Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Ready to have you mind blown?

I know for some of you what you will hear this morning will be new and weird and wonderful.

It will open up you eyes to read the scripture in a way that you’ve never appreciated before.

Some of you will think it’s crazy, and I can live with that.

Some of our English translations obscure this topic.

Although we treat this Bible as one book, it is actually a collection of different books collated together.

The amazing thing is that although it is different writings with different authors from different time periods, we have one unfolding drama of redemption!

Lets just take a moment to appreciate that!

Now, this drama of redemption is not only contained to the physical world, but is also played out across the spiritual world.

What do I mean by “spiritual world”?

I mean the world that we cannot see where spiritual beings move while we remain unaware.

Is it a place?

Is it another dimension?

Is it just that spiritual beings have some kind of cloaking device?

We don’t know!

It is something that is beyond our understanding and experience.

And God has kept it that way.

He gives us glimpses across the pages of Scripture about what is going on, and forbids us from trying to get involved through divination and witchcraft and the like.

So, even though we can’t have all our questions answered, there is an overarching redemption in the pages of Scripture that is played out in the spiritual world with divine beings.

And here’s the thing - although God’s word transcends the time and place of it’s creation - in order to understand it well, we need to read it from the perspective of the people who wrote it and who were the original intended audience.

We can’t take our preconceived ideas about angels and cherubs with little bows and demons with horns and goats legs and apply that to the bible, no, we step back and let it speak for itself and help us understand.

The Backstory

So what’s the back story?

In Genesis 1-11:9 we get a “prelude to history” - in those wild and crazy stories the scripture gives us lenses through which to interpret everything that comes after.

In particular we are given some key events of sin and rebellion that set the stage for the rest of history.

Those key events are:

The rebellion of Adam & Eve at the Serpent’s behest in Gen 2.

The rebellion of the Son’s of God in Gen 6 followed by a flood.

The rebellion and subsequent scattering at the Tower of Babel.

In each of these events we see a pattern emerging - where gods and men try to supplant the Lord Most High by trying to deify themselves.

So God scatters the people across the world.

He disperses them and essentially disowns everybody.

Yet even though he disowns them, he sets divine beings in charge of those other nations and chooses one nation as his own.

Don’t believe me? lets read it:

So God chooses Israel as his own, a nation he will use to bless the world, and he gives the others over to mid-level management by the Sons of God - divine beings.

But, because we already know Gen 1-11, we know that the Sons of God can, and have, rebelled before.

We are left wondering, what becomes of those other nations?

Well, we know!

The other nations do not honor God as the Lord Most High and they devolve into places of idolatry, false worship and lawlessness.

So, there is hope that God might dethrone these cocky middle managers and take over.

Let’s look at Psalm 82 which outlines the OT state of affairs:

This is the background for texts like ours today.

There are divine beings who have power and authority to lead nations.

Unfortunately many are actually opposed to God Most High.

But,

Israel Is God’s Chosen, through whom he will bless the nations by re-inheriting them in a new Adam.

God responds to Prayer (& Fasting)

v1-12

Coming back to Daniel in the early 500 BC.

God’s “inheritance” Israel

Daniel retired in the first year of Cyrus (two years earlier cf.

1:21)

He is given a yet another message - how?

After prayer and fasting

This message unfolds over the next three chapters.

This week Just ch10.

Why was he mourning?

According to Ezra - Cyrus had allowed Jews to return home in his first year, to start rebuilding the temple.

Good news right?

Daniel is on the banks of the Tigris, he’s not home and things aren’t going well there anyway.

Quite upsetting!

The future is not unfolding in the way Daniel had hoped (maybe like being a new pastor who has gone through three lock downs since arriving, certainly not the year of fresh directions we hoped for!)

His mourning prayer is answered with an Angel (messenger)

Who is this?

A divine being - some say Jesus, but the text is not clear.

He is so overpowering that he knock Daniel out - a familiar pattern in angelic confrontations!

God’s messenger reaches out to restore Daniel, to enable him to receive the message

Even though overpowered, he is enabled - trembling - to be prepared for the message.

A message sent to Daniel especially

God heard, and he answered!

God hears his people, we have the Son & Spirit interceding for us.

Fasting doesn’t force God’s hand but it is a spiritual discipline that can help us pursue God seriously.

Miraculous visitations not guaranteed, but he will hear and he may act.

God Strengthens & Speaks to His People

v14-19

The angel has come with words from God:

Daniel brought low by the circumstances of mourning, and by the vision.

He’s a quivering mess, and he needs help to receive the message.

And so the Angel touches Him to strengthen Him!

You would think such a touch from such a awesome being would kill the old man, but instead he is strengthened:

The Lord knows our frame and our weakness, and yet he speaks to us.

Like the Israelites round the foot of Saini we have had intercessor hear on our behalf and write it down in the text we have today - but just because we’re not face to face with an angel doesn’t mean this message is any less awesome.

God has spoken to His people throughout the ages

Many will not hear God's word - spiritual deafness or willful disregard.

But through regeneration God will enable us to

God is at War with Insurgents

v13, 20-21

Why did it take the prayer 3 weeks to be answered?

There was a hold up from other spiritual beings!

He was pinned down!

This is another brief window into the world that we have been speaking about - where there are powerful beings with authority - some in rebellion to God.

This is like our earthly experience - there are people such as Gov and Churches and Families who have authority - but they misuse and abuse that authority.

God doesn’t depose them then and there even when they are working across His purposes.

But He lets them continue in rebellion giving them opportunity to repent and working out His plan all the same.

There are various spiritual beings are warring with each other now (in Daniel’s ay), and into the future:

Before the coming Battle, this angel has come to deliver the message.

He knows what we have been speaking about from the other passages - Greece will arise after Persia.

This fits with what we know from the ancient biblical worldview - that there will be powers that are over other kingdoms/people and they will be rebealious.

At this time, the war was ongoing.

But God had a plan to reclaim His people and re-inherit the nations!