I wasn’t drawn to one of the these familiar times of his life however. I deeply admired how Daniel responded to the Babylonian culture. In a godless culture, he was a man of integrity before God. Was he perfect? No. But God used him in his life like few others. As he stood for righteousness in a society that wanted him dead at times, God raised him up in those very same societies.
We are going to have the tools after this sermon to be again equipped for right thinking and actions!
1 In the first year of Darius the son of A-hash-u-er-us, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 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.
Daniel was of course still in Babylon in the events of Chapter 9. Listen to some of the details of the City / State from the American Tract Society Bible Dictionary:
Babylon lay in a vast and fertile plain watered by the Euphrates, with flowed through the city. Its walls are described as 60 miles in circumference, 300 feet high, and 75 feet wide, Jeremiah 51:44 58. A deep trench ran parallel with the walls. In each of the four sides were 25 brazen gates, from which roads crossed to the opposite gates. … Nebuchadnezzar’s palace was in an inclosure (sic) six miles in circumference.
A celebrated city situated on the Euphrates, … . Nebuchadnezzar [consistently] enlarged and adorned it. (American)
Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon reached the summit of her greatness and splendor [in earthly terms].
- renowned for learning
- various arts,
- making of carpets and cloths,
- perfumes and jewelry
- Her location gave control of the traffic, … . She was “a city of merchants,”
- Land enriched by conquest or commerce (c.f., American)
[Listen to what the Scriptures proclaimed of her: Babylon was ] “the great,” Daniel 4:20; “the praise of the whole earth,” Jeremiah 51:41; “the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency,” Isaiah 13:19; “the lady of kingdoms,” Isaiah 47:5; …
… but also “the tender and delicate,” and “given to pleasures,” Isaiah 47:1,8. In consequence of the opulence and luxury of the inhabitants, corruptness and licentiousness of manners and morals were carried to a frightful extreme. [Many idols were worshiped with rites of impurity]. [… Therefore, indeed] the woes denounced against Babylon by the prophets constitute some of the most awfully splendid and sublime portions of the whole Bible, Isaiah 13:1-22 14:22 21:9 47:1-15 Jeremiah 25:1-38 50:1-46 51:1-64, etc. (American)
Why was Daniel reading Jeremiah? Because he was a prophet of God, and he was reflecting on his writings to attempt to extract the exact time for the end of desolations for the Israel. Daniel was keenly aware that God would not leave His people under the curse of being out of the city of Jerusalem and the county of Israel. He wanted to go back to where the Books of Moses were held out as the supreme ideas of worship. He wanted to go back and be a part of national worship of Yahweh and to the rich temple worship of God. The synagogues couldn’t replace the most important, centralized, national worship that could have been taking place at the Temple in Jerusalem. And Daniel was in the Word to see when God was going to grant his hope.
In other words, Daniel wanted to go back home.
Daniel was in a culture he didn’t want to be in. Daniel was in a land he didn’t want to be in. I was reminded of the very situation Daniel found himself in mirrors how we see and feel about ourselves today.
**Illustration: **
I am sick already of the culture I am a part of. I have responded to my disgust in a variety of ways. But today we will see the on the godly ways to respond to the place we find ourselves in. After today we will be reminded and freshly equipped to respond to our culture the way God admires and we may be shocked to see the difference between us and Daniel.
Washington D.C.
Application
We confess that we are hating the values of the county. But we must stop scumming to the fleshly responses.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel was a man of prayer. Scripture states that Daniel prayed three times a day. Most devout people, of his day, prayed two times.
Daniel was being an intersesser for his people; he was standing, sitting, kneeling, and prostrated in prayer for the people, imploring God of the universe to act on their behalf and to have mercy on the people.
Daniel turned his face (v.3). He turned his face to the Maker, to the Vine, to the Helper, to the Well. To turn one’s face is to say that Daniel did not have divided attention. Daniel was not looking out the window, playing on his cell phone, being outraged by the news at the central market, or thinking about other things. He was focused on Yahweh and what He was doing in the world. Daniel was focused on the LORD because he knew God is the sole provider of solutions both large and small.
Here Daniel was having a conversation with God. His words filled with “pleas for mercy.” But these pleas were not lonely; they were accompanied by other prayers and forms of worship. (We often plead with God in the comfort of fine, padded leather or fabric.) Not so here with Daniel. His prayers for the nation were included with his personal discomfort.
With fasting: We was denying his body of food. The body rebels with all its might the first and second day especially. But it finally calms down unwillingly, for it must submit to the spiritual self when forced. But depriving the body of its appetites is rewarding. Both Jesus and Moses fasted 40 days.
Most Americans will not fast for 40 minutes; e tent to need our bottles of fluids close by, so fasting is neglected in the American Church much of the time.
With sackcloth: I started thinking about sackcloth. Hoping I would not be convicted into wearing some. This idea is something off our radar completely.
I thought, there is no mention of sackcloth post cross, but I was wrong: Revelation 11:3, And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. Wow—three and one-half years in sackcloth!
With ashes on his head: Daniel was hungry; His skin was irritated and scratchy; on top of that was ashes, the finest of dirt. That is humble. He was worship ready.
Illustration
In general we must hold that whenever any religious controversy arises, which either a council or ecclesiastical tribunal behooves to decide; whenever a minister is to be chosen; whenever, in short any matter of difficulty and great importance is under consideration: on the other hand, when manifestations of the divine anger appear, as pestilence, war, and famine, the sacred and [wholesome] custom of all ages has been for pastors to exhort the people to public fasting and extraordinary prayer. (Calvin)
Application: I realized something I never clearly articulated before this week: Most worship is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable to the natural self, selfish emotions, and the carnal mind.
Some worship even involves discomfort of the spiritual man. Jesus displayed this the most at the cross.
All worship is uncomfortable to some part of our being. Being a comfort culture works against worship.
4 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,
Daniel starts with what we call adoration of God. before the confession of sins:
Illustration: It is hard for use here to practice pure adoration. was hard for them. I noticed we typically begin to integrate thanksgiving. I taught the ACTS model of prayer recently to some high-school kids, and we prayed that way. I found them too struggling with it not turning into thanksgiving. Why is it I wondered? Answer: We are not at all used to praying to God apart from any relationship involving us and others. Adoration is ONLY about God. We are not used to praying that way. IT takes practice.
Application: Let’s pray and adore God together.
5 We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 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.
Confession is the main purpose of his prayers.
Illustration: We often separate ourselves from the American culture in our prayers. Let’s confess our national sins.
Application: National Confession
7 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. 8 To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 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. 11 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. 12 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.
Daniel is suffering a punishment along with God’s people—committed and otherwise. He has been caught up in the temporal judgment—curse even—of God towards His people; he is not in the land—of Israel.
He sees himself as part of the issue again here, but distances self somewhat here from the sin that caused it. Why is that?
Compare and Contrast
In other ways we, as born-again Christians, are separated from what has happened to the culture around us.
Nevertheless, we—as Daniel in his day—carry open shame due to the rebellion of others.
v 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 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.
Daniel says again, “we have rebelled.”
Indeed we are not in our spiritual homeland here; we are in a foreign land. But surely we are not completely innocent in responsibility to what has happened to in our temporary homeland. Some of our problem is that, we do not see any of our own participation—whether active or passive—as contributing to the problems in our culture.
In some ways we and our fathers too bear responsibilities for our nation’s slide towards the sin that has captured its heart mind and soul. What are some ways we bear responsibility?
As we continue to study the heroes of the faith, I am reminded that they is some kind of gap between us and them.
Prayer, fasting, evangelism.
13 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. 14 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. 15 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 wages of sin for Daniel’s people was a substituted culture and land—a curse.
The cat’s meow was the Exodus. Roughly 900 years in Daniel’s day in the past. Look at it in v. 15, “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.” God’s legacy from this event continued to echo into history. That event is a type for us. Our Egypt was destroyed by our Hero Jesus. We are to reflect on that victory and exclaim, is anything too hard for our God! Cannot He deliver a people who seek His face earnestly with prayer, fasting, worship, devoutness—by His power, solitude, silence, prayer and confession.
Daniel recalls the Exodus and the diaspora.
Illustration: There doesn’t seem to be too many holdouts among the Jews at the dedication service of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. The pattern that caused the curse of the Jews continued in the land largely. The Bible doesn’t account for the hundreds of thousands that stood up to Nebuchadnezzar.
Application:
Daniel was a man who stands out as a man of faith. But, Daniel’s fasting is what drew my attention in the passage. In the passage we read that Daniel’s fasting was accompanied with mourning, repentance, intercessory prayer, worship, supplication, and in commemoration.
These are spiritual battles!
Cannot we be added to the number who will seek God’s face in unusual ways for our temporary nation? Calamity has come upon us; yet we have not made earnest requests from the LORD our God as we ought.
16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your [county] , because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, America and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant[s] and to [our] pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuar[ies], which [are] desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the [county] that [was] called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because [of] your [county] and your people are called by your name.”
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. “Babylon.” Bible Hub.
Calvin, John. Institutes of Christian Religion. 1509-1564, translated by Henry Beveridge, 2008 ed., IV, 12, 14.
Probe.org. Probe Survey 2020. August 2, 2021. Link broken 6/9/2022