Serving in Babylon: Christian doctors in a

secular society

4. The Secret of Success(Daniel 9:1-27)

CMF NZ Conference, Rotorua, August 2015Dr Peter Saunders

Looking at God’s world

‘Men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do’

(1 Chronicles 12:32)

Double-listening – Listening to God’s world and God’s word

The two major power blocs

Islam – 1,600 million

Atheism – 950 million

Who are we most like?

Atheists? Ethnicity Dress Clothing Language Food Education Interests

But only because we live in New Zealand…

Atheists? God doesn’t exist Scriptures are just human

constructions Man is just a clever monkey All is matter, chance and time Death is the end Angels and demons don’t exist The Bible is largely myth Jesus, if he existed, was just a man

Islam? A common history A common geographical focus God is creator and judge God speaks through

prophets/scriptures Angels and demons are real Death leads to judgement Similar ethical code Jesus was a prophet

Competing world views

Atheism – No God at all

Deism – A largely absent God

Theism – God intimately involved

Ukraine

Ebola

God in Control 1:2 – The Lord delivered… 2:21 – The Lord changes times and

seasons… 2:22 – The Lord reveals mysteries… 2:44 – God will set up a Kingdom… 3:28 – The Lord sends an angel to

rescue… 4:25 – The Most High God is Sovereign… 5:21 – The Most High God is Sovereign… 6:22 – The Lord sends an angel… 7:13 – One like a Son of Man… 10:6 – His face like lightning…

Daniel 7-12

7 The four beasts and the Son of Man

8 The ram and the goat

9 Daniel’s prayer and Gabriel’s visit

10 Daniel’s vision of the Man

11 Detailed prophecy of the Greeks 12 The End of World history

Timing of Daniel

Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC) – Chapters 1-4

Belshazzar (550-539 BC) – Ch 5, 7 and 8

Darius the Mede (started 538 BC ) – Ch 6 and 9

Cyrus (538-522 BC) – Ch 10-12

Daniel 8

The two horned ram – Medo-Persia

The goat – Greece and Alexander the Great

Daniel 12:1-3

A time of trouble for Israel

The resurrection of the dead

The final judgement

Seventy weeks (Daniel 9:24-27)

‘Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place’ (Daniel 9:24)

7 + 62 + 1 weeks of years (=490 years)

Three main views – The events surrounding Antiochus IV (167

BC)– The numbers are symbolic – Jesus death and resurrection

Jesus’ death and resurrection ‘Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your

holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place’ (Daniel 9:24)

Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra in 458 BC– Ezra 7:6,7,12-26– 490 years from 458 BC to AD 33

Artaxerxes’ letter to Nehemiah in 445 BC – Nehemiah 2:5-8 – 490 ‘years’ of 360 days from 445 BC to AD 33

Some difficulties with prophecy

The Mountain range phenomenon

Multiple fulfilments – The Olivet discourse speaks about the

resurrection, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 790 and the second coming

– Daniel’s prophecies of future and far future events

– Revelation’s prophecies of future and far future events

– The abomination that causes desolation in Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:32 and Matthew 24:15

The abomination of desolation

Antiochus Epiphanes 167 BC (Daniel 9:27)– 1 Maccabees 1:20-22, ‘After Antiochus had

defeated Egypt in the year one hundred and forty-three (167BC), he returned and went up to Israel and to Jerusalem with a strong force. He insolently invaded the sanctuary ... and stripped off everything. V54 the king erected the horrible abomination upon the altar.’

Titus - Rome 70 AD (Matthew 24:15)– Josephus, ‘Daniel also wrote concerning the

Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them.’

The crucial take-home message

God has allotted the amount of time for these events

God is in total control of the process

It will all ‘pan out’ in the end

We should trust and endure

It’s all about Jesus Christ

Jesus in Daniel

Ch 2 – the rock that crushes the statue Ch3 – the fourth man in the furnace Ch 5 – the hand that writes on the wall Ch 6 – the angel that shuts the lions’

mouths Ch 7 – one like a Son of Man Ch 9 – the ‘anointed one’ cut off Ch 10 – the main clothed in linen (cf Rev

1) Ch 12 – the man clothed in linen

Understanding the times – 1 Ch 12:32

Olivet discourse ‘signs’ - Lk 21 (cf Mk 13, Mt 24)

‘False Christs’ (Luke 21:6) – An unfinished task

1,600 million Muslims 950 Million Hindus

950 million Atheists500 million Buddhist

400 million Chinese and Tribal Religions

2,300 million ‘Christians’ (but only £546m Evangelicals)

Wars and revolutions (Luke 21:10

Earthquakes (Luke 21:11)

Famines (Luke 21:11)

Pestilences (Luke 21:11)

Persecution (Luke 21:12)

Persecution (Luke 21:12)

Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20)

The two major power blocs

Islam – 1,600 million

Atheism – 950 million

Atheism worldwide

Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Luke 21:25)

The Gospel preached to all nations (Mark 13:10)

The growth of the church

Denpasar-Indonesia, August 201419th Indonesian Medical and Dental

Students Conference

UKRAINE (October 2012) 300 young medical professionals from 28 countries. These countries

included Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroun, India, Ukraine, Pakistan, Romania, Poland, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Congo. The rest

were Canada, Australia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Mauritius and Syria.

The growth of Christianity in Africa

Nigeria, Africa - PAN AFRICAN CONGRESS An extraordinary Pan African congress with delegates numbering more than 1700 from ten countries met in

Lagos in 25 July – 29 July, 2012

Chinese students gathering Shanghai, China, March 2015

Why study Daniel? His extensive influence

His exemplary service

His powerful revelation

His endurance through hardship

His seemingly flawless character

The secret of success

Bible reading

Prayer

Obedience

Bible Reading

The King’s obligation (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)

The leader’s duty (Joshua 1:8,9)

Sufficient to make us complete (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

Daniel’s Bible reading

Reads the prophet Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1,2)

Jeremiah 25:11,12

Jeremiah 29:10

The Word Hand

Listen

Read

Study

Meditate

Memorise

Prayer in Daniel

2:18 - asks his friends to pray

6:10 – prays with the window open

9:3-19 – prayer of intercession

12:8 – questions about the end

Model Prayers

David – 1 Chronicles 7:16-27 Solomon – 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 Nehemiah – Nehemiah 1:4-11 Daniel – Daniel 9:3-19 Paul – Philippians 1:3-10

How Daniel prayed Prompted by God’s word

– Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 25:11,12, 29:10 Started with a right view of God Confessed his and his nation’s sin Recognised the cause of their

predicament – Leviticus 16:14-45; Deuteronomy 28:15-68

Asks for mercy and forgiveness Trusts God’s promises

– Deuteronomy 30:1-3; Jeremiah 25:11,12, 29:10

Seeks God’s glory and honour

Obedience Every day ordered (Psalm 139:16; Ephesians 2:10)

Paths and horizons (Psalm 119:105)

The key to guidance (Proverbs 3:5,6)

The key to knowing God (John 14:21)

The evidence of love for and friendship with God (John 14:15, 15:14)

The evidence of saving faith (James 2:24,25)

Obedience in Daniel

Seeking the good of the city (Jeremiah 29)

The King’s diet (Daniel 1)

The fiery furnace (Daniel 3)

The Lions’ den (Daniel 6)

Babylon the Great

A future empire – both Rome and beyond

The fall of Babylon the Great (Revelation 14:8, 16:9, 17:5, 18:2, 21)

The earth mourns (18:9, 10)

The triumph of God’s Kingdom (19:10)

The future for us

Remnant or revival?

Both Engagement and Distinctiveness

‘In the world but not of it’

Bible Study, Prayer and Obedience