The Prayer - Part 6 - Logos Sermons

9

The Revelation on the L-Train

The contract of Genesis and the bleeding heart of Paul.

The Spirit of God quickened me, instructed me, that these promises were for me and for my people, the Jewish nation. The minute I thought this I also thought, “that is dangerous, my Christian friends always say God is done with my people. They even correct me when I say I am Jewish follower of Yeshua and say, ‘you mean Jewish Christian.’”

I learned that I am child in a house with biological siblings and adopted siblings. And because of the immense love of my Abba in Heaven he has adopted billions of children into my family.

Well intentioned Christians who have my people’s Scriptures and no my people’s Messiah don’t have the heart of Paul for my people.

From time-to-time the adopted children join together and conspire against the biological children and try to convince them that they are no longer important to the heart of the father and that the adopted children have replaced the biological and now we the biological needed to be the adopted.

This is to their detriment because those in a family are integrally bound together. The whole Big Idea of is that those wild branches that are grafted in to this great Jewish tree are bound together with the natural branches and to its natural root. One does not prosper if the others do not.

I came to believe that day that my personal, the body of Messiah’s growth, the expansion of the Gospel and seeking the salvation and restoration of Israel are necessarily interwoven.

The implications of this are as beautiful as they are challenging. If we are bound-up together, it means followers of Yeshua will never be fully mature until they seek the restoration and salvation of Israel; and, Israel will never fully mature until they receive the Messiah Yeshua.

Entering Their Pain

In Jewish space we have a saying, “Culanu K’echad” (כולנו כאחד) which I translate as “All of us together as One.” I understand that some Ethiopian Jews translate this as “I am because we are.”

How far do we go with this? How bound up are we with natural Israel?

Should we rejoice with those who rejoice? Yes. Weep with those who weep? Yes. Should we sacrifice for Israel? That is harder, but we know the answer is yes. What about this: Should we confess one another’s sin? Should we in some way share the load of mutual failings in corporate repentance? Is it possible that we have not repented as we should unless we have repented for our sins and Israel’s sins?

Should we rejoice with those who rejoice? Yes. Weep with those who weep? Yes. Should we sacrifice for one another? That is harder, but we know the answer is yes. What about this: Should we confess one another’s sin? Should we in some way share the load of mutual failings in corporate repentance? Is it possible that we have not repented as we should unless we have repented corporately? If that is true, then not only do we need to repent for each other’s sake, we also begin to echo quite remarkable things about the covenant community that are clearly reflected in the prayers, petitions, and vision of the prophet in . The first of these beautiful and challenging truths of our covenant-union is that confession is not just about the individual.

If that is true, then not only do we need to repent for each other’s sake, we also begin to echo quite remarkable things about the covenant community that are clearly reflected in the prayers, petitions, and vision of the prophet in .

Daniel 9

Grab your copy of the Scriptures.

We learn a lot about how to use Scripture by observing how those in Scripture use the Word that was available to them. This is an important aspect of the Reformation principle that “Scripture interprets Scripture.” We learn something of that principle by observing how the prophet Daniel reads the prophets who have preceded him.

Daniel 9:1–3 TLV

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign—I, Daniel, understood from the books that according to the word of Adonai to Jeremiah the prophet, the number of the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70 years. So I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel is reading Jeremiah and learns that the captivity he is experiencing is supposed to last seventy years. He suddenly realizes that the seventy years are nearly completed and that he and his people had better get ready. Getting ready is about more than packing bags; it involves preparing hearts. For this reason Daniel begins to pray, and his prayer results not only in an amazing vision of what will come but also in remarkable insights into how the people of God, then and now, should live. This is what Daniel says:

Remember we said last week that the vision of was troubling because Daniel learns that the nation of Israel will go through generations of suffering. Literally, empires worth of suffering. Perhaps the normal human reaction is to say, “But, Lord, I didn’t do anything wrong. Please excuse me from this discipline. It’s not my fault. This is not about me. I was one of the good guys. Or, I was just a child.” We presume that we are not responsible for sin that we did not commit. But Daniel makes no such presumption. Instead, as a spiritual leader, Daniel assumes responsibility for sin that he did not commit. He read the prophecies of Jeremiah and believing the Word of God to be true he knew that God expected repentance of the nation. And, he was part of the “we” of the nation. We need to be very clear about what has happened and what Daniel now does in light of the facts of this chapter.

Daniel 9:4–6 TLV

“I prayed to Adonai my God and confessed, saying: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love Him and keep His mitzvot, we have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have acted wickedly; we have rebelled; we have turned away from Your mitzvot and from Your rulings. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

In the preceding vision (), Daniel learns that the nation of Israel will go through generations of suffering. Perhaps the normal human reaction is to say, “But, Lord, I didn’t do anything wrong. Please excuse me from this discipline. It’s not my fault. This is not about me.” We presume that we are not responsible for sin that we did not commit. But Daniel makes no such presumption. Instead, as a spiritual leader, Daniel assumes responsibility for sin that he did not commit. We need to be very clear about what has happened and what Daniel now does in light of the facts of this chapter ().

Who has sinned? Apparently, a lot of people have sinned and Daniel includes himself in this confession. He does not say self-righteously like Elijah, “I have been very zealous for Adonai-Tzva’ot,” he said, “but the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and slain Your prophets with the sword...” Daniel the man who it is said of him several times, “The spirit of the holy God lives in him” says everyone is involved. That if we sin, me sin.

Daniel 9:7–14 TLV

“ ‘You Lord are righteousness, but shame covers our face to this day—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries where you have banished them—because they behaved unfaithfully toward you. Adonai, shame covers our face—our kings, our leaders, our fathers—because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of Adonai Eloheinu by walking in His Torah that He set before us through His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your Torah and has turned away—not obeying Your voice. “ ‘Therefore the curse and sworn judgment written in the Torah of Moses the servant of God has been poured out upon us, for we have sinned against Him. So He has confirmed His words that he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled over us by bringing on us a great calamity. Under the whole heaven nothing like this has ever been done to Jerusalem! As it is written in the Torah of Moses, all this calamity came on us, yet we have not sought the favor of Adonai Eloheinu by turning away from our iniquities and paying attention to Your truth. So Adonai was intent on bringing the calamity upon us, for Adonai Eloheinu is righteous in all His deeds that He has done—while we have not paid attention to His voice.

What have all these people done? Daniel said they were unfaithful, transgressed your Torah, did not obey God’s voice, did not seek the favor of God by turning from our sins. Later on another Jewish man, Rabbi Paul, would say it this way, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and “None is righteous, no, not one.”

Everyone is Involved

Everyone Has Rebelled

Everyone is Responsible: Personally & Corporately

Daniel repeatedly says “we” or “us” (see the repeated “we” of vv. 5–15). But why does Daniel confess? He may have some problems in his life, but it seems unlikely that this brave spokesman for God needs to confess serious sin. God repeatedly and miraculously rescues Daniel and grants him heavenly visions. Surely this Daniel is not guilty like everyone else who “acted wickedly and rebelled” (v. 5) or have “not listened to … the prophets” (v. 6). After all, the reason he is praying is that he has been reading Jeremiah.

Leaders Confess

Who confesses? Daniel repeatedly says “we” or “us” (see the repeated “we” of vv. 5–15). But why does Daniel confess? He may have some problems in his life, but it seems unlikely that this brave spokesman for God needs to confess serious sin. God repeatedly and miraculously rescues Daniel and grants him heavenly visions. Surely this Daniel is not guilty like everyone else who “acted wickedly and rebelled” (v. 5) or have “not listened to … the prophets” (v. 6). After all, the reason he is praying is that he has been reading Jeremiah.

We have to make a choice. What is the reason that Daniel uses the phrase “we” when he confesses? His word choice is either rhetorical, representative, or real.

If we assume that his word choice of “we” is rhetorical, then we simply say that this is the way preachers and prophets talk. They say the word “God” with deep-toned reverence and frequently use the “royal we.” However, it is clear that Daniel is not referring to himself alone when he says “we,” because he includes other people in the confession: kings, fathers, families, and so on.

So we may conclude that Daniel’s use of “we” is representative. In this case, we assume that he has not personally sinned but that he speaks on behalf of the people who have and thus says, “We have sinned and have done these wicked things.” We cannot automatically exclude this possibility because Daniel is obviously referring collectively to a body of people (rulers, citizens, fathers, and families) who have sinned as citizens of the nation of Israel. Since he is a part of that nation, Daniel may simply be using “we” to refer to all who share that citizenship, even though he is not personally guilty, similar to the way sports fans say, “We won the World Series last year,” even though most people who say that did not actually play on the team. But the depth of Daniel’s emotional range does not seem representative. He seems to have a share in this.

The final possibility is that Daniel’s confession is real. This alternative does not exclude the idea that his words are representative, but it also means that he really thinks that he personally has something to confess along with the corporate sins of his people.

Why does Daniel confess personal sin as well as the sin of his people? It is really simple, we have already said but I will say it again, “We are bound up together as family, as a body.” If the heart is sick, the whole body is ill. If part of the body is sick, the whole body is affected. “I am because we are.”

Why does Daniel confess personal sin as well as the sin of those to whom he is ministering? There are at least two reasons. The first relates to the holiness of God. When Daniel confesses the sinfulness of his people, he simultaneously declares the opposite nature of God (cf. vv. 4, 9, and especially 7: “To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame”). Apprehension of the true holiness of God always results in the acknowledgment of our unholiness.

Isaiah 6:3–5 TLV

One called out to another, and said: “Holy, holy, holy, is Adonai-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is full of His glory.” Then the posts of the door trembled at the voice of those who called, and the House was filled with smoke. Then I said: “Oy to me! For I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I am dwelling among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot!”

These words of Daniel echo Isaiah, whose heavenly vision allowed the earlier prophet to see God on his throne while the seraphim circled and sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” In response, Isaiah said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (). God’s holiness produces confession of both personal and corporate sin. In the light of God’s radiant purity, Isaiah perceived his own desperate condition as well as the unworthiness of his people. In a similar way, having professed the righteousness of God, Daniel perceives the reality of his own sin as well as his people’s sin.

When I was a teenager, I one night got in a bad car accident. I was drunk and high on drugs. I came around a bend in a road that merged with other traffic and I slammed into the back of another car launching the car into a metal fence. I did not stop, I fled the scene of the crime.

Daniel pre-echoes the words of Paul to the Corinthians, when the apostle says to those obstreperous people, “You yourselves are our letter” (). Paul recognized that his own ministry—for good or for ill—was etched in the lives of the people to whom he ministered. They were his responsibility, and thus he carried responsibility for their sin as well as their triumphs. This is Luther’s theology of the cross, as he wrote that those who follow Christ must be prepared to suffer for the sins of others. Leaders of God’s people are called to carry his people’s burdens. They are to recognize their own shortcomings in the people’s sins. The calling of leaders requires them to carry the people’s burdens though they did not create them (cf. ).

From 1998 to 1999, Judy Howard Peterson completed an internship for her degree at North Park Theological Seminary by walking four thousand miles across the United States from Grayland Beach, Washington, to Key Biscayne, Florida. What does one learn theologically by walking four thousand miles? Judy said that she learned two things. The first was, “I am just as loved by God when I am in the middle of a field doing ‘nothing’ as when I follow the productivity standards of this world”; and the second was, “For all of its beauty, a lot of life also has a lot of South Dakota in it.”

The next morning, there was a knock at the door of my parent’s home. It was the Houston Police. I was so hungover I barely heard the door knock but I heard the sound of my dad pleading at the door with someone. I poked my head out the door and I saw the police. I knew they were coming for me. I could hear them tell my dad they wanted to arrest me. They were furious. I had rear-ended a family coming home from dinner. No one was hurt but their car was badly damaged. They wanted to make a point to me, a clear statement. They wanted to put cuffs on me and take me down to the Harris County Jail for Hit and Run.

I could hear me dad pleading and crying, “It is our fault officer. We have not been the best parents to our son. We are the ones who should be held liable not him. Put me in handcuffs if you are going to put him in handcuffs.” This went on for at least 10 minutes but as you know there really was only one person who was guilty of sin that night: me. I never felt like more of a sinner when I heard my father own my sin.

She began her walk across America carrying an eighty-pound backpack. She said she was convinced by the end of the second day that she never would make it and wanted to quit. Her legs felt like rubber and her feet were covered with painful blisters. Just when she didn’t think she could walk any farther, a woman driving by stopped her van. She offered to carry Peterson’s pack to her next stopping point. “She just said, ‘I’ll take it for you,’ ” recounted Peterson.

Looking back it was a lesson rich with a lot of meaning for me in a lot of ways. My dad, owned a sin that he did not create, he shared the burden with a guilty sinner. Daniel shows us something very similar. Those who have been spared the burden of sin by the grace of God are responsible to help carry the spiritual burdens of others. Even though we may not have created the burden or caused the predicament, we involve ourselves in the lives and confessions of others to help them on their journey of faith.

This may not be a lesson that we want to learn as we face the responsibility of caring for others. The individualistic spirit of our age trains us to think that we are responsible only for ourselves. But such an exclusive self-focus is not what Messiah ever demonstrated and is not what characterizes those who reflect his grace.

It is important to recognize that we are not saved merely for individual gain. Salvation is not just about Yeshua and me. And it is not just about Yeshua and the Hebrew roots of the Bible. It is about an identity that does not change when you believe in Yeshua:

Romans 11:1 TLV

I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

I am not saying that we bear personal culpability for all the sins in our family or community. Looking forward, Jeremiah speaks of the new covenant that now embraces us, saying, “In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge” (). We go to Christ to ask forgiveness for our own sin. I do not have to know and confess all the sins of my predecessors to be free of their guilt. But do these words eliminate any consideration of the corporate aspects of evil?

It is about an everlasting commitment that should always exist between those who follow Yeshua and the nation of Israel that has not yet come to faith:

Romans 11:17–21 TLV

But if some of the branches were broken off and you—being a wild olive—were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” True enough. They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear— for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

Let us be clear about this. Grace certainly frees individual believers from the guilt of national, familial, and personal sin. The sins of our history and context do not keep us from individually enjoying the benefits of grace. And yet the benefits of grace should not keep individuals from confessing corporate responsibility for the sins of our families and culture. If I am so swept into a culture of materialism that I do not see or fight against the impoverishment of the disadvantaged, then I need to confess my personal sin. In addition, if I see and object to the sin but still live in, and benefit from, the society driven by such aims, then my confession of our corporate sin is appropriate. If I find racism abhorrent but still have advantages from the slave-owning heritage of my family or the oppression-ignoring history of my church, then I should confess the sin of my family and ecclesiastical affiliations. If I personally find the sins of abortion, sex trafficking, and chemical addictions abhorrent but find my life entwined in a culture that promotes such evil, then I have a responsibility to confess our sin with the prayer that God would bring his mercy and power to bear upon all of these evils. Grace is great enough to cover all our sin—individual and corporate—but does not free us from responsibilities to confess both.

Romans 11:17–20 TLV

But if some of the branches were broken off and you—being a wild olive—were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” True enough. They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear—

What would it mean to Jewish people if we really believed that we were called to shoulder their spiritual burdens? If Jewish people heard you praying like Daniel for “reals” about “our” sin, if they heard you shouldering responsibility. What if they heard you say like Rabbi Paul, “I would wish myself cut off for Israel’s salvation.”

It is important to recognize that we are not saved merely for individual gain. We are saved to be part of a body for a world-transforming plan of redemption. Salvation is not just about Jesus and me. It is also about being united to Christ, with whom all other believers are corporately bound. And if we believe that we are united with the people of God in the life of faith, we also must believe that we are in some way bound to the people of God in their sin.

What would it mean if we really believed that ministry to others meant shouldering their spiritual burdens with them? My family had to face this question sooner than we expected when I began pastoring a church in our early years of ministry. We accepted the pastoral call with the understanding that, in a previous generation, many people in the region and church had been employed at a notorious printing plant. The plant prospered in that rural area by printing what no one else would print: pornographic magazines. Before we went to the church, we were assured that such printing had ceased. Yet a few weeks after I became pastor we discovered otherwise.

.

We phoned my wife’s parents to warn them that we might be coming to live with them if I got fired. Then I began to address the issues—at first in private and then from the pulpit. I know that I made many mistakes, and one of them was that I really thought of the problem as theirs. It was their fault, their sin, their burden. I was happy to condemn it; I am not sure I ever thought of helping them carry it or confessing it as my own. And, in this error, I wonder—although God ultimately delivered us—if I did not prolong the sin and weaken the people by my individualized perception of ministry.

I can tell you what happens because I see it every time a new Jewish visitors comes here. I saw it when my friend Rick came here and he was shocked that African Americans, Latinos, Chinese, etc. were praying like Jews, praying for Jews and taking up the yoke of Jewish people on their shoulders. I saw this week when the Jewish editor and chief of World Magazine came and visited me after Boker Rosh HaShanah and was moved almost to tears by how much the non-Jews in our building love our Jewish people and heritage.

One of the great blessings of that period of my ministry, however, occurred when we began to debate at the regional level of our denomination what we should do regarding this issue. At that time, we discovered that other churches in our area also had members who had participated in this sin for more than a generation. The sin was not just in the actions of the people; it was also in the silence of previous pastors. It was during that debate, in which many were still denying their personal responsibility, that an experienced pastor said, “If Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel confessed the sin of their fathers, then I do not know why we cannot confess the sin of those who have come before us.” The words became a greater blessing than I ever anticipated when, years later, during the debates over whether our national assembly should repent of the racism of our forefathers, the earlier debate returned to mind, and I was able to quote that wise pastor. Then, with the wise and godly leadership of many pastors older than I, our entire church repented of our present sin and the sin of our forefathers—just as Daniel did.

When we understand that God calls us not merely to condemn but also to carry the sin burden of those to whom he calls us, then we truly have something to say to those who are suffering in sin. If our only perceived task is to condemn them and judge them as worse than we are, then we really have nothing to say to them about the nature of the gospel that humbles us all and by grace alone rescues us all from the sin that we all share.

When our confession is about “we” we become more mature and Israel gets closer to their Messiah.

When we truly perceive our responsibility to bear and confess the sins of others, then cynicism, sarcasm, and ridicule die in the church. Instead of objectifying others as sinners unlike us and standing apart to judge them, we instead get in the boat of need with them, embrace them as brothers and sisters equally in need of the grace we have received without any deserving, and in so doing truly learn about the nature of God’s mercy for them and for us. In essence what we begin to learn is that living in grace requires giving ourselves for others—living for them by confessing need with and for them.

Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014). Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:24 AM September 22, 2017.

10“I have been very zealous for Adonai-Tzva’ot,” he said, “for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and slain Your prophets with the sword—and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it

If confession is not just about me but about we, then it also means that petition is not just about me but also about we. When Daniel prays, he also petitions God with two concerns foremost in his mind: the good of the land and the good of the people.

Daniel 9:17–19 TLV

‘So now, our God, listen to the prayers and petitions of Your servant, and cause Your face to shine upon Your devastated Sanctuary, for the sake of my Lord. Give ear, my God, and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolation and the city called by Your name. We do not present our supplications before You because of our own righteousness, but because of Your great compassions. Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay! For Your city and Your people are called by Your name.’

If living for others means confession is not just about me, then it also means that petition is not just about me. When Daniel prays, he also petitions God with two concerns foremost in his mind: the good of others and the glory of God.

Daniel petitions God to relent from his just judgment against “your city Jerusalem, your holy hill” (v. 16). Daniel seeks God’s nothing less than God’s face shining upon the city of promise and the people of promise.

Daniel does not try to bargain with God or defend himself before God, he honestly repents and makes not claim to his own righteousness. But declares boldy, “For you own sake…do not delay” and “for the sake…of your name.” In other words, God the people of Israel, the promises, the history, the future are connected to your glory. Get yourself glory by redeeming your people by saving your people.

Daniel petitions God to relent from his just judgment against “your city Jerusalem, your holy hill” (v. 16). Daniel seeks God’s mercy for the people for whom the prophet is responsible. It is an important step in spiritual maturity to develop this sense of living for the sake of others’ good.

True story, not to long ago a Pastor took out an add in the local newspaper announcing a message called, “How to get rid of the Jews.” It caused quite the stir because his church was in a Jewish community. A couple of rabbis and deeply concerned Jewish families along with some reporters decided to be present that Sunday to protest such horrible message.

The Pastor got in into his pulpit and read the words from

Jeremiah 31:35–36 TLV

Thus says Adonai, who gives the sun as a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars as a light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name: “Only if this fixed order departs from before Me” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “then also might Israel’s offspring cease from being a nation before Me—for all time.”

Jeremiah 31:34–35 TLV

No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “For I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says Adonai, who gives the sun as a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars as a light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:

The pastor then said, “you can no more get rid of the Jews then you can change the course of the sun, re-direct the path of a comet. He said, “You can’t get rid of the Jewish people because God keeps his covenant eternally with His people Israel.

The rest of the service the pastor led his congregation in a time of repentance. Declaring their corporate responsibility in sins committed against Jews in the Holocaust, the Pogroms, the Crusades and then he prayed that God would restore His people to their ancient homeland!

But I want us to go a step past this. We don’t petition as “we” just to get good PR (public relations) - thought that does not hurt - with the Jewish community.

We also confess and petition because the prediction of says that salvation is not just about Me but about We.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

I want to express how important this last principle is before we get to the prediction of . You have to remember that the prediction of comes after the confession and petition of Daniel for Israel’s salvation.

Daniel looks ahead through his prophetic lens and sees that God promises rescue, for his people Israel and all who trust in Israel’s Messiah. The timing of that rescue is, the counting of the dates are a matter of heated debate all around what the seventy weeks of Daniel represent. First, let me tell you what the seventy weeks of Daniel do not represent: the assurance of your eschatological position. The seventy weeks of Daniel were given to assure the people of Israel that they would see a future rescue from the hand of their God through their Messiah.

I have unapologetically told all of you here that I hold to a pre-wrath rapture of the body of the Messiah. That means I believe believers must endure persecution but never are believers put under the wrath of God. We are rescued from wrath by Yeshua. Therefore, I just can’t see believers being in the Tribulation which is called the time of God’s wrath. That is why I have sympathy towards the mid-tribulation view because they don’t believe the first part of the tribulation is a period of wrath but the second part is. That is why mid-tribulation people believe in a mid-trib rapture. Post tribulation people believe they are in a protective bubble, that is what I call it, during the period of wrath so they teach that it is “around” them but they are not “in” it.

But, , is not the place to derive your “rapture” or not “rapture” theory. We know, for example, that Daniel is reading about the seventy years of captivity foretold by Jeremiah when God reveals to him through Gabriel that a plan of rescue will unfold over seventy weeks. In many respects, this is the high point of the book of Daniel. Although previously Gentile history and prophecy recorded in Daniel was related to the people of Israel, the ninth chapter specifically takes up prophecy as it applies to the chosen people.

We know, for example, that Daniel is reading about the seventy years of captivity foretold by Jeremiah when God reveals to this later prophet that a plan of rescue will unfold over seventy weeks (“sevens,” see v. 24) of years (i.e., seven times seventy years). It’s as though God is saying that the plan of rescue is immeasurably greater than the trials of the captivity.

In many respects, this is the high point of the book of Daniel. Although previously Gentile history and prophecy recorded in Daniel was related to the people of Israel, the ninth chapter specifically takes up prophecy as it applies to the chosen people.

Let me be even more clear. Though the Gentiles will benefit from the Messiah who will be cut off in v.26 we only learn that from other Scriptures like , the Gospels, Rabbi Paul and Peter.

To make this equivalent to the church composed of both Jews and Gentiles is to read into the passage something foreign to the whole thinking of Daniel. The church as such has no relation to the city nor to the promises given specifically to Israel relating to their restoration and repossession of the land.

To try to squeeze the body of Messiah composed of both Jews and Gentiles into is to read into the passage something foreign to the whole thinking of Daniel. Daniel is specifically receiving a prophecy about promises given specifically to Israel relating to their restoration and repossession of the land.

To make this equivalent to the church composed of both Jews and Gentiles is to read into the passage something foreign to the whole thinking of Daniel. The church as such has no relation to the city nor to the promises given specifically to Israel relating to their restoration and repossession of the land.

So let’s start with the big picture and undersand “what” is predicted then we can talk about the “when.” What does Daniel say will happen? The umbrella statements is in

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 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. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

The General

So let’s start with the big picture and undersand “what” is predicted then we can talk about the “when.” What does Daniel say will happen? The umbrella statements is in

Daniel 9:24 TLV

“Seventy weeks are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to put an end to transgression to bring sin to an end, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.

First, “what” we need to know is that this is decreed. The word used here is nech’tach from chatak . It is only used in . All Lexical scholars agree the word means to cut off, to divide; and hence, to determine, to destine, to appoint. Theodotion renders it, συνετμήθησαν—are cut off, decided, defined.

The meaning would seem to be, that this portion of time—the seventy weeks—was cut off from the whole of duration, or cut out of it, as it were, and set by itself for a definite purpose.

Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Volume 2 Chapter 9

The meaning would seem to be, that this portion of time—the seventy weeks—was cut off from the whole of duration, or cut out of it, as it were, and set by itself for a definite purpose

(נֶחְתַּךְ from חָתַךְ)chatak

It properly means, according to Gesenius, to cut off, to divide; and hence, to determine, to destine, to appoint. Theodotion renders it, συνετμήθησαν—are cut off, decided, defined.

Second, we have a “who” and a “where:” your people and your city. That is the Jewish people and Jerusalem. So, what is this prophecy about? A segment of time specifically relating to the chosen people and chosen city.

Third, what happens? He give us the big picture in a comprehensive nature.

We are told that the events to come have the following purposes: “to finish the transgression,” “to put an end to sin,” “to atone for iniquity,” “to bring in everlasting righteousness,” “to seal [conclude] both vision and prophet,” and “to anoint a most holy place [or Holy One].”

I would propose that all of this was accomplished with the first coming of the Messiah. And I would say that right now all who put their trust in the Messiah are experiencing the spiritual benefits of this salvation. However, the application of it to the nation of Israel as a whole is still future.

My pointing out the obvious meanings is simply meant to remind us that even in the first coming of the Messiah he said that he was coming first for the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This salvific work was intended as Rabbi Paul said to be “first to the Jew” and then to the “Greek.” I don’t think that meant just historically, I believe it meant theologically it is a dogma and evangelistically it should always be true. Don’t loose sight of the priority of the Gospel in this passage, it is too important.

“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

I will endure the laughs to remind us all that Daniel’s chief purpose is to encourage an enslaved people with assurances of the coming and triumph of the Messiah. But Daniel expresses this messianic ministry in terms that his readers probably are not expecting. They are anticipating military and political relief. Instead, Daniel places the priority on spiritual dynamics, saying the Messiah’s work will provide for the termination of transgression and sin as well as the commencement of everlasting righteousness for those whose iniquity is atoned for. The Messiah will usher in an era when messianic prophecy is no longer needed and a Holy One (or place, if the intention is to designate our hearts) is anointed for God’s people. Surely this last aspect of the prophecy is about the coming of the Holy Spirit to minister Christ’s presence among his people.

The Particulars

As plain as these promises are, we sometimes miss them or are afraid to look into them because of the controversies surrounding this passage. My pointing out the obvious meanings is simply meant to remind us not to miss the truths of the gospel in the heat of our debates over the timing of these events.

Perhaps I am not right in every detail about the “when” but the particulars that follow confirm the rightness of the general conclusion that Daniel’s vision is about the restoration and salvation of Israel. Remember, Rabbi Paul told us in Ephesians that the salvation of the Gentiles was a mystery kept hidden until Rabbi Paul came along. And, the revelation of Gentile Salvation does not mean Jewish exclusion.

Daniel 9:25 TLV

So know and understand: From the issuing of the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem until the time Mashiach, the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be rebuilt, with plaza and moat, but it will be in times of distress.

There are at least four decrees concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem recorded in Scripture: (1) the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the temple (; ; ); (2) the, decree of Darius confirming the decree of Cyrus (); (3) the decree of Artaxerxes (); (4) the decree of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah authorizing the rebuilding of the city ().

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

While each of these decrees have their merits only the decrees of Artaerxes gives authority for Jerusalem to be “re-built.” The date 444 b.c. is based on the reference in . stating that the decree went forth in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus. As his reign began in 464 b.c, twenty years later would be 444 b.c. Most scholars, whether conservative or liberal, accordingly, accept the 444 b.c. date for Nehemiah’s decree.

There are at least four decrees concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem recorded in Scripture: (1) the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the temple (; ; ); (2) the, decree of Darius confirming the decree of Cyrus (); (3) the decree of Artaxerxes (); (4) the decree of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah authorizing the rebuilding of the city ().

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Dan. 9:1–27)

Most commentators agree that each week represents then a year:

The date 445 b.c. is based on the reference in . stating that the decree went forth in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus. As his reign began in 465 b.c, twenty years later would be 445 b.c. Most scholars, whether conservative or liberal, accordingly, accept the 445 b.c. date for Nehemiah’s decree.

Some years ago, I taught preaching to pastors in Senegal, West Africa. Senegal is primarily a French-speaking, Muslim nation with a mix of animistic tribal religions. As a result, Christianity there struggles to break free of a performance-for-acceptance perspective. God is easily perceived either as waiting to love us until we have done enough to appease him or doing what we want him to do after we have done enough to manipulate him. So as I was teaching about the imperatives of Scripture always being based on the indicatives of unconditional grace, I was getting a lot of resistance. I left one morning session feeling like a failure and wondering if I was making any difference to these pastors.

Daniel 9:25 TLV

So know and understand: From the issuing of the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem until the time Mashiach, the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be rebuilt, with plaza and moat, but it will be in times of distress.

Through the afternoon my host took me to lunch and then sightseeing. As we returned to his home for dinner, we passed the meeting place where I had been teaching in the morning. It was still filled with pastors! I asked my host why they were still there. He said, “Many of the men struggled to understand what you were saying today, and the men who do understand are explaining it to the others. No one will leave until everyone understands.”

That means starting in 444 BCE, Nehemiah’s generation spent 49 years re-building the city of Jerusalem. This seems to make good historical sense and timing.

I was supposed to be the one teaching, but I learned a lot about the nature of the Christian life that day. I learned that sharing life in mutual covenant with God involves more than just saying that we are in the same family. Those in a family are integrally bound together. One does not prosper if the others do not. These believers seemed to understand better than I that personal growth and community understanding are necessarily interwoven in a family of faith. God binds us together in his covenant of grace so that our corporate relationships are helping to shape and mature our individual faith.

Next, how long did each year last? We reckon our 365 calendar based on a solar-cycle but the ancient Hebrew calendar and Babylonian calendar were based on a lunar calendar with 360 days and then we insert a 13th month, a leap year, to keep the calendar correct.

Living the implications of this covenant-union that embraces all of us believers in Christ is both beautiful and challenging. If we really are united to Christ and to each other by a work of the Spirit, then that means we are not able to be as mature as we should be if our fellow believers also are not as mature as they should be. Capturing the essence of our spiritual union is the African saying, “I am because we are.” This is a key reason we are compelled to live for one another. But how far should we go with this living for one another? Should we rejoice with those who rejoice? Yes. Weep with those who weep? Yes. Should we sacrifice for one another? That is harder, but we know the answer is yes. What about this: Should we confess one another’s sin? Should we in some way share the load of mutual failings in corporate repentance? Is it possible that we have not repented as we should unless we have repented corporately? If that is true, then not only do we need to repent for each other’s sake, we also begin to echo quite remarkable things about the covenant community that are clearly reflected in the prayers, petitions, and vision of the prophet in Daniel 9. The first of these beautiful and challenging truths of our covenant-union is that confession is not just about the individual.

The use of the 360-day year is confirmed by the forty-two months of the great tribulation (; ) being equated with 1,260 days (; ).

Confession Is Not Just about Me

God had revealed to the prophet Daniel that the Messiah would come four hundred and eighty-three years after the command would be given to rebuild Jerusalem (). The command to rebuild Jerusalem was given by King Artaxerxes of Persia, in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of his reign (). The exact day of the month is not given; but if the command to rebuild Jerusalem was given on the first of Nisan, March 5, 444 BC, it was 483 years of 360 days later—to the day—that Yeshua entered Jerusalem on March 30, AD 33, the day of his formal entry into the city as Messiah. The prophecy likely was fulfilled to the day!

In the preceding vision (Dan. 8), Daniel learns that the nation of Israel will go through generations of suffering. Perhaps the normal human reaction is to say, “But, Lord, I didn’t do anything wrong. Please excuse me from this discipline. It’s not my fault. This is not about me.” We presume that we are not responsible for sin that we did not commit. But Daniel makes no such presumption. Instead, as a spiritual leader, Daniel assumes responsibility for sin that he did not commit. We need to be very clear about what has happened and what Daniel now does in light of the facts of this chapter (Dan. 9).

More than five hundred years earlier, God had revealed to the prophet Daniel that the Messiah would come four hundred and eighty-three years after the command would be given to rebuild Jerusalem (). The command to rebuild Jerusalem was given by King Artaxerxes of Persia, in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of his reign (). The Jews did not use a solar calendar as we do today, and in biblical prophecies the years are composed of 360 days (e.g., ; ; ). The exact day of the month is not given; but if the command to rebuild Jerusalem was given on the first of Nisan, March 5, 444 BC, it was 483 years of 360 days later—to the day—that Jesus entered Jerusalem on March 30, AD 33, the day of his formal entry into the city as Messiah. The prophecy likely was fulfilled to the day!

Everyone Is Involved

Daniel 9:26 TLV

Then after the 62 weeks Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. Then the people of a prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. But his end will come like a flood. Until the end of the war that is decreed there will be destruction.

Who has sinned? Apparently a lot of people have sinned: those from the south and the north (“Judah” and “Israel,” v. 7); those both near and far (v. 7); those both small and great (“us” and “our kings,” v. 8); both authorities and families (“princes” and “our fathers,” v. 8); both those present and those past (“we” and “our fathers,” v. 16); and all (v. 11—foreshadowing Rom. 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and Rom. 3:10, “None is righteous, no, not one”).

This is the period of the gap.

Everyone Has Rebelled

If fulfillment is continuous, then the seventieth week is already history. If there is a gap, there is a possibility that the seventieth week is still future. On this point, a great deal of discussion has emerged.

Daniel 9:27 TLV

Then he will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed annihilation is poured out on the one who destroys.’ ”

What have “all” these people done? Daniel says these people have rebelled and acted wickedly (vv. 5, 9, 11, 15). He also says they have not listened to the prophets God sent to correct them (vv. 6, 10).

This is the little horn of and . In the middle of the seven-year period the one who confirms the covenant “shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease,” that is, all the bloody and non-bloody sacrifices. This could not refer to Yeshua at His death on the cross as Philip Mauro insists, 75because, as a matter of fact, the sacrifices did not cease until 70, some forty years later. The sacrifices were not stopped by Messiah but by the Roman soldiers who destroyed the temple.

Leaders Confess

in the middle of the seven-year period the one who confirms the covenant “shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease,” that is, all the bloody and non-bloody sacrifices. This could not refer to Jesus Christ at His death on the cross as Philip Mauro insists,75because, as a matter of fact, the sacrifices did not cease until a.d. 70, some forty years later. The sacrifices were not stopped by Christ but by the Roman soldiers who destroyed the temple.

Who confesses? Daniel repeatedly says “we” or “us” (see the repeated “we” of vv. 5–15). But why does Daniel confess? He may have some problems in his life, but it seems unlikely that this brave spokesman for God needs to confess serious sin. God repeatedly and miraculously rescues Daniel and grants him heavenly visions. Surely this Daniel is not guilty like everyone else who “acted wickedly and rebelled” (v. 5) or have “not listened to … the prophets” (v. 6). After all, the reason he is praying is that he has been reading Jeremiah.

We have to make a choice. What is the reason that Daniel uses the phrase “we” when he confesses? His word choice is either rhetorical, representative, or real.

If we assume that his word choice of “we” is rhetorical, then we simply say that this is the way preachers and prophets talk. They say the word “God” with deep-toned reverence and frequently use the “royal we,” referring to themselves in the plural, as in the question, “Did you appreciate the sermon that we preached last week?” Polite people don’t ask, but they think, “What do you mean, ‘we’? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?” However, it is clear that Daniel is not referring to himself alone when he says “we,” because he includes other people in the confession: kings, fathers, families, and so on.

So we may conclude that Daniel’s use of “we” is representative. In this case, we assume that he has not personally sinned but that he speaks on behalf of the people who have and thus says, “We have sinned and have done these wicked things.” We cannot automatically exclude this possibility because Daniel is obviously referring collectively to a body of people (rulers, citizens, fathers, and families) who have sinned as citizens of the nation of Israel. Since he is a part of that nation, Daniel may simply be using “we” to refer to all who share that citizenship, even though he is not personally guilty, similar to the way sports fans say, “We won the World Series last year,” even though most people who say that did not actually play on the team.

We should not get so hung up on the puzzles of timing that we miss the clear proclamation of Daniel If we are bound-up together, it means followers of Yeshua will never be fully mature until they seek the restoration and salvation of Israel; and, Israel will never fully mature until they receive the Messiah Yeshua.

The final possibility is that Daniel’s confession is real. This alternative does not exclude the idea that his words are representative, but it also means that he really thinks that he personally has something to confess along with the corporate sins of his people.

We should not get so hung up on the puzzles of timing that we miss the clear proclamation of grace in Daniel’s vision. God will provide atonement for his people (v. 24) and he will do this through an Anointed One who will suffer on their behalf (v. 26). He will be “cut off” in order to bind up a broken people—he will be broken for our brokenness. And because we now know the Person prophesied, we can grasp the full implications of the grace personified in him: God himself will enter our world of pain and sin in order “to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness” (v. 24). The reason that Daniel is so ready to enter into the sin of his people in order to seek mercy for them is that this is God’s own way of dealing with sinners. Daniel simply reflects the gracious character of God in his prayers and petitions, and in doing so teaches us what it means to reflect God’s grace in our lives and leadership.

So what doe this have to do with me? It does not have to do with “me” it has to do with “we.” It has to do with how “we” pray during this High Holy Day Season. It is about we who have been spared the burden of sin by the death of Messiah becoming responsible to help carry the spiritual burdens of Israel. To become prayer warriors in a way that transforms your heart and also might just transform the hearts of many you are praying for.

Which of these is the right answer? Perhaps all of them. Prophets do say “we” rhetorically and representatively to confess the sin of those to whom they minister. Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). Surely there is both rhetorical and representative intent there. But Isaiah’s words include personal confession, and the same is true of Daniel. This is unmistakable in verse 20, where Daniel says that a messenger of God appeared to him “while I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people” (emphasis mine).

Why does Daniel confess personal sin as well as the sin of those to whom he is ministering? There are at least two reasons. The first relates to the holiness of God. When Daniel confesses the sinfulness of his people, he simultaneously declares the opposite nature of God (cf. vv. 4, 9, and especially 7: “To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame”). Apprehension of the true holiness of God always results in the acknowledgment of our unholiness.

These words of Daniel echo Isaiah, whose heavenly vision allowed the earlier prophet to see God on his throne while the seraphim circled and sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” In response, Isaiah said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isa. 6:3–5). God’s holiness produces confession of both personal and corporate sin. In the light of God’s radiant purity, Isaiah perceived his own desperate condition as well as the unworthiness of his people. In a similar way, having professed the righteousness of God, Daniel perceives the reality of his own sin as well as his people’s sin.

The second reason Daniel joins in the confession of those to whom he is ministering is the calling of God. Daniel confesses the reality of his sin and the people’s sin because he has been called to carry their burden as his own even though he did not cause the burden. He feels responsible for the people under his care. This is evident in a change of terms in back-to-back verses of his prayer. First, Daniel, speaking to God, refers to the people of Israel as “your city and your people [who] are called by your name” (v. 19 NIV). One might conclude that Daniel is simply separating the people from himself by giving God the responsibility for them. But then the prophet says in the next verse that he is confessing the sin of “my people” (v. 20). Daniel retains possession of these people for the sake of their spiritual welfare. In doing so, he takes responsibility for them.

Daniel pre-echoes the words of Paul to the Corinthians, when the apostle says to those obstreperous people, “You yourselves are our letter” (2 Cor. 3:2). Paul recognized that his own ministry—for good or for ill—was etched in the lives of the people to whom he ministered. They were his responsibility, and thus he carried responsibility for their sin as well as their triumphs. This is Luther’s theology of the cross, as he wrote that those who follow Christ must be prepared to suffer for the sins of others. Leaders of God’s people are called to carry his people’s burdens. They are to recognize their own shortcomings in the people’s sins. The calling of leaders requires them to carry the people’s burdens though they did not create them (cf. Gal. 6:2).

From 1998 to 1999, Judy Howard Peterson completed an internship for her degree at North Park Theological Seminary by walking four thousand miles across the United States from Grayland Beach, Washington, to Key Biscayne, Florida. What does one learn theologically by walking four thousand miles? Judy said that she learned two things. The first was, “I am just as loved by God when I am in the middle of a field doing ‘nothing’ as when I follow the productivity standards of this world”; and the second was, “For all of its beauty, a lot of life also has a lot of South Dakota in it.”

She began her walk across America carrying an eighty-pound backpack. She said she was convinced by the end of the second day that she never would make it and wanted to quit. Her legs felt like rubber and her feet were covered with painful blisters. Just when she didn’t think she could walk any farther, a woman driving by stopped her van. She offered to carry Peterson’s pack to her next stopping point. “She just said, ‘I’ll take it for you,’ ” recounted Peterson.

It was a lesson rich with meaning. Physically, the woman in the car took a burden that she did not create. She was not responsible for the burden or the predicament but chose to share the burden for the sake of another’s journey. Daniel shows us something very similar. Those who have been spared the burden of sin by the grace of God are responsible to help carry the spiritual burdens of others. Even though we may not have created the burden or caused the predicament, we involve ourselves in the lives and confessions of others to help them on their journey of faith.

This may not be a lesson that we want to learn as we face the responsibility of caring for others. The individualistic spirit of our age trains us to think that we are responsible only for ourselves. But such an exclusive self-focus is not what Christ demonstrated and is not what characterizes those who reflect his grace.

Ordinary Christian teaching enables us to help others learn to deal with their guilt, but we do not tend to think of ourselves as responsible for their guilt. We tell them to put their burden down at the cross, but rarely do we think that we are responsible to help them carry it there. Yet in a peculiar and ultimately Christlike way, we cannot lead or serve others until we are willing to be responsible for their sin as well as their instruction, sharing in their pain and shouldering the burden of their failures as well as offering them wisdom and direction.

I am not saying that we bear personal culpability for all the sins in our family or community. Looking forward, Jeremiah speaks of the new covenant that now embraces us, saying, “In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge” (Jer. 31:29–30). We go to Christ to ask forgiveness for our own sin. I do not have to know and confess all the sins of my predecessors to be free of their guilt. But do these words eliminate any consideration of the corporate aspects of evil?

Let us be clear about this. Grace certainly frees individual believers from the guilt of national, familial, and personal sin. The sins of our history and context do not keep us from individually enjoying the benefits of grace. And yet the benefits of grace should not keep individuals from confessing corporate responsibility for the sins of our families and culture. If I am so swept into a culture of materialism that I do not see or fight against the impoverishment of the disadvantaged, then I need to confess my personal sin. In addition, if I see and object to the sin but still live in, and benefit from, the society driven by such aims, then my confession of our corporate sin is appropriate. If I find racism abhorrent but still have advantages from the slave-owning heritage of my family or the oppression-ignoring history of my church, then I should confess the sin of my family and ecclesiastical affiliations. If I personally find the sins of abortion, sex trafficking, and chemical addictions abhorrent but find my life entwined in a culture that promotes such evil, then I have a responsibility to confess our sin with the prayer that God would bring his mercy and power to bear upon all of these evils. Grace is great enough to cover all our sin—individual and corporate—but does not free us from responsibilities to confess both.

It is important to recognize that we are not saved merely for individual gain. We are saved to be part of a body for a world-transforming plan of redemption. Salvation is not just about Jesus and me. It is also about being united to Christ, with whom all other believers are corporately bound. And if we believe that we are united with the people of God in the life of faith, we also must believe that we are in some way bound to the people of God in their sin.

What would it mean if we really believed that ministry to others meant shouldering their spiritual burdens with them? My family had to face this question sooner than we expected when I began pastoring a church in our early years of ministry. We accepted the pastoral call with the understanding that, in a previous generation, many people in the region and church had been employed at a notorious printing plant. The plant prospered in that rural area by printing what no one else would print: pornographic magazines. Before we went to the church, we were assured that such printing had ceased. Yet a few weeks after I became pastor we discovered otherwise.

I do not think that people intentionally misled us. The local culture had simply become so immersed in the sin that they no longer perceived it for the horror that it was. But then I had to choose whether to stay to minister amid such sin. The scriptural passage that meant the most to me at that time was the one where Jesus distinguishes between the hireling who runs when wolves come against the flock and the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep (John 10:7–13). I reasoned that someone needed to minister to these people of God, and then realized that I was the somebody who had been called to do it.

We phoned my wife’s parents to warn them that we might be coming to live with them if I got fired. Then I began to address the issues—at first in private and then from the pulpit. I know that I made many mistakes, and one of them was that I really thought of the problem as theirs. It was their fault, their sin, their burden. I was happy to condemn it; I am not sure I ever thought of helping them carry it or confessing it as my own. And, in this error, I wonder—although God ultimately delivered us—if I did not prolong the sin and weaken the people by my individualized perception of ministry.

One of the great blessings of that period of my ministry, however, occurred when we began to debate at the regional level of our denomination what we should do regarding this issue. At that time, we discovered that other churches in our area also had members who had participated in this sin for more than a generation. The sin was not just in the actions of the people; it was also in the silence of previous pastors. It was during that debate, in which many were still denying their personal responsibility, that an experienced pastor said, “If Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel confessed the sin of their fathers, then I do not know why we cannot confess the sin of those who have come before us.” The words became a greater blessing than I ever anticipated when, years later, during the debates over whether our national assembly should repent of the racism of our forefathers, the earlier debate returned to mind, and I was able to quote that wise pastor. Then, with the wise and godly leadership of many pastors older than I, our entire church repented of our present sin and the sin of our forefathers—just as Daniel did.

When we understand that God calls us not merely to condemn but also to carry the sin burden of those to whom he calls us, then we truly have something to say to those who are suffering in sin. If our only perceived task is to condemn them and judge them as worse than we are, then we really have nothing to say to them about the nature of the gospel that humbles us all and by grace alone rescues us all from the sin that we all share.

When we truly perceive our responsibility to bear and confess the sins of others, then cynicism, sarcasm, and ridicule die in the church. Instead of objectifying others as sinners unlike us and standing apart to judge them, we instead get in the boat of need with them, embrace them as brothers and sisters equally in need of the grace we have received without any deserving, and in so doing truly learn about the nature of God’s mercy for them and for us. In essence what we begin to learn is that living in grace requires giving ourselves for others—living for them by confessing need with and for them.

Petition Is Not Just about Me

If living for others means confession is not just about me, then it also means that petition is not just about me. When Daniel prays, he also petitions God with two concerns foremost in his mind: the good of others and the glory of God.

The Good of Others

Daniel petitions God to relent from his just judgment against “your city Jerusalem, your holy hill” (v. 16). Daniel seeks God’s mercy for the people for whom the prophet is responsible. It is an important step in spiritual maturity to develop this sense of living for the sake of others’ good.

When our first child was born, we lived in a rural area and the hospital was about an hour from our home. The day after our son was born, I was so anxious to get back to see Kathy and the baby that my foot unconsciously got heavier and heavier on the gas pedal. At some point, I recognized that I was going about seventy miles per hour on the winding country road. Suddenly it hit me: “I’d better be careful because if something happens to me, my family is really going to suffer.” I realized that I was responsible to live for the sake of others. I couldn’t be as cavalier or reckless as I had been when my only concern was myself.

Such a realization is also a necessary step in spiritual maturity. Most of us, until we are in spiritual leadership, think of our spiritual lives as only being about ourselves. We start a career, work for our rent, pray for our blessing, and save for our retirement. But at some point we have to move beyond individual concerns and understand that, as members and sometimes leaders of God’s people, our lives are not our own. We are bought with a price, and we live and give and suffer for the sake of God’s people and their spiritual good.

The Glory of God

Daniel also petitions God to relent from his judgment for the sake of his own name (v. 17—“for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate”; and v. 19—“Delay not, for your own sake, O my God”). Daniel petitions God to defend and further the glory of his own name. Living for God’s glory is also a dramatic change of perspective required for Christian maturity.

One young man who has taught me the most of what it means to live and give oneself for the glory of God has been a church planter in a difficult situation. A few years ago that church plant was near sinking financially. The smart thing to do was for the pastor to cut his losses, close the doors, and move on to greener pastures. Instead, he was willing to consider a remarkable sacrifice for Christ’s sake. During the time of the financial crisis for the church, the pastor received a sizable inheritance. With that inheritance he could rescue the church but, of course, he would sacrifice much of his own future. What did he do? As crazy as it sounds by the world’s standards—and much of the church’s practice—he felt that he was called to live for the sake of the glory and progress of the kingdom of God. He gave his inheritance for the survival of the church and the glory of the advance of the kingdom. That is the true glory of living for the name of the Lord rather than for oneself.

Why should we confess and petition and live for the sake of others? The answer is that not only is confession not just about me, and not only is petition not just about me, ultimately we discern from the prayers and life of Daniel that salvation is not just about me.

Salvation Is Not Just about Me

Daniel looks ahead through his prophetic lens and sees that God promises rescue, not only for the prophet himself but also for his people. The timing of that rescue is, of course, the mysterious part of this portion of the book of Daniel. Through the centuries preachers and commentators have scratched their heads and debated each other about what the seventy weeks of Daniel represent. Several years ago I was asked to add to my earlier book on the life of Daniel by completing a commentary on these final prophetic chapters. I did not take the assignment because I recognized that I was out of my depth in trying to figure out what has caused centuries of debate among our best Bible scholars. What gives me courage to approach the subject now is having read an eminent scholar who, with great humility and charity, wrote that this famous vision has led to such “interminable controversies” that any “interpretation no longer admits of any certainty.” If even the best minds struggle to explain this passage, then I am not embarrassed to admit that I cannot with certainty explain all of these mysteries.

What Is Promised?

But saying that there are mysteries is not to imply that there are not obvious truths here that can help us. We know, for example, that Daniel is reading about the seventy years of captivity foretold by Jeremiah when God reveals to this later prophet that a plan of rescue will unfold over seventy weeks (“sevens,” see v. 24) of years (i.e., seven times seventy years). It’s as though God is saying that the plan of rescue is immeasurably greater than the trials of the captivity. Something comparable happens when Peter asks if he has to forgive someone seven times, and Jesus’s response is that forgiveness should be seventy times seven (Matt. 18:22).

What Is Predicted?

In General

While the precise timing of that rescue is the subject of much debate, the nature of the rescue is not. If we will start with trying to understand “what” is predicted before we debate “when” each detail will occur, then we will gain the hope that this passage is really designed to impart. What does Daniel say will happen? The umbrella statements that cover all the details applying to “your [i.e., God’s] people and your holy city” are in verse 24. There we are told that the events to come have the following purposes: “to finish the transgression,” “to put an end to sin,” “to atone for iniquity,” “to bring in everlasting righteousness,” “to seal [conclude] both vision and prophet,” and “to anoint a most holy place [or Holy One].”

While we may not understand precisely what each of these phrases designates, we can easily understand that they are about the ministry of Jesus. Some readers may wince and grin at what appears to be a childish, Sunday-school understanding of a sophisticated prophecy. I can almost hear the chortles now, “Of course, these phrases have something to do with Jesus!”

I will endure the laughs to remind us all that Daniel’s chief purpose is to encourage an enslaved people with assurances of the coming and triumph of the Messiah. But Daniel expresses this messianic ministry in terms that his readers probably are not expecting. They are anticipating military and political relief. Instead, Daniel places the priority on spiritual dynamics, saying the Messiah’s work will provide for the termination of transgression and sin as well as the commencement of everlasting righteousness for those whose iniquity is atoned for. The Messiah will usher in an era when messianic prophecy is no longer needed and a Holy One (or place, if the intention is to designate our hearts) is anointed for God’s people. Surely this last aspect of the prophecy is about the coming of the Holy Spirit to minister Christ’s presence among his people.

As plain as these promises are, we sometimes miss them or are afraid to look into them because of the controversies surrounding this passage. My pointing out the obvious meanings is simply meant to remind us not to miss the truths of the gospel in the heat of our debates over the timing of these events.

In Particular

Perhaps I am not right in every detail regarding this general picture, but the particulars that follow confirm the rightness of the general conclusion that Daniel’s vision is about Christ’s coming to rescue his people. In verse 25, Daniel prophesies that a decree will be issued for the restoration of Jerusalem (which has been ruined by the Babylonians), that the Anointed One will come to the nation, and then a troubled time will follow. These prophecies align with what we know about what happened when Cyrus released the Israelites to rebuild Jerusalem before the time of Christ.

In verse 26, Daniel predicts that the Anointed One would be cut off and have nothing before a later desolation of Jerusalem and its temple by an earthly ruler. This aligns with what we know ultimately happened when Jesus’s crucifixion was followed by the destruction of Jerusalem by the future Roman emperor Titus.

Verse 27 is extremely difficult to translate, and it is sad that so many bitter controversies in the church have been based on individuals’ confidence in interpretations that should be humbly proffered. In this verse Daniel predicts that “he” (the person is not clearly indicated) will make a covenant with many people and will end the sacrifices and offerings in the temple. Legitimate interpretations allow that the “he” could be Christ, who by his death ended the need for temple sacrifice. However, it is also legitimate to interpret the “he” as Titus, who by his conquest destroyed the place of temple sacrifice.

Verse 27 also predicts, “On the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” Simply knowing how the words in this phrase should be translated is a task that has stymied scholars for centuries, and interpreting the various translations is even more difficult. Since “wing” is also a term for “extremity” or “apex,” and Daniel uses “abominations” to refer to temple defilement (see also Dan. 9:21; 11:27; 12:11; Matt. 24:15), the prophet seems to be predicting that after the temple defilement has reached its apex, one will come who will make things desolate until the end decreed for those who have been devastated. Is this (1) further detailing of Titus’s conquest, (2) a prediction of the Holy Spirit’s rending of the veil of the temple and removal of divine blessing from Israel until its reclamation, or (3) a distant—and hence foggy—prediction of the rule of the antichrist prior to the end of all things?

The second of these interpretations seems the most likely to me, since the time from a decree for Israel to return to the promised land (see Ezra 7:12–26 for the 458 BC) until the time of Christ’s crucifixion (AD 33) was 490 years (remember one year must be subtracted since there was no year 0 for Hebrews), and that is precisely the seventy times seven years Daniel predicted. It may well be that these events are also meant to establish a recognizable pattern of future events that will presage the end-time, but the most natural first reference is to the events surrounding Christ’s first coming. Still, there is no need to be dogmatic about this, since the main point of Daniel’s vision is not to create eschatology debates but rather to encourage God’s people in captivity.

What Does the Prediction Really Mean?

What we know for sure is that Daniel’s prophecy is provided in the context of a hurting people who need help. God does not give the vision to vex us with the limitations of our wisdom but to comfort his people with the assurance of his care. How is that care communicated? Consider the simplest and plainest facts that we know about Daniel’s vision: it comes in the midst of Daniel’s prayer of confession for himself and his people who are in captivity. And in response to Daniel’s prayer of confession, God responds in specific ways.

God Responds Swiftly

While Daniel was yet praying, the angel Gabriel comes to him in swift flight (v. 21). The simple message is that God is attentive to the cry of his people and he does not delay his care for those who turn to him, even if there is sin in and about them. This in itself is a wonderful reflection of the grace of God for hurting and sinful people then, as well as for hurting and sinful people now.

God Responds Sacrificially

We should not get so hung up on the puzzles of timing that we miss the clear proclamation of grace in Daniel’s vision. God will provide atonement for his people (v. 24) and he will do this through an Anointed One who will suffer on their behalf (v. 26). He will be “cut off” in order to bind up a broken people—he will be broken for our brokenness. And because we now know the Person prophesied, we can grasp the full implications of the grace personified in him: God himself will enter our world of pain and sin in order “to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness” (v. 24). The reason that Daniel is so ready to enter into the sin of his people in order to seek mercy for them is that this is God’s own way of dealing with sinners. Daniel simply reflects the gracious character of God in his prayers and petitions, and in doing so teaches us what it means to reflect God’s grace in our lives and leadership.

Grace Made Fresh

During a recent Easter season, I experienced the dilemma that I face so often at that time of year. I wanted to sense deep in my heart the reality of the suffering and redeeming Savior. But I have sat through so many Good Friday services and preached so many Easter services; I wondered not only what I could say that was fresh but also how the season could have fresh meaning for my own heart.

The answer I was seeking came during the communion service offered on Good Friday. In that service, we did something unusual for our church. We processed forward in a line to be served the bread and wine by our pastor. My pew filed forward, and I partook and then returned to my seat, still feeling a bit disconnected and empty.

Then something gripped me in a quite unexpected way. I watched as the line before the pastor dwindled to the last few persons. Then a man I had not seen before joined the line. He was the last in the queue, and the reason he waited so long to join it was obvious. He did not want to stand long because he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. His body was bent and he quivered as he walked, seemingly ready to fall with almost every step. He reached for the bread clumsily; his hand shook uncontrollably as he drank the little cup of wine.

The scene suddenly made the grace fresh to me again, as the Lord enabled me to see in the trembling man a spiritual image of myself. I, too, had no basis to stand and no right to be anywhere but last in line for God’s mercy. Before the table of God’s provision, I knew that I too had stumbled and that my sin was just cause for me to tremble before my Savior. And yet there he was before me in the bread and wine, the symbols of his body broken and blood spilled. He was broken for one broken as I, and took my sin that I might know his mercy.

This is all a mystery past my explanation, and yet my heart deeply knows its meaning. So also the prophecy of Daniel, despite all its mysteries, is meant to speak deeply to our hearts of the mercy of our God. He shared our shame to spare us pain and bore our penalty to free us from guilt. By entering in, he put an end to sin and atoned for iniquity. And now we who know him and reflect him must do the same by witnessing his grace in the way that we face the trials of our world and, in his name, care for others who must face the same.

Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014). Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 5:29 AM September 22, 2017.

The Prayer - Part 6

Introduction

Ha-Foke-Bah

Confession is About We

Petition is about We

Salvation is about We

The 70 Weeks is about We