Daniel in Exile Part 9

Let's pray and we will get started. Lord, again, as we open up your word, and we recognize that we're coming through a section of scripture that is just not easy to understand, we pray that through your Holy Spirit and through a careful and diligent study, we may properly understand what you have revealed there so that we may take comfort in the fact that you've warned us ahead of time about what is coming so that we may not lose faith.

We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Okay, we are to a tough, and I mean tough, section of Daniel. And all I can say is, buckle up, it's the end of the world. Cats and dogs living together. Zul and all those are gonna show up.

Daniel's Vision in Daniel 10 and the Glorified Christ

It's kinda like that. It's really, really a tough vision here, and it's a terrifying vision. So Daniel 10, in the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel whose name was Belshazzar, and the word was true.

And it was a great conflict, and he understood the word, and he had understanding of the vision. So we'll note that as terrifying as this thing was, Daniel kinda got it. And you'll note, that's kinda the point.

As I pointed out as we began this section of Daniel, just like when Jesus tells parables, and then the disciples ask, what does this mean? We don't understand what the parable means, and Jesus explains to them how the parable works and what it means.

Then they're able to kinda put it all together, and finally they get it. Similar thing is happening here with Daniel. This isn't his first Book of Revelations rodeo. So as a result of it, he's starting to kinda learn how that works, and we'll see if we can make sense of it as careful students of what we've been watching.

So in those days, I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat, or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks. I would be homeless at this point if I did this.

My wife would, I'd be out on the street, and it wouldn't matter if it was 20 below outside. You are going to bathe, right? So, on the 24th day of the first month, this tells you that Daniel was single, by the way.

On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes, and I looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen with a white belt, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

His body was like beryl, his face was like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

Hey, wait a second, that sounds familiar. Okay, let's see if we can figure out what this is. This person has shown up before. Book of Revelation, let's take a look. All right, I, John, your brother, let's see here.

Here it is, okay. I, John, your brother, this is Revelation chapter one, and partner in the tribulation. Let me kind of point those words out to you again. I, John, your brother, and partner in the tribulation.

Wait a minute, when did the tribulation start? I thought the tribulation wasn't until seven years before Jesus returns. You'll note that the apostle John thought he was already in the tribulation, because the seven-year tribulation, the seven years, is symbolic.

I, partner in the tribulation, and the kingdom, and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, and that's the big theme of the Book of Revelation. We talked about it when we walked through it. I was on the isle called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, saying, write what you see in our book, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

And then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe, with a golden sash around his chest.

The hairs of his head were white like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. And in the background, you can hear the song, Shine, Jesus, Shine, right?

Okay. Sorry, couldn't help. Even Louisa Bill thought that was too much. Okay, all right. So this sounds a lot like what Daniel saw, right? So he's seen the glorified Christ. And that's the thing, Jesus can pop up at any time, but so here we have a man clothed with a belt of fine gold, above us, around his waist, his body like a barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves. This sounds a lot like what happened to the apostle Paul when he was still Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus, right?

Jesus appeared to him and the men who were traveling with him, did they see Jesus? Nope, they would have been eyewitnesses of the resurrection had they seen Jesus, but they didn't see him, but they sensed the presence, whatever it was, right?

So these men, fear and trembling falls upon them. So I was left alone and I saw this great vision and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I retained no strength.

Then I heard the sound of his words and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. Again, I always have to take the occasion of appearances like this and the reaction.

When an unholy human being, a sinner, comes into the presence of the holy glorified God, it doesn't go well for them. We don't really do very well in the presence of the holy and here Daniel, even though he is a true man of God, a prophet and God has used him mightily, he's still a sinner like you and I and as a result of that, he coming into the immediate presence of Jesus is like Superman in the presence of kryptonite, right?

He just goes completely, just falls down like a rag doll. So behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and my knees. So even that doesn't stop the fear and the trembling. Picks him up, right?

Don't bring me closer. Yeah, all right. Again, more proof that when Bethel talks about soaking in the glory and nonsense like this, they legitimately don't know what they're talking about. So he said to me, oh Daniel, man greatly loved.

Understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright for now I have been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, fear not Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and you humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard.

I have come because of your words. Now here is where we could do a whole lesson on prayer. All right? So note here, God hears your prayers and you're going to note that Daniel receives an answer to his prayers, one that he didn't expect.

That even the second person of the Trinity would show up and converse with him as he was seeking understanding of the things that he was seeing. Jesus himself said, all right, I got this one. I'm going to go down and have a chat with him, right?

But listen to those words. Fear not from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words. Now here's where I will kind of plug this in here.

You've heard me say as it relates to prayer that scripture makes it clear that sometimes God will answer our prayers and say, I'm going to do according to the words, your words, not mine. And I liken it to God is doing a fine job of running the universe.

I mean, a spectacular job. I would, the universe would fly apart in a hot minute if I were in charge of it. That's all I got to say. But God is doing a fine job of running the universe, but some of the things that he has planned, the things that he has intended to do, he writes them in pencil.

Other things he writes them in stone and that's just how this is going to be. But you'll note the stuff that he writes in pencil that when his children, that's all of us who have been baptized into Christ, when we pray and we come to him and we ask him that he would do such and such a thing, God will look in his day planner, which I'm sure is spectacular, and he'll look and he'll say, well, that's in pencil and he'll take his eraser and go, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

And then what does he do? He then writes in, okay, I'm going to do what you've asked to do. I'm going to answer your prayer. If you've ever felt that your prayers are for naught, that they do nothing, you are dead wrong, okay?

In fact, let's kind of do this. I'm going to do a quick word search. I know it's in James. Prayer of a, let's see here, we got to do a flex search and we're going to search in the epistles, right? Here it is.

So listen to the words of James chapter five. Confess your sins to one another, pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. The prayer of a righteous person, we sit there and go, well, that's not me.

Really? I thought you were clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Right, you are. So because you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, you are that person. So you'll note that oftentimes we get backwards and upside down as it relates to prayer.

We get backwards and upside down because we, number one, feel like prayer doesn't do anything. Well, you're in good company when you think that because even David prayed, where are you, Lord? How long are you going to remain silent, right?

And then sometimes you sit there and go, well, when I pray, the thing I pray for is not the thing I get, but it's the thing that I didn't want, it's the thing that I get, okay? And I would point out, you're in good company when that happens too.

Jesus Christ, on the night that he was betrayed, was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he was praying, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me, but not my will be done, but your will be done. And so you'll note that there's a humbleness to prayer that when you're in the midst of trial, tribulation, suffering, and difficulty, that what you really want is for God to give you relief.

But what we oftentimes do not understand and the hard thing to come to grips with is the good that God is doing through our suffering. And as a result of it, when we are suffering, it is a good thing to pray that God would give us relief, but we also need to pray with the same humble mindset of Christ, but not my will be done, your will be done.

Because we recognize that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, character, hope, right? So sometimes when we are made to suffer, it is because God is working in us in such a way to produce these fruits in us, and yes, it's painful.

And I can think back on my life, there were very difficult circumstances, that if I could have had my will, I would have waved a magic wand and made the problems go away, and they didn't. Not only did they not go away, they persisted for years.

The resolve to them was spectacular when it finally came, but it came after a long, long time of suffering and difficulty, right? Similarly then, so you'll note that your prayers are heard even when the answer to prayer doesn't come quickly.

So the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working, and that is you, and we ought to not think of our prayers as doing nothing. I always think back to poor Zechariah and Elizabeth. In Luke chapter one, you have the angel Gabriel showing up inside of the temple while Zechariah is doing his priestly duties.

And in the beginning of Luke, we learn that Zechariah is a priest of the division of Abijah, he had a wife and the daughter is a baron, her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous before God, but they had no children because Elizabeth was baron, and then both were advanced in years.

Advanced, okay? I don't know what that is. If they were in their 50s, I'm gonna be depressed, okay? But the reality is is that Elizabeth has passed the years of childbearing, and there's a lot of guilt and shame that goes along with being baron, even to this day, that kind of guilt and shame persists.

And when the angel appeared to Zechariah inside the temple, it says, the angel said to Zechariah, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. What prayer? Do you think well advanced in years that Zechariah and Elizabeth were going, please, Lord God, even now, even though we're ready to go into the nursing facility, even now it'd be great to have a child?

No. These were the prayers that were prayed decades earlier. The prayer that was prayed a long time ago. And you sit there and go, how long is God gonna take to answer the prayer? I would note that God said yes to the prayer all the way back then, but said, let me schedule that for you.

It's gonna be, well, about 35 years from now, okay? But the answer is yes, okay? Now, of course, it would have been nice if he had clued them in that he had said yes and given them some kind of prior heads up warning, but no, that's not how this goes.

So you'll note then, our prayers are heard by God. Even the prayers we prayed when we were children, the prayers we prayed 10, 15 years ago, the prayers we prayed yesterday, that being the case, you're going to note that God has the right to say yes to our prayers, because you'll note they're petitions, they're not declarations.

They're petitions. God has the right to say yes, God has the right to say no, God has the right to say maybe, but later. And you'll see those types of answers to questions all over the place. But the one thing we gotta take into consideration in all this, and there's a big confusion about this, is that when we look at the Old Testament and the book of Genesis, sometimes people take the account of Abraham, where Abraham, it looks like he's haggling with God, bargaining with God.

This is somehow something that we're doing, that we can do, we can negotiate with God. Well, God, if you give me a Maserati, then I'll sell my Aston Martin, you know. Such a compliment. Wow, yeah, that would be a huge sacrifice, huge.

Not really. But the idea is that that's not how God works. We have to remember that God is our heavenly father. As a result of that, we need to be very careful. Let's see here. We need to be very careful in how we understand these texts.

We're not bargaining with God. We don't really have anything to bargain with. Is there anything that you own that God doesn't really own? No, you're just the stewards of God's creation, right? That being the case, you don't have anything to bargain with.

Even your life is not your own. You don't have anything to bargain with. So when we take a look in like Genesis 18, this is where I wanna go. Genesis 18, fascinating text. Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, and as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

This is the days before air conditioning. Boy, am I thankful I live in the 21st century. All right, he lifted up his eyes and he looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, bowed himself to the earth, and said, O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.

Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourself, and after that you may pass on. Since you have come to your servant.

So they said, do as you have said, and Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah, and said, quick, 3C is a fine flour, knead it, make some cakes. And the days before microwaves too. And Abraham ran to the herd, took a young calf, tender and good, gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly, and then he took curds and milk and the calf, and he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, where's Sarah, your wife? He said, well, she's in the tent. And Yahweh said, I will surely return to you about this time next year. Now, note how the dialogue is going. Who said what?

Yahweh said. Who's visiting Abraham here? God. Okay, Yahweh is on the scene. That's who Abraham is talking to. Don't let that one go too fast. Wait, what? Yeah, uh-huh. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

Now, Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. That's a polite way of saying that she'd already been through menopause and had all the hot flashes and stuff.

So Sarah laughed to herself and said, well, after I'm worn out and my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure? And Yahweh said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old?

Is anything too hard for Yahweh? And at the appointed time, I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying, I didn't laugh, for she was afraid, and he said, no, you did laugh.

Okay, you can't lie to Jesus. Just, it never is going to work. Why even try? We do the stupidest things in our fear and anxiety, okay? But God was polite, just said, no, you did laugh. So then the men set out from there, and they looked down towards Sodom.

Abraham went with them and set them on their way, and Yahweh said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, saying that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

Then Yahweh said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done what they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me.

If not, I will know. So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before Yahweh. Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Huh. So what's going on here, okay? Now, this is not one of those Middle Eastern haggle things, okay, have you guys ever seen, like, Pawn Stars on television? Okay, oh, somebody brings some piece of junk and it turns out that the thing is, like, some long lost artifact from, you know, the king of Assyria in, like, the year 19 BC, right?

And, you know, and so they have their expert take a look at it and they go, yeah, this is absolutely the real deal, and you can get such and such amount of money for it on, you know, at an auction, right?

And so they'll say, yes, it's worth $5 ,000, is what they'll say. So, and then the negotiation begins with the phrase, and so what would you like for it, okay? They know that they can get five grand if they take it to auction, but they're in a pawn shop, right?

And so the guy says, well, it's worth five grand, I'd like five grand for it. And he looks at him and goes, listen, I gotta make some money off of this deal, you know, I can't just take this thing on and not make a profit, how about I give you 1 ,500 for it?

1 ,500, the thing's worth five grand! He says, yeah, but you know, after I've spent all my time putting this together and looking for a buyer and stuff like this, you know, I'll be lucky if I get 15 profit off of this thing.

And the guy says, I can't possibly depart with it for less than 4 ,000. And you see, with each thing, they're coming closer and closer together. Four grand, are you out of your mind? I already told you, I gotta make a profit on this thing.

I'll tell you what, I'll give you 2 ,500. 2 ,500, right? And the final settlement, it'll be at like 3 ,200, right? You know, it'll be somewhere in the middle of all of this. And the haggling along the way is always a fascinating thing to watch.

Now, when I was a kid, I hated this when my stepfather would do this, okay? He loved that kind of negotiation. Like, after he graduated from the university, he ended up going to Tibet with the Peace Corps and stuff like this and spent some time in the East and learned how to haggle.

And he came back with really elaborate carpets that were made in India and things like this. And I remember one time going with him because my mom wanted a really nice new carpet for our, you know, a decorative carpet.

And so I was with them when they went to the specialty shop in the middle of nowhere Los Angeles. I mean, like, one of these, like, seedy neighborhoods. And the guy that was running the shop was legitimately from the Middle East.

And he didn't expect this, but my dad knew how to negotiate. But once it started, I didn't know what was going on. I was so embarrassed, I couldn't even watch, okay? But he did this also, like, when it came time for me to get my first car, okay?

It's like, I just wanted the car. He wanted to figure out what else he could get with it. You know, and it's like, oh, it was just awful, okay? But anyway, that's a skill. But this is not what's really going on here.

So don't think that this is really a bargaining. Because here's the issue. Who is in Sodom that's related to Abraham? Lot, Lot and his wife. And so Lot and his wife and their children are there. There's family.

And if God's going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, guess who's going to be gone too, okay? They're all gonna be gone. So what he's trying to do here is basically, this is an interesting attempt at kind of like doing some intercessory prayer and holding God accountable to God's own character.

And so you'll note that there's an interesting way in which this works in scripture. And that is that God himself allows himself to be challenged with his own character and with his own words. And so here, Abraham says, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing to put the righteous to death with the wicked.

Abraham knows a thing or two about the nature of God. That's a pretty good prayer, okay? So that the righteous then fare as the wicked. Far be it that from you shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?

Well, come to think of it, yeah. Okay, does God ever act unjustly? No. All right, so Yahweh said, all right, if I find at Sodom 50 righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Does God know how many righteous people there are in Sodom?

Of course he does. Okay, so here's the thing. You sit there and you go, why is he saying I'm gonna go and examine and if it's as bad as the report that has reached me, then I'll know it. This isn't for God's sake.

This is for Abraham's sake. This is for our sake. So Abraham answered and said, all right, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Who am I but dust and ashes? Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking.

Will you destroy the whole city for a lack of five? Now this sounds a little bit more like one of those Middle Eastern negotiations, right? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there. And again, he spoke to him and said, well, suppose 40 are found there.

He answered, well, for the sake of 40, I will not do it. And then he said, oh, Lord, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there. Even Abraham at this point is sitting there going, yeah, are there really 30 righteous people in San Francisco?

I don't think so. Right? So he answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there. He said, well, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. He answered, well, no, for the sake of 20, I will not destroy it.

And he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak again. But this one, suppose there are, suppose 10 are found there. Are there even 10? There are not. He answered, for the sake of 10, I will not destroy it.

And the Lord went his way. But Abraham, the whole point of the reason why he's doing this, he doesn't want Lot and his wife and his daughters to be swept away in God's judgment. And does God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?

Yes, he does. Were there 10 righteous people there? Not even close. They didn't even get to five. They weren't even halfway to 10. That being the case, God did have mercy because the heart of Abraham was here for the love of his nephew, Lot.

That was what this was all about. And so God answered his prayer, even though it was, let's just say that what he was really praying for was kind of hidden between the lines. It was inferred but not overtly spoken.

And then I always like to throw this into the mix. In the book of Exodus, remember that account with the golden calf, right? The golden calf. Now here's an interesting aspect of prayer. Now we know how the story goes.

Moses comes down from the mountain. I love how God says, the people who you brought out of Egypt, they've sinned and they've made themselves an idol. It always reminds me when I was, I'd come home from work one day when my kids were young and my wife would say, your son has done something terrible, right?

He becomes my son when he's misbehaving. But he is her son when he's doing good. It's this fascinating thing. I see some of that dynamic going on here. But what ends up happening is that after that event, God punished and a bunch of people lost their lives.

And in the aftermath of that, what ended up happening is that God said something that was just absolutely devastating. And that is that God said, I'm not gonna go with you to the promised land. And it's in Exodus 33, right after the golden calf and it says, the Lord said to Moses to part, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, saying to your offspring, I will give it.

I'll send an angel before you. I'll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you lest I consume you on the way for you are a stiff necked people.

And that was a devastating word. Because you'll note up to this point that the visible presence of God has been with them the whole way. God precedes them as a pillar of smoke by day, a pillar of fire by night.

And when the pillar of smoke or fire rests in a place, they rest. And they don't move until it begins to move again, right? And the presence of God has been with them in such a mighty way that that presence kept the armies of Pharaoh at bay while God then opened up the Red Sea.

And so here they've got a, this is a disastrous event. They are at Mount Sinai. They've heard God's law. They've seen the glory of the Lord literally burning the top of Mount Sinai. And now that they've committed this foolish act of idolatry, God says, I'm done with you.

I'm not gonna go with you. If I go with you, I'm gonna kill you. And so Moses at that point then begins to try to figure out what can be done so that God will go with the people of Israel. And because he knows how utterly devastating that is.

So Moses said to Yahweh, see, you say to me, bring up this people, but you've not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you've said, I know you by name. And yet, and you have also found favor in my sight.

Now don't overlook this. Moses in this part of his intercession, he's confessing something. And here's what he's confessing. He says, you say to me, I know you Moses by name. And you Moses, you have found favor in my sight.

But here's the thing. Moses doesn't know how he pulled that off. He, okay, I have found favor in his sight. Not them, but me. How? He legitimately doesn't get it, okay? And so this is where, remember what Paul said?

I chose to know nothing among you except for Christ, and I'm crucified for our sins. This will come into play here. He says, now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways so that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.

How did I do it? Show me your ways so I can figure this out, because what he's trying to do at this point is basically say, tell me how I pulled that off so then I can tell them so they can pull it off, right?

That's kind of the idea, all right? And so consider too that this nation is your people, right? And then he said, well, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. That's not good enough, that's not what he wants, okay?

And he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here, for how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?

So the Lord said to Moses, well, this very thing that you've spoken, I will do, for you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name. God's just repeating himself at this point. Is Moses any closer to getting this?

He legitimately doesn't understand how. How have I found favor in your sight? So he said, okay, so Moses at this point comes up with the ultimate Hail Mary pass and this one comes out of nowhere. So Moses said, all right, show me your glory.