Daniel 9:1-6, 21-22 “Triple Confirmations”
When we look at Daniel 9, I want us to consider not just the “what” in this text but also the “how.” How does God speak to Daniel? We can see that there are three ways. We are going to set aside the message for a time and look at how Daniel receives this message from God.
In the first two verses of the scripture we see that Daniel looked in the sacred books. These would have been scrolls that were kept in ceramic jars that were carried by the people when they were forced into exile in Babylon. One of those books is the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. In this writing, we see that the time that Jerusalem was going to remain desolate was foretold.
Let us look right now at Jeremiah 25:11-12, “This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation. . . .” We see that Jeremiah heard the voice of God foretell of the captivity in Babylon in his time and the eventual redemption of the people of Judah that is concurrent with the destruction of Babylon. The time between being taken into captivity and the destruction of Babylon is given as seventy years.
How many times we ourselves are looking for answers, but we don’t think to go the sacred texts! WE don’t think about going to the Bible when we face serious issues. We should. Perhaps the answers to every question there ever was and will be are right in our hands already.
For instance, what is that thing called that connects the exhaust valves on an engine to the catalytic converter and muffler? Psalm 104:24, “O Lord, how manifold are your works!” That is right. It is called the “manifold.” Did I shave my face this morning? Check out Isaiah 47:14, “See, they are like stubble!” How much yeast do I need for my pizza crust? I Corinthians 5:6 “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the entire dough?” With these examples, I am kidding with you all.
The Bible is a good place to start, however, when you have questions about your life and you want to hear a confirmation from God. This is the first place we should go to get such confirmations. Some people use the “drop-open” method. They let the Spirit open the pages to the right section. They drop the book and let the pages fall where they may. This actually works. Don’t be afraid to try it. There is so much Truth on every page that it is really hard not to hear God even if the search seems random.
The next way that Daniel hears God is through prayers of supplication. I know that this word “supplication” is not used too often today and needs perhaps some explanation. The word comes from the Latin, sub + plicare. Sub means “down.” Plicare means to fold or bend. “Supplicate,” therefore, means to bend down in pleading for something. This matches the Hebrew understanding very well. The Hebrew “tichanah” that Daniel uses here means “from a low position.” One might think of actually getting down onto one’s knees while praying.
I want you to imagine that in my life I did something that got my wife really upset with me. Maybe I did not fold the laundry correctly, so she kicks me out of the parsonage. It must have been something more than just messing up the laundry. Whatever it is, I am left outside, and she is not going to let me back in. Meanwhile she folds the laundry that I did not do correctly, so there is nothing more that I can do to correct the issue. Still, I wouldn’t mind sleeping in my own bed this evening, so I go back to door of the parsonage and yell out to my wife. However, before I go, I go down to the market in town and bring a big bag of peanuts as a present to her. She likes peanuts. Then, I go into the garden and pick a few of her favorite roses and make a nice bunch for her. Now I am ready to make supplication.
I crawl to the door of the parsonage with the roses in my teeth. Taking them in hand while I am still on bended knee, I plaintively cry out for her to accept me back, saying that I know that I made a mistake, and I have no way to correct the errors of the past, but that I appeal to her infinite mercy to take me back. That, brothers and sisters, is what supplication is: knowing that there is no way anymore to fix the problems of the past, relying on the mercy of the person, and humbly approaching with the hope of forgiveness.
Let me ask you, though, a serious question: Should my wife let me back in? If so, why? She probably knows that I am going to most likely mess up the laundry again—or whatever the issue was. Look at verse 19 of Chapter 9 again: “O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name.” Daniel says in his prayer of supplication to God that God should be merciful not for Daniel’s sake, but for God’s sake! How does that work?
Once more let us assume that I am on bended knee at the door of the parsonage asking in supplication for mercy from my wife. This time, however, I am not alone. I have brought in some innocent by-standers to help me. That way, if my wife continues to be angry with me and tells me off, then she is the one that will look bad in front of all the people, not me. I was humble before her, and she did not accept me back with mercy and kindness!
God is supposed to, therefore, take the people of Israel back because God is going to look bad to those non-believers in Babylon. Daniel is saying to God: “Do you want people to think that the Supreme Being and only True God has no mercy?” This is kind of an interesting argument, don’t you think? However, in this is the essence of the prayer of supplication to God. We cannot take the sins that we have committed away from ourselves. We only have the grace and mercy of the Lord to humbly bow before. We can bring our gifts and offerings to God, knowing that even though we were not faithful to God, God will be faithful towards us.
This reminds me of Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, Chapter 2:11-13, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
No matter how badly I might have broken the faith with Helen (and again this is only an example), I know that she is still faithful because that is her nature. She cannot deny her nature. Same with God. God is always faithful to us—otherwise He is not God! Thank God!
[As an
aside, I have a prophecy to share with you. I have foreseen that I will preach
in August about this idea that God does always give us a second chance, but
with the understanding that we should not get a third try at getting it right.
After all, what would happen if I messed up with Helen again? Tune in two
months from now!]
The last thing I really want to focus on today is the idea that not only did Daniel get the Word of God from the scriptures and through prayers of supplication, he heard the Word through an angel sent to him. This is the Angel Gabriel. All of our Bibles should say “the man Gabriel.” This is to distinguish this angel from one such as the one that came down to touch Isaiah’s lips with a hot coal to start his prophecy. You may recall that that was a beastly angel with six wings—we call it a “seraph.” The Hebrew word used for man here, “ish,” denotes that Gabriel appeared not just as a man but as a common man. You know, a regular sort. Apparently there was nothing extraordinary about Gabriel except for the fact that he flew down from heaven!
It is from this Angel Gabriel sent by God that Daniel gets his third confirmation of what is going to take place. In fact the angel does not just confirm that the Temple in Jerusalem will be reestablished, but he goes on to tell of its history right up to the very end of time! Looking at history with an angel’s eyes seems strange and confusing to us.
I believe that God sends us common people all the time with messages. I believe that we are entertaining angels unawares all the time (Hebrews 13:2). (At least I hope we are entertaining to them!) Remember when Abraham and Sarah were visited by the three men who turned out to be angles with the message that Sarah was going to have a son? You just never know who it is that you may be talking to when new people suddenly appear in your life. Do not discount the possibility that they are sent by God to you with a message for your life!
When we talked about this in Bible Study we all could affirm that there were times when we could say for sure that the person that effected change in our lives were sent to us by God.
Let me restate clearly for all of you today how what happens in Daniel 9 truly applies to your life. In each of our lives, there come moments when we seek some kind of a confirmation of what we are doing, that is how we are living out our faith. Maybe we are facing a great life’s decision. Should take a new job? Sell my home? Buy a new car? Marry this person? Have a medical operation? Share my faith with that stranger? Become a missionary? There are so many decisions. For Daniel, the decision is whether or not there is a future for his entire nation.
Often times we go into prayer to seek the way from God. That is a wonderful thing out of which will flow hopefully a confirmation to a righteous decision. However, in our lives, I believe, that if it is truly a godly decision, then there will be more than one confirmation. I think we should always seek out a second confirmation from God. God will give it. In this we should be built up in our faith. And, if we are open to the second confirmation, then we ought to think that there might be a third as well! Daniel heard God in the Scriptures. Daniel heard God through prayer. Daniel heard God through the man angel that was sent to him. Seek out these ways of knowing God’s will in your lives as well. Focus on the triple confirmations in your lives.
Amen