Lessons from the life of Daniel
Our final two studies in the life of the prophet Daniel focus on Daniel's prayer life. It was God's answer to his prayer that saved his life in chapter 2. And it was his habit of daily prayer that put his life in danger in chapter 6.
Please read Daniel 9.
Daniel did two things in private that made him an outstanding servant-leader in public: (1) Study of God's Word and (2) Prayer. Daniel used Scripture to guide him in every aspect of his life, including his prayer life.
So the story begins today with Daniel reading the Bible.
What!? If Daniel is in the Bible, how can he be reading the Bible? Answer: By Daniel's time, most of the Old Testament had already been written - the books of Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy), a good part of the history of Israel, most of the Psalms, the works of Solomon, and most of the prophets. So the story begins...
Please read Daniel 9.
Daniel did two things in private that made him an outstanding servant-leader in public: (1) Study of God's Word and (2) Prayer. Daniel used Scripture to guide him in every aspect of his life, including his prayer life.
So the story begins today with Daniel reading the Bible.
What!? If Daniel is in the Bible, how can he be reading the Bible? Answer: By Daniel's time, most of the Old Testament had already been written - the books of Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy), a good part of the history of Israel, most of the Psalms, the works of Solomon, and most of the prophets. So the story begins...
During Darius' first year as king, I, Daniel, was reading the Scriptures. I saw that the Lord told Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be empty ruins for seventy years. (v.2 NCV)
Over the centuries God's prophets repeatedly urged the people of Israel to turn back to the God who had saved them from slavery in Egypt, made His covenant with them at Mt. Sinai, and established them as a nation in their own land. Finally, the prophet Jeremiah announced, "Your time is up! God is done warning you. Now He will do what He he promised, because you continue to turn away from Him." Jeremiah watched as the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem, taking its people captive. Among those captives were young Daniel and his three best friends.
Now as an old man, Daniel read again what Jeremiah had written several years earlier:
Now as an old man, Daniel read again what Jeremiah had written several years earlier:
This is the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the older leaders who were among the captives, the priests, and the prophets. He sent it to all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon...
This is what the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says to all those people I sent away from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon: "Build houses and settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food they grow. Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married so they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children in Babylon; don't become fewer in number. Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the LORD for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also." ...
This is what the LORD says: "Babylon will be powerful for seventy years. After that time I will come to you, and I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the LORD. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me! I will let you find me," says the LORD. "And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place, but I will gather you from all the nations, from the places I have sent you as captives," says the LORD. "And I will bring you back to this place." (Jeremiah 29:1-14 NCV)
Daniel is a smart man. He can do the math. Seventy years is almost up. The Jews are going home! How does Daniel react when he reads this? You would think that Daniel would be happy, shouting, "Hallelujah!"
Or would he do as some Christians today, who "claim the promise" and believe that they can force God to act on their behalf, because they think that God is obligated to honor their faith?
Neither. In Daniel's own words...
Or would he do as some Christians today, who "claim the promise" and believe that they can force God to act on their behalf, because they think that God is obligated to honor their faith?
Neither. In Daniel's own words...
Then I turned to the Lord God and prayed and asked him for help. I did not eat any food. To show my sadness, I put on rough cloth and sat in ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and told him about all of our sins. (vv. 3,4)
As he read the prophet Jeremiah, Daniel remembered why God had allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed -- including the temple. Daniel remembered why he and his people were taken as captives and slaves to a distant foreign land. Now, he had to ask himself, "Are we ready to go back home? Have we finally learned our lesson in this experience? If we go back to our own land, will we be any different than we were before? Or will God have to punish us again?" What Daniel saw among his fellow Hebrew captives grieved him.
Daniel's prayer contrasts God's actions and character with Israel's actions and character.
Daniel's prayer contrasts God's actions and character with Israel's actions and character.
Lord, you are a great God who causes fear and wonder. You keep your agreement of love with all who love you and obey your commands. (v.4)
The New International Version translates verse 4 this way:
O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love...
God is good. But we are not...
But we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and turned against you, your commands, and your laws. We did not listen to your servants, the prophets, who spoke for you to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors, and all the people of the land. (vv.5,6)
You can sense Daniel's deep grief as he continues:
|
Daniel confesses that the trouble we receive is exactly the trouble we deserve -- no, we receive better than we deserve.
Lord our God, you show us mercy and forgive us even though we have turned against you... You said these things would happen to us... All this disaster came to us just as it is written in the Teachings of Moses. But we have not pleaded with the Lord our God. We have not stopped sinning. We have not paid attention to your truth. (vv.9-13)
Here we see Daniel confessing the sins of his nation.
In the history of our own nation, the United States of America, there was a time when we had serious trouble, and the President called on the citizens of our nation "to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord." The President was Abraham Lincoln. He saw the Civil War as "a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people." (Click here to read the full text of Lincoln's Presidential Proclamation.)
Something to think about... How is our nation's spiritual and moral state today? Do we still need to cry out in confession and repentance for the Lord's mercy?
Notice how Daniel confesses the sins of the nation as if they were were is own sins. Throughout the book of Daniel, we find no flaw in him, no crack in his character. Yet Daniel knows his own heart, and he is very aware that his own secret attitude and actions are infected with the same sin that led God to punish the nation of Israel. So he can, indeed, confess the nation's sins as his own.
There is One who has done for us as Daniel did for Israel. Christ Jesus truly had no sin, yet He accepted personal responsibility for our sin and guilt. His baptism (Matthew 3:13-17) was His personal confession for our sins (see Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3).
In the history of our own nation, the United States of America, there was a time when we had serious trouble, and the President called on the citizens of our nation "to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord." The President was Abraham Lincoln. He saw the Civil War as "a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people." (Click here to read the full text of Lincoln's Presidential Proclamation.)
Something to think about... How is our nation's spiritual and moral state today? Do we still need to cry out in confession and repentance for the Lord's mercy?
Notice how Daniel confesses the sins of the nation as if they were were is own sins. Throughout the book of Daniel, we find no flaw in him, no crack in his character. Yet Daniel knows his own heart, and he is very aware that his own secret attitude and actions are infected with the same sin that led God to punish the nation of Israel. So he can, indeed, confess the nation's sins as his own.
There is One who has done for us as Daniel did for Israel. Christ Jesus truly had no sin, yet He accepted personal responsibility for our sin and guilt. His baptism (Matthew 3:13-17) was His personal confession for our sins (see Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3).
Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21 NCV)
Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of his wounds. (1 Peter 2:24 NCV)
Now, continuing in Daniel's prayer, we see him contrast God's reputation with the reputation of His people.
Lord our God, you used your power and brought us out of Egypt. Because of that, your name is known even today. But we have sinned and have done wrong... Because of our sins and the evil things done by our ancestors, people all around insult and make fun of Jerusalem and your people. (vv.15,16)
Then Daniel grabs hold of God's character and reputation, and uses them as the only reason why God should help Israel.
Now, our God, hear the prayers of your servant.
Listen to my prayer for help,
and for your sake do good things for your holy place that is in ruins.
My God, pay attention and hear me.
Open your eyes and see all the terrible things that have happened to us.
See how our lives have been ruined
and what has happened to the city that is called by your name.
We do not ask these things because we are good;
instead, we ask because of your mercy.
Lord, listen!
Lord, forgive!
Lord, hear us and do something!
For your sake, do not wait,
because your city and your people are called by your name. (vv.17-19)
Daniel begs and pleads with God. He does not bargain. He does not try to make a deal with God with silly promises.
Perhaps you have had experiences which seemed so bad, so difficult, so hopeless, that you, like Daniel cried out to God to show Himself powerful in your situation. You, like Daniel, could only beg for God's mercy.
God gives Daniel a direct answer to his prayer. But the answer is not what Daniel requested, or what Daniel expected.
Perhaps you have had experiences which seemed so bad, so difficult, so hopeless, that you, like Daniel cried out to God to show Himself powerful in your situation. You, like Daniel, could only beg for God's mercy.
God gives Daniel a direct answer to his prayer. But the answer is not what Daniel requested, or what Daniel expected.
While I was saying these things in my prayer to the Lord, my God, confessing my sins and the sins of the people of Israel and praying for God's holy hill, Gabriel came to me. (v.20,21)
Yes, we may safely assume this is the same angel Gabriel that appeared to Zechariah and to Mary about 450 years later (Luke 1),
He came flying quickly to me about the time of the evening sacrifice, while I was still praying. He taught me and said to me, "Daniel, I have come to give you wisdom and to help you understand..." (vv.21,22)
The message that the angel Gabriel delivers is basically this:
Yes, Daniel, God still has a plan for Israel.
But God's plan for Israel is bigger than Israel.
God's plan is much bigger than Jerusalem.
And God's plan is much, much bigger than the temple in Jerusalem.
God's plan is for Christ and for all mankind.
This plan didn't just begin with Moses at the Exodus and Mt. Sinai.
This plan didn't begin with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
You will find the first announcement of this plan back in the Garden of Eden
on the day humanity fell into sin, and God's perfect world broke (See Genesis 3:14-15).
Gabriel's message to Daniel is difficult to translate into English, and it is challenging to interpret. If you already read Daniel chapter 9, you know what I mean. Here is the text in three English translations --
the New International Version (NIV),
the New International Reader's Version (NIrV),
and the New Century Version (NCV).
The NIV most closely represents the difficult language of the Hebrew text. The NCV is a paraphrase that presents the text in the most commonly accepted interpretation by Bible scholars:
Verse |
NIV |
NIrV |
NCV |
Comments |
24 |
Seventy "sevens" are decreed for
your people and your holy city - to finish transgression, - to put an end to sin, - to atone for wickedness, - to bring in everlasting righteousness, - to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. |
The
Lord has
appointed 70 "weeks" for your
people and your
holy city. During that time, acts against God's law will be stopped.
Sin will come to an end. And the evil things people do will be paid
for. Then everyone will always do what is right. Everything that has
been made known in visions and prophecies will come true. And the Most
Holy Room in the temple will be anointed. |
God
has
ordered 490 years for your
people and
your holy city for these reasons: - to stop people from turning against God; - to put an end to sin; - to take away evil; - to bring in goodness that continues forever; - to bring about the vision and prophecy; and - to appoint a most holy place. |
70 x 7 = 490
Click here to learn about the importance of the 7 year cycle in Daniel's day. |
25 |
Know
and
understand this: From
the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One [Messiah], the ruler,
comes,
there will be seven "sevens," and
sixty-two "sevens." It will be rebuilt with streets and a
trench, but in times of trouble. |
Here
is what
I want you to know
and understand. There will be seven
"weeks." Then there will be 62 "weeks." The seven "weeks" will
begin when an order is given to rebuild Jerusalem and make it like new
again. At the end of the 62 "weeks," the Anointed King [Messiah] will come.
Jerusalem will have streets and a water system when it is rebuilt. But
that will be done in times of trouble. |
Learn and understand these things. A command will come to rebuild Jerusalem. The time from this command until the appointed leader [Messiah] comes will be 49 years and 434 years. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and a trench filled with water around it, but it will be built in times of trouble. | 7 x 7 = 49 Jerusalem was rebuilt in 49 years. 62 x 7 = 434 434 years later was the time of Christ when... |
26 |
After
the
sixty-two "sevens," the Anointed One
[Messiah] will
be cut off and will have nothing. |
After
the 62
"weeks," the
Anointed King will be cut off. His followers will desert him.
And
everything he has will be taken away from him. |
After
the
434 years the appointed leader will
be killed; he
will have nothing. |
Christ
was
crucified on the cross. |
The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. | The army of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the temple. The end will come like a flood. War will continue until the end. The Lord has ordered that many places be destroyed. | The people of the leader who is to come will destroy the city and the holy place. The end of the city will come like a flood, and war will continue until the end. God has ordered that place to be completely destroyed. | Then the Roman armies came and completely destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. | |
27 |
He
will confirm a covenant
with many for one "seven." In the middle of the "seven" he will put an
end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set
up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed
is poured out on him. |
A
covenant
will be put into
effect with many people for one "week." In the middle of the "week"
sacrifices and offerings will come to an end. In one part of the temple
a hated thing that destroys will be set up. It will remain until the
Lord brings the end he has ordered. |
That leader will make firm an agreement with many people for seven years. He will stop the offerings and sacrifices after three and one-half years. A destroyer will do terrible things until the ordered end comes to the destroyed city. | Even
through the devil continues
to mock God, at the end of time, God will lock Satan in hell forever. |
Wow! This prophecy offers very precise timing! Several Jewish people are believers in Christ today because they read and understood this prophecy in Daniel. History records how accurate this prophecy was for:
While Daniel grieved for Jerusalem and for Israel,
God grieves for the whole world.
While Daniel was concerned about rebuilding the temple,
God was concerned about the coming of Messiah, Christ Jesus.
While Daniel wanted God to restore the animal sacrifices,
God was making preparation for the sacrifice of Christ,
which ended the need for the animal sacrifices.
Daniel could see only one small piece of God's big picture.
Remember that it was God's promise given to Jeremiah -- the promise that Israel would return home after 70 years -- that prompted Daniel to pray. God also made another, more important promise through Jeremiah (two chapters later), that one day God would replace Israel's old covenant -- the one they received through Moses -- with a New Covenant. That New Covenant would not be based on Law but on Grace and Forgiveness.
- Rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple.
- The crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
- The final destruction of Jerusalem and the temple under the Romans.
While Daniel grieved for Jerusalem and for Israel,
God grieves for the whole world.
While Daniel was concerned about rebuilding the temple,
God was concerned about the coming of Messiah, Christ Jesus.
While Daniel wanted God to restore the animal sacrifices,
God was making preparation for the sacrifice of Christ,
which ended the need for the animal sacrifices.
Daniel could see only one small piece of God's big picture.
Remember that it was God's promise given to Jeremiah -- the promise that Israel would return home after 70 years -- that prompted Daniel to pray. God also made another, more important promise through Jeremiah (two chapters later), that one day God would replace Israel's old covenant -- the one they received through Moses -- with a New Covenant. That New Covenant would not be based on Law but on Grace and Forgiveness.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIrV)
"A new day is coming," announces the Lord.
"I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel.
I will also make it with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their people long ago.
That was when I took them by the hand.
I led them out of Egypt.
But they broke my covenant.
They did it even though I was like a husband to them,"
announces the Lord.
"This is the covenant I will make with Israel
after that time," announces the Lord.
"I will put my law in their minds.
I will write it on their hearts.
I will be their God.
And they will be my people.
A man will not need to teach his neighbor anymore.
And he will not need to teach his friend anymore.
He will not say, 'Know the Lord.'
Everyone will know me.
From the least important of them to the most important,
all of them will know me,"
announces the Lord.
"I will forgive their evil ways.
I will not remember their sins anymore."
That promise of the New Covenant is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, the Messiah.
Please permit me to share here a personal story that relates to Daniel's prayer and God response.
When my son, Mark, was born, we discovered that he had serious birth defects. He had stopped growing the the womb about 6 weeks before his due date. Four weeks later, my wife's doctor realized something was wrong. So he delivered Mark by C-section. It was then we discovered that Mark had Spina Bifida. During the first two months of his life, he required four emergency surgeries -- one to close the open spinal cord on his lower back, one to install a shunt to relieve the pressure of hydrocephalus, and two more surgeries to replace the shunt when the first two devices failed. And there were other problems that gave us concern. (Mark is 16 now, and he has just had his 23rd surgery.)
During that first month of Mark's life outside the womb, my prayers were like paper notes tied to rocks which I threw God's window. Some of my prayers were desperate pleading, like Daniel's prayer. Some of my prayers were angry complaints, like Jeremiah's prayers. Heaven must had a lot of broken glass to clean up during that month. But after a month, I ran out of rocks to throw at God -- I ran out of prayers. I had already told Him everything I could say, and there was nothing new I could add to it. I knew my friends and family were praying for Mark, so I just told the Lord, "Please listen to them. I am all prayed-out."
Was I ever tempted to turn my back on God and give up my faith in Him? No! If I didn't trust God, who would I trust? Certainly not the devil, the chief of all liars, and murders. One time a crowd of people turned their backs on Jesus and left Him, because they didn't like His teaching. Jesus asked His 12 disciples if they planned to also leave. Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
God's answer to my anger, my frustration, my confusion over what God was doing to my son was an image of an artist, a master painter.
If you look at photographs of the masterpieces of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, or Monet, you see a beautiful work in clear detail. But if you go to the art museum, and look closely at the actual paintings, they look quite different. Up close you see strange blobs of odd colors on a lumpy canvas. If all you could see of those paintings was those ugly random brush marks, you would see no design, no purpose, no plan, no beauty in the artist's work. But if you step back and see the whole painting, then you can see on the canvas the picture that was in the mind of the artist.
Our lives are like those seeming ugly random brush marks of odd colors and strangely shaped blobs. We, like Daniel, can see our lives only from the close-up view. We don't have the perspective of the Master Artist - God. I do not know -- I cannot know -- what place my son and I have God's great masterpiece. I do not know whose lives God will touch for eternity through Mark. I can confidently rest in the fact that (1) God is good, (2) God knows what He is doing, and (3) God's plan for Mark is much bigger than Mark. Just like Daniel, we can in this moment see only a small piece of God's big picture.
One time when he was ten, Mark and I happened to meet each other in the hallway in our house. His bedroom is next to the bathroom. I was heading toward the bathroom and I came up behind Mark while he was scooting along in his classic combat crawl toward his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway, turned to look at me. Thinking that I was following him, he said, "Daddy, go away! I need to talk to God." He turned back around, crawled into his room, and shut the door. I stopped in my tracks for a moment to ponder what I had just witnessed and consider again the reasons why God has chosen not to heal my son.
A couple months later, we were preparing Mark and ourselves for what could be the biggest surgery of his life - to correct his severe scoliosis. And as we discussed his upcoming surgery, Mark often answered our anxiety by saying, "But God still has a plan for my life!”
Yes, Mark, God does have a plan for your life. Thank you for reminding me.
When my son, Mark, was born, we discovered that he had serious birth defects. He had stopped growing the the womb about 6 weeks before his due date. Four weeks later, my wife's doctor realized something was wrong. So he delivered Mark by C-section. It was then we discovered that Mark had Spina Bifida. During the first two months of his life, he required four emergency surgeries -- one to close the open spinal cord on his lower back, one to install a shunt to relieve the pressure of hydrocephalus, and two more surgeries to replace the shunt when the first two devices failed. And there were other problems that gave us concern. (Mark is 16 now, and he has just had his 23rd surgery.)
During that first month of Mark's life outside the womb, my prayers were like paper notes tied to rocks which I threw God's window. Some of my prayers were desperate pleading, like Daniel's prayer. Some of my prayers were angry complaints, like Jeremiah's prayers. Heaven must had a lot of broken glass to clean up during that month. But after a month, I ran out of rocks to throw at God -- I ran out of prayers. I had already told Him everything I could say, and there was nothing new I could add to it. I knew my friends and family were praying for Mark, so I just told the Lord, "Please listen to them. I am all prayed-out."
Was I ever tempted to turn my back on God and give up my faith in Him? No! If I didn't trust God, who would I trust? Certainly not the devil, the chief of all liars, and murders. One time a crowd of people turned their backs on Jesus and left Him, because they didn't like His teaching. Jesus asked His 12 disciples if they planned to also leave. Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
God's answer to my anger, my frustration, my confusion over what God was doing to my son was an image of an artist, a master painter.
If you look at photographs of the masterpieces of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, or Monet, you see a beautiful work in clear detail. But if you go to the art museum, and look closely at the actual paintings, they look quite different. Up close you see strange blobs of odd colors on a lumpy canvas. If all you could see of those paintings was those ugly random brush marks, you would see no design, no purpose, no plan, no beauty in the artist's work. But if you step back and see the whole painting, then you can see on the canvas the picture that was in the mind of the artist.
Our lives are like those seeming ugly random brush marks of odd colors and strangely shaped blobs. We, like Daniel, can see our lives only from the close-up view. We don't have the perspective of the Master Artist - God. I do not know -- I cannot know -- what place my son and I have God's great masterpiece. I do not know whose lives God will touch for eternity through Mark. I can confidently rest in the fact that (1) God is good, (2) God knows what He is doing, and (3) God's plan for Mark is much bigger than Mark. Just like Daniel, we can in this moment see only a small piece of God's big picture.
One time when he was ten, Mark and I happened to meet each other in the hallway in our house. His bedroom is next to the bathroom. I was heading toward the bathroom and I came up behind Mark while he was scooting along in his classic combat crawl toward his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway, turned to look at me. Thinking that I was following him, he said, "Daddy, go away! I need to talk to God." He turned back around, crawled into his room, and shut the door. I stopped in my tracks for a moment to ponder what I had just witnessed and consider again the reasons why God has chosen not to heal my son.
A couple months later, we were preparing Mark and ourselves for what could be the biggest surgery of his life - to correct his severe scoliosis. And as we discussed his upcoming surgery, Mark often answered our anxiety by saying, "But God still has a plan for my life!”
Yes, Mark, God does have a plan for your life. Thank you for reminding me.
As Gabriel told Daniel,
God had plans for Jerusalem,
but His plans were much bigger than Jerusalem.
His plans included YOU!
God's role for Jerusalem was to bring His Messiah, Christ Jesus, to you.
And God's plans for you are much bigger than you.
God's plan for you is to bring His Messiah, Christ Jesus, to other people who do not yet know Him.
God had plans for Jerusalem,
but His plans were much bigger than Jerusalem.
His plans included YOU!
God's role for Jerusalem was to bring His Messiah, Christ Jesus, to you.
And God's plans for you are much bigger than you.
God's plan for you is to bring His Messiah, Christ Jesus, to other people who do not yet know Him.