******* Continuing
our prophecy study-- Please GO back
several days and read the study from the beginning to gain full understanding
of where we are if you haven't been following this study daily. Thank you :)
God bless you! *******
Dan 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of
Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the
Chaldeans;
Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel
understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came
to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the
desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel understood
that Jeremiah prophesized that the Lord had to accomplish the 70 years in
Jerusalem's desolation. But now Daniel
wanted understanding that he didn't get earlier when the Angel interpreted
things to him. Sure he understood a lot
of it clearly just as you and I can through history, however Daniel was dealing
with a future not a past. Daniel isn't alive now and looking back, Daniel was
alive then and looking forward. Clearly
he lacked understanding in something… remember this--
Dan 8:27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain
days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at
the vision, but none understood it.
What part didn't he
understand? Seriously. We know he had to understand that Medes and Persia had
conquered Babylon- We know that he
understood that Grecia would be next to conquer. It's a surety that Daniel would never forget
that unique statue dream of Nebuchadnezzar's.
He knew another power would come and then another and so on.
Yet, Daniel also
understood that he'd been told stuff that he couldn't quite fathom and as such
perhaps it bothered him. He did
FAINT. He was sick for a number of days. He was astonished at the vision. Just as you and I would be astonished at what
we didn't comprehend. So when we pick up just a short while later Daniel is
wanting understanding yet again and as we know by the words of Jesus- sometimes fasting and prayer is necessary
when we are seeking God's will, God's help. Let's continue reading...
Dan 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek
by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Dan 9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made
my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the
covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his
commandments;
Dan 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts
and from thy judgments:
Dan 9:6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants
the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our
fathers, and to all the people of the land.
Daniel already
mentioned Jeremiah the prophet- a
prophet that his fathers failed to heed, a prophet that went unheeded in
Daniel's youth leading to his captivity.
Daniel was a part of those who sinned, a part of those who had done
wickedly, who rebelled against that precepts and judgment of God. Daniel was
assuming the guilt because He understood that there was corporate guilt, not
just individual. As part of that corporate guilt He was praying and seeking
forgiveness corporately.
Dan 9:7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee,
but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far
off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their
trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
Dan 9:8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to
our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against
thee.
Dan 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and
forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
Dan 9:10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD
our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the
prophets.
Dan 9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law,
even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is
poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of
God, because we have sinned against him.
Dan 9:12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he
spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a
great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done
upon Jerusalem.
Dan 9:13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all
this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God,
that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
Dan 9:14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the
evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his
works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
Dan 9:15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought
thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten
thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Dan 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I
beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city
Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of
our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are
about us.
Dan 9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of
thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy
sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
Remember this--
Dan 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince
of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of
his sanctuary was cast down.
Dan 8:12 And an host was given him against the daily
sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground;
and it practised, and prospered.
Dan 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another
saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision
concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give
both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
Dan 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and
three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
And remember this--
Dan 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his
own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise,
and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Dan 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause
craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by
peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;
but he shall be broken without hand.
Dan 8:26 And the vision of the evening and the morning
which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for
many days.
Is it NO wonder at
all that Daniel had been left without understanding? Now here in Daniel 9:17 he says- 'Cause thy
face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate'
Daniel understood
the importance of the sanctuary, and from the vision he'd been given he knew
horrific things were to occur and he wanted to understand more fully for all
concerned.
Dan 9:18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open
thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy
name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our
righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
Dan 9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord,
hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy
people are called by thy name.
Dan 9:20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and
confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my
supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
What made the holy
mountain of God holy? God's presence
made it holy. The sanctuary built there
in and of itself was only holy because God's presence was there. When the holy
city, Jerusalem was chosen as the place of the holy temple it was all holy
because of God's presence there. And God's presence was there why? For His
people. When His people turned on Him,
sinning against Him, rebelling against Him, He allowed the holy temple to be
destroyed signifying what? That He was not pleased with those who called Him
His people because they'd turned from His ways, from Him. Yet here we have Daniel praying - fasting in
sackcloth and ashes- wanting desperately to have his prayer heard by God and he
was praying for this- 'for the holy mountain of my God' - Jerusalem. He wanted
God's presence to reside once more with His repentant people. After having the visions he'd had perhaps
there was a fear that ultimately God's presence would not fully return to His
people, in Jerusalem.
Dan 9:20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and
confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my
supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
Dan 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even
the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused
to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
Dan 9:22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and
said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
Gabriel has
returned.
Now Gabriel has come
forth to give skill and understanding.
There was more
information that Daniel needed. More
information we would need if we were to understand. Daniel knew this book would be shut, the
vision would be sealed, and that didn't stop him from realizing that more
explaining was necessary for him and us who would be alive when the vision had
been unsealed, the book open. Yet,
Daniel didn't just get the information as you KNOW he wanted it. Daniel did not
easily get the understanding. The revelation didn't come to him simply. Understanding wasn't given to him before he
prayed his desperate prayer. What does
this tell us? Seriously? We can overlook this and just jump to the rest of what
was said, what was revealed but there is a HUGE lesson here for us and if we
don't understand that then we might as well face up to the fact that we are not
among those who will be God's very elect.
God's elect will be FASTING in SACKCLOTH
and ASHES- if not LITERALLY, then FIGURATIVELY at the VERY LEAST!
Those who desire
this understanding and need it to be a HEART understanding, a SPIRIT
understanding , very REAL understanding need to pray a prayer of desperation
and they need to do so with all they are, not just a few words whispered, a few
words of gesture for enlightenment, but a DESPERATE prayer! You know what I'm
talking about! I know you know! And this
is the truth! We need to do this! We
need to seek our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, with all
we are! We need to admit to our
unworthiness and rely solely upon our Savior's mercy and grace, His
forgiveness, His WORTH!
I just can't stress
this enough, I just can't. We need our understanding opened! We need that
eyesalve so we can see! We need that white raiment so we are clothed in our
Savior's righteousness! We need that gold tried in fire, the faith, the belief
beyond doubt! Yes, I'm shouting and
have been for a bit here but we need to understand, we need know, we need the
truth, the pure unadulterated truth so desperately.
The key to
understanding prophecy isn't how well your internet browsing skills are to
search out history. The key isn't in
being the best puzzle solver ever. The key isn't in being able to decipher
difficult words. The key isn't in any reference material you may possess, or
find. The key to understanding prophecy
is the HOLY SPIRIT! The key to understanding prophecy is GOD's GRACE, GOD's
MERCY! The key to understanding prophecy
is JESUS!
No, we might not
have an angel come to open up our understanding as Daniel had, but that doesn't
matter! We have to have a love of God and God will provide the means for us to
have comprehension in Him. All necessary understanding will come from HIM and we
need to pray for this like we've never prayed before!!!!!!!
By His love!
Amen.
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