Daniel chapters 10, 11, 12 Message 10

The Wonderful Grace of God: He answered prayer and revealed His plan.

I. The Earnest prayer. Daniel 10:2,3,12

Daniel 10:2-3 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

II. The evidence submitted that God will restore Israel.

Daniel 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

III. The explanation of future events. Daniel 11, 12

Another preview of the rise of nations and their relationships with Israel is given in these chapters. Again the Persians, the Greeks, the four nations breaking forth from the Grecian empire, the wars between them and the kings of the South, the kings of the North, the overtaking of Israel (Daniel 12:41 “He shall enter into the glorious land…”.

As we read this prophecy, we are reminded of the words of Jesus –

Matthew 24:5-8 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The Lord gave Israel another opportunity to repent and submit to Him, but they again refused. God knew they would refuse, but they were allowed to exercise their choice in the matter. They are without excuse! They will remember –

IV. The exhortation to repent.

Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Their refusal to obey God left them confused about –

V. The establishment of the Kingdom of God.

Acts 1:7 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Note the confusion of the nation when God did not follow their expectation. Compare Luke 4 with Isaiah 61.

Luke 4:18-21 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

The men in the synagogue would notice that Jesus did not read the complete passage, He did not finish the prophecy –

Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Also remember John’s confusion that the judgment did not immediately follow the preaching of the Lord.

Luke 3:16-17 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Israel rejected God by rejecting His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Even so, through the realization of the plan of God revealed to Daniel, we know

VI. The eternal purpose will be accomplished.

Romans 11:26-27 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The everlasting covenant to Abraham and to Israel is in effect today. It is ‘Everlasting’! While this covenant is in effect, it is running in the background while God’s command to His church is carried out. We may not understand it all, even as Daniel did not understand –

Daniel 12:8-9 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

– but we know that God knows what He is doing!

We need to act upon that which we do understand –
When Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, He set them aside. This was no surprise to Him as we noted when He read them the Scripture in Nazareth. Because of their rejection, we have a space in the time between Daniel’s prophesied 69th and 70th week. The 69th week was completed at the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord of Glory. The 70th week will begin when the Lord has completed His will concerning –

VII. The evangelization of the world. God’s command to the church.

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Just as sure as God’s plan for His nation Israel will be fulfilled, His plan for His church will be completed. We have presented God’s plan being carried out. He will continue to work. Will we? The question is – Are we as members of His church doing His will?

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.