Hope In The Darkness

“It is always darkest before the dawn.”  That’s one way of saying that things always seem the worst right before they get better.  But what do you do while you are waiting for things to get better?  What do you hold onto?  Well, for believers, what we hold onto is hope. Hope is one of the greatest gifts God gives us as believers.

When we are discouraged, hope lifts our spirits.

When we are tempted to throw in the towel, hope keeps us going.

When we are overworked and exhausted, hope gives us fresh energy.

When we feel rejected or abandoned, hope reminds us we are not alone.

When we say our final farewell to a precious loved one, hope gets us through our grief.

When we fear the worst, hope reminds us that our God is still in control.

A great old pastor once said, “Hope isn’t merely a nice option that helps us temporarily clear a hurdle. It’s essential to our survival.”  In other words, we all need hope. We  need hope when life is hard, we need hope when evil is winning, and we need hope in the darkness. That’s why we pray. That’s why Daniel prayed. And that’s where we left Daniel last week as he was calling on God to deliver the people of Israel from exile.  By calling on his great and loving God, he was expressing his hope in God’s power to act on behalf of the people He loves.  By calling on his righteous and merciful God, he was expressing his hope that God would forgive His people and return them to their homeland.

So, what happened? How did God respond to Daniel’s prayer?  Well, to see how God rewarded Daniel’s hope, let me encourage you to open your Bible to the second half of Daniel 9.  Our text today is Daniel 9:20-27, where we see God’s response to Daniel’s prayer by revealing to him the hope that is to come.  And as he instructs Daniel, we too are to be instructed on the hope we have in God. So, if you’ve found Daniel 9, let’s look at the first area where our hope is found, and that is this:

We have the hope of answered prayer: While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill— while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision. Daniel 9:20-23

Now, I want you to note a few things here.  First, Daniel is still speaking to God in prayer.  He is still confessing his sins and the sins of Israel.  In other words, Daniel is persistently praying for God’s people. He’s continually bringing their need of deliverance and mercy before the great and loving God of Israel.  This is a great example to us.  We should never stop praying for people who are blinded by their sin, for friends, family or neighbors who need the mercy and grace of God.

The second thing we can take note of is that while Daniel was still interceding for Israel, Gabriel, the man he had seen in the earlier vision, came to him in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.  This is an interesting observation: Gabriel came to Daniel at the time of the evening sacrifice. What this tells us, that even though he had not been in Israel for 67 years, Daniel continues to pray at the same time the evening sacrifices would have taken place in Israel. Of the three times a day Daniel prays, one of those times, is when the priests would make atonement for the sin of the people through daily sacrifices. This is profound.  Daniel comes to God at the time of the evening sacrifice, to confess his sins and the sins of the people. In other words, Daniel is continually seeking mercy for God’s people.  Once again, this is a great example to us. God is slow to anger and rich in mercy. God has given us mercy in Jesus, but we must never stop confessing our sins and the sins of others.  We need God’s mercy every day.  And God loves to give it.

The third thing to take note of is that when Gabriel comes to Daniel, he tells him why God sent him.  Look at verse 23 again. Gabriel says, As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Daniel was highly esteemed by God. Daniel was treasured by God.  So, as soon as Daniel started praying, God set about answering his prayer by sending Gabriel with a message.

Now, here’s where Daniel’s prayer life intersects with ours. Daniel was loved by God because he lived for God. His waking moments were dominated by God’s covenant purposes. He lived to see God’s city restored so that the Lord’s name might be praised. He longed to return to the ancient sacrificial rites that reminded God’s people daily of their need of salvation.

Here’s the point: Those whom the LORD loves, He hears.  Daniel was precious in the sight of God, and therefore so were his prayers.  And the same goes for you: If you are in Christ, you are precious in the sight of God, and therefore so are your prayers. Here’s why your prayers are so important to God: the moment you trusted in Christ, He gave you the very same access to the presence of the Father that He has. Therefore, it you are beloved of God, you have the Father’s ear. He wants you to come to Him in prayer. Why? So, He can answer your prayers! Remember, Jesus was very clear about this in speaking to his disciples in the upper room when he said, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:13-14 Because God loves you, He wants you to bring your requests to Him, so He can answer your prayers.

So yes, just like Daniel we have the hope of answered prayer.  You are precious in God’s sight, and so are your prayers.  And our God is able to do more than we ask or imagine.  And in Daniel’s case, he’s about to get a whole lot more than he ever imagined.  Which leads us to our next hope in the darkness, and that is this:

We have the hope of a Savior: “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Daniel 9:24

Now, think with me about what Daniel had been asking God. Daniel had been confessing his and Israel’s sins.  But he also asked God to forgive their rebellion so they could return to Jerusalem, rebuild God’s city, and His temple – God’s dwelling place.  But now as Gabriel begins to instruct Daniel about the “Seventy sevens” that have been decreed for Israel – God is telling Daniel that Israel’s exile will not last seventy years.  It will last seventy times seven years, or four hundred ninety years.  Let me lay these seventy years out in terms of the major events depicted for us in this passage:

The first event speaks of seven sevens (49 years). This period of time refers to the rebuilding of Jerusalem during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.

The second event speaks of sixty-two sevens (483 years). This period of time refers to the coming of the Messiah and his death.

The third event refers to the final week (7 years). During this seven-year period the antichrist will persecute God’s people and will be defeated at the end of history.

But here in verse 24, Gabriel wants the reader to understand that during these seventy sevens, six amazing things will take place that are full of hope for God’s people:

• Transgression will be finished.
• Sin will be brought to an end.
• Atonement for iniquity will take place.
• Everlasting righteousness will be established.
• Vision and prophecy will be sealed.
• The most holy place or Holy One will be anointed.

Anyone with even limited knowledge and understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith can read this and recognize, “this is talking about Jesus and what he did for us.” At some point during these seventy weeks, sin is dealt with once and for all, by means of atonement when “an Anointed One, the ruler” is cut off, crucified after 69 weeks.

At that time everlasting righteousness will be established for those who believe in Jesus.

At that time, Jesus will complete all vision and prophecy.  In Hebrews 1:1-2, we are told, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son.” The Anointed One is God’s final word to man. Sinclair Ferguson sums it up this way:  “In Jesus alone is found the vision of God and His purpose; in Him prophecy and prophet are united.”

And finally, at that time Jesus will fulfill all that the Holy of holies represented. Prior to his coming, the Holy of Holies was covered by a veil, and no one was allowed to enter except the High Priest, and even he would only enter once a year on Yom Kipper, (the Day of Atonement) to offer the blood of sacrifice on behalf of all the people.  That veil represented the separation between man and God because of our sin. However, at the very moment Jesus cried out and gave up his spirit on the cross, Scripture tells us that this veil was torn in two. At that moment, Jesus made the Holy of holies obsolete.  For now, anyone who has trusted in Jesus can enter God’s presence because He has removed our sin once for all and reconciled us with God.

So having heard all of this, Daniel is aware he is hearing the good news.  A time is coming when sin will be done away with, when God and man will be reconciled, and this will be accomplished by God’s anointed One, the Messiah who’ll be cut off.  God’s Savior will come to take away the sins of the world.  This hope was given to Daniel in Gabriel’s message and this hope has been given to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For now, when you trust in Jesus, the power of sin over you is finished. For when Jesus died for you, He died to remove sin’s hold on you. He defeated sin and death on that cross. So that now, the moment you believe in Him, His death breaks sin’s hold on you.

Now, when you trust in Jesus, your sins are atoned for by Jesus. In other words, the moment Jesus gave up His life for you, his death made it possible for you to be reconciled with God. And that reconciliation comes to you when you believe in Him.

Now, when you trust in Jesus, you are justified by His blood.  For the moment Jesus shed his blood for you, he didn’t just take away your sin, he also made it possible for Him to give you His righteousness. As the Bible declares: God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Therefore, now, when you trust in Jesus, you no longer need to make a sacrifice for your sin, for Jesus has made you holy, pleasing and acceptable before God.  This is our hope! We have the hope of Savior. And His name is Jesus. For the moment you trust in Him, you are removed from the realm of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son God loves.

This is our hope. We have hope in prayer, because we have a God who hears.  We have hope in Jesus, because we have a God who saves.  But now we will see from this passage one final hope that is ours:

We have the hope of God’s Sovereign Plan: Now, before I begin to unpack this final section of Gabriel’s prophecy, I want you to know how difficult and complex this passage has been for interpreters over the years. Joyce Baldwin says, “The last four verses of Daniel 9 present the most difficult text in the book.” Stephen Miller says Daniel 9:24-27 “are four of the most controversial verses in the Bible.” J. A Montgomery is perhaps the most colorful when he writes, “The history of the exegesis of the 70 weeks of Daniel is the Dismal Swamp of Old Testament Criticism.” There is, without question, difficulty in the details. However, we must not let the reality distract us from the big picture that is clear and plain for all to see.” So, what is that big picture? It’s the same picture we’ve seen from the very beginning of the book of Daniel – God is Sovereign over history, and God has a plan for all history. As we’ve unpacked the first two events in this passage, that’s been quite clear.  God had a plan for the Jews.  They were to endure 70 years of exile for their rebellion and sin. Now during the first week, God has decreed the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  Secondly, God had a plan to send the Anointed One.

Now here, in verse 25, Gabriel reiterates God’s plan to Daniel by saying: “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.  After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.  Daniel 9:25-26a   During the 69 sevens there will be the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple, then at the end of that time will be the coming of the Messiah and His crucifixion.

But now we come to the seventieth week and we come to the culmination of God’s plan for the Jews and for all history.  As we do, Gabriel reveals to Daniel two specific instances of judgment upon the Jews following their rejection and crucifixion of God’s Anointed One. The first instance of judgment on the Jews is recorded in verse 26, The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. Daniel 9:26  Who are these people and who is their ruler? These people were the Romans, and their ruler was General Titus, who came and waged war with the Jews, destroying both Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD. The end of Israel at this time was very much like being hit with a flood. This was a tragic and horrible war.

This was not good news for the Jews. Their future was going to quite be bleak.  For here we are told that wars and desolations have been decreed by God. And we have witnessed this. Since 70 AD history has recorded countless atrocities endured by the Jewish nation. During the middle ages, once such atrocity occurred during the York pogrom when over 150 Jews were slaughtered by Christians after the death of one of their monks at the hands of the Jews.  Of course, the worst desolation of the Jews was the eradication of over 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.  And the latest desolation occurred this past October 7^th when Hamas murdered over 1200 Israeli citizens.  So here we have a startling prediction of darkness for the Jewish nation that has been decreed by God. This explains a lot. This explains why it has always been so difficult for Jews throughout history. But it also reminds us, that the Jewish nation needs our understanding and compassion.  For they are still God’s people, and the still need to know God is not done with them.

However, at this point Gabriel introduces another ruler that is still to come in verse 27.  This ruler will arrive on the scene at the beginning of the seventieth week. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Daniel 9:27 Most Biblical scholars refer to this ruler as the antichrist, the little horn of Daniel 7:8. He is a deceiver and persecutor of God’s people. When he arrives on the scene he will make a covenant with the Jewish people.

However, midway through this week (three and a half years), he will break his covenant and put an end to sacrifice and offering. He will outlaw the worship of the One true God. And because of his idolatrous atrocities against the Jews, he will be the singular reason that the temple becomes desolate. This will be a terrible period in the world’s history, but God has decreed that these atrocities will not continue forever. For at the end of his time, a flood of judgment will be poured out on him, then the kingdom reign of Christ will begin.

The New Testament calls this antichrist, the man of lawlessness and describes his judgment with the return of Christ: And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8

Even though there is much turmoil and suffering decreed for God’s people, the end will come. Jesus will come and He will judge the antichrist and do away with him once and for all. This is the hope of God’s Sovereign plan.  And as we learned from Daniel 7, Jesus will triumph over his foes, and then he will establish His reign and share it with His saints. And Gabriel has told Daniel of what is to come, not to discourage him, but to give him and the Jewish people hope. For one day, those who oppose God’s people will be judged and done away with once and for all. And the hope God gives Daniel in these verse, is also our hope as well.

For God’s plan for ages predicts the coming of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who will abolish sin and establish everlasting righteousness by being executed on a Roman cross. He will come exactly when God says He will come in one of the most amazing prophecies in the whole Bible. Then following his death, Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed. And then, as Jesus taught in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24, this tragic event typifies not only the end of this present evil age, but the coming of the antichrist. This antichrist will persecute God’s people, but his end will come like a flood when the Anointed Ruler returns and destroys him. The point of Gabriel’s message, of God’s message to Daniel is this: God is Sovereign over history; God is in control of history; His plan will come to pass! And every one of us who long for and love God’s Anointed One, King Jesus, can know with certainty that when He comes, His salvation blessings will come with Him, and he will put an end to the darkness that plagues our world.

But until then, we pray and we wait. We witness and we love. We serve and we hope…  For God’s plan is in place. The clock is ticking. For Jesus is coming back, and when He does, He will set all things right, and make all things new.  For He is our hope in the darkness.