Answered Prayer & More

Daniel • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

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Last week we saw Daniel reading the words of the prophet Jeramiah where the Lord said that his people would be taken into captivity for 70 years, and so Daniel went before the Lord and reminded God that even though they had sinned against him by following other idols and customs of other people, he said that HE would bring them back to their home out of captivity.

But their home was destroyed. When King Nebuchadnezzar captured the people of Judah, they destroyed the Temple and the place where they stayed. This promised land was desolate. Empty. Ruined. But Daniel knew that coming back to a place that was empty was better than being a prisoner in a different land with different people who served different Gods. So Daniel saw that the 70 years would soon come to an end, and he prayed. He sought the Lord on behalf of his people.

Daniel asked God in prayer… and it didn’t take long to receive an answer. But Daniel recieved a word from the Lord that he was not expecting.

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Open your Bibles to Daniel 9. Today as Daniel get his answer, we are going to see a glimpse into the future. This future that is mentioned will talk about the last days. The end of the world as you see it know. So once again there is a change in the style of writing.

Do you remember what the style of writing is when it point to these end of times events? Apocalyptic This word comes from the word apocalypse which means “unveiling.” So as we see the answer, there is an unveiling of future events. So lets see the answer to Daniel’s prayer for God to bring his people out of the captivity.

Daniel 9:20–23 NLT

20 I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain. 21 As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. 23 The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision.

Gabriel the angel came to give Daniel the answer he was looking for. But I want you to first see how quickly God listened and sent Gabriel.

Verse 21: …came swiftly to me… Verse 22: …the moment you began praying a command was give…

God is always listening, and he is already working out his plan for you. Even before you speak it, God knows your heart. We don’t need to beg him to do something that is already in his will. He wants us to ask, because he wants us to come to him, and be dependent on him. If its in his will, he is ready in that moment to accomplish what you are seeking him for.

Does that mean that God will give you everything you want? God give me a million naira. God give me a new car. Well I guess if its his will to give you those things, then I guess he will.

So people will say the verse from 1 John and say, all you have to do is ask and God will give it to you.

1 John 5:14–15 (NLT)

14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

By the way the phrase “that pleases him” also means “according to his will”

So when we pray, if our hearts are joined together with God through the Holy Spirit, we will present our prayers and petitions before him, but we will understahd that when we ask, ultimately, we want His will to be done.

And as Daniel prayed this prayer, asking for God to remember, he knew his prayer would be answered, why? Because he knew, from Jeramiah’s prophecy from the Lord, it would happen.

Gabriel came, and he was ready to give Daniel God’s response, but it was a little different than he thought.

Daniel 9:24 NLT

24 “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

Now lets look at this verse a little deeper. First there seems to be maths. Are you ready to do maths this morning?

Daniel 9:24 (NLT)

24 “A period of seventy sets of seven

Here we have a length of time. 70 sets of 7. Now I will tell you that this is not in days, this is in years. APOCALYPTIC. IT IS A SYMBOL!

70 years x 7 years = 490 years

So 490 years. What is this message from God through Gabriel saying? Why did he say 490 years?

Let e show you the number 490, and it comes from the disobedience from his chosen people.

As part of the Law, the nation of Israel were required to take a Sabbath. A day of rest where they did not do business or do any work. It was a day given to the Lord so that they would not fill their mind up with other things, but that they should give that day to God. So the word Sabbath means rest.

But God also told his people that the land needed a Sabbath. The land where they planted and grew crops, needed a Sabbath as well. Look at his command:

Exodus 23:10–11 NLT

10 “Plant and harvest your crops for six years, 11 but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.

They were required to let the land be empty for one year. They would plant and grow for six years, but on the 7th year, they were to leave the land alone so that the land would renew itself. And if it did grow anything, that was for the poor. But they were not to grow in the seventh year. It was a land Sabbath.

This is what the Lord commanded, but the people refused. They went 490 years without taking a land Sabbath, without giving the land rest.

So 490 looking back was the disobedience to honor the Lord with the land. But the 490 years also pointed to something in the future. 490 years in the future, God would give his Son Jesus, the Messiah over to be killed. He would be resurrected in three days, and they would have the chance to acknowledge as the Messiah and receive salvation.

But lets no forget the 490 years as we continue to what the angel said.

Daniel 9:24 (NLT)

Again, looking forward 490 years, the angel points to the people and tells them three things they need to do:

His people should:

Finish their rebellion

Put an end to their sin

Atone for their guilt

Why? Because they should prepare. For what?

Daniel 9:24 (NLT)

This points to the first coming of Jesus Christ. The coming Messiah.

The only person who can bring true righteous is our Lord Jesus.

The second thing the angel said about Jesus’ 2nd coming was he will confirm the prophetic vision. Another translation says it this way: “he will seal both vision and prophet.” When Jesus comes, there will be no more need for vision and prophets about what is to come. He will be here. Jesus, The Redeemer. God’s plan of redemption will be coming to an end.

Then the last thing will be one of the major events on God’s timeline of the last days… he will anoint the most holy place.

The most holy place is the temple in Jerusalem. It was first built by Solomon, then it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Then it was built again when the people returned from captivity in Babylon. In this temple, Jesus would turn the tables of the moneychangers for doing business in the temple.

What became of that temple?

Let’s move forward to verse 25.

Daniel 9:25–27 NLT

25 Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. 26 “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end. 27 The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”

There is a lot of information here, and it can be confusing. But for as believers, we should always seek to understand what God has given us through his Word. We should always seek ask for his Spirit to guide us. Even though there are things that we will not understand this side of heaven, he does reveal some of the events of the last days. And we see these in the Book of Revelation, some of Ezekial, and even here in Daniel.

So lets look a these last three verses one by one.

Daniel 9:25 (NLT)

So what we know about these weeks is that set seven of weeks id 490 years, right? Now, an additional 62 weeks and that makes 69 sets of 7 = 483 years from the time the temple is built in Jerusalem.

If you look at that amount 483 years in the calendar in which they followed, people who follow history say that at the end of that 483 years from the temple being built again was the time that Jesus road a donkey into Jerusalem an it was declared by the crowd that he was the coming Messiah. The is the Annointed One here.

Daniel 9:26 (NLT)

26 “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.

The anointed one, Jesus will be killed, and it looked like it was all over. In fact, if you look back to what the disciples did between the time of his death and resurrection, they went back to their lives as they were before. What did Peter do? He went back to fishing. And that’s where he was when he first saw the resurrected Jesus.

But look: and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple

About 40 years after Jesus ascended into heaven the temple was destroyed, and for the last 2000 years there has not been a temple. The Jewish people, for all this time have not had a temple in Jerusalem. But hat will change.

We are talking about the future here.

Daniel 9:27 (NLT)

27 The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”

I want you to set your mind now on the last days. This is the last seven years of the world as we can see. The last seven years before Jesus comes back, destroys this world, but carries those to him who have believed, followed, and are his children by faith.

The ruler is the anti-Christ now. He will come and look like a good man. He will do good things, people will like him, and especially the Jews will like him. Why? Because he will rebuild the temple. How do we know this? after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings

So during this seven years, everything will be good for the first half, three and a half years….but things will change. After three and a half years, we will see tghat he is from Satan. How do we know? he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration. He will set up himself in the Temple and say he is God and you must worship me.

Think back and what Daniel was told. Worship me or go to the lions den. What About Shadrach Meschah and Abednego. Worship me or burn in the fire.

That is what this world will come to. It will happen. The Bible says it. And it could happen in our lifetime. Will you be ready if it does. Will you be fooled into thinking that this one who comes is the Messiah. As he appears on earth and does all these good things, are you going to follow him as if he is Lord?

Remember last week I told you, if anyone walks this earth and says he is the Messiah, you should not believe it. Why? Because the Bible says that the next time he appears, he will come as a Warrior to defeat Satan, not to try to tell you to follow him.

What will your response be to Jesus saying, follow me? Will you follow him or decide to follow something or someone else? Remember the words of Joshua?

Joshua 24:15 (NLT)

15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

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