Sermon - Dealing with people who believe differently than a follower of Jesus - Daniel 9:1-19

So right away, opening in our text, there's a really profound timestamp.

In the first year of Darius, the son of Aju Harris, a descent of Amid, who is made king.

And so right away, there's a timestamp in what we're reading.

And if you keep reading in this, what Daniel is saying is, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the numbers of the years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.

The first thing that we see in our text is Daniel discerned the times, and he responded in prayer.

And what's really interesting in our text here is that Daniel is referring to Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah.

And I don't know if you know this or not, but the prophet Jeremiah and the prophet Ezekiel and Daniel were all counterparts.

They knew each other.

They're mindful of each other's ministry.

Ezekiel and Daniel both lived in Babylon during the time of the exile.

So throughout our text today, we're going to lift a little bit from Ezekiel and from Jeremiah because Daniel did.

And as Daniel is reading the prophet Jeremiah, this would have been a word given to God's people decades before Daniel is reciting it.

And it's interesting because what Daniel is doing is discerning things on a spiritual level.

He wasn't responding in a political commentary or an economic commentary.

This was something spiritual.

And I want you to know, what did Daniel have? He had the word of the Lord, Jeremiah, the writings of Jeremiah, as well as the other scriptures, and the Holy Spirit.

Those two things allowed Daniel to be able to perceive what's happening spiritually.

And church, I want you to know that you and I have the same thing.

We have the word and we have the spirit.

So you and I, what Daniel is doing in perceiving what's happening spiritually, you and I have that same opportunity.

And what we're reading here is Jeremiah's word.

Jeremiah chapter 25, verse 11 is what Daniel was referring to.

And it reads, this whole land shall become a ruin and a waste.

And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years.

So Daniel is perceiving that the time of the exile is beginning to draw to a close.