied in his book. 

And the Lord answered by sending the angel Gabriel to inform Daniel not just that God will perfectly keep His promises but that He has a perfect plan to fix (not just the exile after 70 years, but to fix everything) in His perfect timing (70 “sevens” whatever they are). And the Lord is perfectly on time.
Well, as we open Daniel chapter 10, Daniel is still praying.

A few years have gone by. Some things have changed. God’s plan is still being worked out in human history. And Daniel is still praying. And God is still answering. 

In fact, in answer to his prayer, Daniel has perhaps the wildest encounter with the Lord in this whole book! And that’s saying a lot. What a life Daniel lived! What things God showed him! And what things we can learn from him and his book!


We’ve reached the last bit of the Book of Daniel. These last 3 chapters are actually all about the same thing, the fourth and last vision that God gave to Daniel. There was one central vision in chapter 7, one focusing vision in chapter 8, one super-enigmatic vision in chapter 9, and then this last one is the longest one, chapters 10 through 12.

It’s going to take us a few weeks to work our way through it. Instead of preaching a two hour sermon, I think I will just break it up into chunks just like whoever put in the chapter numbers did! But keep that in mind as we work through it. Chapters 10 through 12 are all one thing. In fact, chapter 10 is really just preparation. It’s just getting Daniel (and us) ready to receive the content of the prophecy of the future in chapters 11 and 12.

The sermon title for today is “Before Your God.” I pulled those words from verse 12, where Daniel’s heavenly visitor  tells Daniel that he has come in response to Daniel’s prayers before His God. It’s actually the only verse in chapter 10 that includes a divine name. So I zeroed in on that because I’ve been trying to focus on the names of God as I’ve titled these sermons.

Because this chapter is not ultimately about Daniel or about his prayers or even about the mysterious spiritual beings that we will learn about as we read it. This chapter is ultimately about Daniel’s God Who is also ours. Let’s start in verse 1.

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over” (vv.1-3).

Old Daniel is still praying. And he’s praying desperately. When the chapter opens, Daniel informs us that he’s been mourning for three weeks. Literally, that says, “3 ‘sevens’ of days.” So it’s that word we learned we learned last week, a ‘seven’ “shavua” (a set of seven) but here it’s specifically a “‘seven’ of days” so this is literal 3 week period that Daniel has been mourning; 21 days. 

He’s gone on a partial fast. No choice food, no meat or wine. No skin cream for his cracked and dry Jewish skin under the harsh Babylonian sun. It’s kind of like a return to how he was in chapter 1 when Daniel refused the king’s rich food during the wisemen training period.  Three weeks, he’s back to water and vegetables once again.

And he’s praying.
And he’s praying.
And he’s praying.

Why is Daniel praying so desperately? It doesn’t say. But we can guess. For one thing, Daniel just is a man of prayer. He’s been praying for decades, he’s not going to stop.

But the timestamp of verse 1 might give us a good clue as to why in particular he’s praying like this now. When did this happen? Verse 1 says it was, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia...”

Now, I think that means the third year that Cyrus (who was the high king of Persia) ruled over Babylon. Not the third year Cyrus was king of Persia but king over Babylon. He took over Babylon in 539 BC when the writing was on the wall for Belshazzar. And he put Darius the Mede in charge of Babylon in 539 BC. Darius is not mentioned here. Perhaps because he’s died already. He was already 62 when he took over.

Or maybe verse 1 emphasizes Cyrus because of what else he did in his first year over Babylon. He allowed the Jews to go home! We talked about this last week (and you can read about it in the book of Ezra). Cyrus decreed that the Jews could go home, and nearly 50,000 of them took him up on it.

I wonder how many of them passed through the Ishtar gate as they made the 600+ mile trek back to Judah to rebuilt their city and even their temple. 

But Daniel did not go home. He did not pass through the Ishtar gate and head west to Judah. In verse 4, we’ll find him north and east of Babylon standing at the Tigris river. Daniel stayed behind and prayed. And prayed. And prayed.

This is three years later, so that makes it about 536 BC. How old is Daniel in 536 BC? He’s around 83? 84? And old Daniel has decided that he’s going to fast and pray.

He’s probably gotten some bad news from back home. Yes, the people went back home and started to rebuild. But if you read the book of Ezra, you’ll find out that right about this time, they stopped rebuilding the temple (see especially chapters 4 through 6). They got sidetracked and stalled. They encountered opposition and they kind of gave up for a while.

It’s just a guess, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Daniel has heard about their lack of progress, and he’s been discouraged. Daniel has been receiving visions for a few years now that tell him that there are terrible things in store for his people. And it seems like it’s already coming true. So he mourns. He fasts. And he prays. He, in the words of verse 12, humbles himself before his God. 

I’ve got just two points of application this morning, and here’s the first one: 

#1. HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE YOUR GOD.

What an example for you and me, right?

Dare to be a Daniel and continue to care about the pain of the people of God. Dare to be a Daniel and continue to pour yourself out in prayer, humbling yourself before your God.

We sang it this morning, “Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord.” That’s easier to sing and to say that it is to do. But Daniel shows us the way.

Daniel could have just sat back at this point in his life, couldn’t he? He could have said, “I’ve done my time. I’ve served my people. I’ve been praying and prophesying and representing my people in the highest courts of the nations for decades and decades. I’ll let somebody else do it now. I’m retired from prayer ministry. God has told me that He’s got a perfect plan on a perfect timetable. So I’ll just let Him do it now.”

But, no, as much as Daniel trusts God’s perfect plan, Daniel also knows that his people are suffering, and they need someone to pray for them. And they need someone to try to understand what is going on. And they need someone to fight for them in prayer.

Verse 1 says that this vision is true and concerns “a great war.” A great struggle. A great conflict. And this is Daniel’s way of fighting in this war. He prays. He humbles himself before his God, and he prays.

How about you and me? Are we praying? Are we humbling ourselves before our God? Do we get on our knees?  There is a war going on! A spiritual war. Are we just sitting on the sidelines? 

Who are you praying for right now? Who is on your list? Are you praying for missionaries, those people on the back wall? Are you praying for the persecuted church, our brothers and sisters who are suffering for the name of Jesus around the world? Are you praying for your local church? Are you praying for the people in the pew? Do you receive the prayer emails that Denise sends out, and do you pray for them when you read them? Are you praying for your family, especially for their spiritual condition, for their discipleship, for their citizenship in the kingdom of kingdoms? Are you praying “Your kingdom come! Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven?” (Matthew 6:10).

To really pray like that requires humility.  Daniel could have been the proudest man around, but instead he humbled himself before his God. And God answered. Boy, did God answer! Look at verse 4.

“On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude” (vv.4-6).

I can’t imagine. Can you? What a glorious being this was! How radiant and marvelous!

Heather Joy pointed out to me how much light is here. Not only is he wearing linen (like a priest) but he’s wrapped around the middle in shining gold. And his upper body shines like a precious gemstone (whichever one it actually is–some other versions say topaz (KJV), some say beryl (NIV11, ESV), some say yellow jasper (NET). Nobody’s quite sure. Whatever exact gemstone it is like, it’s amazing! It’s like he’s made of a precious metal and probably glowing?!  

His face is like lightning! Lightning! Brightness itself! If you look at lightning, and close your eyes, it’s still there. His face is like that! And his eyes themselves are like flaming torches, fire coming out of his eyes! And his arms and legs are shiny bronze. This person is dazzling!

And his voice? It’s like the sound of a great crowd. Like Beaver Stadium full of 120,000 screaming fans. That’s his voice! Deep, loud, forceful, tremendous. And it echoes and echoes and echoes and echoes.

Here’s a reason to humble ourselves! Because our God is glorious.

Now, who is this person in verse 5 and 6? 

It doesn’t say. We’re back to the problem of identification we’ve had throughout this study. There is no naming names, no “who is who.”

And so, we may need to pull out our helpful little phrase, “I don’t know, and that’s okay.” Or maybe better, “I’m not sure, and that’s okay.”

A lot of biblical scholars think that this is the angel Gabriel once again.

He showed up in chapter 8 and in chapter 9, maybe it’s Gabriel again in chapter 10. If he’s the same person talking at the end of the chapter, then he works in cooperation with the angel Michael. So Gabriel is not a bad guess.

But a lot of other biblical scholars think this is Someone Else. They think that this is not just an angelophany (like Greg taught us at Stay Sharp) but a Christophany. They think this is pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. They think this is the Son of Man before He became a man.

And that’s quite possible, too. The best argument for that is the parallels between these two verses and the way that Jesus is described by the Apostle John in Revelation chapter 1. Read Revelation 1 this afternoon and look at all of the similarities. They are striking.

And there, He’s even called, “One like a son of man” right out of the Book of Daniel.

I’m not 100% sure that this is Jesus here because of how later in the chapter, he seems to be a little hindered and to need help from Michael. So that gives me a little pause. It may be that He just allows Himself to need that help. Or maybe the end of the chapter is actually talking about a second heavenly being that is an angel, and this is Jesus in just verses 5&6, but I kind of (for those reasons) lean towards this being a some kind of angel (see, for example, the cherubim in Ezekiel 1). Perhaps a higher angel even than Gabriel and Michael. The angel of the LORD.

It doesn’t say, and I’m not quite sure. And that’s okay. Because it really doesn’t matter. Because whoever this is, he is from God and reflects God’s own glory. This being shows how resplendent God is. How beautiful. How dazzling. If this isn’t God the Son, then God the Son is this plus infinitely more!

And he’s come to reveal God’s own secrets to Daniel and eventually to us.

I can’t imagine what this was like. I almost wish I could have been there, but then I see how it affected everyone who was. Look at verse 7.

“I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. [They couldn’t hack it. They couldn’t see it, but they felt it. And it was the scariest thing they have ever felt. V.8] So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless.

Then I heard him speaking [with that voice like the sound of a multitude!], and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground” (vv.7-9).

Is this how we think about God? I think that we often only think about God in terms of Psalm 23. The gentle Shepherd. (And He is that!) But we often can think about God only as this soft thing. Like a doddering old grandpa with a white beard who couldn’t hurt a fly. Santa Claus.

That’s not what He’s like. He is the Ancient of Days. He is the One like a Son of Man. He is the King of Kingdoms. He is like nothing else, and He is terrifying. He is awesome. He is overwhelming, and we should humble ourselves before Him.

Daniel has fallen down into a deep sleep, face to the ground. 83 year old Daniel is lying there facedown. It probably looks like he’s dead. He’s seen a vision of the glory of God, and he’s overawed and undone. 

And then somebody touches him. Somebody is going to touch Daniel 3 times in this chapter. Verse 10, verse 16, and verse 18. Maybe the same person as verses 5&6. Imagine being touched by him!!! Or maybe a new person, an angel. Either way, it wakes him up. Verse 10.

“A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, ‘Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.’ And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling” (vv.10-11).

Do you see it? He’s been face down. Then he’s on his hands and knees. Then he’s standing but on trembling legs. This is no walk in the park. This is no sweet and easy moment for Daniel. In a lengthy life of amazing and scary moments, this may be the hardest moment of Daniel’s long life. And he needs strengthening. 

The whole rest of this chapter is all about Daniel being strengthened to receive the rest of the vision. And we can be strengthened from it, too. 

#2. BE STRENGTHENED BEFORE YOUR GOD.

It’s strengthening even while it was overwhelming, right? It is strengthening to know that your God is this glorious. 

Your God is glorious!

Daniel was knocked off his feet by the grandeur of this vision, but the vision also shows God’s power. And if God’s power is revealed like this, then He can fulfill all of His promises and answer all of Daniel’s prayers. He can help the people in Judah who have fallen behind in rebuilding the temple. And He can do everything He’s going to promise in chapters 11 and 12.

Your God is glorious.  Be strengthened by that.

And here’s something else to strengthen you: Your God treasures you.

Did you see how Daniel is addressed in verse 11? It’s the same word Gabriel used in chapter 9 (v.23). V.11 “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed.”

Some translations say, “beloved.” Some say “greatly loved.” Some say “precious.”

The Hebrew word there, “hemduth” refers to something that is craved or coveted, something that is desired. It’s something you treasure. It’s saying that Daniel was highly treasured by God! Now, this is the only place where that word is used to describe a person in the Bible, and so Daniel is the only person who is described this way. Perhaps he was esteemed for his great faith and faithfulness. He was special in that way.

But we know from the rest of the Bible how God feels about us, don’t we? The Bible says that we are “God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved...” (Col. 3:12). God so loved us that He gave us One and Only Son (His beloved Son! With Whom He was well-pleased! He gave Him up for us all! (Rom. 8:32)). Jesus died on the Cross because God so treasured us. Your God so treasured you! 
Be strengthened by that. Draw strength today from your God’s love for you.

And He shows that by answering prayer. Your God is answering your prayers.  Look at verse 12. Daniel is standing up, trembling. 

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”

When was that? How long has Daniel been on this partial fast? “Three ‘sevens’ of days,” right? 

God was listening the whole time.

“Your words were heard.”
“Your words were heard.”
“Your words were heard.”

“And I have come in response to them.”

Our God is a listening God. We talked about this last week. Our God is not impassive and implacable. He’s not deaf. He’s listening when we pray.

Three weeks, Daniel’s been praying. 

Week one, his words were heard.
Week two, his words were heard.
Week three, his words were heard.

And this heavenly being has been sent in response to them.

And the God who listened to Daniel is listening to us when we pray. Do you need to hear that? Have you been praying recently and wondering if Anybody is listening? Have you been demoralized because you aren’t seeing the answers you’re hoping for?

Hear this. Be strengthened by this: “Your words were heard.” Keep praying. Sometimes it seems like nobody’s listening, but we know the Lord is, the whole time!

And in verse 13, the heavenly being actually peels back a corner of the curtain to tell Daniel why it took song long for him to get this particular answer. 

In chapter 9, Gabriel got there before Daniel’s prayer was over! But here the answer was delayed. Look at verse 13.

“Since the first day...your words were heard, and I have come in response to them...But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come” (vv.13-14).

Now that is something entirely new. You think you’ve seen it all in the Book of Daniel, and then he’s got a new surprise to pop out at you! And this is something that doesn’t really show up anywhere else in the Bible outside of Daniel chapter 10.  

This heavenly being says that he was resisted for 21 days. He was withstood or hindered or blocked by “the prince of the Persian kingdom.” 

Who is that? “I’m not sure, and that’s okay.”

The word for “prince” is “sar” like we learned about in chapter 8. A chieftain or leader or king of some kind. This “sar” is the “sar” of the Persian kingdom.

Now, that could be Cyrus...or his son? But verse 1 named Cyrus. I don’t know why he would be not named here if it’s him. And how could Cyrus or his human son withstand this heavenly being?  I don’t think he could.

So that leads most biblical scholars to think that this “Prince of the Persian Kingdom” refers to a demonic being. A powerful demonic spirit that is at work in the kingdom of Persia.

Sometimes those are called “territorial spirits.” Because they seem to be tied to a particular kingdom. I think it might be better to call them “empiric spirits” because it’s less about geography than it is about the socio-political aspect of a kingdom. Not so much “place” as “people.”

We don’t know that much about this reality, and I think that’s on purpose, and it’s good that we don’t. We couldn’t handle it if we did.

But it strengthens us to know that it’s going on where we can’t see.

Your God is working where you cannot see. Verse 1 said that there is a “great war!” And now we know that there is a great war in the unseen realms. Unbeknownst to us, these powerful beings are “duking it out” behind the scenes.

The prince of the Persian kingdom actually hinders the one speaking from arriving to Daniel for 21 days. But then Michael (also called a “prince” here, a “chief sar”), and we know he’s an angel (Jude 1, Revelation 12, Michael) shows up and helps the speaker to break free and come to Daniel.

What was that like?! We don’t know. And it’s more than okay! We couldn’t handle it if we tried.

Notice what this says we should do about these empiric spirits:

Absolutely nothing at all.

Daniel doesn’t tell us that we should try to learn their names or ranks or dominions or go to battle with them ourselves. Daniel doesn’t tell us to do anything about them at all!

This is one of the few places in the Bible where we get a peek behind the curtain. And I think the main point is just to tell us that there’s a lot going on behind the curtain. 

There is a cosmic conflict. We do live in a spiritual warzone. We need to know that. As Paul says in Ephesians, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

But Paul doesn’t say, “Let’s figure out their names. Let’s figure out their kingdoms. Let’s name them and talk to them and go to battle against them.”

No, he says basically that we clothe ourselves with gospel truth and then we live out the Christian life and we keep on praying (see Eph. 6:10-18). And we trust that God will handle all the stuff behind the scenes. All the stuff we cannot see.

Does that strengthen you? It does me. It’s a great relief. 

Of course it’s scary. It’s scary to think that we have these powerful unseen enemies. Is there a Prince of the Kingdom of America that is dedicated to oppressing us hedre in this country? I don’t know. But I do know there is a war going on. And I know Who is winning it.

I know that Jesus has actually already won it (see 1 Peter 3:22). Jesus has “disarmed the powers and authorities, [and] he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15).

Our Celebration Choir is preparing a song right now for you where the phrase we sing over and over is, “And the devil went down.” The war is won even if there are still some "mop up" battles to fight.

I think it’s important, again, to point out that none of this means that God is not sovereign. Even in Daniel chapter 10, just because there’s a war raging behind the scenes does not mean that God is not in control. Or that Satan and God are somehow equal in power and wrestling with one another, sometimes one winning and sometimes the other. That may be somewhat true on the angelic level, but not on the divine level.

The Lord is the Ancient of Days unbothered by these great evils and ultimate judge over them (see Daniel 7!). As we learned in chapter 4, God is “the Most High...who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation....He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one [not the Prince of Persia or the Prince of Greece or Satan himself] can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (see Daniel 4:34-35).

God allows this unseen war to rage for His own wise purposes. And when He says that it’s time for it to be all over, that’s when it will end.

At this point in the story, Michael has helped the heavenly messenger to get free and to come to Daniel to explain the future. Verse 14 again.

“Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

That’s what’s in chapters 11 and 12. There is more conflict, more war on the way. Both behind the scenes and on the stage of human history. He’s going to predict things from right then and there all the way to eternity.

And it was more than Daniel could stand. He just about falls over again. Verse 15.

“While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, ‘I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I am helpless. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe’ (vv.15-17).

This is so hard on Daniel. He’s overwhelmed. He’s almost like a rag-doll. Old Daniel just about can’t take what he’s hearing, but this one like a man touches his mouth. Every time he gets touched, he can do a little bit more.

He talks. He says, “How can I talk? I can hardly breath. My strength is gone.” Verse 18.

“Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. ‘Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,’ he said. [There is it is again. Treasured.] ‘Peace! Be strong now; be strong.’ When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.’”

I love that. “Be strong now; be strong.” I almost titled this message, “Be Strong Now; Be Strong.” It’s the same root word over and over again the Hebrew. “Hazak

He “touched me and gave me [hazak]. ‘Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,' ‘Peace! Be [hazak] now; be [hazak].' When he spoke to me, I was [hazak] and said, ‘Speak, my lord, since you have given me [hazak].”

“Be strong now; be strong.”

What are you facing right where you need strength? I’m sure that everybody here has something big, something daunting that is staring you in the face.

Daniel had to receive one last long and scary vision. And he needed strength. He needed “hazak.” Where did he get it? Not from himself. He got it from his God Because he knew that his God was working out His perfect plan.

Your God is working out His perfect plan.

And He’s perfectly on time. In verse 20, the messenger speaks again to Daniel and tells him what is happening next. Verse 20.

“So he said, ‘Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince. And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)” (10:20-11:1).

Apparently, this heavenly messenger is going back into battle, and at some point the prince of Persia will go down and the prince of Greece will come on the scene.


And before he goes, the heavenly messenger will tell Daniel what is in the Book of Truth, or “the truthful writings.” It’s not so much an actual book as a record of what is definitely going to come. What God’s reliable plan looks like.

And he mysteriously tells Daniel that there is no one else fighting on his level except for Michael, the prince of (Israel?, Daniel’s people). And they’ve been fighting together side by side since the first year of Darius the Mede when Persia took over Babylon.

Daniel is now strengthened to hear what God has planned for his people. It will be hard to receive. But he’s ready.

Because his God has touched him.
Because his God is glorious.
Because his God treasures him.
Because his God is answering his prayers.
Because his God is working where he cannot see.
Because his God is working out his perfect plan with perfect timing.

“Be strong now; be strong.”

Before your God.


Sunday, March 23, 2025

“O Lord, Listen! O Lord, Forgive! O Lord, Hear and Act!” [Matt's Messages]

“O Lord, Listen! O Lord, Forgive! O Lord, Hear and Act!”
The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
March 23, 2025 :: Daniel 9:1-27  

Daniel chapter 9 is a little different.

It’s definitely the same book, but it has a different feel to it than what has come before.

For one, it doesn’t start with a problem or a vision. It doesn’t have one of those classic Bible story problems like we saw so many times in the first half of the book. A king, a dream, a threat (chapters 1-6). And it doesn’t start with one of those wild and crazy apocalyptic visions like we’ve seen so far in the second half of the book (chapters 7 and 8).

It’s still very prophetic, as we’ll see at the enigmatic end of the chapter, but Daniel 9 is different. 

It’s mainly a long prayer. The wiseman Daniel records for us what he prayed one day in 539 BC. And the wild and wonderful way that God answered that prayer.

We have a very long title for today’s message. I tried to keep up the pattern of the last seven sermons and pick a name for God that this chapter was all about, but I just couldn’t settle on one. Because this chapter is so full of names for God! So many! Including God’s covenant name, Yahweh, which hasn’t shown up yet in this book. It shows up 8 times in this chapter! And so do another names, “Adonai” and “Elohim” especially, in various combinations. 

Daniel knows Whom he is talking to. And he has some big things to ask God to do. Our title comes from the last verse that Keagan read to us. Verse 19. The word “Lord” in Hebrew there is “Adonai.”

“O Lord, Listen! O Lord, Forgive! O Lord, Hear and Act!”


You can tell that this is prayer of desperation and dependance, and I think it is a model for us today. Let’s start in verse 1.

“In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom–in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD [Yahweh] given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years” (vv.1-2).

Daniel gives us a date for this prayer. It was about 539BC. King Darius the Mede (son of Xerxes), [or the Hebrew there is “Ahasuerus” but not the one from the book of Esther.] was in his first year.


Darius the Mede was the king put in charge of Babylon in the days of the high king Cyrus of the Persians. And he’s the king that reluctantly threw Daniel to the lions in chapter 6.

Remember what Daniel was doing that got him into that trouble? Daniel was praying. Three times a day, Daniel was praying at his open window, facing Jerusalem. He was about how old? Anybody remember? Eighty years old. Getting down on his knees. 
 
Well, about that time, Daniel was studying his Bible and he came to understand that according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah that the desolation of his beloved Jerusalem was nearly over!

Isn’t that amazing? First off, that he had a copy of Jeremiah! Daniel might have heard Jeremiah preaching back when he was a child in Jerusalem. Jeremiah preached for 40 years. He had prophesied for about 22 years before Daniel was drug off to Babylon. But Jeremiah didn’t finish his book of prophecies until at least 20 years after Daniel had been taken in captivity! 

However, a copy of Jeremiah has made it to old Daniel’s hands, and he’s reading it. And he’s studying it. And he’s praying it. 

“Hey, this scroll says, that our exile in Babylon is going to last 70 years.”


“Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘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. I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands’ (Jer. 25:8-14).

Daniel says, “I think the 70 years are about up.” Daniel has been in Babylon for 66 years. That’s pretty close to 70!

And few chapters later, Daniel read this in the beloved Jeremiah chapter 29:

“This is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile’” (Jer. 29:10-15).

So Daniel says, “I guess we better start praying!”

Do you ever wonder, “Why bother praying if God has already decided and even already said what He was going to do?” Daniel doesn’t feel that way at all. He prays because God has said what He is going to do. And because God has said that prayer is one of things He’s going to use to do it!

The LORD said, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity.”

And Daniel says, “Okay. Let’s pray! Let’s go!” 

Dare to be a Daniel and pray the Bible back to God! Verse 3.

“So I turned to the Lord God (“Adonai-Elohim”) and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. [He’s serious about this. Eighty-year-old man wearing scratchy sackcloth and pouring ashes on his head.] I prayed to the LORD my God (“Yahweh-Elohim”) and confessed: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong” (vv.3-5a).

Notice that Daniel starts with adoration. He starts his prayer with how great and awesome God is. That’s always a good place to start. It’s okay to start with our problems and our needs, especially if we’re in a jam. But Daniel recognizes that his people are in desperate trouble, and he starts with how awesome their God is. “Hallowed be your name! You’re a covenant keeper. You are great and righteous!”
And then he turns to lament and confession. V.5.

“We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame–the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you” (vv.5-7).

Do we pray like this? Not very often.

Notice that Daniel identifies closely with his people. He doesn’t say, “Those people over there have sinned. They are really bad.” He could! That’s true. In many ways, Daniel didn’t even personally participate in some of the sins that he’s confessing right here. But he does it anyway. He knows he’s connected. And he knows that he’s not innocent.

Isn’t this different from the rest of the book so far?

I mean in the first 8 chapters, the Jews have been the good guys, and the pagan Gentiles king and all have been the bad guys.

You know how in the old cowboy movies you could tell who the good guys were because they wore white hats and the bad guys wore the black hats? Well, so far in the book of Daniel, the Gentile pagan empires that ruled over the Jews clearly were the ones with the black hats, and the Jews were clearly the ones with the white hats.

But in chapter 9, Daniel prays revealing that he knows that the Jews are in this predicament because they are black hat people, too.

The whole reason they were in Babylon was not because Babylon was so great and powerful, but because Yahweh kept His promise, kept His threat to send them into exile if they wouldn’t stop their sinning. Verse 8.

“O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. ‘Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you” (vv.8-11).

He doesn’t blame the pagans for their predicament. He doesn’t blame some people far away. He says, “We.”

I think that’s powerful. I’m very tempted to blame all of my problems on somebody else. We love to do that in America, too. We blame the “other” political party than “ours” for everything. They are the problem! But Daniel says, “We.”

“[W]e have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.”

They were “a broken record about a broken covenant.” “Jeremiah told us. Isaiah told us. Elijah told us. Elisha told us. But we did not listen. And God told us what would happen if we did not listen! He told us back in Leviticus (26) and Deuteronomy (28) what would happen if we did not listen. Exile! And that’s exactly what He did.” Verse 12.

“You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. [Read Lamentations!]  Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. [We still haven’t learned our lesson. So we might not get excused when the 70 years are up?!] The LORD [Yahweh] did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him” (vv.12-14).

Daniel knows why they are in Babylon. He has not forgotten why they are in Babylon. It’s because of Who God is. He is righteous. He is holy. He keeps His promises, and that means that He keeps His threats.

And so Daniel prays. And he prays. And he prays. Three times a day with the windows open, facing towards Jerusalem. Daniel is not worried about whether he’ll get eaten by lions. He’s worried his people will not repent and be restored to the land!

So he’s repenting and praying that they will be restored to the land. Daniel asks God to forgive Israel.

And notice how he does it. Look at verse 15.

“‘Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

‘Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. [Daniel is 600 some miles away, and he’s pleading for Jerusalem.] We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name’” (vv.15-19).

Do you hear it? What does Daniel use for an argument when he asks God to forgive and restore his people? Why should He?! Is it because Israel is so wonderful? Is it because Israel is so righteous? “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous!” As if!

But why? For God’s own sake! For God’s own name. For God’s own reputation. Daniel says, “You are so merciful. You brought us up out of Egypt. You love to save! You love to forgive. You’re famous for it! This city and these people bear your Name.”

Daniel prays based on the name and character and reputation of God Himself. Daniel knows how God loves His own glory and will always in act in accordance with it. So he prays based on God’s glory.

Dare to be a Daniel and ask God to do great things based on God’s great glory!

He says, “For your sake!” “Do these things for us for your own sake.”

Do we pray that way? We definitely should. Because God does care deeply about His own glory. We’re not tricking Him when we do this. We aren’t demanding anything based on His glory. We aren’t in a position to demand anything. But we plead His character. We plead His name. We plead His heart back to Him, and...He answers.

I’ve got three points this morning, and they are will be very obvious, and they are very wonderful. 

#1. THE LORD DOES LISTEN.

Daniel prays like this because he knows God hears and responds. God is not impassive or uncaring or unfeeling. od is a Rock because He’s dependable, but He’s a Rock Who listens. And answers!

Do you know how God answered this prayer of Daniel’s? Within a year of Daniel’s prayer, the High King of Persia, King Cyrus issued a decree that the Jews could go home. They were allowed to leave Babylon and head back to Israel if they wanted to. About 50,000 of them did. Read about it in the Book of Ezra, especially chapters 1 and 2. Ezra makes it clear that it was because God moved in Cyrus’ heart that they were allowed to go home. In order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.

And you know what else they were allowed to take home with them? The gold and silver articles that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple and Belshazzar had partied with! The Lord does listen.

And that’s not all. That’s not the half of it. Look at verse 20 to see how the Lord responded to Daniel’s prayer! V.20 

“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill–while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice” (vv.20-21).

“Well, hello, Gabriel! Welcome back.”

It’s been over a decade since the vision of chapter 8. And all of a sudden, the angel Gabriel has shown up again looking like a man. It’s not even clear if this is a vision or a visitation–like he will do a few hundred years to a virgin named Mary.

I love this picture of Gabriel in motion while Daniel is praying! Zooming in. “Swift flight.” [Some versions have “in my extreme weakness” in verse 21, and that’s quite a possible translation of the Hebrew based upon a different understanding of the underlying root word. That would indicate how wiped out Daniel was with his serious prayers. But regardless, Gabriel swoops in and shows up, while Daniel was praying.] Listen to what he says. Verse 22.

“[Gabriel] instructed me and said to me, ‘Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:”

The Lord does listen!

I’m not saying that this is how all prayers work. Like as soon as we begin to pray, God is sending someone to do something about it. And even if it is, it doesn’t seem that way. We will often have to wait. But it shows how responsive God can be, and that He’s listening.

And look at what Gabriel says about how God sees Daniel. “You are highly esteemed.” “You are treasured. You are beloved. You are precious to God.”

I don’t know about you, but that gives me great incentive to pray.

PRAY.

This gives me great incentive to get serious about praying. To get on my knees. I’ve been kneeling more when I pray since reading chapter 6. I want to do it more.

This gives me great incentive to pray the scriptures back to God. Daniel read Jeremiah and started to pray Jeremiah back to God. We can do that, too! Whatever you are reading in your daily time in the Bible, you can just turn that back around and aim it back at God. So if you are reading 1 John, for example. And it says, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). And you get on your knees and say, “Lord, I have sinned in this way and this way today. But you are faithful and just. Please forgive me of these sins and purify me from all unrighteousness.”

Dare to be a Daniel and pray the Scriptures back at God.

He would love it!

And dare to be a Daniel and pray for God’s sake.

We can present our requests to God and argue for them based on how they would bring God glory.

What’s something that you are praying for right now? When you pray for it, tie your request to how answering that request might bring God glory. How it might show His character and reveal His heart. If you can’t think of any way that it would bring Him glory, then you probably shouldn’t be praying for it in the first place.

If you can’t say, “Please do this for your name’s sake,” then don’t ask for it. But if you can, then do! Because the Lord does listen.

Maybe you’re praying for a new job.
Maybe you’re praying for a relationship to be restored.
Maybe you’re praying for healing.
Maybe you’re praying for the breaking of a sinful habit.

I can see how any of those could bring God glory. Let’s pray for them. Because the Lord does listen.

#2. THE LORD DOES FORGIVE.

Daniel knew that! Daniel knew that the Lord delights in showing mercy. He said it in verse 9. That’s like part of His name that He revealed to Moses. “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exod. 34:6-7).

Daniel knew that he wasn’t praying to some implacable god Who would not respond in grace when His people turned away from their sin and turn to Him.

No, Daniel knew that God was rich in mercy (Ephesians 2) and delights to forgive His people when they repent.

REPENT. 

Dare to be a Daniel and pray prayers of repentance and confession.

Dare to be a Daniel and ask God for mercy and grace.

Daniel has not lost sight of why his people are in this predicament, but we often do. It’s so hard sometimes to see our own sin. Our own complicity. Our own duplicity. This chapter encourages you and me to own up to our own black hats. 

We don’t have to wear sackcloth and ashes. Though it might be a good idea from time to time to fast to intensify our prayers of repentance. But we should take stock of our actions and attitudes and confess them to the Lord.

And we should, at some level, confess our connection to the sins of the wider church. Daniel (v.20) confessed his own sin and the sin of his people. And that’s probably a model for us, as well. Confessing the sins of “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like” that have at times crept into the church and been unchecked (see Galatians 5:19-21). Maybe we didn’t do those things ourselves. But we are connected to those who have.

And we confess them and ask for God’s forgiveness. And we are assured of His pardon! Because we know we are loved. We know that we are, like Daniel, “highly esteemed.” We are beloved. We are, because of Jesus, God’s “chosen people, holy and dearly loved” (Colossians 3:12).

It’s because were are loved that we can repent! And know that we will be forgiven.

What do you need to confess to the Lord today?

Hear the word of LORD: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:11-13).

Seek Him with all your heart. Give him the darkest, ugliest parts of your heart. And you will find grace!

Because He wants to give us grace more than we want to ask for it! He wants to deal with our sin much more than we do!

That is, in fact, part of the big point of the last four verses in this chapter, the prophecy that Gabriel brought with him to Daniel.

God sent Gabriel (v.22) to bring Daniel “insight and understanding.” He’s got another message and vision for Daniel.

And, like the rest of this chapter, it’s a little different. It’s all words. It’s not nightmarish images that fill Daniel’s mind. No IMAX this time. Which is less scary, but it’s even more difficult to interpret!

In fact, a lot of the commentaries I read this week said that these may be the four hardest verses in the whole Old Testament to interpret. Whole books have been written on just these four verses! One book I read had 8 different views on the interpretation of this section with a chart of all the details that stretched to 6 pages long!

But, thankfully, I have it all figured out, and I have the definitive 9th view to share with you today. (Just kidding!)

I did think that I could kind of master the different views and give you a run down on all of them, but it was too much for me to process and to keep straight in my head, and I’m sure I would get you lost.

Some things are very clear to me, but others are not at all.

So, this is where we need to again pull out the helpful phrase: “I don’t know, and that’s okay.” Actually, it might be better to say, “I’m not sure, and that’s okay.”

Now, some of you may be sure, and that’s okay, too. Some of you have studied this and have settled conclusions on what all is going on here. And that’s great. 

But you shouldn’t be surprised if we’re not all there yet. Because Bible-believing Christians have disagreed about the details in this section for a very long time. And what seems obvious to you doesn’t always seem obvious to everyone else.

I want to encourage everyone to study this passage in depth. It’s God’s Word and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that we are fully equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16). Don’t be afraid to study this!

But don’t be surprised if it takes a long time and a lot of study to reach satisfying conclusions. 

Because we’re back to the problem of identification. There is no “this is that” here and “who is who.” I think that Gabriel may be actually somewhat enigmatic on purpose so Daniel gets the major outline, but the details get filled in over time so that some day we all look back and say, “Oh, that’s what God was saying in Daniel 9.” 

Let’s read it. Verses 24 through 27. Gabriel says, “Consider the message and understand the vision...”

“‘Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. ‘Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him’” (vv.24-27).

Here’s point number three and last. (I’m sure you’ve guessed it already.)

#3. THE LORD DOES ACT.

Daniel pleaded with the LORD in verse 19, “O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.'”

And the Lord sends the message back:

“I’ve got this. I’ve got a plan. And I’m going to do much more than just restore Israel to the land. I’m going to blow your mind with what I’m going to do!”

I think the big message of this vision is that the Lord has a perfect plan for fixing everything on His perfect timetable. And He’s doing it!

The Lord has a perfect plan for fixing everything on His own perfect schedule. And He’s working His plan.

Now, I think that Gabriel, in this vision, has good news and bad news for Daniel.

The good news is that God has a perfect plan and a perfect schedule, and it’s on schedule.

But the bad news that Daniel had to absorb was that it was going to take a lot longer than he feared.

Daniel had asked if the exile would be over in 70 years.

And what did God say? “More like 70 times 7.”

The exile began to end at the 70 year mark, but there was much more discipline and development to come.

Gabriel says (v.24), “Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city...”
Now, that’s confusing, for one thing, because we don’t know what a “seven” is. Some of your versions have the word “week” there.”

The Hebrews had a word like our word a “dozen” that means twelve somethings, but their word means “seven somethings.” It’s the word “shavua.”  “A seven.”  So a “seven” of days is a week. Right?

So what is this "a seven" of? It doesn’t say!

Now, most interpreters have thought that it must be a “seven” of years. And I think that’s very likely. It was 70 years that Jeremiah was predicting and Daniel was praying about. So this 70 “sevens” might well be 70 “sevens” of years. Like 490 years. But it’s weird. And I think that might point to it being a symbolic. It’s a symbol not a statistic.

So I’m not sure that we should expect this all to happen in exactly 490 literal years from some specific point. It might! It might also be round numbers. Or something else, a figure of completeness.

One reason for “seven” may be sabbatical years. In the Old Testament Law, the land was supposed get rest every seven years, and after every seven of those, they were supposed to have a year of Jubilee. And this would then be a seventy of “sevens” so that would be like a Jubilee of Jubilees! Ten times the Jubilee!

I’m not sure. But I am sure that I shouldn’t be too dogmatic about it. And I’m also sure that I’m supposed to be glad that even though it’s a lot more than 70, it’s still a fixed number!

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed...” There is a plan, and it’s for a fixed and limited time. It’s not going to go on forever.  The Lord has a perfect plan for fixing everything on His own perfect schedule. And He’s on schedule!

Look what He’s going to do in, in verse 24.

“Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to [1.] finish transgression, [2] to put an end to sin, [3] to atone for wickedness, [4] to bring in everlasting righteousness, [5] to seal up vision and prophecy and [6] to anoint the most holy.”

Doesn’t that sound wonderful?! Isn’t that everything?! The Lord has a perfect plan to fix everything. 

Daniel was asking God to forgive them. God says, “I’m going to forgive them, but I’m going to do something even better! I’m going to finish transgression! I’m going to put an end to sin, I’m going to atone for wickedness!” Sin will be dealt with once and for all! It will not only be paid for but covered over and gone.

I’m going “to bring in everlasting righteousness!” Where everything is righteous all the time and everywhere! Righteousness as far as the eye can see and beyond! Righteousness that never ends!!!

“I’m going to seal up vision and prophecy.” I don’t think that means hide it away. I think that means enact it. Secure it. Make it all come true.

“And I’m going to anoint the most holy.” Which could be the most holy place (like the temple) or most holy person (like the Messiah). [Some of your versions may have already made an interpretive decision on that.]

This is everything! This is all of the promises of the New Covenant that Jeremiah predicted. This is all of what the kingdom of God will be!

This is the kingdom of kingdoms, isn’t it? And Gabriel told Daniel that it’s on the way.

He just has to wait.

WAIT.

The Lord does act, but on His own timetable. So we have to wait.

Now, in verse 25, 26, and 27, Gabriel gives more details of what to expect along the way, but nearly all of them are difficult to identify with precision.

There are time markers. Different sets of “sevens.”

Seven “sevens” = 49. 
Sixty two “sevens” = 434
And one “seven” = 7

So that would add up to 490 years [if the "sevens" are years), but with different things happening at different times. And there may be gaps between (or even during) some of the sets of “sevens.” I had my calculator out all week trying to figure out all the numbers! 

And there are several different persons listed. And there is so much disagreement about who the particular persons are, in some of the instances, some Christians think a person is Jesus and some other Christians think that same person is the anti-Christ to come! (And many other suggestions.)

And it’s late, so we won’t get into all of that today. Maybe I’ll come back to it next week or teach about in a pop-up class some day.

But it is obvious that the Lord has a plan, isn’t it? 

We may not be able to understand all of the details.

When does the seventy “sevens” begin?
Who is the “ruler who will come?”
How does this all relate to the end times?

We may not be able to understand all of the details, but it’s obvious that God does. The Lord has a perfect plan to fix everything on His perfect timetable.

And every Christian believes that this plan centers on one figure in history that we can probably identify in verse 26:

“After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.”

Who do you think that is? The word for Anointed One is “Mashiach.” Or “Messiah.”

It sounds to me a lot like the Person described in Isaiah 53. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken” (vv.7-9).

The Lord has a perfect plan to fix everything on His perfect timetable. And He’s sent His perfect Son to enact it. The King of Kingdoms.

The Lord does act. So we just need to trust in and wait on Him. 

That doesn’t mean that we just sit on our hands. Our waiting is active. We stay busy and occupy until He comes. 

But we are expectant. Because we know that this chapter is not that different from the rest of the book. Daniel chapter 9 is not primarily about prophetic math but about our prayer-answering Lord.

We know that our Lord does listen to our prayers. He wants to answer them more than we want to pray them.

We know that our Lord does forgive our sins. He wants to forgive them more than we want to confess them! And He sent His own Son to be cut off to atone for them.

We know that our Lord does hear and act. Because He sent us Jesus once, and He will send Him back again soon. Just wait.


***

Messages in This Series:

01. The King's Service - Daniel 1:1-21
02. The God of Heaven - Daniel 2:1-49
[Bonus Message: "No Matter What" - Daniel 3:1-30 from Family Bible Week 2012]
03. The God We Serve - Daniel 3:1-30
04. The King of Heaven - Daniel 4:1-37
05. The Lord of Heaven - Daniel 5:1-31
06. The Living God - Daniel 6:1-28
07. The Ancient of Days - Daniel 7:1-28

Sunday, March 16, 2025

“The Prince of Princes” [Matt's Messages]

“The Prince of Princes”
The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
March 16, 2025 :: Daniel 8:1-27  

You can just about guess what I’m going to say, right?

Daniel chapter 8 is about the “Prince of Princes.”

For the last 6 sermons in this series on the Book of Daniel, we have noticed a name for God that is used in that particular chapter and emphasized how that particular chapter is all about the God Who is revealed in that particular name, Who He is and what He is doing.


...and last Sunday, in the hinge chapter of this whole book, chapter 7, “The Ancient of Days.”

Keep your eyes on the Ancient of Days!

Interestingly, a bunch of those names appear only in that chapter and that chapter alone in the Bible. And it’s the same with this name for God that shows up in verse 25.

“The Prince of Princes.”

It’s the same word for “Prince” as in “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah chapter 9. “Sar.” “Sar-Shalom.” Prince of Peace. “Sar-Sarim” Prince of Princes.

Sar” is a normal Hebrew word (and we’re back to Hebrew after 6 chapters of Aramaic!), for a Commander or a Ruler or a High Official. Somebody who is a Noble, a Chief, a Chieftain, an Overseer, a Key Leader. A prince among a people. But in verse 25, it’s clear that this is the Prince of all Princes. This is the Commander of all Commanders. The Chief of all Chieftains. It’s yet another name for the King of Kingdoms, Who is our Lord. And this chapter is (as all the Bible is) all about Him.

Now, again, that is obvious. But it’s also easy to miss because of all of this other stuff in the chapter. Wild stuff! Scary stuff! Confusing stuff. Important stuff! Everything in this chapter is important. But nothing is as important as the Prince of Princes. So as we study Daniel 8, keep your eyes on Him.


Daniel chapter 8 tells the story of another vision of Daniel that was very traumatic for him. Let’s read Daniel chapter 8, verses 1 and 2.

“In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal.”

So, let’s start with the date. Daniel had another vision, after the one that we read about in the last chapter. Do you remember when that one was?  That one was during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign. 

What kingdom was Belshazzar the king of? Babylon. Belshazzar was a successor to King Nebuchadnezzar and reigned from about 553 to 539BC. The writing was on the wall for Belshazzar in October of 539, at the end of chapter 5.

So this vision came two years after the vision of chapter 7. Daniel needed 2 years to recover from that vision, didn’t he?! Some of you are still recovering from last week’s sermon on it!

It’s not clear if this one was a dream or not. It may or may not have come while he was sleeping. However it came, it came from God.  And it appears that Daniel was transported in his vision to the citadel of Susa. Where was that?

The fortified city of Susa was in Persia. Daniel isn’t transported to the sea of chaos this time. He’s siting beside the Ulai Canal in Susa. 

Why do you think that might be a good place for Daniel to see this vision? Susa is the capitol of the next kingdom to arise. Susa is mentioned in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, that tell the story of what happened next after the book of Daniel in the history of Israel. 

At this moment, in 550BC Susa isn’t that big and powerful, but it soon will be. So that’s where Daniel finds himself in the vision of chapter 8. Daniel is approximately 68, 69, 70 years old. Somewhere in there. He may have been in semi-retirement. He might have still had some responsibilities in Babylonian government. 

He’s already had the all-important vision of chapter 7 with its sweep of four monstrous kingdoms to come and the glorious, and holy, and wise Ancient of Days Who judges them all and gives the kingdom of kingdoms to one like a Son of Man, the cloud rider, Who then will give the kingdom to His people forever and ever, yes, forever.

And now Daniel has another vision, and it’s a vision of two great animals ramming into each other. Look at verse 3.

“I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great” (vv.3-5).

Got the picture in your head? (I imagine it like a giant Imax movie in his head.)

This is not quite like the vision of chapter 7. It is kind of like it because there is this animal that obviously means something. It’s apocalyptic imagery. It’s not saying that an actual ram will show up on the Earth but the ram stands for something that will come.

But it’s not really a hybrid creature like the beasts in chapter 7 with some parts of one animal and other parts of another. It’s just a ram.

But it’s not just a ram either, is it? It has two great big horns. One longer than the other, but it was the second horn to grow. That’s probably significant. And it charges all over the place: west, north, south, and it conquers and dominates everywhere. Unstoppable energy.

Until...verse 5.

“As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage.

I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns [big and small]. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power” (vv5-7).
 
Do you see this picture in your head? 

Notice these are different animals from those in chapter 7. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t talking about the same things. But it is definitely from a different perspective. 

The ram is unbeatable. And then it gets beaten. By the goat. The goat has one giant horn between its eyes and runs so fast it flies! Like the Road Runner in Bugs Bunny. It goes so fast, it doesn’t even touch the ground!

And then...collision! What happens with the unstoppable force hits the immovable object? BAM! The ram goes down. Its horns are shattered. Whatever that ram was is no more.

And now nothing can stop the goat! G-O-A-T. Greatest of all time. Or so it thinks. And then all of a sudden it meets with disaster. Look at verse 8.

“The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. [Okay it’s getting weird again. More horns.]

Out of one of them came another horn [a horn out of a horn], which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.

It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.

[This horn of the goat trampled on some stars! You know you’re in a vision when that happens!]

It set itself up to be as great as the Prince [“sar”] of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.  Because of rebellion, the host of the saints and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. [This is the horn from the horn that started small.] It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, ‘How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled–the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled underfoot?’ He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated’” (vv.8-14).

Wow. So much there! So much for Daniel to take in and try to process. 

Daniel can tell that this is a vision of the future. This is a prophecy of what was to come. And it sounds completely awful. In his vision, he hears an angel asking another angel, “How long is this going to last?” How long is this desolation going to continue? How long is the “host” the army (the people) going to be trampled by these animals?

And the answer is “2,300 evenings and mornings.” I wonder what that means. Daniel wonders what that means. He’s so confused. Whenever it was a pagan king’s dream, Daniel could explain it. But he needed even more help to understand his own. Look at verse 15.

“While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. And I heard a man's voice from the Ulai calling, ‘Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision’” (vv.15-16).

Yes, that Gabriel! One of only two angels whose names are revealed in the Bible. Who’s the other one? [Michael. He’s going to show up in chapter 10.]

Hey, Stay Sharpers, what do we call it when an angel appears in the Bible? Greg told us this week that it’s an “angelophany.” We have an angelophany in verse 17. The angel who one day would appear to a virgin named Mary and tell her about a baby she was going to have now appears to the wiseman Daniel and tells him about some terrible trouble that is brewing for his people. Look at verse 17.

“As [Gabriel] came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. ‘Son of man,’ he said to me [there it just means human], ‘understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.’ While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet. He said: ‘I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end” (vv.17-19).

It must have been quite the experience to run into Gabriel! Daniel is scared into a coma! But Gabriel touches him, and he pulls up him and tells him that he’s going to explain the vision to him. And Gabriel says it has something to do with the “time of the end.” Now, that could just mean the “end” of this vision, like how this vision will  come together and be completed in history. I think that’s actually likely the meaning here. But it could also mean that this vision has something to do paradigmatically, with the end-times, with the end of history. It could be both.

And I’ve got some good news for you. Gabriel is going to actually name names and say what is what and who is who in this vision! He doesn’t explain it all, but he does give Daniel some important identifications. Look at verse 20.

“The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.”

Let’s stop there for just a second because this is big. We aren’t left to guess  who these animals represent. They represent kings and their kingdoms. By now, that should not be a big surprise.

But Gabriel actually tells us which kings and which kingdoms! So far, the only one that we’ve been clearly told is that the gold head on the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 is Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. We’ve been going on guesswork and deduction for all the rest. But here we know.

Which kingdom is the ram? The Medes and the Persians. The double-kingdom. The team-up kingdom. Look back at verse 3 and see how that tracks.

“I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns [double-kingdom], standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later [What could that mean? Probably the longer horn is the Persian side of that kingdom. The Medes were first but King Cyrus and the Persians side grew to dominate the whole]. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south [from Persia in the East]. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great” (vv.3-5).

And where was this? In Susa where Cyrus’ power was beginning to grow at the time of this vision. And in about 10 or 11 years, Darius the Mede would conquer Babylon and kill Belshazzar one October night. And then this double-kingdom would rule over the whole world for more than 200 years! The biggest kingdom there had ever been in the known world. 

Nothing could stop them! Until something did.

Isn’t it amazing that God would tell Daniel more than a decade before it happened that the Medes and the Persians (in this symbol of a ram) would conquer the whole world?! But that’s nothing! Because, next, Gabriel tells Daniel the identity of the goat, as well. Look at verse 21 again.

“The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.”

Now, this is more than some people can believe. Some people cannot believe that God would tell Daniel that the Greeks were going to become the major world power more than 200 years before it happened. Many unbelieving scholars have decided that this must have been written during the Greek era. And that these are not predictions. They are just cast as predictions of things that have already happened.

Not that that’s proven. It’s just assumed. It’s just that they can’t believe in real, true predictive prophecy. “That’s impossible!”

But I don’t think it’s impossible, at all. At least, not for the God we’ve been reading about for the last 8 chapters!

#1. THE PRINCE OF PRINCES IS SOVEREIGN.

He controls the future, and He can tell us about it whenever He wants to!

When Daniel gets this vision, Greece is next to nothing. Persia isn’t even that big yet! But there is coming a day when Greece will conquer all. 

And what was the name of the Greek that conquered all? We mentioned him last week. We call him “Alexander the Great.” And it’s all but certain (though Gabriel does not actually say) that Alexander is the goat’s large horn. Gabriel calls him in verse 21, “the first king.” Alexander conquered the whole world in about ten years. That’s probably what is meant in the vision by how the goat crossed the whole earth without touching the ground (in verse 5). Alexander collided with the Persians, and the Persians did not get back up.

And Alexander’s kingdom extended even further. His kingdom reached all the way to India. He had 1.5 million square miles under his rule. He was the GOAT! And then he died. Around age 33. And his wife Roxanne and teenage son were assassinated so his kingdom was divided up into four little kingdoms under four lesser kings.

Verse 22 says, “The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.”

Alexander’s successors were named Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. Last week, we said they might have been the four heads of the like-a-leopard beast. These four kings will not come on the scene for another 220 years from this day when Daniel has his vision and Gabriel tells him what it means!

The Prince of Princes is sovereign over all kingdoms. He’s the King of Kingdoms! That’s the whole point of this book. And a big part of what He’s doing here is showing that off! These kingdoms seem so big and powerful. They seem unstoppable. They are cruel and conquering. A ram and a goat. And they will dominate the people Daniel loves for hundreds of years. But they don’t last forever. They only seem unstoppable. The second that God is done with them, they are stopped. The ram goes down. The goat’s horn gets snapped off. As powerful as they are, they aren’t really that big of a deal. If you just wait a little bit, they will fall off the scene. Because the Prince of Princes is sovereign. 

I think the application of that is to BE FOREWARNED. God is getting His people ready for what is to come. God is reminding them that He is in control of the future. He is in control of all of the kings and kingdoms to come. And that’s true for us today, as well.

As far as I can can see, the events predicted in Daniel chapter 8 are future for Daniel but largely in the past for you and me. Daniel chapter 8 is mostly about the Ram and the Goat which are the second and third kingdoms in my take on the different visions we’ve looked at so far in the book.


In chapter 2, we had Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the metallic statue. Each metal was a king/dom. Head of Gold, Chest of Silver, Belly of Bronze, Legs of Iron, and 10 Toes of Iron and Clay.

And then we added in the beasts of chapter 7 and saw possible parallels between the two.

Like a Lion, Like a Bear, Like a Leopard, Unlike Anything, 10 Horns.

Now, if those correlations are right [And they are just deductions; I might have lots of things wrong!], then the Ram and the Goat would match up with the second and third kingdoms like this. 

So in chapter 8, it’s like a vision that “double clicks” on the middle of the vision of chapter 7 and gives you even more detail about that particular time period.

Future for Daniel and largely past for us.

So, if that’s true, why would you and I need to read about it today?

I mean that’s ancient history. Literally! This vision was fulfilled by 164BC.

Because it shows that if the Prince of Princes accurately predicted the future then, then we can trust what He says about the future still to come now. Amen?

And if He was in ultimate control of world events then? The Medo-Persian Ram and the Grecian Goat?

Then He is in ultimate control of the Russian Bear, the Chinese Dragon, the North Korean Winged Horse (Chollima), the British Bulldog, and the American Eagle. And all of the rest of the zoo.

Kingdoms come and kingdoms go. And the Prince of Princes is sovereign over all.

Be forewarned. Don’t worry. Don’t be shaken. He’s got the whole world in His hands.

Daniel needed to hear this because some terrible things were going to come in the future. Life was going to get downright animalistic for his people. And that’s the point of the horn that came from the horn in verse 9. Remember what it said? 

“Out of one of [the goat’s 4 replacement horns] came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.”

Now, Gabriel does not tell us this horn’s name in history. But he does tell us a lot about him. Remember a horn is a king. It represents the strength of an animal. 

This horn starts out small but grows and grows in power even towards “The Beautiful” which almost certainly means the land of Israel. Palestine. The glorious beloved homeland of Daniel which he has not seen with his own eyes in over half a century.

This horn comes to directly rule over Israel. And I think that verses 23 through 26 tell us the terrible kinds of things that he does:

“‘In the latter part of their [the goat’s four replacement horns’] reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king [“fierce, merciless”], a master of intrigue [a manipulator, a deceiver], will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power [Satanic power!]. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes...”

#2. THE PRINCE OF PRINCES IS OPPOSED.

This king dares to “take his stand against the Prince of Princes.” The Sar-Sarim. Can you believe it?!

He is not the first, and I don’t think he’s the last either.

Though some people do. Some people think that these verses are about the person we talked about last week who is sometimes called the “Antichrist” or the “Man of Lawlessness” or the “Beast” in Revelation.

And that’s quite possible! I mean, when you read this, you see that figure, don’t you? This is one terrible king. One of the worst that the Jews especially have ever known.

But if my deductions are correct, this is not the Antichrist who may be on rise right now or still to come one day soon. Most scholars agree that this is the awful Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. I mentioned him last week.

This terrible horn is a lot like the terrible horn we read about in chapter 7 last week, but there are some key differences. The biggest is that the bad horn in chapter 7 appears on the fourth terrifying beast, the “different” one which I suggested is probably the kingdom of Rome or Rome “plus.” Maybe end-times Rome. But this horn in chapter 8 appears during what seems more like the “third beast” kingdom in chapter 7 and the “silver” kingdom in chapter 2.

If this was correct, then this bad horn of chapter 8 shows up during the Kingdom of Greece. And there is a Greek king that almost perfectly fits the bill. Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Let me tell you about him.

Antiochus IV was related to Seleucus, one of the four king that took over from Alexander. But he wasn’t next in line. His nephew was. But Antiochus was a “master of intrigue.” He manipulated the system and deceptively stole the throne. And Antiochus ruled ruthlessly and mercilessly. And he ruled over Israel (175BC to 164 BC). A dozen of the worst years the Beautiful Land had ever experienced.

In 170 BC, Antiochus killed the High Priest Onias in Jerusalem. And later he stopped the daily sacrifices in the temple of the LORD. He decided that he wanted everyone to worship Greek gods and not the Jewish One. He set up altars throughout Israel to Greek gods. He told the Jews that they could no longer observe the Sabbath or circumcise their baby boys. And if they did, they would be killed! And their circumcised babies would be hung around their necks when they were buried.

I read about all of this in a history book called 1 Maccabees this week. It was written between the Old Testament and the New. And it says that Antiochus went into the temple, and sacrificed a pig on the altar. And put some kind of Zeus statue in the Holy of Holies. He didn’t destroy the temple, but he desecrated it. Brought it low (v.11). And he burned copies of the holy scriptures. “Truth was thrown to the ground” (v.12). And he killed thousands of Jews.

He may not have been the antichrist, but he was sure trying to be.

Antiochus called himself, “Epiphanes.” Does anybody know what that means? It means “The Manifestation.” If Antiochus didn’t think he was a god, he was sure saying that could manifest god. He Antiochus made certain that these pagan sacrifices took place on his birthday every year. 

Antiochus set himself up against the Lord! And he did it by setting himself against the Lord’s people. I think that’s the point of the symbolism back in verse 10. How the horn “reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.”

I think that’s apocalyptic symbolism for the people of God. Antiochus didn’t literally thrown down any stars. But he sure did trample on God’s people. In the words of verse 24, he destroyed “the mighty men and the holy people.”

Antiochus was one of the worst persecutors that the Jews had ever known.  And if you fight against God’s people, then you are fighting against God. If you are setting yourself against God’s people, the you are setting yourself against God.

Remember when God arrested Saul on the road to Damascus? Remember what he said? “Saul, Saul why do you persecute...the church?” No, He said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Because as Saul opposed the church, Saul was opposing the Prince of Princes!

And that was true in Daniel’s day, Antiochus’ day, Saul’s day, and our day.

The Prince of Princes is opposed. And here’s the application of that truth: BE FORTIFIED.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed, right? To be ready for the onslaught, ready for the attack.

Because of this vision, Israel could steel themselves for what was coming. If they were paying attention, their persecution would not come as a surprise. 

And in their case, they were able to fight back, literally. A courageous Jewish family called the Maccabees organized a resistance movement. Unlike the Jews in Jeremiah’s day who were supposed to submit to exile, these Jews were not commanded to submit and were free to revolt. 

And they were successful! Over a three and a half year period, they beat back Antiochus’ forces and took back the temple! And they cleansed it and they rededicated it to the worship of Yahweh, our LORD. That was in 164 BC. And the people of Israel celebrated that reconsecration with a new Jewish festival of dedication.

You know what they called it? “Hanukkah.”

I’m certain that this vision of Daniel fortified their hearts for that day. And we need to fortify our hearts for our day. Not that we will fight back against those who persecute us, taking up the literal sword. But we won’t be surprised when persecution comes upon us either, as if something totally unusual and unexpected were happening to us (1 Peter 4:12). 

We know that the Prince of Prince is opposed and so will we be. We know, as our Stay Sharpers learned again this week, we are in the midst of a spiritual battle. And it’s going to get worse.

Antiochus was the worst up to that point. But he was just a foretaste of evil to come. I think that’s how this chapter (in the words of Gabriel in verse 17) “concerns the time of the end.” 

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a pre-figurement of the antichrist to come. His persecution was a pattern, a paradigm, anticipating the evil still on the way.

But, church, here’s the good news. The good news is our Lord never loses. Yes, the Prince of Princes is opposed. But!

#3. THE PRINCE OF PRINCES IS UNDEFEATED.

Look at the end of verse 25!

“When they feel secure, he [Antiochus IV Epiphanes probably?] will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes...Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.” Literally, “with nothingness of hand.”

Yes, the Maccabees pushed back, but they didn’t kill Antiochus. Antiochus was far from Palestine in 164 BC, and one day he took sick and then died. He didn’t die in battle. No human hand killed him. One day, the Lord just took him. Reminds me of that stone that was cut out of that mountain in the king’s dream, knocking over the metals statue and turning it to dust.

“Not by human power.” But by divine power!

Our LORD never loses. Sometimes it seems like it. Verses 10 and 11 sure seemed to describe a time coming when the LORD was on the ropes. It sure seemed like it when Jesus was dying on the Cross.

But the LORD is the Ancient of Days. He doesn’t lose. It’s not really even a contest. It’s terrible what God’s people have to go through, but there is always a reason for it and there will always be an end to it. 

In this case, it was 2,300 evenings and mornings. The angels asked “How long?”, and the answer was “2,300 evenings and mornings” (vv.13-14).

And there’s been a lot of debate about what that means. It could simply mean a period of about 6 years which would map on pretty well from Antiochus killing the high priest in 170 to the temple being restored in December of 164 (see 1 Macc 4:52-59).

Or it could mean actually evening and morning sacrifices which would halve the days to 1150 which is more like 3 years. More like the time when the sacrifices were actually stopped to the time when they began again. 

And there are other views, too, of course. [Fascinatingly, the Millerites, who came to be known as the Seventh Day Adventists took the 2300 days as year and calculated that the Lord would return in 1843-44. (Not what happened.)]

I think what’s really important for us to remember is that God had set the days and times. They might have seemed long but they were limited.

The world is not out of His control! And so we can be self-controlled.

Here’s the application of this point: BE FAITHFUL.

Because we know that our Lord never loses, we can keep on doing whatever He has told to do. 

Because He can’t fail, we can’t fail!

That’s the logic of 1 Corinthians 15:58 isn’t it? The Bible says, “Therefore [because of the resurrection], my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

What can they can do to us? Kill us? Chop off our head? Burn us to death. Yes, they can. But so what? We are coming back from the dead. Jesus did! We can’t lose.

Because He can’t fail, we can’t fail! And so we can be faithful. Don’t give up and don’t give in! Be faithful.

Look at see what Daniel did when Gabriel was done talking. Look at verse 26.

“‘The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.’ I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king's business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding” (vv.26-27).

This vision was so traumatic for Daniel. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t understand it (1 Peter 4:10-11). He didn’t want to understand it. He had gotten a glimpse of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and it made him sick. He was comatose in bed for several days.

But see what he did as soon as he was up to it? He got up and “went about the king’s business.”

I think that’s amazing! He did what he always did. He got up, got dressed, and went to work. He put the next foot in front of the other. He did the next thing that needed done. 

He was faithful in the service of King Belshazzar, knowing about these other kings that are were going to come and trample over everything.

He sealed up the vision. I don’t think that necessarily means it was secret. I think that means it was saved. Like he hit the “saved” button on his computer. Maybe “save as a PDF” so that it lasts until the distant future when it needs to come out and be used. 375 years later when Antiochus is raging, they need Daniel 8, and there it is. Because Daniel faithfully sealed it up!

Dare to be a Daniel and be faithful in the king’s service even when you know everything is going to come unglued.

And not just faithful in the service of pagan King Belshazzar but even more so in faithful in the service of the King of Kingdoms, the Sar-Sarim, the Prince of Princes who is undefeated now and forever will be.


***

Messages in This Series:

01. The King's Service - Daniel 1:1-21
02. The God of Heaven - Daniel 2:1-49
Bonus Message: "No Matter What" - Daniel 3:1-30 from Family Bible Week 2012
03. The God We Serve - Daniel 3:1-30
04. The King of Heaven - Daniel 4:1-37
05. The Lord of Heaven - Daniel 5:1-31
06. The Living God - Daniel 6:1-28
07. The Ancient of Days - Daniel 7:1-28