SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/24/2013
3:03 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Instruction: Discovering God’s Timetable
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 9:20-24
Message of the
verses: We will be just looking at
verses 20-23 and then also verse 24 which speaks of what is called the “Seventy
Weeks.”
“20 Now while 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 in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still
speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision
previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening
offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, "O
Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 "At the beginning of your
supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed;
so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. 24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an
end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy
place.”
We see that actually Daniel was not really finished with
his prayer to the Lord, a prayer that consisted of his confession his sins and
also the sin of the people of Israel as we have been looking at in our previous
SD’s. Daniel is interrupted by an angel,
an angel he had seen in his last vision described in chapter eight, and his
name was Gabriel which means “man of God,” or “warrior of God.” Gabriel was sent to Daniel to answer his
prayer, and he was sent when Daniel began to pray. I suppose that we can conclude from this that
angels can move very fast. Gabriel tells
Daniel that he is highly esteemed, and this is a wonderful complement given to
Daniel.
Next we see that Gabriel came at the time of the evening
sacrifice, a time when Daniel would usually be praying to the Lord, as he
prayed three times a day. The evening
sacrifice that is given at this time is a lamb as seen in Exodus 29:38-41, “38 "Now
this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day,
continuously. 39 "The one lamb you
shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;
40 and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah
of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a
hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. 41 "The other lamb you shall offer at
twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink
offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the
LORD.” In the NT we find that there are
different sacrifices for us to offer to the Lord, and one of them is found in
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual service of worship.” Let us
look at Psalm 141:1-2 “O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my
voice when I call to You! 2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The
lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.” We see here that David must have also prayed
at the evening sacrifice too.
The Seventy Weeks:
(Daniel 9:24): “24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an
end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy
place.”
I have mentioned this before about these seventy weeks,
and so I want, at this time to quote Dr. Wiersbe, “The word ‘weeks’ means ‘sevens,’
so Gabriel was speaking about seventy periods of 7 years, or 490 years. Keep in mind that these years relate
specifically to Daniel’s people, the Jews, and their holy city, Jerusalem. In his prayer, Daniel’s great concern was
that his people be forgiven their sins against the Lord, the city be rebuilt,
and the temple be restored (vs. 16); and these are the matters that Gabriel
will discuss. To apply this important
prophecy to any other people or place is to rob it of its intended meaning.”
There are six specific things that Gabriel explained to Daniel
that would happen during these 490 years, six specific purposes for the Jewish
people. Dr. Wiersbe explains that the
first three have to do with sin and the last three have to do with
righteousness. Dr. Wiersbe explains “The
Lord would ‘finish the transgression,’ that is, the transgression of the Jewish
people, and ‘make an end of’ Israel’s national sins. This was one of the main burdens of Daniel’s
prayer. Israel was a scattered suffering
nation because she was a sinful nation.
How would the Lord accomplish this?
By making ‘reconciliation for iniquity,’ that is, by offering a sacrifice
that would atone for their sin. Here we
come to the cross of Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah.” It was Jesus who paid the price of sin as He
suffered on the cross in order to bring salvation to those who will receive
Him, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children
of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor
of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).”
The last three specific things that Gabriel speaks to
Daniel of are, as we said, having to do with righteousness, and they will
happen during the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ upon planet earth.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section with
these words, “These six purposes declare the answer to Daniel’s prayer! Ultimately, Israel’s sins will be forgiven
(Zech. 12:10-13:1), the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the temple and
its ministry will be restored, all because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ
on the cross. All of these wonderful
accomplishment will be fulfilled during the 490 years that Gabriel goes on to
explain. He divides the seven sevens—490
years—into three significant periods: 49
years, 434 years and 7 years.” At the
end of this statement Dr. Wiersbe gives us an endnote: “The Jewish calendar is based on a series of
sevens. The seventh day is the Sabbath
day and the seventh year is a sabbatic year (Ex. 23:11-13). The fiftieth year (7x7+1) is the Year of
Jubilee (Lev. 25). The Feast of
Pentecost is seven weeks after Firstfruits (Lev. 23:15-22), and during the seventh
month of the year, the Jews observed the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement,
and the Feast of Tabernacles.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Daniel was
consistent in his prayer life, and God honored him with one of the most
fantastic prophecies in all of Scripture with the answer to his prayer. This encourages me greatly to continue to
pray for things that I believe are in the will of God, and that someday He will
answer. I prayed off and on for 38 years
to see a daughter of mine, and God answered my prayer in September of this
year. I, of course was praying for God
to give salvation to her and I still do that each day.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Never give up, continue to pray, for God is
faithful.
Memory verses for the
week: 1 John 5:13a; Titus 3:5a; and
Habakkuk 1:13a
These things I have written…that
you may know that you have eternal life.
Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.
Thou art of purer eyes than
to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity [sin].
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Riches and honor” (1 Kings
3:13).
Today’s Bible
Question: “The Lord himself shall
descend with a shout and with the voice of whom?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/24/2013 4:11 PM
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