Let's obey the title (Daniel 9:12-14)
Lesson 94 Let's obey the word (Daniel 9:12-14)
9:12-14
You have brought great calamity upon us, and has fulfilled what you said against us and the judges who judged us. There is nothing like what happened to Jerusalem in the whole world. But we did not seek the favor of the LORD our God to turn away from our iniquities and to understand your truth. Therefore, the LORD has reserved this calamity and has brought it upon us. Lord, for we have not heeded his voice.
Daniel's prayer has three parts. Praise, repentance, and supplication. The passage we read today is the last part of repentance.
Let's look at verse 12. “The Lord has brought great calamity upon us.” What is the great catastrophe we are talking about here? It means that the Israelites will be taken captive to Babylon, which means that Jerusalem will be desolated for seventy years.
Why did great calamity come upon the people of Israel? A covenant was made between God and the people of Israel. If the people of Israel obeyed God's word, God promised them that God would bless them and prosper in all their affairs. On the other hand, if the Israelites disobeyed God's word, they would receive a curse instead of a blessing. One of the curses that would come upon them would be that the people of Israel would be attacked by their enemies, and they would be driven out of the land. Unfortunately, the Israelites did not take God's Word seriously. In the end, they disobeyed God's Word. You have sinned before God. As a result, a great calamity came upon them. He gave the land of blessing to the enemy and was kicked out of that land.
Let's continue to look at verse 12. "You have fulfilled your word against us and against the judges who judged us." Judge here means the princes of the country, that is, the leaders of the country. God has already fulfilled what He had promised in His Word to the people of Israel. God is a faithful God. He is the God who makes you reap what you sow. If the people of Israel had obeyed God's word, they would have enjoyed a prosperous life for a long time in the land of blessing with the blessings promised by God. Unfortunately, because of their disobedience to God's Word and their sins, they were eventually expelled from the land in a great calamity.
This is the end of verse 12. "There is nothing like that which came to Jerusalem in all the world." Please take a look at the end of verse 2. “The desolation of Jerusalem will be finished in seventy years.” Jerusalem was utterly ruined. The movies of the past disappeared without a place to go, and became a place where no one could live. It was a devastation to such a degree that it could not be found anywhere else. So we can see that the first part of verse 12 also adds the modifier "great" before the word disaster.
This is verse 13. “All these plagues have already come upon us, as it is written in the law of Moses.” As we have already seen, the curse words are recorded in Deuteronomy 28:15-68, which corresponds to the Mosaic Law. When Israel sinned by disobeying God's Word, a curse was bound to fall upon them. They had to suffer from various calamities such as drought, famine, and plague. Taking it one step further, they were forced to be attacked by the enemy, driven out of the land, and taken captive to a foreign country. All the plagues recorded in the Law of Moses finally came upon the people of Israel. God struck the Israelites with various plagues in order to repent. Sometimes it was a drought, sometimes a famine, and sometimes a disease. There were times when it was hit by an earthquake. But the Israelites did not turn from their sinful ways. In the end, they were attacked by Babylon and destroyed as recorded in the Law of Moses.
Look at the words in the second half of verse 13. “We did not seek the favor of the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand your truth.” It means that they have not repented before God until now. In the text we can find three elements of true repentance.
The first is "Leave from sin". First of all, we must turn away from the sins we have committed so far. You have to deviate from the wrong path. You cannot say that you repent while remaining on the sinful path. Second, it is “to understand the truth of the Lord.” As we meditate on God's Word, we must realize what God's good will is for us. Only then can we obey God's word and fulfill God's will. It does not end with turning away from the wrong path, but rather, we need to go one step further and go on the right path that God desires. Third, we must “entreat the favor of the Lord our God.” You must confess to God all the sins you have committed in the past and receive forgiveness. And from now on, we must receive the strength to live according to God's will. All these things are possible only with God's grace. Therefore, in order to achieve complete repentance, we must ask for God's grace. However, the people of Israel did not have this kind of true repentance.
What happened as a result? The last verse is verse 14. "Therefore the LORD has reserved this calamity." God was patient with the Israelites. So, he was struck by drought, sometimes by famine, and sometimes by plague, waiting and waiting for the Israelites to return. However, the Israelites did not repent until the end. In the end, God raised up his enemies and defeated the sinful Israel and destroyed them. The Israelites were taken captive to Babylon, and Jerusalem became a wasteland.
Let's continue with the text. “The Lord our God is just in everything he does.” God is a righteous God. God's judgment is in no way wrong. God repays people for what they have done. "For we have not heeded his voice." The great calamity that came upon the people of Israel was entirely due to their fault. Because they did not heed the word of God, they perished for their sins.
God is a righteous God. He is a faithful God. He is a God who does what He says. If we live in obedience to God's Word, God will give us abundant blessings and make our steps prosperous. However, if we sin before God, God will grant us such and different disciplines as written in order to awaken us. All of this is to get us on the right path.
He said that even now, the book of works is placed before the throne of God. Everything we think, say, and do is all recorded in that book. With this in mind, let us fill our hearts today with wholesome, holy, and pure thoughts. Let's be careful with every word we say. The same goes for behavior. Let's live a shame-free life.
I read a book yesterday. It happened in a church in America. The church's educational center is outdated and outdated. Most of the church members thought that a new education center should be built. The board of directors tried to decide this. However, one elder elder strongly objected. is that it cannot be done. He objected that he could not do it until dirt got into his eyes. In the end, because of that elder, the will was not passed by the board of directors. But a few days later, the elder died of a heart attack. As the elder said, dirt got into his eyes. After that, it is said that the church was able to make a good education for its children by building a new educational center. If you say something that goes against God's will, God will hold you accountable for your words.