Let's open up God's word to Daniel, chapter nine. Daniel, Chapter nine. Now, it may seem at first an unusual place to be for a Christmas season, but in fact, we don't find ourselves in Daniel 9 on accident. We found ourselves in Daniel 9 intentionally. This is one of the reasons that we decided to preach through the book of Daniel this fall. Because the second half of Daniel, chapter nine is a Christmas section of the Bible, even though many do not know it. And so part of it is we're. We're introducing you to another Christmas part of the Bible. And who couldn't use more Christmas? I think we all want more Christmas. So great. There's even more Christmas in the second half of Daniel because the second half of Daniel looks forward to the coming of the son of man, Jesus Christ, that we celebrate at Christmastime. And ahead to the second coming of Jesus Christ. That's really the focus for the second half of Daniel.
Now we're going to pick this up. Last week we covered Daniel's prayer on behalf of himself and his people. Now we're going to hear God's answer back to him.
Daniel 9:18. As we read, let's remember this is God's word. Oh my God, inclined 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. 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, oh, Daniel, I have come now. 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. 70 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, lasting righteousness, to seal both vision and profit, 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 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and a moat. But in a troubled time, and after the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and 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 abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.
This is God's word. And Lord, I pray that this would be an encouraging word toward us today. Lord, prophetic passages like this you have sent to help us see more clearly, not to confuse us. And so I pray that we would see the realities here more clearly. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
In 1981, there was a small boy in the village of Kandwa, India. His name was Saru. At age five, he was at the train station in his local area looking for his brother. By accident, he boarded a train. Now, normally, this might not be that great of a problem, but this particular train was going essentially hundreds of miles to Kolkata, a large city. And when he found himself pushed off the train, Saroo found he did not speak the language. If you're familiar with India, there's many dialects. And he could not speak the language of the people in Kolkata. He had no way of returning home. He, in fact, did not even know where he lived. Imagine a five year old trying to give you directions for where they came from. It was impossible. And for a number of weeks, this five year old boy spent the days and nights trying to survive on the street. Eventually, his desire to get home shrunk into simply a desire to survive, simply to have a meal, simply to have a safe place. And as we will see, Saroo's journey home was not a short one, nor one that occurred in a way that he ever expected. But in the end, Saroo's longings for safety and survival were answered in a far better way than he could have imagined.
And this is something I think we can all relate to. Circumstances in our lives have a way of shrinking our view and even our prayers and longings to just survive Just make it through. Just get to the next year. But God, in His kindness through Daniel Chapter 9 expands our longings again, expands our prayers again. In many ways, this passage in Daniel chapter nine is just such an instance of Daniel finding that the 70 years decreed for God's people to be in exile were coming to an end. And Daniel's prayer, in many ways is simple. When you boil it down, it's a very simple prayer. Lord, have mercy on us. You judged us rightly by sending us into exile, but have mercy and allow us to return. That's his simple prayer. Just the very next year is all he's praying about. Lord, please bring us back home next year. That's what he's praying for. But Daniel chapter nine expands Daniel's vision and our vision, it. It pulls back from just the year in front of us what's right there and, and takes us hundreds of years into the future, in fact, thousands of years into the future by the end.
6 · States the sermon's thesis explicitly and introduces the central theological concept of the 'age of Jubilee' as God's answer pattern—promising both to explain the concept and that it exceeds expectation
And here's the main point. God answers his people's plea for mercy better than they can imagine. In fact, he answers their pleas for mercy with an age of jubilee. Now, if you're like, I don't even know what that is, don't worry. It's better than you imagine.
7 · Explicitly signals the sermon's two-part structure (does God answer? and what does God answer?) and introduces the first main question
Now, two answers today. There are two questions today, rather that we'll answer. First is, does God answer pleas for mercy?
8 · Begins answering the first question by examining Daniel 9:20-21, focusing on the narrative detail that Gabriel arrives before Daniel finishes praying, establishing God's swift response as textual fact
We saw Daniel's plea for mercy last week. We're going to get the question answered. Does God answer such pleas for mercy? Now, look at verse 20. 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, he says again, the man Gabriel, who I had seen in the vision at first came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.
9 · Interrupts the exposition to directly address the congregation's potential doubts about prayer, creating pastoral connection before returning to the three-point exposition
Perhaps today you're here and you're wondering, I've been praying, but I don't know if God hears me. I've been praying. I don't know if God's going to answer me or if he ever will. Maybe you don't even want to pray because you're wondering if God will answer you. Well, three things you need to hear first.
10 · First answer to 'Does God answer?'—He answers swiftly
God answers swiftly. He answers immediately. In fact, verse 20 states twice that God does not even let Daniel finish his prayer before sending a response. Meaning that the delay, the reason that this. This angel Gabriel, who is the swiftest perhaps of all the messengers in heaven, the reason he arrives at the end of the prayer it's not because God was like, oh, I finally am listening at the end. No. As soon as he starts praying, he sends the angel and he arrives before he even finishes.
11 · Uses hypothetical scenarios to contrast common misconceptions about prayer (needing the right formula, enough intensity, or enough repetition to get God's attention) with the reality demonstrated in Daniel 9—that God hears immediately without such manipulations
Sometimes I think we picture ourselves in prayer, loudly waving our arms and hands, trying to attract God's attention to us, right where we're like, maybe if I could come up with the right prayer, or. I've heard Christians at times go, man, which prayer should I be praying to get God to answer me? Should I be doing Paul or Jesus or this one in the Old Testament? I found this real obscure one in the Old Testament. Is that the one that's going to work? Or maybe you're thinking, okay, if I pray loud enough or I pray desperate enough, or if I have enough tears or if I pray enough times, maybe then God will finally, in as he views the entirety of the world, go, oh, look, someone right there. Down there. Look, it's Gary. Is he waving? It is. It's Gary. Let's look at. You know, that's not at all what we find in Daniel chapter nine. In fact, one person out of the millions on earth praying, the Lord hears and swiftly responds.
12 · Personal story about surprising his wife by being closer than she thinks serves as analogy for God's nearness in prayer—we think He's distant and we must shout, but He's right there hearing before we finish speaking
Now, one of my great joys in marriage is that I have discovered that Jen, my wife, cannot hear where I am in the house. Now, my boys are loud. They're just clomping around. So you always know where they are, for the most part. But Jen cannot hear where I am. And so one of my great joys is when she will call upstairs or downstairs like, babe, did you move the screwdriver? And I, from the adjoining room will say, no, I didn't move it. You know, and it's my only, you know, wish fulfillment of being Batman. I mean, it's just. She's looking over there, and I step out of the shadows. I have the screwdriver, you know, like. And every time, this is what's delightful about it. Every time it happens, she's like, ah, stop. But I privately love it. And this is what she's gonna endure. You pray for her for the next number of decades. The Lord allows us to be married. This is what she's gonna be in for. And often I think that that's more relevant to this text than we would imagine, because we often think, okay, God is far away. I've got to really yell. I've got to really do something to attract his attention. And yet God is right there. God is very near. He hears everything and he answers us even before we can finish.
13 · Direct exhortation applying the theology of God's immediate hearing to the congregation's prayer life, calling them to confidence rather than performative desperation
Brother and sister, take heart today. You do not need to wave your arms or do something insane to attract the attention of the Lord. When you cry out to him as his child, he hears right then and right there.
14 · Second answer to 'Does God answer?'—He answers out of love, not merit
Second. Does God answer? Second? Yes, he answers, and he answers out of love. Look at verse 22. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, oh, Daniel, I have come now. I have now come out to you to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleads for mercy, a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. You are greatly loved. Notice the reason that the passage gives for why God answers Daniel's prayer. Now, Daniel's done a bunch of commendable things in the book, hasn't he? I mean, he stands up later. We don't know exactly where this takes place in relationship with the lion's den, but he stands up as soon as he gets to Babylon and he doesn't eat the king's meat, and he stands up and worships the Lord. And later he will stand even to go to the lion's den. And so you might expect it to say, well, you pleaded for mercy, but we've reviewed your record and we found you've got just enough merit to get a response. Right? Almost like Santa reviewing the list. Well, you were on the edge of the naughty list, but you. Okay, we're going to give you one prayer. What is it that you want? Right. That's not it at all. Right. It's nothing to do with his merit. In fact, Daniel knows this. When he's praying the prayer, he says, lord, answer my my plea on the basis of mercy, not on the basis of our righteousness or my righteousness. And notice that God does indeed respond that way. He pleads for mercy and God responds because he loves him, for you are greatly loved.
15 · Universalizes the love-motivation for answered prayer beyond Daniel to all God's people, citing the bride of Christ imagery and affirming that God's love for sinners who don't merit His attention is a major biblical theme, not an exception
Now, to be sure, Daniel is a commendable man, but this is not something that we should see restricted just to Daniel. Like, out of all the followers of God in world history, God's like, I like that Daniel guy. Not Gary, but that guy, you know, that's not it at all. God refers over and over to his people as his beloved. He refers in the New Testament to his people as the bride of Christ. The affection of God for his people, despite them being sinners, despite them not meriting his attention, is one of the great things themes of Scripture. That God answers our prayers out of love for us. Isn't that extraordinary? Often we're like, that can't. That's too good to be true. That can't be right. It's right. This is exactly what the Lord does. He answers swiftly. He answers out of love.
16 · Direct pastoral address applying the theology of God's love-motivated response to the individual listener, emphasizing that those in Christ can claim this same divine affection and attention personally
Friend, if you are praying to the Lord and you are in Christ, he is your Savior. And Lord, hear the encouragement of this passage. God is inclined to you not because of what you've done, but because he loves you. You are greatly loved. God cares about his people. God is mindful of his people. And so it is for you. God answers. Does God answer? Yes. He answers swiftly. He answers out of love.
17 · Third answer to 'Does God answer?'—He answers differently than expected
And then third, God answers differently. Now, this is going to challenge us a bit because the answer is not. I've come to tell it to you for your greatly loved. Therefore, yes, we will send you back. No, in fact, therefore, consider the word and understand the whole vision that I'm going to tell you. And the vision is not at all what Daniel was expecting. Now, it contains some answers to what he was asking, but it does not at all. It's not just a simple yes or no. In fact, the Lord Daniel's asking about the next year. And in fact, the Lord answers for the next thousands of years. And that's pretty different than what he was asking, right? And so often I think we come to the Lord and it's like, okay, I've got a specific thing. Lord, I need you to. Like we talked about last week, I need you. I know 20% of you, or no, 30% of you are praying for your exams, right? So you're praying for your exam, like, lord, please. And he's like, yes. And also, here's all world history, right? That's what he does to Daniel here. Lord, I really want to get married someday. Awesome. Let me show you all of world history. And you're like that. Okay, that's a little different than I expected. And here's why God's answers are different than we expect. Three helps for why God's answers are different than we expect. First, we see in this text that God works on a different timetable than we would anticipate. Some of the things God is doing in the day of Daniel stretch into the next hundreds of years and in fact, into the next thousands of years and then into eternity. And often we are. Look, let me just say this. I think all of us, we're far more concerned about the next five minutes than the next five centuries, right? Like when we're bringing the Lord prayers, we're like, next five minutes, that's all I need. And the Lord is man. He sees the next five minutes, but he sees the next 500 years. He sees eternity. So when he answers our prayers. Remember, he answers and he loves us, but he's going to answer those prayers in a way that takes into account the sweep of everything, not just the next five minutes.
18 · Second reason God answers differently: He sees the spiritual world behind the physical world that we cannot perceive
Second reason. God's answers are often different than we expect. God sees the world behind the world. Now, Daniel gives us just enough of a peek behind the curtain to the spiritual realms that I don't know about you, but I want to, like, learn a lot more about that. I got a lot of questions. Okay, what are Gabriel's responsibilities? Is he like Michael the Archangel? Is he there? Is he just the buff one? Gabriel's the fast one. Like, what's the order of angels? There's one point. They reference the spirits in a territory. Like, what is going on? Can you give us the battle map of the spiritual realms? Because I would really like to understand that. And Daniel doesn't do it, despite the many books that have been written trying to do that. That's not why Daniel is in our Bibles. Daniel intentionally, the book of Daniel, intentionally, God peels the curtain back just a little bit so we can kind of see and go, oh, wow, there's a lot going on behind there. And the Lord goes, I know. And then he closes it, and you're like, but I'd really like to see back there. And he's going, you wouldn't even understand what you're looking at. Right? That's the reality. He sees the world behind the world. He sees all of the spiritual forces, all the things that are going on behind the scenes. And God says, that's one of the reasons that I answer your prayers differently than you would expect, because I see all of that.
19 · Third reason God answers differently: He sees our deepest needs better than we do
Third reason God, not just. He doesn't just see all eternity. He doesn't just see the world behind the world. He also sees our deepest needs. Now, often we do not have a right understanding of our needs when it comes to our prayers. And it doesn't mean the things we're praying for aren't true or aren't good. But often we do not pray according to our most important needs, our deepest needs. Remember this. The Lord sees to the heart. The Lord sees to our eternal soul. And so the Lord will often answer with, at times with what is good for our soul, but maybe not good for our body, or maybe not good for our love life, or maybe not good for our career. Right? Because what is his deepest concern? Well, his deepest concern is our greatest need, which is our eternal soul. He sees through all of it to the heart level.
20 · Personal story of misunderstanding a car repair serves as analogy for God seeing our true needs—the mechanic saw that a cheap fix would cause the chassis to fall out, just as God sees that answering our surface request might harm our soul
I'll never forget at one Point. I was frustrated that we were gonna have to do a costly car repair. And I. Look, I know cars. I got. I have a Car Repair for Dummies guide at home. So I get. I mean, I got everything I pretty much need. And so what the guy was saying didn't make sense to me. And so I called, and I'm like, this guy's trying to scam me. I mean, you know, like, I know that thing's connected to this other thing, the big thing and the other thing and the hose. I know. I know these things. And so I'm talking to him, going like, okay, can you explain to me what's going on? Because it doesn't seem like it makes sense. And so, super patiently. This guy's a good mechanic. Super patiently. He was like, okay. So for the next, like, 20 minutes, he not only explained the repair he needed to make, but he explained how cars work, which I'm sure was frustrating for him. And I was kind of like, can't you just, you know, like, do this? That would cost $50. Why do I have to pay several hundred? And he very patiently walked me through to go, okay, if I did that, the end result is your chassis is going to fall out eventually, so you don't want that. And I'm like, yeah, that doesn't seem great. Meaning this. He could see my need better than I could because he understood everything that I did not understand, right? And so it is with the Lord. The Lord sees our deepest needs better than we do often, and answers us out of his love according to them.
21 · Addresses the potential objection that God's sovereignty makes prayer pointless by citing Ian Duguid's argument that Daniel 9 demonstrates the opposite—God's perfect knowledge and sovereignty work in harmony with, not against, the real impact of His people's prayers
I'm gonna read a quote from Ian Dogood, because Ian Dogood points out, okay, in light of all this, in light of all this, you might be tempted to think, okay, well, if that's true, if God understands all eternity, if he understands the world behind the world, if he understands our deepest needs, then I don't even know why we should pray. Because we don't know what we need, right? We don't know. In fact, that is the opposite of what this passage should be doing in our hearts and minds. The Ian Do Good points out that this passage, taking the imperfect prayer of Daniel, godly, commendable, but imperfect prayer of Daniel, and being answered by God should encourage us all to pray. He says this, we mention this, but it is worth reiterating because it is one of the central emphases of the passage. God hears and answers the prayers of his repentant people. There is no conflict between divine sovereignty and the prayers of God's people, between divine sovereignty and his foreknowledge on one hand, by which God knows and governs all aspects of the future. And on the other hand, the truth that the prayers of God's people have a real impact on events.
22 · Demonstrates that Daniel 9 is the hinge point where God's predetermined restoration promise meets Daniel's prayer and produces a unique divine 'yes'—showing that God sovereignly chose to respond to prayer as the mechanism for fulfilling His promise, not despite the prayer
Now, notice what happens in Daniel, chapter nine. Daniel, Chapter nine is in many ways where Daniel takes the promise of God to restore his people to their homeland. That promise God, it appears, according to this text, this is the critical moment at which the Lord says, yes. Now, he could have just done it. But in response to Daniel's prayer, there is a unique yes. Now Daniel saying, hey, you promised 70 years. Would you do it, Lord? Would you end our discipline? Would you send us home? And the Lord answers his prayer now, different than he expected in some ways, but he answers his prayer.
23 · Direct application calling listeners to pray with confidence despite uncertainty about their needs, trusting that God will perfect their imperfect prayers and answer better than expected
And so I love the emphasis from do good at saying, listen, if you're tempted to go, man, I don't even know what to pray for. I'm just going to give up. No, get back in the prayer closet, say, lord, you will take my imperfect prayers and see what I really need. And then answer me better than I expect. Therefore, bring your prayers like, I think I need this, Lord, I don't know, but please do it. And the Lord will answer better than we expect.
24 · Marks the structural shift from the first major question (Does God answer?) to the second major question (What does God answer?), signaling entry into the exposition of Daniel's prophecy content
Does he answer prayer? Second, what does God answer?
25 · Acknowledges the interpretive difficulty and scholarly controversy around Daniel 9 while refusing to surrender to confusion
Now we're going to look at the substance of what God says in response to Daniel. And this is where we begin to wade into, if we've not been already, begin to wade into the deep end of the theological pool in Daniel. Because this is one of the sections of Daniel that has the most ink spilled, the most books written about it. And every two years there's like a new guy that's like, yeah, nobody else understood Daniel 9, but I do. And then like two years later, you know what? That guy didn't understand Daniel9, but I do. And it's like, okay, I don't think. And we've been doing this for 2,000 years. And so you might be tempted to just go, okay, nobody knows what Daniel 9 means. Let's just move on. But that's not what the Lord would have us to do, because I want you to see something. Daniel 9 is clear on the highest level. Daniel 9. Daniel prays for mercy and restoration in the first half of Daniel 9. And in the second half of Daniel 9, God answers His prayer. Yes. Daniel says, lord, have mercy and restore your people. And Daniel 9 says, yes, and I'll do it better than you imagine. That's Daniel 9. And so it should be in our Bibles as an encouragement to us. But the way that God seeks to encourage his people is unique.
26 · Begins exposition of Daniel 9:24's '70 weeks' by unpacking the Hebrew '70 sevens' and establishing biblical numerology principles (seven = completion) through creation and Jesus' forgiveness teaching, setting up the Jubilee interpretation without forcing wooden literalism
Look at verse 24. It says this. 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city. Now, we should pause right there and go, wait a minute, what does that mean? 70 weeks. Now, it gets even more potentially interesting when you realize that phrase 70 weeks literally means, in the original language, 70 sevens. So, meaning, guys, tracking with that week means seven days, right? So 70 sevens are decreed about your people and your holy city. Now that should make you go, okay, wait a minute, minute. We're not going to get into strange, bizarre numerology, but numbers in the Bible do have significance. For example, the number seven is the number of completion, the number of. Like, it took seven days to create the earth, right? Is that track? And so when Jesus, when he's asked, how often do I have to forgive somebody that I don't like? They keep wronging me. Does anybody remember what he says? 70 times 7 times. Now, does he mean a literal. 490 times? So that when we're doing marriage counseling, we've got a running tally, right? We're doing marriage counseling. Oh, now, you know, you're up to. What do we got? 225. But you're up to 380. All right, so you better be careful. You're getting your last hundred here. No, that's not what we're doing. Right. It means, what does Jesus mean? Essentially, how often should you forgive when you've been wronged? Always. Right. So when we read this, 70 times 7, 77s, we should be going, okay, this number may have a more specific meaning than simply 70 weeks.
27 · Connects the '70 sevens' formula to the Old Testament Jubilee calendar (seven groups of seven years = 49 years, the Jubilee year), establishing that God's answer to Daniel transcends one Jubilee year to promise an entire Jubilee age of forgiveness and restoration
So what is promised at this time of 70 times 7, and what does that mean? One of the things that is clear as well is that 70 times 7 bears a particular significance when it comes to the calendar of God's people. Because seventy sevens, right, Seven groups of seven years was to be the year of jubilee, right? That's where that language I introduced earlier comes into play. Every 49 years, God's people would. would have a year of jubilee, which would be a celebration year, a year of forgiveness, a year of restoration, a year of rejoicing. And so it does seem that there is a connection between the year of Jubilee and Daniel's prophecy, the prophecy given to Daniel here, God seems to be saying, I'm not just going to plan a year of jubilee when you return to the promised land. I am planning an age of jubilee.
28 · Cites commentator Chase to establish the tenfold Jubilee concept, then applies it pastorally to highlight the massive disproportion between Daniel's modest request (one restoration year) and God's answer (an age of unprecedented mercy)
So Chase, one of the commentators on this section says if seven sevens would lead to the year of jubilee, then seventy sevens would lead to a ten fold jubilee, a time of unprecedented and glorious mercy and pardon. So do you see how great this is? Daniel's going, hey, I'm just asking for almost a little bit of a glimmer. Lord, give us, give us one year of jubilee that we can be restored. And God comes and says, oh, you don't even know there is going to be an age of jubilee that I have planned.
29 · Expounds the first half of Daniel 9:24's sixfold promise by focusing on the three forgiveness provisions (transgression finished, sin ended, iniquity atoned for)
So what is going to occur in that age? First, God answers with greater forgiveness. How does God answer Daniel's prayer? He answers with not just forgiveness, but a greater forgiveness than Daniel hopes for. Notice that verse 24. Three specific things are promised. That transgression will be finished, that sins will be brought to an end, and that reconciliation will be made for iniquity and sin. Now this is an echo, it's a very clear echo of the year of jubilee. Because here's what would happen in the year of jubilee. Everybody in Israel in the promised land with their family would get a plot of land. But sometimes something difficult would happen. There would be a famine, there would be a loss, there would be something drastic, a terrible harvest. And so the family in poverty to survive might sell their land and basically have a debt that if they could repay the debt, they could get the land back. And there were varieties of ways to do that. There was a, there were payment plans, there were, you could have a relative, a redeemer relative come in and pay for you to get the land back. But maybe everything went wrong. Maybe not just, you know, your, your father, but your grandfather had a really tough run of, of harvests. And so you are in deep debt and you don't know how to ever get out of it and there's no way to pay it back. Thus enters the year of jubilee. Because in the year of Jubilee, on that 50th year, the debt slate for that land would be wiped clean. Meaning the debt that your family bore maybe for 49 years would finally be wiped away and expunged. And that is what the Lord is saying he's going to do for his people. And not just, I'm going to forgive this sin or that sin. You hear what he's saying? Transgression will be finished and sins will be brought to an end and reconciliation with God will be possible.
30 · Notes the timing detail from verse 21—Gabriel arrives at the evening sacrifice hour—and draws out its theological significance: Daniel prays for forgiveness at sacrifice time, and God answers by promising ultimate sacrifice that wipes away all debts, not just Israel's present exile
And notice this, notice when side note. Notice when the angel answers. Daniel's prayer is a regular prayer time that Daniel has kept at, when the sacrifice in the evening would have been offered. So he's praying even in Babylon, at the time the sacrifice would have been offered. And that's when the angel comes and the angel says, guess what? You're asking at the time of sacrifice for your sins to be forgiven. I am going to forgive sins on a greater scale than you can possibly imagine, that all of the debts of God's people will be wiped away.
31 · Expounds the second half of Daniel 9:24's sixfold promise by focusing on the three restoration provisions (everlasting righteousness, sealed prophecy, anointed most holy place)
Not only that, then he answers with a greater restoration. Because in the year of jubilee, the debts being wiped clean was only half of it. The better half of it, perhaps, was that your family got to go back to their land. Like, maybe you've grown up and your dad had lost the land. And you're like, son, someday we're going to go back to our family farm. It's coming back to us. And you're like, okay, dad. And then finally, waiting and waiting and waiting. And then the year of jubilee arrives. And here's the great thing. They announced the year of jubilee with a giant trumpet blast, right? So it ring out across all the surrounding areas of the promised land. Vroom. And you would know the debts are gone. The land is ours again. We're going home, right? Honey, get the kids in the car. We're going home. Right? This is the feeling of this text. Greater forgiveness, greater restoration. The year of jubilee becomes an age of jubilee. Because notice, in this restoration, there's three more promises that God makes. He makes the promise that everlasting righteousness shall be established. So not just that God's people will stop doing bad things, that righteousness would define God's people, that they would be just and true. Then that the prophecy would be sealed. That's probably a reference to all the promises of God will come true. Meaning all of the prophecies would be. There'd be like a bow put on or a stamp of God saying, yep, amen. Yep, it's fulfilled. And then last, the most holy place would be anointed. But in the Old Testament, the most holy place wasn't just the temple. In fact, the whole promised land was to be a holy place. It was to be where God related to and dwelt with his people.
32 · Synthesizes the exposition of Daniel 9:24's promises into the sermon's thesis—God answers Daniel's limited request (return next year) with an unlimited answer (eternal restoration, righteousness, and God dwelling with His people)
And so do you see what's what? Like, what's over the horizon? Daniel is only looking at kind of the next hill, but the Lord's lifting his gaze to say, look to the mountains behind that hill. There's going to come a day when all the sins of God's people will be wiped away. All the things that have been broken will be restored. Righteousness and justice will reign, and God will dwell with his people again. Right. That. That is. That's where the Lord's. Is that a better answer than he asked for? Right. He's just like, can we go home next year? God's like, I got something better now.
33 · Introduces Daniel 9:25-27 as the timeline/progression for how the sixfold promises will be fulfilled
Notice how God answers him, though it's in a way he does not expect. Look at verse 25. So we see this in whole, but 25 in a sense, zooms in on those promises and gives us a timeline, a progression for how we will arrive there. Verse 25. 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 will be seven weeks, right? Then for 62 weeks, it shall be built again with squares and a moat. But in a troubled time, and after the 62 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 abomination shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. Now, a lot there, but I think it's so clear, I don't need to comment much, right? You guys got that? Okay, great.
34 · Uses the Rocky Mountains analogy to explain prophetic perspective—from a distance, multiple fulfillment peaks look like one mountain range, but as you approach (or as history unfolds), you see they're separated by centuries
No, it's one of those, like, okay, wait one half week, and then another half and then another, you know, and we could break this down. But instead, what I'm gonna do is I wanna make sure the two things that are supposed to be clear are clear. First, there's part of Daniel's prayer that this text reveals. God is going to answer right now, immediately. And there's a bunch of aspects of this text that God is going to answer in times to come. Think of it this way. The best illustration I've heard for Old Testament prophecy like this is sometimes when you're driving maybe to the mountains of Colorado, to the Rocky Mountains. Anybody been to the Rockies? Right. Anybody's. It's not going to work unless you've seen mountains. Everybody's seen mountain. Well, you haven't one mountain, but I mean, like mountain mountains, right? Like the Rockies. And here's the extraordinary thing about the Rocky Mountains. When you see the Rocky Mountains from a distance, it looks like one mountain range, right? It looks kind of like the Franklins. Like you see the Franklins. And it's one range. But The Rockies are totally different because as you approach the Rocky Mountains, you begin to see, oh my goodness, this mountain is way closer than that mountain, and that mountain is in way back. But it must be huge if it looks the same at distance, right? And so you start to get a sense of, okay, I'm driving. And then maybe you drive past the first mountain and get even better understanding of, okay, okay, the next mountains are these, and then the last mountains are those. Does that make sense? And so a lot of times Daniel 9 appears to us this vision like one stretch of mountains in verse 24. And then the Lord says, hop in the car, we're going to drive through the mountains. But you're trying to keep track of, wait, where are we now? Which mountain are we? Okay, this is behind, that's ahead. So I'm going to do my best to just give you a quick lay of the land here, okay?
35 · Walks through Daniel 9:25-27 identifying the major prophetic peaks: first mountain (seven weeks) = Zerubbabel and immediate return; second mountain (62 weeks) = troubled intertestamental period leading to Christ; Christ's being 'cut off' and ending sacrifice; final mountain possibly extending to AD 70 or eschatological end
So notice, because I want you to see that the progressive unfolding of this. Know therefore, that the word going out to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince. There shall be seven weeks. So this appears to be an immediate answer to Daniel's prayer. This is probably Zerubbabel, or those who are sent a prince or a leader sent back to establish Jerusalem again. And indeed it does happen. The walls are rebuilt, the temple itself is rebuilt. Then verse 25, For 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and a moat, but in a troubled time. And this may be a reference to the time between going back to their land and the coming of Jesus Christ, that troubled time. And after the 62 weeks, an anointed one, see if this sounds familiar, shall be cut off and 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 so now a lot of that is very unclear, but it does seem much of that refers to the coming of Jesus Christ. Someone cut off somebody who's who, there's. There's conflict and somebody who makes a new covenant. And for half of the week notice he shall put an end to sacrifice offering. So again, this seems to be some connection either both between Jesus ending the need for sacrifices, and in the first century, the actual temple being destroyed and physical sacrifices are then ended. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the Desolator. Now, that could either be a reference to the Romans who are judged in the first century, or it could shoot all the way out into the future as Jesus talks about the abomination of desolation at the end of history.
36 · Acknowledges with humor the passage's remaining complexity, then pivots to refocus on the pastoral takeaway rather than getting lost in interpretive minutiae
I'm sure there's no questions at this point. Now remember, the big picture in view.
37 · Establishes Daniel's intended takeaway (God answers now and forever) and then pivots to the Christian advantage—we live after the first mountain range has been crossed, so we can identify the Anointed One who was cut off as Jesus Christ by name
What is Daniel meant to take from this? Well, he is meant to see the mountain range and see. Okay, I don't know everything, but I know two things about the mountain range. First, the Lord is going to answer my prayer right now, and the Lord is doing something good forever. Those are the two things he would understand. And here's the good news. Here's the good news from this side. From this vantage point in world history, we've in a sense, crossed the first range of the mountain. Here's what I mean by that. We know the coming of the Son of Man that's prophesied in Daniel chapter seven. We know the coming of the Anointed One who puts away the need for sacrifices. We know him by his name, the man, Jesus Christ.
38 · Unpacks Christ's fulfillment of Daniel 9's forgiveness promises—He accomplished not annual atonement but eternal atonement, offering Himself as the final sacrifice, referenced through Hebrews' language of the high priest sitting down after the once-for-all sacrifice
And so we know the truth of what Daniel9 is pointing to. When Jesus came, he brought not just forgiveness for a year, but a truer and greater forgiveness for all God's people, for all time. That at the time of sacrifice, instead of like a priest bringing a sacrifice, he offered himself as a sacrifice that sins may be put away for eternity. And like a high priest, he offered this sacrifice once for all and then sat down. It's done. No more need for it.
39 · Direct evangelistic application of Christ's accomplished forgiveness—no waiting, no earning, no future hope only
So the good news of that is this. If, friend, today you need forgiveness, you don't have to wait for it. It's here now. It's in Jesus Christ. If you're wondering, man, can I ever get right with God? You don't have to go and wait for the future. It's here now. Forgiveness is here now. Reconciliation with God is here now. Here today and Christmas is that annual reminder that the Lord himself has come to us offering great forgiveness. Believe on him as the Savior today.
40 · Establishes Christ's present restoration work by contrasting His priority (soul restoration over bodily healing) with the shallow fix approach
But not only that. The Lord Jesus Christ has come and now here and now offers greater restoration. Now notice this. What is our greatest need? What is the need that Jesus aimed his entire ministry at the soul, the eternal soul. Notice I think often about the situation of Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead. He had died. Jesus brought him back. And I'm sure at some point after the joy had ended, after the reunions were finished, as Lazarus perhaps went to bed that night, he had the thought, wait Am I going to have to die again? Right. Nobody wants to die once. And he's like, I got to do this twice. And what does that indicate? Well, it indicates this, that Jesus, over and over as he healed people. Remember when the man is lowered down, the crippled man. And the first need he addresses in that crippled man's life is not his body. It is his soul. Where he says, son, your sins are forgiven. Then he heals them so that they would know that he actually had the power to forgive sins. What is Jesus doing in his ministry? He is aiming his ministry at the eternal soul. He's aiming his ministry at our hearts. He's aiming his ministry at the restoration of God's people on the deepest level, not the most shallow. Because look, he could. If he were unkind, he could fix poverty and fix our bodies and leave our souls untouched. But instead, in his kindness and wisdom, Jesus has come to fix our souls and our hearts. And he surely does it. He not only goes into the grave, he rises to new life. And what do we do when we celebrate baptisms? Buried in the likeness of Christ, raised to walk in newness of life. We believe that he brings life to us and that this life is not just in the life to come. It is here and now, friend, if you need your soul restored here, he is here and now. He can restore you on the deepest part of your heart that nothing in this world can ever fix. And he can do it today as Savior and Lord. The promise is here. The Son of Man has come, and we rejoice in it.
41 · Introduces the 'not yet' tension—even with Christ's accomplished work, we still long for final restoration of hearts, bodies, justice, creation
And not only that, he answers not just now, but forever. Not just now, but forever. There is an aspect to which, even though we have crossed the first range of the mountains and we're like man, it's here the Holy Spirit has come. Our sins have been put away, man. Don't. Don't we still long for more? Don't we long for a day where our hearts don't struggle against sin? Don't we long for a day when our bodies don't break down? Don't we long for a day when injustice doesn't have its way in the world around us? Don't we long for a day when only what is true and right is praised, you know, in the world around us? Don't we long for a day when creation itself, self, is mended back together? We do. Look. One of the. One of the aspects of Christmas that is hard but beautiful is sometimes against the beauty of the happy Christmas season, all the hurts in our hearts, we feel even more Christmas has this way of both being a moment of joy now, but. But the hurts in our hearts that we carry kind of behind the scenes for the rest of the year, they come out, I think, at Christmas because you realize, man, that that family member that I loved is not going to be around the table this year. Or could it be so and so's last Christmas with us? Or my family has been broken by conflict and we're not going to be together. Right. That Christmas has a way of not only bringing a bit of comfort, but also highlighting the areas in our lives that we long for full restoration in.
42 · Resolves the 'not yet' tension by pointing to Daniel 9's ultimate trajectory—Christ's return and the forever kingdom, new creation
And that is why Daniel 9 is such good news. Because the trajectory of Daniel 9 is not just to the coming of Jesus Christ and his incarnation, but the return of Jesus Christ and his establishment of the forever Kingdom, forever promised land, new creation. Right? That is where Daniel 9 is pointed toward. Ian Do Good says this. We still await the end of this 70th week, the day when God will bring all of these things to a final consummation. We still drink the cup of the new covenant time after time in the Lord's Supper, ending with proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes. Right. That. That moment of communion is this beautiful moment of the now and not yet right, where we say right now our sins have been forgiven by Jesus. Right now the Holy Spirit dwells with us, but we proclaim his death until he returns. We look ahead to when we don't struggle with sin. We look ahead to when our bodies are remended. We look ahead to the eternal glories of Jesus Christ.
43 · Signals the shift from exposition to concrete application, promising two practical examples of how Daniel 9's now-and-not-yet structure informs Christian life
And here's. Let me just briefly drop in and give you two examples of why this matters.
44 · First application example: fighting sin
First, in fighting our sin, here's why Daniel9 helps you fight your sin. Imagine that you are struggling with the pattern of sin. There's a major failure. You feel condemned, you feel guilty, you feel burdened. Well, Daniel 9 reminds you that in Christ you're forgiven. If you are in Christ, if He is your Savior and Lord, that sin has been put away. No more sacrifices need be offered to it. Therefore, the chains of condemnation over you are broken. The chains of wondering, does God love me? Those are broken. That sin need not haunt you your whole life. So claim the forgiveness of Jesus Christ today, because it is a reality. He has come. And yet, as you pray, long for the day where there is no more struggle with sin. Long for the day that the last shot against that in that fight has. has been fired and there is ultimate victory and your heart is fully renewed. You rejoice now. You claim those things now you believe in them and live them now. And you long for more and one more.
45 · Second application example: physical suffering
Maybe today you're longing for physical healing. I know this has been a season in which a number of people in our church have experienced severe physical symptoms. So how would Daniel chapter nine encourage you? Well, in a couple of ways. First, Jesus did not lie when he said, behold, I make all things new. He says that at the end of history, but he says it in his earthly ministry as well. That your soul, the deepest part of you, the part that would be hopeless for any doctor or medication or treatment to ever touch, that deepest level of you ness, has been remade in Jesus Christ. That your very soul has been regenerated and the spirit of the living God has come to dwell with you. And therefore, in light of Daniel 9, we ask, then we should ask that God give gifts of healing. In his earthly ministry, Jesus gave many glimpses of healing. He gave many glimpses of, this is what I've done for you on a soul level now glimpsed in your body. And so we ask. We should ask. We're encouraged to ask, lord, would you give a gift of healing? But if the answer is different than we expect, then we look ahead to the last mountain range. We look ahead to the day of Christ's return. We look ahead to the promised land. We look ahead to the day the Lord himself puts a hand on our shoulder and says, son or daughter, we're going home. When our bodies are mended, when our minds are made whole, when our the thing that God has made us to be in Psalm 139, fearfully and wonderfully made, marred and disfigured by sin, will be made complete. Where the creation around us will be at rest, and where we will dwell with him in the most holy place for all eternity. That, friend, that is where we are going.
46 · Concluding synthesis of the healing application—pray boldly for healing now, but trust that if God answers 'not yet,' it's not indifference but a better answer (the final mountain range) that He's preserving for the right time
And so we pray, Lord, heal. And we trust that if the answer is different than we expect, that it will not be because God does not hear or does not care, but because God has a better answer waiting.
47 · Concludes the Saroo frame story opened in unit 4—his survival longings were answered beyond expectation through adoption into an Australian family, education, and future, but the deepest longing (reunion with his mother) remained
All right, let me end with this. I'm going to end with the story of Saru. Saru was later adopted. He was found by an orphanage in India and brought in. And after attempts to find where he came from, they could not determine where. And India is vast, and there was no way to get him home. So a couple from Australia adopted little Saroo and brought him to live in Australia, where he was educated, where he was given a future, where he was given many just surprising benefits. That he never even could have imagined as a young Indian boy. And in the end, though he never forgot his home, he continued to have flashes of the train ride and his mother and the landscape and the water nearby. And eventually began a painstaking search, using Google Maps and satellite imagery, trying to piece together where he could have come from until the day he found it. And he made the long trek back to India to a village and discovered not only the village he had left 30 years earlier, but that his mother was still there. And his mother had never given up hope that one day they would be reunited.
48 · Final doxological conclusion that applies the Saroo story to the congregation—circumstances shrink our longings to survival, but God answers in ways more beautiful and profound than we dare hope
And so the longings of little Saroo's heart that at one point had shrunk to just surviving the day were fulfilled in a more beautiful and profound way than he ever dared hope. And brothers and sisters, so it is with us this world shrinks often our prayers to the next five minutes, the next year. And surely God does hear, and surely God does care. But Daniel 9 expands our view to see that God will surely not only answer our prayers, but answer them in a better way than we could ever ask. Amen.
49 · Closing call to prayer, inviting the congregation into corporate response to the sermon's message
Would you stand and pray with me?