Post details: Daniel 9
Daniel 9
I know some may find to difficult to imagine that I even read, let alone have something to say about the book of Daniel, it being the most abused text in scripture.
But I do! Chapter 9, Daniel's great confession of Israel's sins continues to be for me a model text that christians should pray for themselves more frequently.
It's verse 2 that engenders today's comment. Daniel upon reading Jeremiah, of course we all should read Jeremiah everyday, reads of 70 years, does some quick math, and realizes the time is now! Now what would I do in a similar situation, most likely pack up to begin the trek home, or at least pass the news on that the new exodus lies immediately over the horizon.
Daniel takes another route. Knowing that God works through women and men, Daniel takes it upon himself to confess the sins of his people, most likely they had not. He leaves nothing out, much like what the high priest should have done on the day of atonement, or what a christian should do prior to communion.
I like the balance: God says though Jeremiah 70 years, Daniel confesses, God raises up Cyrus to send them home. Sure God is sovereign, but from the down to earth perspective, we do his work. Most of the time without knowing he is controlling the outworking of his plan in his time.
Comments:
Comment from: Hannah Mecaskey [Visitor] 
· http://leshemshamayim.wordpress.com/
· http://leshemshamayim.wordpress.com/
I can appreciate your thoughts of Daniel being the most abused text... how often do we miss what God is saying so plainly to our faces by overanalysis of what isn't there? If child-like faith is so very simple, how does our complexly manufactured Christianity probe at what really isn't there? We miss what really is there by seeking the otherworldliness of the text.
I think we miss just how much heaven and God’s existence is so embedded here in the now; as you pointed out, God works through men and women… us, the body, His physical existence here… a mystery which continues to evade me! But somehow, I can only know Jesus is real, my God is working, in the engagement of relationship with others. So if we’re ignoring sins, or even desires and denying their existence to obey, how hollow is that obedience? I should be able to confess my heart in all its mess while still obeying my Jesus, allowing Him to transform the desires through conversation rather than remaining unaffected in a stagnant faith.
I wonder if we can still confess to the affect Daniel saw…God does seem to work in those seasons of balance and change… its interesting. Of course we do His work… how much is His sovereignty truly interactive… hard to really know Him sometimes, isn’t it, if we don’t see His hand? But then maybe we only see Him as much as we manufacture Him in our lives and imaginations. Something to ponder, how real is your Jesus.
Thank you for sharing, Rabbi.
I think we miss just how much heaven and God’s existence is so embedded here in the now; as you pointed out, God works through men and women… us, the body, His physical existence here… a mystery which continues to evade me! But somehow, I can only know Jesus is real, my God is working, in the engagement of relationship with others. So if we’re ignoring sins, or even desires and denying their existence to obey, how hollow is that obedience? I should be able to confess my heart in all its mess while still obeying my Jesus, allowing Him to transform the desires through conversation rather than remaining unaffected in a stagnant faith.
I wonder if we can still confess to the affect Daniel saw…God does seem to work in those seasons of balance and change… its interesting. Of course we do His work… how much is His sovereignty truly interactive… hard to really know Him sometimes, isn’t it, if we don’t see His hand? But then maybe we only see Him as much as we manufacture Him in our lives and imaginations. Something to ponder, how real is your Jesus.
Thank you for sharing, Rabbi.
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07/31/08 @ 09:10
Comment from: berkheiser [Visitor]
Ironically you both come short of the full intent of Daniel 9. Likely because you blanch at the furor that revolves around the eschaton. And yet the eschaton is Daniel's and our hope. The Daniel 9 post and the words-meaning post are related. Daniel's confession of sin would have been in vain without Gabriel's arrival to give Daniel (and us)an understanding (see v.23)of the eschaton (and subsequent events leading up to it). One is hopeless without an understanding of the text. And if the text is unable to enable us to know God, then i agree with Paul that we are the beggars of humanity. WHB
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08/07/08 @ 12:24
Comment from: Online Banking Canada, USA [Visitor] · http://www.online-bank.ca/online-banks/online-banking/
· http://www.online-bank.ca/online-banks/online-banking/
Book of Daniel has been overused indeed.
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01/25/10 @ 18:16
Comment from: Web Hosting [Visitor] · http://www.webhostingreport.com/
· http://www.webhostingreport.com/
Thanks for the sharing. Nice story...I know that's not easy but I believe that you can:)
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06/03/10 @ 03:03
Comment from: study medicine abroad [Visitor] · http://www.readmedicine.com
· http://www.readmedicine.com
I have read this one too. The stories are all amazing and felt so real.
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06/08/10 @ 01:27
Comment from: Medifast Health [Visitor] · http://www.medifasthealth.org/
· http://www.medifasthealth.org/
That's a big mistake has been done by them. They shouldn’t be like that, they must patricipate in that action.
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06/15/10 @ 02:56
Comment from: Autologon [Visitor] · http://www.logonexpert.com
· http://www.logonexpert.com
Thank you for the book reviews. I will see what fits with my needs and buy one soon.
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06/15/10 @ 03:34
Comment from: free football picks [Visitor] · http://www.sbrforum.com/Main/NFL.aspx
· http://www.sbrforum.com/Main/NFL.aspx
Maybe it's not just a matter of effort, but the way to develop it is more affective.
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06/21/10 @ 03:44
Comment from: Glenn | Customer Service Skills [Visitor] · http://www.impactlearning.com/Customer-Care/customer-service-training.aspx
· http://www.impactlearning.com/Customer-Care/customer-service-training.aspx
I have to wonder if it's not just chaos that rules our behavior - rather than divine intervention.
It seems like the events often described as divine are really events caused by an overwhelming chaos. For instance, I met a now-close friend of mine at an arcade where he worked. I was there because my brother wanted to play pinball on a very rare leave from his deployment. And I'd recently gone through major life changes which allowed me to go to the arcade in the middle of the day. Those changes were caused by me going to school, and the greater macroeconomic shift. And my friend wouldn't have worked at that arcade if he'd moved to a different city -- which he'd planned to do several times, but couldn't afford. I wouldn't have even met my friend if his parents hadn't had him. Or if their parents hadn't had them -- or if they moved to different countries or died in the wars they fought in. You see - it seems like a chaotic, complex world -- not necessarily one that's ruled by divine intervention.
Of course, the hand of God wouldn't be visible or comprehensible - so it may be there guiding the choas - but it just seems impossible to observe first-hand.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
It seems like the events often described as divine are really events caused by an overwhelming chaos. For instance, I met a now-close friend of mine at an arcade where he worked. I was there because my brother wanted to play pinball on a very rare leave from his deployment. And I'd recently gone through major life changes which allowed me to go to the arcade in the middle of the day. Those changes were caused by me going to school, and the greater macroeconomic shift. And my friend wouldn't have worked at that arcade if he'd moved to a different city -- which he'd planned to do several times, but couldn't afford. I wouldn't have even met my friend if his parents hadn't had him. Or if their parents hadn't had them -- or if they moved to different countries or died in the wars they fought in. You see - it seems like a chaotic, complex world -- not necessarily one that's ruled by divine intervention.
Of course, the hand of God wouldn't be visible or comprehensible - so it may be there guiding the choas - but it just seems impossible to observe first-hand.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
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06/25/10 @ 11:26
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· http://thehomeremediesforacne.com
just take action !
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07/08/10 @ 23:16
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07/26/10 @ 20:24
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07/26/10 @ 20:25
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07/26/10 @ 20:27 Leave a comment:
