Reaping The Fruits Of Rebellion
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Daniel's disturbing vision of the continued results of rebellion against God.
Text: Daniel 8:9-27
Date: 06/03/2018, the Evening service.
Series: "Daniel: Divine Dominion and Deliverance" Part 21
Description:
As we continue to analyze Daniel's second great vision of the future of Israel, and the kingdoms and kings that will impact it, we will once again marvel at how accurate his prophecy is. Historically, our focus will be on the aftermath of Alexander the Great's death and the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes. But more importantly, we will notice Daniel's horror (and even physical illness) when he foresees his people once again rebelling against God and suffering at the hands of a foreign oppressor. We will consider how we would feel if we could see our own future, and what it might hold based on the current trends of our culture. But ultimately it is the church that determines the future, so we will consider the profound difference between benefiting from the fruits of repentance or reaping the fruits of rebellion.
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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, Daniel 9:20-27.
A. Context
B. A visit from the archangel Gabriel, vs. 20-23.
1. Recapping Daniel's prayer, vs. 20.
2. The messenger arrives, vs. 21.
3. Gabriel's message for Daniel, vs. 22-23.
C. The "seventy-weeks" prophecy, vs. 24-27.
1. Introduction and timespan, vs. 24a.
a. Figurative versus literal interpretation.
i. Looking at the numbers figuratively, Jer. 25:11, Lev. 26:68, 25:8.
ii. Looking at the numbers literally.
b. The focus of the revelation.
2. The six divine goals for the prophecy, vs. 24b.
a. The "negative" goals.
i. To finish transgression.
ii. To put an end to sin.
iii. To atone for iniquity.
b. The positive goals.
i. To establish righteousness.
ii. To fulfill prophecy, Dan. 7:13-14.
iii. To anoint a "holy place".
c. Prophetic foreshortening.
3. The oracle to restore Jerusalem, vs. 25.
a. Finding the starting point, vs. 25.
i. Looking at the words.
¥ Determining the objective of the decree.
¥ The anointing of a prince.
¥ An issue of punctuation.
¥ The nature of the restoration.
¥ Restoration under duress.
ii. Trying to decipher the starting decree.
¥ Cyrus the Great in 539 BC, Ezra 1:2-4.
¥ÊArtaxerxes I in 445 BC, Neh. 2:5-8.
¥ÊArtaxerxes I in 457 BC, Ezra 7_12-26, 9:9.
iii. Summation
b. The coming of the Anointed One, vs. 26a.
c. The ultimate destruction of Jerusalem, vs. 26b.
i. The foreign prince.
ii. A scene of utter destruction.
iii. God's Providence revealed.
4. The eschatological end, vs. 27.
a. A strong covenant.
i. Identifying the maker of the covenant.
ii. Identifying "the many" the covenant is with.
iii. The nature of the covenant.
b. A divided week.
c. The persecution of God's people.
d. The abomination that makes desolate.
III. Application
IV. Conclusion
