Lent Day 17

 Before I get into todays Daniel scripture I just have to tell you what happened on Wednesday night.  We were at our housegroup and the topic was the Word of God, are we hungry, how do we get and stay hungry for it etc. As part of the discussion I said that I write a blog twice a year as a way of disciplining myself to read and study scripture and listen to God. And I happened to mention that this Lent Im working my way through Daniel.  At which point Mark (the guy whose house we were in for the very first time) jumped up and disappeared upstairs, returning moments later with this.

So this is an actual coin minted in the reign of Darius the Mede in 536BC - exactly at the time Daniel was doing his thing. 

To say I was a bit astounded was an understatement.  We dont usually meet in Marks house, Ive never mentioned my blog to the housegroup before and Mark is the least likely bloke I could think of to have a collection of 'coins of the Bible' ( he also has a coin minted by Pontius Pilate and a 'widows mite' )

The coin is teeny tiny.  About the size of one of our 5p pieces

Apparently Darius coins are rare, although they are still occasionally being dug up in the Middle East. 

I know that we know that books like Daniel depict real events that happened in documented history. But holding an object that was used by real people in those days just brings it home - maybe even Daniel himself handled that specific coin.  Who knows? 😁

Anyhow, on with the study.  Here's todays unfathomable reading.

Gabriel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks

20While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain— 21while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22He instructed me and spoke with me, saying: “O Daniel, I have come now to give you insight and understanding. 23At the beginning of your petitions, an answer went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly precious. So consider the message and understand the vision:

24Seventy weekse are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.f

25Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah,g the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress.

26Then after the sixty-two weeksh the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.

Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed. 27And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week,i but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation,j until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him.k”

Thoughts.

Gabriel comes to Daniel in the form of a man. We know he is an angel because we met him a chapter or so ago being sent by God to explain the vision. Here is is again, man-like in appearance. Its interesting to know that angels really might walk among us unknown.  Gabriel's name is a compound word from Geber - strong one and El - God.  So He is a strong man of God or from God. Throughout scripture we see him appearing to make really key announcements.  And here he is with Daniel to tell him something significant

He touches Daniel.  I wonder what it feels like to be touched by an angel.  I wonder if the reason Gabriel touched Dan was because Dan was face down on the carpet so deep in prayer that Gabriel had to get his attention by tapping him on the shoulder.  And the first thing Gabriel says to Daniel is ' hey Dan, God loves you a whole lot'  😁  How lovely it is when we hear God tell us that we are highly precious and loved. Beloved. Apple of His eye. Sons and daughters. Daniel has positioned himself before God as a sinful man living among sinful people in need of God's mercy and compassion. God says ' Yes, but most of all you are loved'.  Wonderful.

So the message Gabriel brings is about the Jews and Jerusalem. Previous visions have been about the rise and fall of Gentile kingdoms, but here Gabriel says the message is 'for your people and your holy city.'  There are six points made.  The people have seventy weeks to  

1) stop transgression  2)put and end to sin  3) atone for their wickedness 4) to bring in everlasting righteousness, 5) to seal up the prophetic and 6) to anoint the Holy of Holies

I think its fairly obvious that no amount of time ever given to the human race is going to bring about any of those six things, let alone all of them. So automatically we can assume that there is something mysterious going on here. And it is all wrapped up in timescales and multiples of weeks. This is where I am tempted to either gloss over or give up. But...... Im not going to this time. Im going to take inspiration from Daniel's persistence and perseverance and dig deep to try to understand what is being said here.

Ive done a bit of reading around these verses. There's alot of discussion about what the timescales mean but in a nutshell the maths works out if you understand that in Daniels day a year was seen as 360 days not 365 and that a 'week 'was quite often 'a week of years' (ie 7 years).  So lots of people have done the calculations and are happy that all the timescales point to the birth/ministry/death of Jesus as being the fulfilment of these promises.  Obviously the coming of Jesus is the only thing that makes sense in terms of the six points Gabriel talks about at the start.  There is no other way that sin is dealt with and atoned for and everlasting righteousness arrives than through Jesus.

To read all the calculations of times an dates you can check this out - its very readable and makes sense but there is alot of it https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/27-25/israels-future-part-2

The last part of Gabriel's message concerns the time after Jesus has come and gone from earth - the time of the anti-christ and the 'abomination that causes desolation'.  I don't know about you but I'm mighty glad to read those last few words ' until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him'.   Phew. Hooray. 

With the benefit of hindsight (and the calculations and interpretations of those who have studied this stuff in depth) we can see that so far every single prophesy that Daniel has either interpreted or been given has come to pass.  Kingdoms have come and gone in the way Daniel predicted. The city and the temple were rebuilt by Nehemiah 'in times of distress' in the timeframe which is given here and Jesus came to fulfil the six points Gabriel brings to the table.

Question: Would you like to be touched by an angel, told you are highly precious and given a one-to-one insight into God's future plans whilst you are praying?  Yes? Me too.  Have you been praying three times a day every day for 60 years? No, neither have I.  

The good news is that we have Jesus and He doesnt require us to go through the rituals, but He does ask for our whole hearts.  Are you wholehearted?   If you are then I dont see any reason why you cant see angels too.