Who Are You | Life in the Waiting - Daniel 9 | November 10

INTRO

Hey family!

It’s so wonderful to see you all again this morning. To spend this time together. To worship together. To sing praises to the Most High God together. To be – together.

I know this past week has been difficult for many as it is a time when the powers and authorities of this nation seek to divide and separate. To lie and belittle one another to gain position. To remind us of and highlight our differences.

Perhaps the one consolation is that maybe now those blasted political ads that are so very annoying will finally go away. And, just think about this, last election Kanye West got 60,000 votes. So there’s that.

I wrote much of these thoughts out before the election. I didn’t know who had won. There’s a good chance I may still not. I’m kidding. It was uh… Chester A. Arthur, right? No, that’s right it was Benjamin Harrison. I mean Millard Fillmore. My bad. And if at any point you thought one of those names was made up or wasn’t a president, maybe there’s a bigger problem with the US educational system than I had imagined. I actually had the thought, I wonder how long I could go without finding out who won. Then I woke up at like 6 am and Jenny rolls over and says, “you know who won don’t you.” No…

There are very real and tangible ways in which it doesn’t matter, though you may disagree with that sentiment. So whoever it may be, I am thankful that our hope does not lie in earthly kingdoms.

Jenny told me there was an acquaintance of ours who shared some verse from Daniel 9 on election day. So I suppose it’s fitting that we find ourselves in this chapter at this time. I’m sure most of you have no trouble believing that I didn’t for one moment consider the election when I felt God leading us to this book a year or so ago. God knows what He’s doing. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know it was an election year.

I am reminded of Daniel’s words in chapters 2 and 4. “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. 21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. 22 He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.” (Daniel 2:20-22)

And so I pray that these words from Daniel today would do what they were written to do. That they would fill us with hope. And that they would remind us that God is in control.

AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE

Hey, would you all mind closing your eyes for a few minutes?

Do you trust me…? No? Well, close your eyes anyway?

I want you to engage your imaginations for just a moment.

Imagine, if you will, you're just living your life. You’re doing your thing. And some empire, some world power comes along invading and takes you away to another place. Removes you from your home, everything you know, and the life that you had found comfort in.

Daniel was one of the elite. He was smart. He was elite. He was among the best of the best. And I know there are many of you who are pretty good, but let’s not fool ourselves, we’re probably not hanging out in royal palaces along with David.

More than likely we’d find ourselves along with Ezekiel who lived near a canal in a Jewish refugee camp, surrounded by displaced families, living each day in the dust of Babylon. How would you feel, knowing that the place you once called home lies in ruins? What would you long for? Perhaps you would yearn for justice, for a return, for a rescuer who could bring hope to a world in shambles.

Can you picture it? Probably not.

Go ahead and open your eyes. Whatever we can imagine probably doesn’t even come close.

In the midst of this loss, God gives Daniel an astounding prophecy—a vision so detailed and clear. In the shadow of Babylon, Daniel records a prophecy about the Anointed One, the Prince who would one day come to save.

Check this out: “25 Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. 26 After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing…”

That’s 69 seven-year periods—or a total of 483 years. Both the Hebrews and the Babylonians used a calendar with 360 days in a year. So we multiply 483 years by 360 days, which gives us 173,880 days.

Now if we translate to our own Gregorian calendars and start counting from the decree made by Artaxerxes in March of 444 BC, some people may say January or February of 457 BC, the decree that allowed Ezra and Nehamiah to return to Israel and help rebuild. If we start counting, that timeline brings us directly to AD 33 – the exact year, the same month, the exact day perhaps that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, presenting Himself as the Messiah.

Interestingly enough, this is something I didn’t know until this week, the word Messiah shows up a bit in the Old Testament most commonly with regard to the anointing of priests and kings like David, but the only time it shows up in reference prophetically to the coming savior is in this chapter of Daniel – Daniel chapter 9. That’s the only time the word we use all the time to talk about Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, that’s the only place it shows up in the Old Testament. Isn’t that funny.

Okay, so what happens next? The prophecy goes on: “Then after the sixty-two sets of seven, the Messiah will be cut off, appearing to have accomplished nothing...” Days after Palm Sunday, Jesus is crucified. He is, indeed, “cut off,” fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy down to the very day.

So think about this: early 500 years before Christ, God gave a detailed timeline through Daniel. This wasn’t vague or open to loose interpretation—it was specific, it was precise. And it points us to a God who does not forget His people, a God who keeps His promises, who brings a Savior exactly when He says He will. And in that, we find a God who is in control. A God we can rest our hope in.

And yet, here’s the funny part. For all that precision. The importance of these words lies not in the length of time but in the events that would transpire in them. The timing doesn’t make the day special. It’s the arrival of the King. It’s the event. It’s Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s God breathing life into the dry bones.

It’s the times being evil, but the Anointed One coming. It’s about hope. It’s about stepping into your inheritance.

These are stories about exiles coming home.

THE THEME OF EXILE

Exile may be one of the most important themes to understanding the Bible.

The experience of exile is where the Bible began to take shape. There are all these stories of course which predate the exile, but those who collected all of these works into one library were those people during and following the exile living in the oppressive rule of earthly empires.

We see it reflected in the narrative. Adam and Eve fall into sin and are driven out of the Garden to the east. They are exiled. This story is repeated with their children. Cain kills Abel and is banished from his home. Cain becomes a wanderer on the earth, moving further east. Civilization is formed and developed pushing further east to the point of Babylon. Certainly there is something past Babylon, but in the Biblical narrative it is symbolized as the extent of man’s movement away from Eden, away from the Garden, away from God.

Daniel prays, “So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. 12 You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. 13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true.”

Babylon is the furthest of the far, worst of the worst, the symbol of God’s divine judgment.

Which is interesting, because when Abram shows up, he is said to be from the land of Ur of the Chaldees. If you look that up on a map you’ll find Ur to have been located in modern day Iraq, on the Euphrates river, just downstream from Babylon. It’s a city within the Babylonian empire.

God calls Abraham to leave Babylon and head west. Both literally and figuratively.

And when he arrives in the land promised to him by god. That’s where we get the term promised land from in case that connection had eluded you all these years. When he finally arrives, the only piece of land he ends up owning is a burial site for Sarah, his wife.

It says in Genesis 23, “When Sarah was 127 years old, 2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her. 3 Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders, 4 “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”

When he is negotiating the purchase of this plot of land he calls himself a stranger and foreigner. Abraham is in the land of promise. He’s home. He’s returned from exile to the east and yet he’s still a foreigner. It’s his home, but it’s not his home. Abraham describes himself as a stranger not at home even though he is in the land God has promised him.

And for two thousand years, this has been the story of God’s people.

When the Israelites begin to repopulate the promised land during Daniel’s time. They returned home, but they were still exiles. Isaiah was a prophet following the exile and yet he continued to speak as though exile was still the condition of humanity. So much so, that critical scholars believe Isaiah was written by three different people spanning from during the exile to much later. The book is dripping with hope for a people still in exile.

At the end of the Old Testament, Israel and all humanity find themselves at a cliffhanger…

You know like that show Lost, which began every episode by saying “previously on Lost”. Or maybe even more accurately, I used to have an internship where the Weather Channel and CNN and those kinds of shows were constantly playing. I remember one stinger cut-to-commercial Rick Sanchez said, “you see all those dogs behind me, they're all dead now, find out why when we come back…”

“At the end of the Old Testament, Israel and all humanity find themselves in exile, awaiting God’s deliverance and the coming of His kingdom.”

HUMANITY’S CONDITION

Humanity’s condition is that we are displaced in our homes, waiting for the Anointed One to return, waiting to inherit the kingdom. It’s not exile in a place so much as a time, an age as the Bible refers to it.

Even following the arrival of the Anointed One, we are still in exile awaiting His return. It is one of the most important themes, one of the most important ways of seeing ourselves.

Peter begins his first letter, “I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And he ends it, “12 I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. 13 Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.”

Peter wrote this letter from Rome, not Babylon. And he wrote it to believers, many of whom were gentiles living in their own hometowns. They weren’t exiles. Yet he borrows the language of Abraham and calls them foreigners and strangers.Can you imagine receiving this letter. What are you talking about Peter? I’m still in my parent’s basement. Well, we don’t have to imagine, this letter is to us as well.

Everyone’s story is really a story about exile. It’s the world as you and I have never experienced it but have always felt as if we should experience it.

These saints in Turkey had shifted their allegiance. They were still in their homes but they had given their allegiance to Jesus.

We are living in exile still awaiting our homecoming.

FAITHFULNESS IN THE WAITING

So what should we do in the meantime?

If the second half of Daniel 9 is about the coming of the Anointed One, the first half is about what we should do in the waiting. At least that’s what the letter Daniel read from Jeremiah is about.

What do we do until then?

Just to remind you, Jeremiah writes these instructions from the Lord, “4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”

And if we are a still in exile as Peter supposes, then these are instructions for us as well.

So I just want to spend the rest of our time together leaving you with six instructions for how to remain faithful in the waiting. This is the way of the exile…

LOSE YOUR IDENTITY

Number 1, lose your identity.

Now, wait a second. I thought the book of Daniel was all about identity and how if you know who God is you will know who you are and you will know what to do, you will know your purpose. And that’s definitely true.

But another thing we’ve talked about is how exile is a place where people normally lose their identities. That's kind of the whole point, you remove people from their homeland, you disseminate them across the empire so that they will assimilate to the culture around them. That’s true in some ways for us as well. We must lose our identities.

To step into your true identity, you’re going to have to let go of some of the ones you’ve built your life around, ones you’ve been holding onto. You have to lose your earthly identities.

“While our world encourages you to look within yourself for your identity, and your natural tendency is to search for your identity in external things…” Ultimately these things don’t last.

“God, however, is unchanging. He is reliable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If you find your identity in Him, you will never ultimately be let down because He has proven time and time again to be trustworthy.

It is important, as you define your identity, that God not be just an aspect of who you are, like “I am a Christian,” or ”I am religious,” or “I am spiritual”. Understanding your identity in God starts with understanding who He is, what He says about Himself, and what He says about you.”

While Peter writes to us who are strangers and foreigners in our own lands, there is an age to come where we will find ourselves at home. There is a kingdom where we are at home.

Paul writes to the Ephesians, “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow

citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” (Ephesians 2:19)

FIND YOURSELF

Number 2, find yourself.

Jesus says multiple times, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

Giving up an identity is not enough unless we should find a new, more powerful one that supersedes all the others.

We must step into these new identities as new creations scattered in exile and living for a kingdom that is not of this world.

It’s interesting that the exile is actually the surprising way God makes Israel into a kingdom of priests.

God gives Moses a message in Exodus 19. He tells him, “5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Israel being scattered among the nations is the surprising way that God accomplishes this. So too are we a priesthood of believers scattered in this world that is our home, but is not our home, at least not in its current state.

And so, we step into these new identities by living in these caveat communities where Jesus is actually King. It’s not something we just talk about. It’s the way that we live.

And baptism is the way in. We can see it almost as a departure, a shedding of our old identities and a putting on of our new one with a new allegiance to King Jesus. Baptism becomes physical point of reentry to the same place but under new leadership, to the same life filled with new desire and purpose.

Just as Daniel is prophesying to Israel of hope for the coming age, the coming Anointed One. Ezekiel is also prophesying and writes, speaking prophetically of the picture of baptism, “25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

If you haven’t made that decision. If you haven’t been invited to make that decision. I just want to offer that invitation to you now. This is part of the reason why believers' baptism became such an important practice in the early church. It was the marker of the loss of one identity to step into another that is far better. The proclamation of a new allegiance. Our hearts would be so full to be able to take that step of faith and obedience with you.

Submit and pray

Number 3, submit to and pray for earthly kingdoms.

That might be unwelcome words to many in this country, even within the church. But it is what the exiles in Daniels time were called to and it is what we are called to. Though our allegiance is to another kingdom, we live in all the ways that are uncompromising for the sake and well being of these earthly kingdoms.

We read in 1 Timothy 2, “1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

David Platt wrote a blog about this. He said, “Every leader in the world will one day stand before God as judge and ruler and ultimate Lord and king. They will give an account to him. There is nothing we see happening in the world right now that will not one day be judged by God, which means every single one of these leaders, every single one of these nations and tribes and people groups needs mercy from God because all of them are sinful before God. They all need a savior. This is why we pray for the nations, why we pray for the peoples, why we pray for leaders of nations, that they would receive God’s mercy.”

We submit and we pray.

MAKE HERE YOUR HOME

So that, to that end.

Number 4, we make here our home. This place that isn’t our home, we make into our home.

Now, that doesn’t mean settle in and make the best of an unfortunate situation. Equally so, it doesn't mean get comfortable outside of Eden.

It means the exact thing we talked about in our mission as a church, “to be a place where Heaven meets Earth…”

We do as Jeremiah instructs Daniel. We stay.

We don’t look longingly to some far off land. We stay and we bring Heaven here.

INVITE OTHERS IN

We stay and we regather the lost children of God.

Number 5, we invite others in.

It’s not just Christians who are seen as still in exile. It is the dominant metaphor for all of humanity.

God has stamped His image on His creation. That doesn’t just mean you and I. So we live that His children who have lost their true identities to this universal exile might find their way home.

We live in the waiting by regathering more of the family.

There may be more to be said, but I don’t just want to spend the rest of our time repeating our mission to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our community, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

WE TRUST

Which brings us to our final number 6. There is no doubt more to be learned about the way of the exile as we live in the waiting for the return of the Anointed One. But these are a good start.

Number 6. We trust.

We trust even though we don’t have much to show for it yet.

There are times when those of us who are believers may find the way difficult. We will be tempted to lose heart. We will need reassurance that there is a world beyond this one and that God loves us. Our hope may grow faint. But we trust in the waiting.

We trust in the truth of Daniel 9, “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.” (Daniel 9:4)

When we are tempted to run. When we are tempted to fight. When we are tempted to withdraw and hide because sometimes our solutions don’t match the problem. Instead we stay and trust and we join in the praises of Psalm 138. Go ahead and stand with me.

“1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods. 2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength. 4 Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord, for all of them will hear your words. 5 Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways, for the glory of the Lord is very great. 6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. 7 Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right hand saves me. 8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.”