It's Time to Confess
From None Like Unto Daniel, yet to be published.
It's Time to ConfessFrom None Like Unto Daniel, yet to be published. | The world’s first great empire, Babylon, had run its course and was gone. The second world empire, that of Media-Persia, was now in place, and Darius, a Mede, had been given the province of Babylon to rule. It was the first year of his reign. Daniel was a very God-focused man. He prayed regularly. He studied the Hebrew Scriptures. In modern terms, he maintained a consistent devotional life. In other words, he “had his devotions” regularly. One day while studying the prophecies of Jeremiah, Daniel came to understand that the Jewish captivity in Babylon would last seventy years. This is clearly stated in Jeremiah 25:8-11. The reason for the exile is also clearly stated in the 25th chapter of Jeremiah. It was because the people and their leaders “had not listened to” God’s pronouncements through Jeremiah and other prophets. The Jews had not turned from their sin in following other gods and forsaking the true God. Jeremiah was sent by God to give the people fair warning of what He would do if they failed to repent. Had they repented, God promised, “I will not harm you.” “But,” God said through the prophet, “you did not listen to Me.” When Daniel read this in his devotions one day, he turned to God and pleaded with Him in fasting, petition, sackcloth and ashes. He prayed on behalf of himself and of the people of God still in captivity in Babylon. Daniel’s prayer begins with adoration for God, for prayer is powerless if it does not immediately address the “great and awesome God” Who keeps His covenant of love. It is because of the sins of God’s people that the captivity has come about. Daniel confesses, “we have sinned and done wrong.” He lists the sins he and the people have committed. Turned away from God’s commandments. Rebelled. Not listened to God’s servants. Daniel confesses that God is righteous, even when He sends His own people into captivity. God’s righteousness can never be questioned, no matter what He does. He is the author of righteousness. He is the giver of the commandments. He is always righteous. It is the people who are covered with shame. It is the people who have been unfaithful to God. It is the people who have sinned against God. Rulers and commoners, kings and princes, all Israel has turned away, refusing to obey God. Note that Daniel includes himself in this confession of sin. He repeatedly uses the plural pronouns we and us. Daniel was a very godly man, a fact recognized by the pagan kings whom Daniel served. How | had he sinned? His confession here is typical and necessary for one who is pleading the case of God’s people with God. Daniel identifies with the people. It would not be right for Daniel to pray that they had sinned and that they are deserving of God’s punishment. He is one of them, and so he prays that we have sinned. The outpouring of God’s wrath is righteous on God’s part, and certainly deserved on their part. God promised them and warned them. He said He would bless them when the intent of their hearts was to serve Him. He said He would deal with them when the intent of their hearts was to serve themselves. “You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster,” Daniel confessed. He said that in spite of the trouble God had sent them, they still, as a people, were not seeking God’s favor. They had not turned from sin and still were not listening to the truth God gave them through the prophets and in His word. Daniel, praying on behalf of God’s people, confessed the great sin of the people against God in turning from Him and going their own way. This had brought God’s judgment, which in turn had made the city of the Jews and the Jews themselves objects of scorn to all the peoples around them. Daniel pled with God to restore His people, not because they deserved restoration, but so that others will recognize the true God and His power. “We do not ask this because we are righteous,” Daniel prayed. “We ask this because You are merciful.” Daniel pled with God to act quickly because “Your city and Your people bear Your Name.” The modern church, which bears the name of Christ, has turned away from the clear counsel and teaching of the Scriptures. The modern church has set up other gods to replace the true and living God. The modern church has turned its attention to pleasing people instead of serving God. As a result of this turning away from the truth, the modern church is scorned publicly by the world. Unsaved people see no power in the modern church; they do not see God at work in people’s lives. They see petty and meaningless debates over social and political issues. They see a hunger for money and power. They see themselves in the people who bear Christ’s name. We are so often just like them. Is it not time for the people of God to rise up and pray? Is it not time to confess to God that we as His people have sinned? Is it not time to plead with God to restore His church, not because we are righteous, but because He is merciful, and because the church bears the holy Name of His Son. |
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