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