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Indeed
all Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, not obeying
Thy voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with
the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of
God, for we have sinned against Him. Thus He has confirmed His
words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers
who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole
heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to
Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity
has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD
our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to
Thy truth. (NASB) Dan. 9:11-13 |
Moses had warned them that disobedience would end up in pain and suffering.
It is no different today. Many people ignore God. If they do not like
what the Bible says, they keep looking until they find someone who
tells them what they want to hear. We want a god that we can agree
with - a god we like.
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These
things you have done, and I kept silence; You thought that I
was just like you; I will reprove you, . . . (NASB) Ps. 50:21 |
Calamity
Stored Up. Daniel’s next statement is a surprise to
all of us.
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Therefore,
the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us;
for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds
which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. (NASB)
Dan. 9:14
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God
has just answered our earlier question, “Have you ever wondered
why your discipline went on for so long?” It helps us understand
why the length of pain and suffering may seem too long and too hard.
God stores up our pain and suffering when we refuse to stop sinning.
Daniel said that God “kept the calamity in store and brought
it on us.”
The answer is that God does not usually
bring immediate pain and suffering into our lives when we sin. Sometimes
it seems like we have escaped the penalty of our sin. He is waiting
for us to stop and confess our sins. He is loving and merciful and
not eager to cause us pain.
Stop!
So Daniel asks God to stop, not because the people are good but because
He is loving and merciful.
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