Daniel 9:1, 2
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
Reflection: Sermon Notes… Bonus #2
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
Another observation that I made while I was preparing for this sermon (read yesterday’s Rooted if you did not do so) was that many people miss the prayer of Daniel 9 for the implications of the last parts of the chapter. As many of you may know, Daniel is a prophetic book with some key prophetic pronouncements. I am the first person in the line to say that I am definitely not an expert in “end times” prophecy. For me, it is just a subject that does not interest me, but I do recognize many people are enthralled by it. To each his own!
Still, I was going to say something in the sermon like “forget about the 70th week of Daniel… this is not an end times sermon.” Daniel 9 is, after all, an introduction to this end times debate of the last week of prophesy. I don’t want to get in the weeds on this because, indeed, this is the point: people fixate on Daniel 9 as a matter of study because they are interested in End Times, and they miss what I think is the actual point: pray and fast! If you search on YouTube for Daniel 9, you will discover most of the videos that pop up are on end times, not many on the prayer of Daniel. That makes me sad. It is great to study the Bible and even to study about prophecy, but not at the expense of studying things that are for today and now. God is calling this church to pray and fast… and, for today, that is far more important than what we think might happen in 1000 years.
Prayer
Dear Lord, may our passions be on the here and now as we focus on you and all that you want to accomplish at Timberlake Church. May you hear our sincere prayers, coupled by our fasting.
