Holy Scriptures, the speaking
of the faith of many of God's people. And in that passage of the faith of, I want
us to always remember that it is the object of the faith. It's the object of God's people's
faith. It is the Lord Jesus Christ.
So in seeking Him who is the object of the faith of God's
people. Let's ask the Lord's blessing
as we consider this passage. Our Father, we thank You this
evening for the blessed time that we have to call upon You,
and we thank You that we've had this blessed time to be able
to assemble ourselves and to meet in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I ask You now, Lord, bless this
time together. Bless it as we hear from You. Lord, bless our worship and these
things we ask for Christ's sake. Amen. The book of Daniel is opened
in an amazing way. And it's opened in such a way
that we find the trial of Daniel's faith being tested immediately. Now Daniel was one of the captives
in Babylon and he was allowed by the Lord to be placed in a
trying situation, very tough, very, very I'm trying. That's the only way I know how
to say it. He was brought over and he was placed in a situation
where he was going to have to wait upon the Lord. I want us
to look. Daniel 1, verses 3-7. Being one of the captives, the
Scripture says, And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master
of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children
of Israel and of the king's seed and of the prince's, children
in whom was no blemish, well favored, skillful in all wisdom,
cunning in knowledge, understanding, science, and such as had ability
in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach
the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed
them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which
he drank, so nourishing them three years, that at the end
thereof they might stand before the king. Now, among these were
of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names. For he gave unto
Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach,
and to Mashael of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego." Now,
the names of these men, they're Hebrew names. Daniel meant a
God of judgment, or God is my judge. Hananiah was the Lord
of grace, or the Lord is gracious to me. Mishael meant the strength
of God. And Azariah meant the Lord is
my help. Now, four men that were picked
out from among the captives, these were going to be trophies
for the king that had captured them. He was going to get these
fellas and was going to just school them and get them all
prettied up and show them off. He said, now this is the kind
of captives that I've got out of the land of Israel. And the names that were given
to these men were names that had reference to God's honor. and to the mercy of God to His
people. Names that would keep in memory
the Lord's covenant, grace, mercy toward His people. But in Babylon,
the names that were given to these men were changed, and the
reason that they changed them is to give a new twist to the
gods, to the little g-god. that were being served in Babylon. Daniel's name was changed to
Belteshazzar, and what it meant was, Bel, which was the name
I found out of a false god, favors you. Bel favors you. Hananiah, which was his Hebrew
name, was changed to Shadrach, and Shadrach means the inspiration
of the Son, or God, the author of evil. Mashael's name was changed to
Meshach, and it meant he who belongs to the goddess Shedrach. And then Azariah was changed
to Abednego, which meant the servant of Nago, which was a
false god. Now, these men, whose names were
changed. I mean, it was the creme de creme
of the nation of Israel. Changed their names and gave
them these names of false gods, and they were going to be fed
the king's food. They were going to be fed what
the king ate. The Scripture says in chapter
1, verses 8 to 16, Daniel purposed in his heart
that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's
meat or with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested
of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. God had brought Daniel into favor
and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince
of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who
hath appointed your meat and your drink, for why should he
see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your
sort? Then shall you make me endanger
my head to the king? And said Daniel to Melzar, whom
the prince of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, Hananiah, Myshael,
and Azariah, He said, Prove, thy servants, I beseech thee,
ten days, and let them give us pulse, or porridge. to eat, water
to drink, then let our countenances be looked upon before thee and
the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the
king's meat, as thou seest deal with thy servants." So he consented
to them in that matter and proved them ten days, and at the end
of ten days, their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in
flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's
meat. Thus, Melzar took away the portion of their meat and
the wine that they should drink, and he gave them pulse." Now,
that grace that was shown from the
Lord, not only to Daniel, but also to the head of the eunuchs,
because what he was doing was putting himself in a position
where the king didn't like what he did, found out. He could lose
his head, but the watchful eye of the Lord was over his people. And even in the pressure, the
temptation of the world to set forth, I'm going to flatter you,
I'm going to give you all of these things that the world has. Even that meat and that wine
of the king presented what the world offers as sustaining food. But to the believer, the Lord
supplies the bread of heaven, the wine of Christ's blood, as
our daily portion. That was the beauty, the picture. Daniel purposed in his heart
that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's
meat, nor with the wine that he drank. Feast upon the portion that Almighty
God has supplied, Christ and Him crucified. And according
to our Lord's promise, you'll never hunger, you'll never thirst. That was the trial of Daniel.
Set him apart by this heathen king. Going to fatten him up,
make him prettier. Let him be a trophy. Gave him a new name. gave him
a name that the king decided to give him. Daniel purposed
in his heart to not defile himself. Secondly, let's look at the wisdom
of Daniel. In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar
had a dream that the Lord removed from his memory. And he did this
in order to introduce Daniel into Nebuchadnezzar's presence. Now, no one of the king's court
had the ability to either relate the dream or to give the interpretation
of the dream, and therefore, the king's wrath rested upon
every one of them, all of them, all of the wise men, of which
Daniel and his three Friends from Israel were part of that
group. So the Lord was pleased to teach
Daniel, give Daniel some wisdom as a means of bringing back to
the Lord's honor, bringing back the setting forth of God's grace
and showing this heathen king who God truly was. The Scripture
says in chapter 2 and verse 12 to 18, It says, For this cause
the king was angry concerning his dream, very furious, commanded
to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went
forth that the wise men should be slain. And they sought Daniel
and his fellows to be slain. And Daniel answered with counsel
and wisdom to Ariok, captain of the king's guard, which was
going forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. He answered and
said to Ariok, the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from
the king? And Ariok made the thing known
to Daniel, and Daniel went in and desired the king that he
would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house
and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mashael, and Azariah, his companions,
that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning
this secret, that Daniel and his fellows should not perish
with the rest of the wise men of Babylon, The Lord was going
to show mercy to these four men. God was going to preserve His
people. But He was going to be inquired
of. That's what the Lord set forth in Ezekiel 36-37. All these
things shall I do for you, yet for these things will I be inquired
of. Now, when the Lord is pleased, to grant to His people, to give
to His people the desires of their heart, it is the Lord that
puts it upon their heart to pray for it. It is the desire of our
heart to hear from Him and asking Him that He might show mercy
to us. And this is what happened. The
Lord moved upon Daniel to ask. for the interpretation of this
dream. It says in verse 19 through 23,
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of
heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for
ever and ever. For wisdom and might are his,
and he changeth the times and the seasons. He removeth kings
and setteth up kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise
and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the
deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness.
and the light dwelleth with Him, I thank Thee, and praise Thee,
O Thou God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might,
and has made known unto me now what was desired of Thee. For
Thou hast now made known unto us the King's matter." Oh, the
mercy of Almighty God to impress His people for that which He
is pleased to ask. And the thing that Daniel did
is he thanked the Lord first. Now here was a king, and he was
a mighty king. Nebuchadnezzar was a tyrant. And Daniel, I know, would be
tempted as soon as the Lord gave him the interpretation to run
in there and say, I got it, I got it. First thing he did, he thanked
the Lord. He knew that his wisdom was from
above. He knew that Almighty God had
given him the truth. concerning this dream. Well, the Scripture says in verse
25 to 28, Then Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in
haste, and said thus unto him, I found a man of the captives
of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,
Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen,
and the interpretation thereof? And Daniel answered in the presence
of the king and said, The secret which the king hath demanded
cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers,
show unto the king. But there is a God in heaven
that revealeth secrets, and maketh known unto the king Nebuchadnezzar
what shall be in the latter days, thy dream, and the visions of
thy head upon thy bed, And then Daniel revealed the dream and
the interpretation of it, verse 31 to 33. Thou, O King, sawest,
and behold, a great image, this great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. The image's head was of fine
gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his
thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part iron and
part clay. And no doubt, I'm sure, when
I breed the commentators on this and try to get some insight into
what they thought it was. There's no doubt that it probably
was different kingdoms that might have been meant. A lot of times,
if you read, they always give exact kingdoms. Well, this had
to be this Assyrian, and this had to be Rome, this had to be...
Well, the Scripture doesn't bear out. who that was, but I can
tell you for a fact that this image was truly that which opposes
Almighty God. Whatever is exactly meant in
those figures, that head and those arms of silver and belly
and thighs of brass, whatever it means exactly, man's opposition
is all cut out of the same lump. And it doesn't matter whether
the Scriptures are silent, it's silent. But I do know this, whatever
this represented was going to have to deal with this right
here, verse 34, Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without
hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron
and clay, and break them to pieces. Nebuchadnezzar's dream was a
type of all that which is in opposition to Almighty God, Antichrist,
that spirit that left to itself does nothing but stand against
that which is holy and just and good. And now we see that there
is one, that stone cut out without hands, the Lord Jesus Christ
that would rise in the humility of Himself and Him coming into
this world and living in this world and answering for all that
opposes His people, giving Himself The Scripture sets forth in verse
35, that was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, the gold
broke into pieces together, became like the chaff of the summer
threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place
was found for them, and the stone that smote the image became a
great mountain and field that hold earth. I read that again today and I
thought, When I read something like that, it became, and here
I know that Almighty God, when it's referring to the Lord Jesus
Christ, nothing ever started with the Lord. I had to go back
and look up that word, became again, existed. That's it. That's good. And that great stone
existed. A mountain filling the whole
earth. So here's the wisdom of Almighty
God given to Daniel to interpret, not only interpret, but give
him the dream. Gave him the dream and then interpreted that dream. Now let's look at the steadfastness
of Daniel. And chapter 3, now here's an
amazing thing, Daniel's name is not mentioned. I set forth
in chapter 3, if I do not err on that. And Daniel, not mentioned
by name, but the faith of Daniel. Found in the three companions
of Daniel was truly tribe. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And the image of gold was set up 90 feet tall, if my addition
is correct concerning the size of it, erected by Nebuchadnezzar. And all of them were commanded
to bow down when they heard the music, and they were to bow down
and worship the image, and failure to do so was going to be perishable
by death. And the music started, and Daniel's
friends wouldn't bow. Well, they were given another
chance. And the Scripture says when they were given another
chance, here was their answer given in chapter 3. Verse 17
and 18, it says, if it be so, Nebuchadnezzar told them he was
going to throw them into the fire. Our God whom we serve is
able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And He will deliver
us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto
thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the
golden image which thou hast set up. Now here was three men.
Resolved. You're going to bow down, Nebuchadnezzar
said, when the music starts playing. And this is what they said, no
we're not. You don't bow down, I'm going to throw you in the
fire. That may be. But I can tell you right now,
our God's going to deliver us. He'll either keep us from the
fire or He'll take us into His very presence right now. But
we're not going to bow down to your image. And you know the
story. They did throw those three men
into that fiery furnace. The Scripture says they heated
that fiery furnace and it was so hot that it burned up the
men, the guards that threw them in there. Nebuchadnezzar looked
in and he saw a fourth one, likened to the Son of God, standing in
the midst. And the only thing that was burned
According to this account, it was the ropes that bound them. There was nothing about them
that even smelled like fire. And Almighty God delivered these
men out of the very presence in the hand of this tyrant. And at that time, Nebuchadnezzar
appeared to bless the Lord. He said in
verse 28, Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel,
and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed
the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might
not serve nor worship any god except their god. Therefore,
I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language which speak
anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill,
because there is no other God that can deliver after this sword."
I thought to myself, here was a man that Almighty God put in
his place, and it was amazing to me that
this king's still in arrogance. Arrogance. I make a decree. If anybody doesn't bow down to
the God of these men, I'm going to cut you up. I'm going to make
a dunghill out of your house. Boy, there's a lot of grace there,
isn't there? Let me tell you, when Almighty God gives a man
a heart, he'll worship. It doesn't take a decree from
a king. Nebuchadnezzar appeared to give allegiance. Oh, what
freedom these men had in that trial. Our God, who we serve,
is able. But if He doesn't, we're not
going to bow down and serve you. Then Nebuchadnezzar had another
dream. And when he was called on to
interpret this next dream, Daniel was relating over in Daniel 4,
verse 23. And this is what Daniel said
concerning the dream, whereas the king saw a watcher, and a
holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, Hew the tree down
and destroy it. Yet leave the stump of the roots
thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the
tender grass of the field. And let it be wet with the dew
of heaven, and let his portion be with the beast of the field,
till seven times pass over him." The king saw a watcher, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who watches over his people, continually comforts
them in their trials. And Daniel revealed in chapter
4 the judgment of God upon Nebuchadnezzar. Because of the king's continual
arrogance and pride that you would stop and think. Nebuchadnezzar
had just in chapter 3, just I mean given this decree, he saw the
deliverance of God. He saw these men thrown in that
fiery furnace. He saw one like unto the Son
of God. walking in the midst of them. And then in chapter 4, he has
this dream, and Daniel comes and reveals the dream from the
Lord's revelation exactly what was going to happen. He set forth
that Nebuchadnezzar as a tree was going to be cut down. Now
let's look at Daniel 4. And 13 to 16, here it is, I saw
in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher,
and the Holy One came down from heaven. He cried aloud and said,
Hew down the tree, cut off its branches, shake off its leaves,
scatter its fruit, let the beasts get away from under it and the
fowls from its branches. Nevertheless, Leave the stump
of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass
in the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of
heaven. Let his portion be with the beast in the grass of the
field. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's
heart be given unto him. And let seven times, seven years
pass over him." And after that happened, twelve months, look
at verse 28, All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar
was the tree. Daniel said, this is the dream
and this is the interpretation. You're the tree. This tree is
going to be cut down. Stumps are going to be left.
You'll be there. You'll be there. But for seven
years, you're going to have the heart of a beast. You're going
to be out in the field. going to eat grass. This is what
God Almighty told Daniel to tell Nebuchadnezzar. And twelve months
later, Nebuchadnezzar did just exactly what God said he was
going to do, and the Lord did what He said He was going to
do. Man can hear God's promise of
judgment, but he will not bow. unless Almighty God gives him
a new heart. Verse 29, at the end of 12 months,
he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king
spake, the very one that saw the deliverance of those three
men, the very one that had the dream, the very one that Daniel
came and said, this is the dream. The very one that Daniel said,
this is what's going to happen to you. God's going to cut you
down. The king's fate, he said, is
not this great Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power, for the honor of my majesty. And while the word was in the
king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall
be with the beasts of the field. And they shall make thee to eat
grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou
know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. And the same hour was the thing
fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and
did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his
nails like birds' claws." It is by the grace of God that we
stand right here tonight, sit here, and you hear what I'm saying
and you understand it. It is by the grace of God that
you can look and have eyes that actually sees and perceives what
you're looking at. Almighty God holds every soul
in His hand. And here was a man who in arrogance
stood and boasted that everything that he had was at his own hand. This right here, Neal, that's
the heart of man by nature. That's man. I will. I can. I have. I shall. I want us to
look now at the confession of Daniel and of God's revelation
to show mercy. Now, what we're about to consider
right here, everything that I've said up until this point has
led up to this point, verses out of chapter 6 and mostly out
of chapter 9 of Daniel. But here is the heart, here is
the faith of Daniel set forth. Now Daniel, let me say this,
was a man of prayer. It was for this cause, the cause,
he was a faithful, faithful man, believed God, sought the Lord,
would not bow. He was just like Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. I'm not going to bow. I'm not
going to bow to your decree. I'm not going to bow to your
word, your will. I serve God. Serve Him alone.
For that very reason, he was thrown into a den of lions. Daniel
6, verses 1-6, it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom of 120
princes which should be over the whole kingdom. And over these
three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might
give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
And this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes
because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king thought
to set him over the whole realm, And the presidents and princes
sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom,
but they could find none occasion nor fault for as much as he was
faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against
this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law
of his God. And these presidents and princes assembled together
to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius live forever.
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, the princes, the
counselors, the captains, have consulted together to establish
a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask
a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee,
O King, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O King,
establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed
according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which altereth
not." Therefore, King Darius signed the writing and the decree. When Daniel knew that the writing
was signed, he went into his house. and his windows being
opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his
knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God
as he did aforetime." He was a man, a faithful man, knowing
that we ought to obey God rather than men. But there was a revelation
that was given Daniel that was truly the revelation of all revelations. As this man sought God, prayed,
was taken, captured, thrown into the lion's den. The king struggled
all night thinking about what he had done. Couldn't change
this. Couldn't change the decree. Came in the next morning, called
to him, Daniel, Daniel, are you there? He said, I'm here, I'm
here. King got him out, welcomed him.
King told him, said, take those fellows right there and you throw
them into the lion's den through them, their families, kids, all
of them, before they hit the ground. The lions tore them to
pieces. Daniel delivered. And now we
find over the next few chapters, we find the people still in rebellion. Daniel, faithful man, faithful
to God, faithful in prayer, faithful in seeking the Lord. And then
over in chapter 9, we find this Daniel. The Lord directed his
heart to read the scriptures. In chapter 9, verses 1 and 2,
it said, In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus,
the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm
of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel,
understood by books the number of the years whereof the word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish
seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Now, here's what
he just found out. By reading the book of Jeremiah,
the Lord taught Daniel how long they were going to be in Babylon. By reading the Scriptures, he
found out by the revelation of the Lord that the 70 years was
coming to an end. Now, here again, instead of running
like he didn't run to Nebuchadnezzar to tell him what was going on,
what the Lord had taught him, he stayed and thanked the Lord
and blessed the Lord. Now, he realizes that the 70
years of captivity is coming to an end for Israel in Babylon. And it's about up. He's read
the Scriptures and he realized by books, by the number of the
years, wherein the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, that he
would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And here's what this man did.
He set his face and blessed the Lord and thanked the Lord for
God putting them in Babylon all of those years. He thanked God. I want us to read verses 3-19
and listen to this confession of this man of God. Now, they've
been in Babylon for 70 years. Captivity. He's gone through
trials. Here he was, his friends thrown
into that furnace, himself thrown into the lion's den, lied on
by men that wanted to kill him. Faithful, faithful. Told that
he was going to be killed if they didn't teach the interpretation. This man went through years and
years and years of trial. And it's coming to an end. And
here's what Daniel... under the inspiration of God's
Spirit, hath said, verse 3, chapter 9, I set my face unto the Lord
God to seek by prayer and supplications with fastings, cycloth, and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my
God and made my confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful
God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him,
And to them that keep His commandments, we have sinned, and have committed
iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing
from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened
unto Thy servants, the prophets which spake in Thy name to our
kings and our princes, our fathers, and to all the people of the
land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee. But unto us confusion
of faces, as at this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near and that are far
off, through all the countries whether thou hast driven them
because of their trespass, that they have trespassed against
thee, O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face. to our kings,
to our princes, to our fathers, because we have sinned against
thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though
we have rebelled against him, neither have we obeyed the voice
of the Lord our God to walk in his laws, which he sent before
us by his servants, the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed
thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice.
Therefore, the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is
written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we
have sinned against him, he hath confirmed his words which he
spake against us, against our judges that judged us, by bringing
upon us a great evil. For unto the whole heaven hath
not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written
in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet made
we not our prayer before the Lord our God that he might turn
from our iniquities and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the
Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord
our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth. For we
obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that
hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with
a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renowned, as at this day
we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to
all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy
fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain,
because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers,
Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that
are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear
the prayer of thy servant and his supplications, and cause
thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's
sake. O my God, incline thy ear and hear. Open thine eyes and
behold our desolations, the city which is called by thy name.
For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses,
but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken and do. Defer
not. For thine own sake, O my God,
for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. Now you know,
here was Daniel. He had just read by revelation
from God that the Lord was getting ready to deliver them. The Lord
was going to deliver them. The Lord had promised 70 years,
you're going to be there and I'm going to take you out. And
here's Daniel asking the Lord to do what the Lord has promised
He was going to do. That's true confession. We're
confessing. Lord, we've gotten just exactly
what we deserved. We didn't bow. We didn't serve.
We didn't call. Lord, all we did was rebel against
You. And Lord, now I'm asking You.
I'm asking You to do. That's what He said. In that
19th verse, O Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken
and do, and defer not for thine own sake. O my God, for thy city
and thy people are called by thy name." Daniel was agreeing
with the Lord, laying himself bare before the God of his hope. But in mercy, according to the
Lord's everlasting covenant of grace, The Lord revealed to Daniel
a deliverance that was only pictured in the deliverance of Israel
out of Babylon. That 70 years was a type of the
deliverance from the bondage of sin by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In verses 20 and chapter 9 to
27, What's going to happen is, Daniel
was asking for the deliverance of Israel physically out of Babylon. And the Lord taught him something
of true deliverance. Verse 20, I was speaking and
praying and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel,
and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the
holy mountain of my God. Yea, while I was speaking in
prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision
at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about
the time of the evening oblation." About 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
And he informed me. And he talked with me. and said,
O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications
the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee, for thou
art greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter
and consider the vision." Seventy weeks, or let me say this before
I read any farther, and as closely as I can tell, as closely as
I can read the words and find the interpretation of these words,
and I believe these words are true, the actual is the 70 weeks
or the weeks of years. The 70 weeks of years. 490 years. Trying to take the
references and see how the words are interpreted. But 70 weeks
of years. 490 years are determined upon
thy people and upon thy holy city And here is what it is. Here is what the end of the 490
years will bring. To finish the transgression and
to make an end of sins. and to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up
the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know
therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment
to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince
shall be seven weeks, Three score and two weeks the streets shall
be built again, and the wall even in troublous times. And
after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but
not for himself, and the people of the prince that shall come
shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary and the inn thereof
shall be with a flood. And until the end of the war,
desolations are determined, and He shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week. And in the midst of the week,
He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And
for the overspreading of the abominations, He shall make it
desolate, even unto the consummation. And that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate." Now let me tell you what I truly
feel is being set forth Right here. There's a lot of numbers.
There's a lot of figures and times and weeks. And it's all
talking about the time that the Lord Jesus Christ will come into
this world. And by the shedding of His precious
blood, He's going to make an end of the iniquity of His people. He's going to come. And the Lord
gave Him a time. It was 490 years. But during those times, and all
of this in verse 25 and 26 and 27, and talking about threescore
and two weeks, it's all in multiples of seven. Things that were going
to come to pass. And there was going to be floods
and wars and desolations. What he was saying was this.
There's going to come a time when the Messiah is going to
come. He's going to put away the guilt of His people. But
before He comes, there's going to be calamities and chastisements. The Roman Empire was the last
of them. I do know that. They were under
the Roman government. But let me ask you this, with
the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world
that was given to Daniel, And the Lord giving him through revelation,
it's going to be this much time before He comes. But prior to
that time, the people, here's the encouragement, in the midst
of all that you go through, He's still coming. He shall put an
end to the iniquity. He shall put away the sins of
His people. I even read to this point, the
wise men. The Magi that came. Do you know
why? They were Chaldeans from Babylon. And they had this Scripture right
here. And the reason that they came
looking at the time that they did following the star was because
they had the promise of Daniel. The 490 years. We've seen the
start. They knew the promise. They knew
the promise that the Messiah was coming. That's why they were
there. All through these times, they're
going to be tried. God's people are going to be
tested. But here's the promise. Look at chapter 12 as we come
to the end of this precious book. At that time, verse 1, shall
Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children
of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as
never was." since there was a nation even to that same time. And at
that time, thy people shall be delivered. Every one that shall
be found written in the book. Although the times are going
to be trying, chastisement, God's people are going to be delivered.
And at the appointed time, the Lord is going to judge this world
in absolute righteousness. Look at verse 3. I'm sorry, verse
3, "...and they that shall be wise shall shine as the brightness
of the firmament, they that turn many to righteousness as the
stars forever and ever. At the time appointed, the Lord
is going to judge all the earth." Now look at verse 2, "...many
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some
to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting content. But of the details of the second
coming and the final judgment, Almighty God has been pleased
to be silent on that which is actually going to take place. Look at these last verses. Chapter
12, verses 4 to 13. Here's the Lord. Chapter 12,
He's told Daniel, Michael is going to stand up. The Lord Jesus
Christ Himself is going to be judgment. All the people of this
world are going to be judged. But what's going to happen exactly?
Verse 4, But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and sealed
the book, even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and
fro, knowledge shall be increased. Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold,
there stood other two, one on this side of the bank of the
river, the other on that side of the bank of the river. And
the one said to the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters
of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
And I heard the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters
of the river, when he held up his right hand, His left hand
to heaven, swear by Him that liveth forever, that it shall
be for a time, times, and a half. And when He shall have accomplished
to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall
be finished. And I heard, but I understood
not. Then said I, O my Lord, what
shall be the end of these things? He said, Go thy way, Daniel.
For the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the
end. Many shall be purified, made
white, tried. But the wicked shall do wickedly,
and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall
understand. And from the time that the daily
sacrifice shall be taken away, that is, from the time that there
be no more, of the shedding of the animal, till the Lord comes
Himself. From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken
away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there
shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he that waiteth and
cometh to the 1,305 and 30 days. But go thy way till the end be,
for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the
days. The faith of this man, Daniel. The book of Daniel, as far as the book of Revelation,
is hand in glove. Much of the things that set forth
in Daniel revealed in the book of Revelation. The time of the
end. What's going to happen exactly?
We don't know. They were shut up. They were
told Daniel, but he couldn't write them. But we do know this. God's people set forth by Daniel,
a man of faith that believed God, rested. All God's people
looked forward to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whatever happens in this life, Will the tribulation be in our
lifetime? I don't know. I'm telling you, I think that
we're going through great tribulation right now. But I do know this,
Almighty God is not going to leave His people. He's not going
to forsake His people. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to have His own. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart, for Christ's sake.