Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need

Where We Should Begin as a Nation - A Point of Beginning

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2024-09-29

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver addresses the question of where to begin in light of national destruction, using Daniel 9 as a model. He argues that the point of beginning is serious, solemn seeking of God through prayer, fasting, and humility, accompanied by confession of sin and acknowledgment of God's righteousness. The message emphasizes that America's tyranny and judgment stem from rejecting God's law, and that only divine mercy can bring deliverance.

[John Weaver] So let's open our Bibles if you would please today to the book of Daniel chapter 9 the book of Daniel chapter 9 and We're going to read the first 11 verses Daniel chapter 9 and let me just go ahead and say that There will be a second part to this message next week, and I just would encourage you to look carefully with me today. So Daniel chapter 9, and we'll begin reading there with verse 1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of years throughout the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] Now I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Now I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant in mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments, We have sinned and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from my precepts and from my judgments.

[John Weaver] Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. For, Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion effaces, as it this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to all Israel that are near, and that are far off, though all, through all the countries where the God has driven them, because of their trespass, that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yet all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing they might not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

[John Weaver] I've been asked repeatedly by a number of people What shall we do in light of the destruction of our country? I've been asked another way, basically the same question. And that would be where do we begin? And the truth of the matter is, every problem has a resolution, but every resolution has a point of beginning. If you do not follow that point of beginning, you will not only not make any progress, you certainly will not reach your desired end or goal.

[John Weaver] That old Chinese proverb, each of us can probably quote from memory, where they said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. And if you don't take the first step, you're certainly not going to make the journey whatsoever. So Daniel was in a position much like we are in today. And Daniel had been taken captive into Babylon. And although he had prospered there because the Lord's hand was upon him, Babylon now had been captured by the Medes and the Persians. And Daniel understood by reading the prophet Jeremiah and other books as well, that the 70 years captivity was pretty close to an end. He didn't know exactly when, but he understood that by the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. And so Daniel then set himself to seek the Lord because he was eager to get out from under the tyranny and the despotism, not only the Babylonians, but now of the Medes and the Persians as well. And what Daniel really wanted to see was the law of God established again and people obeying God's law.

[John Weaver] So if you look in verse two, Daniel says, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Now Daniel then studied the prophet Jeremiah. Undoubtedly he studied all of the Torah which would be the law of God. He also probably studied all of the prophets such as Hosea and Isaiah all of these who basically spoke but if you will turn back in your Bibles very quickly to like Jeremiah chapter 25 to begin with you will see where Jeremiah spoke specifically concerning the 70 years so in Jeremiah chapter 25 and verse 12 the Bible says this and It shall come to pass that when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, said the Lord, for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make it a perpetual desolations. Then if you look in Jeremiah, chapter twenty nine again there in verse ten, he speaks of the 70 years.

[John Weaver] For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my words toward you in causing you to return this place. So he understood then after 70 years, it would end. So he was certainly eager to get out from under tyranny. So let me begin by asking you a question. Think about this, please. How long have we been under tyranny? Well, I can answer that question by asking another question. How long have we been without the law of God? When you think about tyranny, there are different kinds of tyranny. In fact, there is indeed an economic tyranny, and that economic tyranny began with what you and I would call fiat currency.

[John Weaver] And then, of course, it made its headway really straightforward under the Federal Reserve, that is for sure. But political and governmental tyranny began with the rejection of God's law. When you stop and consider how many taxes are now placed upon the American people, and how many different licenses that are demanded from the American people, I think you can begin to get an understanding of the extent of our tyranny And when you understand these things, you will understand why the average American is literally broke.

[John Weaver] For instance, let me give you an illustration. Suppose I went to work for Mike, and he paid me 1000 Federal Reserve notes. That means I would be required or asked to pay taxes on that Federal Reserve note, 1000 Federal Reserve notes. I then take that 1000 Federal Reserve notes on which I would have paid taxes. And I didn't pay Marshall for money that I owe him. Guess what? Now he has to pay taxes on that. And so he didn't turn around and pay Steve. Steve now receives 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. He would pay taxes on that. Steve turns around and pays it to Gary. And now Gary has to pay.

[John Weaver] In other words, there's a never-ending form of taxation. And that's just on what you and I would call the income tax. That doesn't count all the other taxes that, in fact, used to, the average individual had to work, I think it was through April, to pay all of his taxes before he ever really started having anything for himself. But the last I read, it was through July. Before you actually begin to accrue anything for yourself, because the first six to seven months was basically to pay your taxes. When you stop and think about that, it is certainly a bad scenario. But think about the licenses.

[John Weaver] So let me give you a quote from Black's Law Dictionary. You'll also find this in the VA's Law Dictionary. In fact, you'll find it in any dictionary of law. Here's the definition of a license. Listen carefully. A permission accorded by a competent authority conferring a right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal or would be a trespass or a tort.

[John Weaver] Now just stop and think about that. A license is permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful to do. So here's my question. When did it become unlawful to work? When did it become unlawful to marry? When did it become unlawful to travel? When did it become unlawful to cook? When did it become unlawful to share your food with other folks. When did it become unlawful to cut hair to trim nails?

[John Weaver] licenses are required for all of these things. I had a pastor friend he's now dead, but he lived in Texas. He got thrown in jail in Texas. You know why they put him in jail? Because his church happened to be serving meals to homeless people. They were home cooked meals. And the reason they wanted to put him in jail and did put him in jail, because he didn't have a license to do that. He had to have a license to do that which was biblical and right.

[John Weaver] And so he asked them, he said, Let me ask you if I take all of this food. And I get all the homeless people around here together. And I just take the food and throw it into the dumpster. And I walk away, and they crawl into the dumpster and dig it out and eat it. Is a license required? They said no, you've thrown it away. But a license was required if he fed the hungry. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact when you stop and think about the definition, the legal definition of a license, permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful.

[John Weaver] To be absolutely honest, I place no competency and bureaucrats or tyrants, or for any reason whatsoever. And just recently, I was asked by a friend straightforward. He asked me, he said, Pastor, he said, do you want to overthrow our government? I laughed. I said, of course not. I said, all I want to do is throw the wickedness and the corruption out of our government. I said, you have to understand something. You can't live without government. The most basic government is what you and I would call self-government. And if you are not willing to govern yourself by God's law, then you're going to be ruled over by countless hordes of bureaucrats and tyrants as well.

[John Weaver] Let me give you three quick quotes. The first one is from William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. He said, man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants. The second one is John Adams. John Adams said our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any of them. And then John Winthrop is the one who really hit the nail on the head.

[John Weaver] He said it like this. must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet. So basically, the truth is this, if we're not going to be ruled by God, we're actually condemning ourselves to be ruled by tyrants and those hordes of bureaucrats that tyrants send out to control us. In fact, you would find out now just about every aspect of our lives are controlled in some way, either by taxes or licensure.

[John Weaver] I probably told you this, but this happened probably 40 years ago, maybe 50 years ago, I was preaching up in Virginia and I was absolutely horrified To find out that a pastor's son was arrested and put in jail And the reason he was arrested and jailed was he cut down a tree on his own property without a permit Without permit you had to have permission from the Fairfax County To cut down a tree on your own property. I thought Lord have mercy.

[John Weaver] I don't understand this So this is what is happening the global elite who are endeavoring to control every area of our lives are doing so more and more, and it will end in greater tyranny and greater slavery unless there is a point of beginning. So here's the title of this message. Where We Are to begin in this nation or just simply a point of beginning. So in the book of Daniel, chapter nine, Daniel perceived that the 70 years of captivity was almost at an end. He was interested in seeing the tyranny over and he was interested in seeing the holiness and the righteousness and the law of God established again. So here then is our point of beginning.

[John Weaver] I've got two thoughts today. Number one is this. There must be seriousness and a solemnity of purpose for the will of God to be accomplished in deliverance. So if you'll look in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 9 and verse 3, look at what he said. And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

[John Weaver] Now you're talking about being serious and solemn He really and truly was. I think one of the largest problems, one of the biggest problems that we're facing today is the fact that most of us are just simply playing church and most professing Christians are just simply playing at being Christians. There's no seriousness. There's no solemnity and desiring to please and honor God. And the truth is, if we genuinely desire a reformation, not just in our homes, but in our churches, in our communities, in our state, in our nation, there has to be a very serious and solemn point of beginning. And when you ask people why there is no seriousness, and why there is no salinity, and why nothing is done, well, they answer, I'm just too busy, or I don't have enough time. But the interesting thing is when you are arrested just for being a Christian and refusing a license and you're thrown into prison, then you're going to have plenty of time. But that's the standard answer. So let me tell you what we're going to see in verse three.

[John Weaver] Look at this. First of all, we must learn that deep revolting and rebellion and deep affliction calls for what you and I would describe as deep and solemn humiliation." So there are verses and there are truths that we must see in light of this. Daniel, the Bible says in verse 3, set his face to the Lord God. That is, he made sure that he was seeking the Lord. It kind of reminds you of the passage in Psalm 121, verses 1 and 2.

[John Weaver] where David said, I will lift up my eyes into the hills from which cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and the earth. And so that's what Daniel was doing. He was setting his face to seek the Lord. But note, if you would, he was seeking the Lord, first of all, by prayer and supplication. In other words, this was not some little nitty ditty prayer. He was earnest. He was serious. He was solemn.

[John Weaver] He was not praying something now lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. No, that's not what he was praying. Neither was he just biding his time, so to speak. He was actually beseeching God earnestly, genuinely and sincerely.

[John Weaver] Now, the very fact that he was genuine and sincere is demonstrated by the fact he said to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication, which means continuous intercession. It means he is not ceasing in his prayer. He's continuing to pray. And then he said with fasting. Probably the only time most of us fast is when we go to sleep till we wake up the next morning. In fact, that's why breakfast is called breakfast break Fast is what it amounts to. But when you think about fasting, fasting is taught very clearly in the Bible, but there are three types of fasting.

[John Weaver] Most people do not realize that. There is an absolute fast, where you do without food and water. The longest that you could go on an absolute fast would be three days. You go three days without water. You are endangering your life is what it amounts to. However, there were men in the Bible under divine direction who went 40 days and 40 nights without food and water. And that was Elijah as one of them. God fed him and he drank water. The Bible said he went 40 days and 40 nights in light of that. But that was under divine direction. So basically, it's three days, then the regular fast, normal fasting, you know, 40 days without starving to death, or before your body turns and begins eating itself. In a normal fast you do without food, but you drink water, or juice or something similar to that. And then there is a partial fast, which we find in Daniel chapter 10.

[John Weaver] In fact, let me read it to you. And Daniel chapter 10 in verse three, he said, I know pleasant bread. Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled. So for three weeks, he just ate bread. He ate no bread. He just ate peas and drank water. That was it. He kept himself alive, but he was not satisfying his flesh.

[John Weaver] And so fasting then It's really a means not only of humiliating yourself, it's also a means of denying your flesh and you're saying to the Lord, I desire your will and your answer more than my flesh and my pleasure. So Daniel set his face to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication with fasting. And then he said with sackcloth.

[John Weaver] Now, sackcloth in the Bible was a coarse kind of cloth. It was usually made of hair. And it was made for the purpose basically of making bags. I could not help but think, as I thought of sackcloth. When I was a boy, the flower companies put their flower in beautiful material. And women would buy the flower, not just for the flower, but for the sack in which it came.

[John Weaver] So they can make skirts and, and blouses and shirts and all of that stuff. But you know, you wouldn't do that to you and a sack or what we would call a Kroger sack today, you that would be much too rough. But that's what a sackcloth was. It was something was coarse and rough and usually had animal hair on the thing. And you would just dirt it about your waist or your loins. And it was just a form of saying, look, my appearance is at the same time evidencing my internal appearance.

[John Weaver] In other words, I'm I'm humble. I'm suffering. And I want that to be known. But notice, if you would, he said also there was ashes, ashes of the Bible, usually they were put on top of the head. A lot of times men sat on ashes as well. And you remember when Joe lost his ten children, he lost everything he had. And then he was afflicted with sores and worms reading his flesh. The Bible says in Job 2 in verse 8, and he took him a potsherd to scrape himself and sat down among the ashes. So undoubtedly, he put some of those on his head as well. Now, we may not wear sackcloth and ashes.

[John Weaver] But what God is demanding is that attitude, that disposition be one of humility and humiliation. because of our sins, which I'm going to show you momentarily.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you a scripture that probably everyone in this room can quote. But I want you to think about this.

[John Weaver] Second Chronicles chapter seven in verse 14. Listen to this. If my people. Who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways Then I will hear their prayer, forgive their sins, and heal their land. What came first? If my people, which are called by my name, shall not humble themselves.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm going to make is this. If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray. You're never going to seek his face. You're never going to turn from your wicked ways. The Lord's humility basically has to come first. And that's what Daniel is doing. I mean, he's living under tyranny. He's ready for that tyranny to the end, and he's humbling himself. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 57 and verse 15?

[John Weaver] I want you to listen to this. For thus saith the High and Lofty One, we're talking about God, for thus saith the High and Lofty One who inhabited the eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. God said, I dwell in the high and holy place, but I dwell also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit. Those are the ones he said, I'm going to revive now in Jeremiah chapter 29 in verse 13. God said this, and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart.

[John Weaver] So if there's no humility. There's not going to be any repentance, there's not going to be any searching for God because of the pride and arrogant and haughty spirit is not going to allow you to do that. So clearly, then, What Daniel is doing is making sure that he is humbled before God and that his inward attitude is evidenced by his external actions. Here's the second thing.

[John Weaver] We must understand that God's decree, that God's purpose does not excuse us from our duties and obligations to pray and fast and be humble. The truth of the matter is that God's purpose and God's decree establishes our duties and our responsibilities. Why? Listen carefully. Because God isn't only ordained the end, He's also ordained the means to reach that end. And the means to reach that end is just what Daniel is doing, just what 2 Chronicles 7.14 tells us.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a good illustration. I know from scripture that every tyrant is going to fall. I know that. All you have to do is read Psalm 2. What did the kings of the earth do? They united together in rebellion against God. They said, let us break his bands. Let us cast his cords from us. In other words, we don't like God's law. We don't like what God has placed upon us as far as limits, let's cast them away.

[John Weaver] We'll do what we want to do. What does the Bible say? He that sitteth in heaven shall laugh. He shall have them in derision. I know God's going to cast them down. But that does not mean that I no longer have the duty and obligation and privilege to pray against these individuals. And I do pray against them. Called them by name before the Lord and I asked him to do to them exactly what his word Declares that he's going to do. What did David pray about some of these men?

[John Weaver] He said break their arm. Oh Lord He said break their teeth in their mouth cast them down that they rise not up again. Those are pretty good prayers. I I also pray that the Lord will take their power from them, take their money from them, take their position from them, and give it to someone who's going to honor God and obey God. Sure. Just because we know they're going to fall does not mean that we no longer have to pray against them. God commands us to do that. God's promises are intended not to supersede, but also to excite and encourage our prayers. And when we see the day close by like Daniel did, the more we should pray and the more we should beseech and the more we should beg God to bring it to pass quickly. So we must understand. In light of what Daniel is teaching us in verse three, that we have no power in and of ourselves, that everything is of God, and that we must trust in him totally and completely.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the second thing that I want to emphasize today, and that is this. In seeking God, there must be an acknowledging and an admission. an acknowledgement and an admission. So if you look in your Bibles, beginning with verse four, look at what he said. And I prayed to the Lord my God and made my confession and said, Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments.

[John Weaver] Now let's stop there for a moment. So in the serious and solemn prayer, there has to be an acknowledgment and an affirmation. And so the very first thing he does is he acknowledges God. He acknowledges God's sovereignty. He acknowledges God's righteousness and God's holiness. He acknowledges the fact that God is God and he calls him in this passage in verse four, the great dreadful God now we use the word dreadful differently than the Bible does so if if Marshall told me well I just lost $20,000 I'd say and that's dreadful that's horrible that's how we mean the word dreadful but the Hebrew word dreadful here is the word a yare And it literally means to be held in reverence, to be honored, to be respected. It means to be feared and to be held in awe. It is the same exact Hebrew word that is translated as reverence in Psalm 89 and verse seven, where the Bible says, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. and to be held in reverence of those that are about him.

[John Weaver] So the word dreadful actually means to be held in reverence as well. So what Daniel is doing in verse 4 is he's honoring God and he's acknowledging God by placing him first. So it's just like our Lord told us to pray in Luke 11. He said, when you pray, you say, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

[John Weaver] And we honor him before we ever get to give us this day our daily bread. And in other words, he comes first. So the very first confession, the very first acknowledgement is for God and his honor and his glory.

[John Weaver] Now, the second part of this confession is our admission of our sins. So look, if you would, please, at verse five. Here's the first admission. So Daniel says we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from by precepts and from by judgments.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to take careful note of the wording in verse 5. Look at it carefully. He said, we've sinned, we've committed iniquity, we've done wickedly, we've rebelled. How did you get all of these sins? Here's the answer. Even by departing from by precepts and by judgments. Once you leave God's law, you've left Holiness and righteousness and obedience and you've gone into sin and wickedness now Here's the second affirmation look in verse 6 He says neither have we hearken unto thy service the prophets Which spake in thy name to our kings our princes and our fathers and all the people of the land They departed from God's precepts and his judgments because of They refused to hear God's preachers who spoke in God's name Wow It was not just a sin of the people it was that but it was also the sin of the Kings and the princes and the rulers You remember

[John Weaver] When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt He brought them into the edge of the promised land and said go in and conquer it Well, they sent spies in and 10 of the spies brought back an evil report. And the people got scared and said, No, no, we're, we're not gonna go in fight. God said, All right, I'm going to judge you. Your men spend 40 days searching the land, I'm gonna give you a year per day, you're going to wander the wilderness for 40 years. They said, Oh, in that case, then we're going to go up and fight. God said through Moses, don't go. I'm not with you. You're going to get destroyed. Don't go.

[John Weaver] And so the Bible says in Deuteronomy, chapter one, verse forty three. So I've spoken to you. Listen carefully. And you would not hear but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord and went presumptuously up the hill. But you would not hear. If you'll look in your Bibles, just turn back, hold Daniel 9, but turn back to Jeremiah chapter 29. I could show you this passage in a multitude of ways in the book of Jeremiah alone, but if you look in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 19 at what God says, Jeremiah 29 verse 19, look at this. God says, Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, watch, but you would not hear, saith the Lord. God said, I sent it to you. You just wouldn't listen to me. You would not hear.

[John Weaver] May I remind you that this is actually the source of all of our problems. We won't hear. We will not listen. We do not want the truth. We do not wish the truth. We do not want the truth. We do not desire the truth. Skip down to verse 10 of Daniel chapter 9, if you would. Go back to Daniel chapter 9. Look, if you would, at verse 10. And verse 11, I want to come back to these two verses, but look at them in light of this verse in neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord, our God, the walk in his laws, which he set before us by service of prophets. So God had already given them his law. Then he says this year, all Israel have transgressed by law, even by departing that they might not obey thy voice.

[John Weaver] Therefore, the curses poured upon us. and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we've sinned against him.

[John Weaver] Now, look, if you would, at verse 11. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice. We don't we don't want to hear. We don't want to obey. And so we're just we're not going to listen. Our heart is hardened against you.

[John Weaver] Now, I skip verses 89 for a reason. I'm going to come back to verses 8 and 9, and I want to tie them in to 10 and 11, but I want you to look at verse 8. We're still talking about confession, and in this confession, there has to be an acknowledgement and an admission. So in verse 8, you have another acknowledgement concerning God, where Daniel says, O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face.

[John Weaver] to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, because we've sinned against thee. Then he says in verse nine, to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just stop and go back to verse eight. He says, Oh, Lord, to us belong confusion of face. Notice his confusion of face goes to our kings, our princes, our fathers. because we've sinned against them. You know what confusion of face is? It's when you're perplexed. It's when you don't know what to do. You don't know how to respond. What's a confused individual, a confused individual is someone who could do anything, but he does nothing. Because he doesn't know what to do.

[John Weaver] There's an excellent illustration of this that I read years ago. Spurgeon was talking about one of the great fires in England. And this huge building was on fire. And the people formed a bucket brigade. And they were passing buckets of water trying to put the fire out. And one man who happened to be I think a blacksmith ran in with a huge hammer and started beating on a beam.

[John Weaver] And finally, someone stopped and said, What are you doing? Do you realize that if you break that beam, then the building's going to collapse and fall on us? What are you doing? And the man responded with this answer. I don't really know. But under the circumstances, I thought ought to be doing something. Well, that's what a confused person does. He usually ends up destroying everyone and everything.

[John Weaver] Now, the interesting thing is the Hebrew word for confused here is the word bosheth. It only refers to that which is confused, but refers to that which is shameful, that which is ashamed, and that which is shamed face. It is also the same word that is used in the Bible for an idol. Which it is interpreted or translated as a detestable or shameful thing. So anything that has the word bosheth in it in the Hebrew means something that is very shameful, very confused.

[John Weaver] And so this is what Daniel was saying. To us belongs confusion of face. We need to be ashamed. We need to be confused because we rebelled and we've sinned against you. But he said, in verse 10, or verse 9, to the Lord our God belong in mercies and forgiveness, though we rebelled against him. Now, let me tell you what Daniel is doing in these two verses. Daniel is justifying God and condemning himself and his people. How can he be justifying God? You remember that passage in the book of Luke chapter 7 in verse 29, and it has reference to the preaching of John the Baptist. The Bible says in that passage, and all the people that heard him justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. How in the world do you justify God?

[John Weaver] Well, justification is a is a forensic term. It's an act and a declaration of law. And so when John came along preaching the baptism of repentance because the people were sinning, the publicans in the heart said, Yeah, you're right. We're sinners. We're wicked. We're wrong. And God is right in condemning us. He's just in condemning us. So that's how they justify God. And that's exactly what Daniel is doing here.

[John Weaver] He says to us belong confusion of faces. To us belongs shamefulness. We are the ones that sin. But he said, oh, Lord, to you, you have mercy and you have forgiveness, dear Lord. And you are just in what you have done unto us.

[John Weaver] Now, the interesting thing is this. Everything that happened to Israel that happened to Judah and Jerusalem. Was just, you know, Daniel is confessing that they should be ashamed because of their willful disobedience to God and His law. I want to show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, first and foremost, to the book of Leviticus, chapter 26. Leviticus 26. And look, if you would, beginning there with verse 39. Leviticus 26 verse 39.

[John Weaver] And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemy's lands. And also in the iniquities of their father shall they pine away with them. Now, you and I know and understand the expression to pine away. It means we're suffering. It means we're whining. They're crying, they're doing without. So he says, you're going to whine away and pine away in your enemy's land because of your iniquities. Look in verse 40. If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their trespass, which they trespass against me, and that also they have walked contrary to me and that I have walked contrary unto them, they have brought them into the land of their enemies. If then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham, will I remember, and I will remember the land. So God says, if you are pining away in your sins, and if you confess and admit that you walk contrary to me, and yes, I'm walking contrary to you because of your sins, And if you begin to repent and seek me, then says God, I will hear.

[John Weaver] But let's make this a little more specific. Let's turn over to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28. And let's begin reading there with verse 45. And I want to read through verse 58. I want you to watch this. Here we go. Look at this. Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 45. God says, moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake thee. Let me stop right there. What God is saying is very simple.

[John Weaver] You cannot outrun God's judgment. They will chase you down, overtake you and fall over you. He says, moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed, because here's the reason thou hearkenest not in the voice of the Lord by God to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commanded thee. And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for wonder and upon my seed forever. Now here's why they were in captivity. One reason, watch this. Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things.

[John Weaver] You didn't want to listen to me. You didn't want to worship me. Therefore shall thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in one of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he destroyed thee. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth as swift as the eagle flyeth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand.

[John Weaver] We have a bunch of those already in this country. A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old nor show favor to the young. And that's being demonstrated in every city. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle and the fruit of thy land until thou be destroyed. Which also shall not leave thee, either corn, or wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kind, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustest throughout all thy land. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straightness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee.

[John Weaver] So the man that is tender among you and very delicate is I shall be evil toward his brother and toward the wife of his bosom and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat. Because he had nothing left him in the siege and in the straightness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in all thy gates. the tender and delicate woman among you, which would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness. Her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom and toward her son and toward her daughter and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet and toward her children, which she shall bear. For she shall eat them for one of all things secretly in the siege and straightness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

[John Weaver] Now look, If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear the glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God. So here's the whole point. They were warned. They would not listen. God not only spelled it out through Moses, Go back in your Bibles to the book of Daniel, chapter 9, and look at verse 11. Look what he says.

[John Weaver] He's telling you exactly what happened. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured out upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, Because we've sinned against him. That's what I just read to you out of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Not only was it spelled out for them, but all these other prophets went and preached and warned them and told them and besought them to repent. And they refused to repent. So what Daniel is saying is this, God, you are absolutely just. In punishing us. Now, here's the thing.

[John Weaver] It's easy for you and I to sit back today and say, Judah and Jerusalem got what they deserved. And they did. But how eager are you to say that America is getting what she deserves? because we too have forsaken God's law. God is just in punishing America exactly the way he was just in punishing Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel. The Bible tells you in Isaiah chapter 33 and verse 22, for the Lord is judge, the Lord is the lawgiver, the Lord is our king, He will save us. So God is king, lawgiver, and judge. That is why the Bible says in James 4 and verse 12, for there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy.

[John Weaver] I want to give you one quick quote before I make some applications. This quote is from John Calvin. Listen to what he says concerning Daniel. He confessed his sin and that of his people. He does not speak here of one kind of sin, but under the word cheetah, he comprehends all kinds of wickednesses. As if he had said, when I was confessing myself as steeped in sin and drowned in iniquity, I confess the same on behalf of my people. We must notice also the phrase, the sin of my people Israel.

[John Weaver] He might have omitted this noun, but he wished to testify before God to the church being guilty of the slightest hope of absolution, unless God, who may have so deservedly offended, was graciously pleased to reconcile him to himself. And that's why he said to us belongs confusion of faces, but to you belongs mercy and forgiveness. So here's the first application. The truth of the matter is our only hope lies in God himself.

[John Weaver] He must be merciful to us. If he is not merciful to us, we are just as gone as Judah and Jerusalem. We may not have the Babylonians like the southern kingdom or the Syrians like the northern kingdom, but we are being invaded left and right. So to the Lord our God belongs mercies and forgiveness, though we've rebelled against him. So we have to acknowledge God's mercies in God's forgiveness. That's why the psalmist said in Psalm 130 in verse four, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. And then, of course, in Ephesians one and verse seven, the Bible says in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. When you read Psalm 81, you'll find the psalmist begging God, turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned. And the truth is, if God does not turn us, we will not be turned.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you two more passages. light of this message. I want you to turn right over to the book of Joel. So you have Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and Amos. So I want you to look in Joel chapter 1 and I want you to look at verse 14. In the book of Joel, destruction was coming. Look in verse 6. For a nation has come up upon my land, strong and without number, whose teeth are as the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste and barked my fig tree. He hath made it clean bare and casted away the branches thereof are made white.

[John Weaver] He says lament like a virgin girded with the sackcloth for a husband of her youth. The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord. The priest, the Lord's ministers mourn. The field is wasted, the lawn of the land mourneth, and for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Skip down, if you would, to verse 13. Look what he says. Gird yourselves and lament, you priests. How, you ministers of the altar! Come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. For the meal offerings and the drink offerings is withholden from the house of your God. Look what he tells you, sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, get habits of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto the Lord.

[John Weaver] That's a point of beginning. Gerd yourselves and lament how loud and sackcloth you ministers of my God. Sank the value of fasts, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. Look, if you would, in Joel chapter two, beginning there with verse 12. Look at it. Therefore also now saith the Lord, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments. And turn the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repented them of the evil. Note, if you would, he said, turn even unto me with all your heart. With what? With fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments.

[John Weaver] In other words, yes, they made the outside to appear as the inside was in reality, but God says you don't have to have sackcloth and ashes on if the inside, if your disposition, if your attitude is one of repentance and humility. He said, turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and of great kindness and repented him of the evil. So what is our point of beginning? Our point of beginning is the same as that of Daniel For we must with all seriousness and solemnity set ourselves to seek the Lord with mourning, with fasting, with prayer and supplication, with all humility, begging Him to forgive our sins and to heal our land and to turn us from ourselves unto Himself and His law. That's a point. of beginning. Let's pray.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace. We ask for your mercy. We ask for your kindness. And we ask, Lord, that you turn us. And Lord, that you would give us some seriousness in our lives. Some solemnity when it comes to observing the destruction of our nation, the destruction of our people. Help us, Lord, to cry unto thee with genuine sincerity and earnestness, with humility, seeking repentance and forgiveness. Give us your grace and your mercy, we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we pray. Amen. you

Where We Should Begin as a Nation - A Point of Beginning

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	4SCp9W9s8lk
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-09-29
Dictation Name
Book	Book 043: Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need — Chapter 22
Source Timed Segments	79

Formatted Transcript

Opening

So let's open our Bibles, if you would please, today to the book of Daniel chapter 9. The book of Daniel chapter 9, and we're going to read the first 11 verses. Daniel chapter 9, and let me just go ahead and say that there will be a second part to this message next week, and I just would encourage you to look carefully with me today. So Daniel chapter 9, and we'll begin reading there with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 9:1-11

"In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments." "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

Introduction: The Need for a Point of Beginning

Weaver introduces the question of what to do amid national destruction and asserts that every resolution requires a point of beginning, illustrated by Daniel's situation in Babylon.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 9:1-11

"Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

I've been asked repeatedly by a number of people, "What shall we do in light of the destruction of our country?" I've been asked another way, basically the same question, and that would be, "Where do we begin?" And the truth of the matter is, every problem has a resolution, but every resolution has a point of beginning. If you do not follow that point of beginning, you will not only not make any progress, you certainly will not reach your desired end or goal. That old Chinese proverb, each of us can probably quote from memory, where they said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." And if you don't take the first step, you're certainly not going to make the journey whatsoever. So Daniel was in a position much like we are in today. And Daniel had been taken captive into Babylon. And although he had prospered there because the Lord's hand was upon him, Babylon now had been captured by the Medes and the Persians. And Daniel understood by reading the prophet Jeremiah and other books as well, that the seventy years' captivity was pretty close to an end. He didn't know exactly when, but he understood that by the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. And so Daniel then set himself to seek the Lord because he was eager to get out from under the tyranny and the despotism, not only of the Babylonians, but now of the Medes and the Persians as well. And what Daniel really wanted to see was the law of God established again and people obeying God's law.

Daniel's Context and Study of Scripture

Daniel understood from Jeremiah that the seventy-year captivity was ending, prompting him to seek the Lord for deliverance and the reestablishment of God's law.

So if you look in verse 2, Daniel says, "In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Now Daniel then studied the prophet Jeremiah. Undoubtedly he studied all of the Torah, which would be the law of God. He also probably studied all of the prophets such as Hosea and Isaiah, all of these who basically spoke. But if you will turn back in your Bibles very quickly to like Jeremiah chapter 25 to begin with, you will see where Jeremiah spoke specifically concerning the seventy years. So in Jeremiah chapter 25 and verse 12, the Bible says this: "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." Then if you look in Jeremiah chapter 29, again there in verse 10, he speaks of the seventy years.

"For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place." So he understood then after seventy years, it would end. So he was certainly eager to get out from under tyranny. So let me begin by asking you a question. Think about this, please. How long have we been under tyranny? Well, I can answer that question by asking another question. How long have we been without the law of God? When you think about tyranny, there are different kinds of tyranny. In fact, there is indeed an economic tyranny, and that economic tyranny began with what you and I would call fiat currency.

The Extent of Modern Tyranny

Weaver describes economic and governmental tyranny in America, including endless taxation and licensing requirements that make ordinary activities illegal without permission.

And then, of course, it made its headway really straightforward under the Federal Reserve, that is for sure. But political and governmental tyranny began with the rejection of God's law. When you stop and consider how many taxes are now placed upon the American people, and how many different licenses that are demanded from the American people, I think you can begin to get an understanding of the extent of our tyranny. And when you understand these things, you will understand why the average American is literally broke. For instance, let me give you an illustration. Suppose I went to work for Mike, and he paid me 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. That means I would be required or asked to pay taxes on that Federal Reserve note, 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. I then take that 1,000 Federal Reserve notes on which I would have paid taxes, and I pay Marshall for money that I owe him. Guess what? Now he has to pay taxes on that. And so he then turns around and pays Steve. Steve now receives 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. He would pay taxes on that. Steve turns around and pays it to Gary. And now Gary has to pay.

In other words, there's a never-ending form of taxation. And that's just on what you and I would call the income tax. That doesn't count all the other taxes that, in fact, used to—the average individual had to work, I think it was through April, to pay all of his taxes before he ever really started having anything for himself. But the last I read, it was through July. Before you actually begin to accrue anything for yourself, because the first six to seven months was basically to pay your taxes. When you stop and think about that, it is certainly a bad scenario. But think about the licenses.

So let me give you a quote from Black's Law Dictionary. You'll also find this in Bouvier's Law Dictionary. In fact, you'll find it in any dictionary of law. Here's the definition of a license. Listen carefully. "A permission accorded by a competent authority conferring a right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal or would be a trespass or a tort."

Now just stop and think about that. A license is permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful to do. So here's my question. When did it become unlawful to work? When did it become unlawful to marry? When did it become unlawful to travel? When did it become unlawful to cook? When did it become unlawful to share your food with other folks? When did it become unlawful to cut hair, to trim nails?

Licenses are required for all of these things. I had a pastor friend—he's now dead, but he lived in Texas. He got thrown in jail in Texas. You know why they put him in jail? Because his church happened to be serving meals to homeless people. They were home-cooked meals. And the reason they wanted to put him in jail and did put him in jail was because he didn't have a license to do that. He had to have a license to do that which was biblical and right.

And so he asked them, he said, "Let me ask you: if I take all of this food, and I get all the homeless people around here together, and I just take the food and throw it into the dumpster, and I walk away, and they crawl into the dumpster and dig it out and eat it, is a license required?" They said, "No, you've thrown it away." But a license was required if he fed the hungry. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact when you stop and think about the definition, the legal definition of a license: permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful.

The Necessity of Self-Government Under God's Law

Quoting William Penn, John Adams, and John Winthrop, Weaver argues that without self-government by God's law, people will be ruled by tyrants.

To be absolutely honest, I place no competency in bureaucrats or tyrants, or for any reason whatsoever. And just recently, I was asked by a friend straightforward. He asked me, he said, "Pastor," he said, "do you want to overthrow our government?" I laughed. I said, "Of course not." I said, "All I want to do is throw the wickedness and the corruption out of our government." I said, "You have to understand something. You can't live without government. The most basic government is what you and I would call self-government. And if you are not willing to govern yourself by God's law, then you're going to be ruled over by countless hordes of bureaucrats and tyrants as well."

Let me give you three quick quotes. The first one is from William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. He said, "Man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants." The second one is John Adams. John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." And then John Winthrop is the one who really hit the nail on the head. He said it like this: "...must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet." So basically, the truth is this: if we're not going to be ruled by God, we're actually condemning ourselves to be ruled by tyrants and those hordes of bureaucrats that tyrants send out to control us. In fact, you would find out now just about every aspect of our lives are controlled in some way, either by taxes or licensure.

First Point: Seriousness and Solemnity in Seeking God

Daniel set his face to seek God with prayer, supplication, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, demonstrating deep humility and earnestness.

I've got two thoughts today. Number one is this: There must be seriousness and a solemnity of purpose for the will of God to be accomplished in deliverance. So if you'll look in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 9 and verse 3, look at what he said: "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." Now you're talking about being serious and solemn. He really and truly was. I think one of the largest problems, one of the biggest problems that we're facing today is the fact that most of us are just simply playing church and most professing Christians are just simply playing at being Christians. There's no seriousness. There's no solemnity in desiring to please and honor God. And the truth is, if we genuinely desire a reformation, not just in our homes, but in our churches, in our communities, in our state, in our nation, there has to be a very serious and solemn point of beginning. And when you ask people why there is no seriousness, and why there is no solemnity, and why nothing is done, well, they answer, "I'm just too busy," or "I don't have enough time." But the interesting thing is when you are arrested just for being a Christian and refusing a license and you're thrown into prison, then you're going to have plenty of time. But that's the standard answer. So let me tell you what we're going to see in verse 3.

Look at this. First of all, we must learn that deep revolting and rebellion and deep affliction calls for what you and I would describe as deep and solemn humiliation. So there are verses and there are truths that we must see in light of this. Daniel, the Bible says in verse 3, set his face to the Lord God. That is, he made sure that he was seeking the Lord. It kind of reminds you of the passage in Psalm 121, verses 1 and 2. where David said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 121:1-2

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

And so that's what Daniel was doing. He was setting his face to seek the Lord. But note, if you would, he was seeking the Lord, first of all, by prayer and supplication. In other words, this was not some little nitty-ditty prayer. He was earnest. He was serious. He was solemn.

He was not praying something, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep." No, that's not what he was praying. Neither was he just biding his time, so to speak. He was actually beseeching God earnestly, genuinely, and sincerely. Now, the very fact that he was genuine and sincere is demonstrated by the fact he said to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication, which means continuous intercession. It means he is not ceasing in his prayer. He's continuing to pray. And then he said with fasting. Probably the only time most of us fast is when we go to sleep till we wake up the next morning. In fact, that's why breakfast is called breakfast—break fast is what it amounts to. But when you think about fasting, fasting is taught very clearly in the Bible, but there are three types of fasting.

Most people do not realize that. There is an absolute fast, where you do without food and water. The longest that you could go on an absolute fast would be three days. You go three days without water, you are endangering your life is what it amounts to. However, there were men in the Bible under divine direction who went forty days and forty nights without food and water. And that was Elijah as one of them. God fed him and he drank water. The Bible said he went forty days and forty nights in light of that. But that was under divine direction. So basically, it's three days, then the regular fast, normal fasting, you know, forty days without starving to death, or before your body turns and begins eating itself. In a normal fast you do without food, but you drink water, or juice or something similar to that. And then there is a partial fast, which we find in Daniel chapter 10.

In fact, let me read it to you. In Daniel chapter 10 and verse 3, he said,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 10:3

"I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled."

So for three weeks, he just ate no bread. He just ate peas and drank water. That was it. He kept himself alive, but he was not satisfying his flesh. And so fasting then, it's really a means not only of humiliating yourself, it's also a means of denying your flesh and you're saying to the Lord, "I desire your will and your answer more than my flesh and my pleasure." So Daniel set his face to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication with fasting. And then he said with sackcloth.

Now, sackcloth in the Bible was a coarse kind of cloth. It was usually made of hair. And it was made for the purpose basically of making bags. I could not help but think, as I thought of sackcloth, when I was a boy, the flour companies put their flour in beautiful material. And women would buy the flour, not just for the flour, but for the sack in which it came.

So they can make skirts and blouses and shirts and all of that stuff. But you know, you wouldn't do that with a sack or what we would call a Kroger sack today—that would be much too rough. But that's what sackcloth was. It was something coarse and rough and usually had animal hair on the thing. And you would just gird it about your waist or your loins. And it was just a form of saying, "Look, my appearance is at the same time evidencing my internal appearance." In other words, I'm humble. I'm suffering. And I want that to be known. But notice, if you would, he said also there was ashes. Ashes in the Bible, usually they were put on top of the head. A lot of times men sat on ashes as well. And you remember when Job lost his ten children, he lost everything he had. And then he was afflicted with sores and worms eating his flesh. The Bible says in Job 2 and verse 8,

Scripture Reading — Job 2:8

"And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes."

So undoubtedly, he put some of those on his head as well. Now, we may not wear sackcloth and ashes.

Humility as the Prerequisite for Prayer and Repentance

Using 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Isaiah 57:15, Weaver stresses that humility must come before prayer, seeking God, and turning from wickedness.

Now, let me give you a scripture that probably everyone in this room can quote. But I want you to think about this. Second Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14. Listen to this.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 7:14

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

What came first?

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 7:14

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves."

Now, the point I'm going to make is this. If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray. You're never going to seek his face. You're never going to turn from your wicked ways. The humility basically has to come first. And that's what Daniel is doing. I mean, he's living under tyranny. He's ready for that tyranny to end, and he's humbling himself. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 57 and verse 15?

I want you to listen to this. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." God said, "I dwell in the high and holy place, but I dwell also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit." Those are the ones he said, "I'm going to revive." Now in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13, God said this: "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." So if there's no humility, there's not going to be any repentance, there's not going to be any searching for God because the pride and arrogant and haughty spirit is not going to allow you to do that. So clearly, then, what Daniel is doing is making sure that he is humbled before God and that his inward attitude is evidenced by his external actions. Here's the second thing.

God's Decrees Do Not Excuse Our Duties

God's ordained ends include ordained means; knowing tyrants will fall does not remove the obligation to pray against them and seek God's intervention.

We must understand that God's decree, that God's purpose does not excuse us from our duties and obligations to pray and fast and be humble. The truth of the matter is that God's purpose and God's decree establishes our duties and our responsibilities. Why? Listen carefully. Because God has not only ordained the end, He's also ordained the means to reach that end. And the means to reach that end is just what Daniel is doing, just what 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us. Let me give you a good illustration. I know from scripture that every tyrant is going to fall. I know that. All you have to do is read Psalm 2. What did the kings of the earth do? They united together in rebellion against God. They said, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." In other words, we don't like God's law. We don't like what God has placed upon us as far as limits, let's cast them away.

We'll do what we want to do. What does the Bible say? "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." I know God's going to cast them down. But that does not mean that I no longer have the duty and obligation and privilege to pray against these individuals. And I do pray against them. I call them by name before the Lord and I ask him to do to them exactly what his word declares that he's going to do. What did David pray about some of these men?

He said, "Break their arm, O Lord." He said, "Break their teeth in their mouth; cast them down, that they rise not up again." Those are pretty good prayers. I also pray that the Lord will take their power from them, take their money from them, take their position from them, and give it to someone who's going to honor God and obey God. Sure. Just because we know they're going to fall does not mean that we no longer have to pray against them. God commands us to do that. God's promises are intended not to supersede, but also to excite and encourage our prayers. And when we see the day close by like Daniel did, the more we should pray and the more we should beseech and the more we should beg God to bring it to pass quickly. So we must understand, in light of what Daniel is teaching us in verse 3, that we have no power in and of ourselves, that everything is of God, and that we must trust in him totally and completely.

Second Point: Acknowledging God and Admitting Sin

Daniel's prayer begins by honoring God as great and dreadful, then confesses Israel's sin, rebellion, and departure from God's precepts.

Now, here's the second thing that I want to emphasize today, and that is this: In seeking God, there must be an acknowledging and an admission. So if you look in your Bibles, beginning with verse 4, look at what he said: "And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments." Now let's stop there for a moment. So in the serious and solemn prayer, there has to be an acknowledgment and an affirmation. And so the very first thing he does is he acknowledges God. He acknowledges God's sovereignty. He acknowledges God's righteousness and God's holiness. He acknowledges the fact that God is God and he calls him in this passage in verse 4, "the great and dreadful God." Now we use the word "dreadful" differently than the Bible does. So if Marshall told me, "Well, I just lost $20,000," I'd say, "And that's dreadful, that's horrible." That's how we mean the word "dreadful." But the Hebrew word "dreadful" here is the word "yare." And it literally means to be held in reverence, to be honored, to be respected. It means to be feared and to be held in awe. It is the same exact Hebrew word that is translated as "reverence" in Psalm 89 and verse 7, where the Bible says, "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him."

So the word "dreadful" actually means to be held in reverence as well. So what Daniel is doing in verse 4 is he's honoring God and he's acknowledging God by placing him first. So it's just like our Lord told us to pray in Luke 11. He said, "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." And we honor him before we ever get to "Give us this day our daily bread." In other words, he comes first. So the very first confession, the very first acknowledgement is for God and his honor and his glory.

Now, the second part of this confession is our admission of our sins. So look, if you would, please, at verse 5. Here's the first admission. So Daniel says, "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments."

Now, I want you to take careful note of the wording in verse 5. Look at it carefully. He said, "We've sinned, we've committed iniquity, we've done wickedly, we've rebelled." How did you get all of these sins? Here's the answer: "Even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments." Once you leave God's law, you've left holiness and righteousness and obedience and you've gone into sin and wickedness. Now here's the second affirmation. Look in verse 6. He says, "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land." They departed from God's precepts and his judgments because they refused to hear God's preachers who spoke in God's name. Wow. It was not just a sin of the people—it was that—but it was also the sin of the kings and the princes and the rulers. You remember

Refusal to Hear God's Prophets

The root of Israel's sin was rejecting God's messengers; Weaver applies this to modern refusal to hear truth.

when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them into the edge of the promised land and said, "Go in and conquer it." Well, they sent spies in and ten of the spies brought back an evil report. And the people got scared and said, "No, no, we're not gonna go in and fight." God said, "All right, I'm going to judge you. Your men spent forty days searching the land, I'm gonna give you a year per day, you're going to wander the wilderness for forty years." They said, "Oh, in that case, then we're going to go up and fight." God said through Moses, "Don't go. I'm not with you. You're going to get destroyed. Don't go." And so the Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 43,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:43

"So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill."

But you would not hear. If you'll look in your Bibles, just turn back, hold Daniel 9, but turn back to Jeremiah chapter 29. I could show you this passage in a multitude of ways in the book of Jeremiah alone, but if you look in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 19 at what God says, Jeremiah 29 verse 19, look at this. God says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:43

"Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord."

God said, "I sent it to you. You just wouldn't listen to me. You would not hear."

May I remind you that this is actually the source of all of our problems. We won't hear. We will not listen. We do not want the truth. We do not wish the truth. We do not desire the truth. Skip down to verse 10 of Daniel chapter 9, if you would. Go back to Daniel chapter 9. Look, if you would, at verse 10 and verse 11. I want to come back to these two verses, but look at them in light of this verse: "Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets." So God had already given them his law. Then he says this: "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice."

"Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

Confusion of Face and Justifying God

Daniel confesses shame and confusion belong to the people, while mercy and forgiveness belong to God, thus justifying God's judgments.

"to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee." Then he says in verse 9, "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him." Now, let me just stop and go back to verse 8. He says, "O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face." Notice his confusion of face goes to "our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against thee." You know what confusion of face is? It's when you're perplexed. It's when you don't know what to do. You don't know how to respond. What's a confused individual? A confused individual is someone who could do anything, but he does nothing. Because he doesn't know what to do.

There's an excellent illustration of this that I read years ago. Spurgeon was talking about one of the great fires in England. And this huge building was on fire. And the people formed a bucket brigade. And they were passing buckets of water trying to put the fire out. And one man who happened to be, I think, a blacksmith ran in with a huge hammer and started beating on a beam. And finally, someone stopped and said, "What are you doing? Do you realize that if you break that beam, then the building's going to collapse and fall on us? What are you doing?" And the man responded with this answer: "I don't really know. But under the circumstances, I thought I ought to be doing something." Well, that's what a confused person does. He usually ends up destroying everyone and everything.

Now, the interesting thing is the Hebrew word for "confused" here is the word "bosheth." It not only refers to that which is confused, but refers to that which is shameful, that which is ashamed, and that which is shamed face. It is also the same word that is used in the Bible for an idol, which it is interpreted or translated as a detestable or shameful thing. So anything that has the word "bosheth" in it in the Hebrew means something that is very shameful, very confused. And so this is what Daniel was saying. "To us belongs confusion of face." We need to be ashamed. We need to be confused because we rebelled and we've sinned against you. But he said, in verse 9, "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him." Now, let me tell you what Daniel is doing in these two verses. Daniel is justifying God and condemning himself and his people. How can he be justifying God? You remember that passage in the book of Luke chapter 7 and verse 29, and it has reference to the preaching of John the Baptist. The Bible says in that passage, "And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John." How in the world do you justify God?

Well, justification is a forensic term. It's an act and a declaration of law. And so when John came along preaching the baptism of repentance because the people were sinning, the publicans and the harlots said, "Yeah, you're right. We're sinners. We're wicked. We're wrong. And God is right in condemning us. He's just in condemning us." So that's how they justify God. And that's exactly what Daniel is doing here.

He says, "To us belongeth confusion of faces." To us belongs shamefulness. We are the ones that sinned. But he said, "O Lord, to you belong mercies and forgivenesses, dear Lord. And you are just in what you have done unto us."

Now, the interesting thing is this: Everything that happened to Israel, that happened to Judah and Jerusalem, was just. You know, Daniel is confessing that they should be ashamed because of their willful disobedience to God and His law. I want to show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, first and foremost, to the book of Leviticus, chapter 26. Leviticus 26. And look, if you would, beginning there with verse 39. Leviticus 26 verse 39.

"And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them." Now, you and I know and understand the expression "to pine away." It means we're suffering. It means we're whining. They're crying, they're doing without. So he says, "You're going to pine away in your enemies' land because of your iniquities." Look in verse 40. "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land." So God says, if you are pining away in your sins, and if you confess and admit that you walked contrary to me, and yes, I'm walking contrary to you because of your sins, and if you begin to repent and seek me, then says God, I will hear.

America's Parallel to Israel's Judgment

Weaver argues America is under God's just judgment for forsaking His law, just as Israel was, and must likewise confess and seek mercy.

It's easy for you and I to sit back today and say, "Judah and Jerusalem got what they deserved." And they did. But how eager are you to say that America is getting what she deserves? Because we too have forsaken God's law. God is just in punishing America exactly the way he was just in punishing Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel. The Bible tells you in Isaiah chapter 33 and verse 22,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 33:22

"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."

So God is king, lawgiver, and judge. That is why the Bible says in James 4 and verse 12, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy."

I want to give you one quick quote before I make some applications. This quote is from John Calvin. Listen to what he says concerning Daniel: "He confessed his sin and that of his people. He does not speak here of one kind of sin, but under the word 'chata'ah,' he comprehends all kinds of wickednesses. As if he had said, 'When I was confessing myself as steeped in sin and drowned in iniquity, I confess the same on behalf of my people.' We must notice also the phrase, 'the sin of my people Israel.'" "He might have omitted this noun, but he wished to testify before God to the church being guilty of the slightest hope of absolution, unless God, who may have so deservedly offended, was graciously pleased to reconcile him to himself." And that's why he said, "To us belongs confusion of faces, but to you belongs mercy and forgiveness." So here's the first application. The truth of the matter is our only hope lies in God himself.

Application: Our Only Hope Is God's Mercy

The message concludes that the point of beginning is to seek the Lord with fasting, weeping, and humility, begging for forgiveness and healing.

He must be merciful to us. If he is not merciful to us, we are just as gone as Judah and Jerusalem. We may not have the Babylonians like the southern kingdom or the Syrians like the northern kingdom, but we are being invaded left and right. So to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we've rebelled against him. So we have to acknowledge God's mercies and God's forgiveness. That's why the psalmist said in Psalm 130 and verse 4, "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." And then, of course, in Ephesians 1 and verse 7, the Bible says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." When you read Psalm 80, you'll find the psalmist begging God, "Turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned." And the truth is, if God does not turn us, we will not be turned.

Now, I want to show you two more passages in light of this message. I want you to turn right over to the book of Joel. So you have Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and Amos. So I want you to look in Joel chapter 1 and I want you to look at verse 14. In the book of Joel, destruction was coming. Look in verse 6. "For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white."

He says, "Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth." Skip down, if you would, to verse 13. Look what he says. "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord."

That's a point of beginning.

Scripture Reading — Joel 1:6-14; 2:12-13

"Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord."

Look, if you would, in Joel chapter 2, beginning there with verse 12. Look at it.

Scripture Reading — Joel 1:6-14; 2:12-13

"Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."

Note, if you would, he said, "Turn ye even to me with all your heart." With what? "With fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments."

In other words, yes, they made the outside to appear as the inside was in reality, but God says you don't have to have sackcloth and ashes on if the inside, if your disposition, if your attitude is one of repentance and humility. He said, "Turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." So what is our point of beginning? Our point of beginning is the same as that of Daniel. For we must with all seriousness and solemnity set ourselves to seek the Lord with mourning, with fasting, with prayer and supplication, with all humility, begging Him to forgive our sins and to heal our land and to turn us from ourselves unto Himself and His law. That's a point of beginning. Let's pray.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The necessity of a point of beginning for national reformation

Summary: Every resolution requires a starting point; for national deliverance, that point is serious, solemn seeking of God.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Every problem has a resolution, but every resolution has a point of beginning.'

Tyranny as a consequence of rejecting God's law

Summary: Economic and governmental tyranny, including endless taxation and licensing, results from abandoning God's law.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Political and governmental tyranny began with the rejection of God's law.'

Humility as the prerequisite for prayer and repentance

Summary: Humility must precede effective prayer and turning from wickedness, as seen in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes, 'If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray.'

God's decrees establish our duties

Summary: Knowing God's sovereign plan does not excuse us from the duty to pray and fast; God ordains both ends and means.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'God has not only ordained the end, He's also ordained the means to reach that end.'

Confession of sin and justifying God

Summary: True repentance involves acknowledging God's righteousness and our shame, justifying God's judgments.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Daniel is justifying God and condemning himself and his people.'

America's parallel to Israel's judgment

Summary: America is under God's just judgment for forsaking His law, just as Israel was, and must respond with confession.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'How eager are you to say that America is getting what she deserves?'

God's mercy as the only hope

Summary: Deliverance depends entirely on God's mercy and forgiveness, not human effort.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Our only hope lies in God himself. He must be merciful to us.'

Key Arguments

Daniel's example provides the biblical pattern for national repentance

Summary: Daniel's response to tyranny—prayer, fasting, sackcloth, ashes, and confession—is the model for America today.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Daniel was in a position much like we are in today... So here then is our point of beginning.'

Licensing and taxation are forms of tyranny stemming from lawlessness

Summary: The legal definition of a license shows that many ordinary activities have been made unlawful, reflecting rejection of God's law.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Black's Law Dictionary: 'A permission accorded by a competent authority conferring a right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal.'

Self-government under God's law is the alternative to tyranny

Summary: Without internal governance by God's word, external tyranny is inevitable.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John Winthrop: '...must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet.'

Seriousness and solemnity are required for effective prayer

Summary: Daniel's use of fasting, sackcloth, and ashes demonstrates an earnestness that modern Christians often lack.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I think one of the largest problems... is the fact that most of us are just simply playing church.'

Refusal to hear God's prophets is the root of national sin

Summary: Israel's departure from God's law was due to rejecting the prophets; America similarly rejects truth.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'This is actually the source of all of our problems. We won't hear. We will not listen.'

God's judgments are just and should be acknowledged

Summary: Daniel's confession of confusion of face and justification of God shows that America must admit its deserved punishment.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God is just in punishing America exactly the way he was just in punishing Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel.'

Fasting and prayer are means God uses to bring deliverance

Summary: Joel 1-2 calls for fasting, weeping, and mourning as the proper response to impending judgment.

Evidence: Weaver reads Joel 1:14: 'Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly... and cry unto the Lord.'

Scripture References

Daniel 9:1-11

Context: The primary text; Daniel's prayer of confession and supplication.

Jeremiah 25:12

Context: Prophecy of seventy years of captivity and punishment of Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:10

Context: Promise of return after seventy years.

Psalm 121:1-2

Context: Illustration of looking to the Lord for help, as Daniel did.

Daniel 10:3

Context: Example of a partial fast.

Job 2:8

Context: Job sitting in ashes as a sign of mourning.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Context: Conditional promise of healing if God's people humble themselves and pray.

Isaiah 57:15

Context: God dwells with the humble and contrite.

Jeremiah 29:13

Context: Promise of finding God when sought with all the heart.

Psalm 2

Context: God's derision of rebellious kings; assurance of their fall.

Psalm 89:7

Context: God is to be held in reverence.

Luke 11:2

Context: The Lord's Prayer model of honoring God first.

Deuteronomy 1:43

Context: Israel's rebellion and refusal to hear.

Jeremiah 29:19

Context: God sent prophets but the people would not hear.

Luke 7:29

Context: The people justified God by accepting John's baptism of repentance.

Leviticus 26:39-42

Context: Promise of restoration if Israel confesses iniquity and humbles themselves.

Deuteronomy 28:45-58

Context: Curses for disobedience, including siege and cannibalism.

Isaiah 33:22

Context: The Lord is judge, lawgiver, and king.

James 4:12

Context: There is one lawgiver able to save and destroy.

Joel 1:6-14; 2:12-13

Context: Call to fasting, weeping, and turning to the Lord.

Historical References

Babylonian captivity and Medo-Persian conquest

Context: Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, which was later conquered by the Medes and Persians; he awaited the end of the seventy-year captivity.

William Penn quote

Context: Founder of Pennsylvania: 'Man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants.'

John Adams quote

Context: Second U.S. President: 'Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.'

John Winthrop quote

Context: Puritan leader: '...must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet.'

Pastor jailed in Texas for feeding homeless without a license

Context: A pastor friend of Weaver was jailed because his church served home-cooked meals to homeless people without a license.

Man arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia for cutting a tree without a permit

Context: A pastor's son was jailed for cutting down a tree on his own property without a permit.

Charles Spurgeon illustration of a confused man at a fire

Context: Spurgeon told of a man who beat a beam during a fire, endangering everyone, illustrating confusion.

John Calvin quote on Daniel's confession

Context: Calvin commented on Daniel's comprehensive confession of sin for himself and his people.

Important Quotes

Every problem has a resolution, but every resolution has a point of beginning.

Significance: Establishes the central premise that national reformation requires a specific starting point.

Political and governmental tyranny began with the rejection of God's law.

Significance: Identifies the root cause of tyranny as abandonment of divine law.

A license is permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful to do.

Significance: Uses legal definition to expose how licensing makes ordinary activities illegal.

Man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants.

Significance: William Penn quote summarizing the choice between divine and human tyranny.

If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray. You're never going to seek his face. You're never going to turn from your wicked ways.

Significance: Highlights humility as the essential first step in repentance.

God has not only ordained the end, He's also ordained the means to reach that end.

Significance: Argues that God's sovereignty includes the means of prayer and fasting.

To us belongeth confusion of faces. To us belongs shamefulness. We are the ones that sinned. But he said, O Lord, to you belong mercies and forgivenesses.

Significance: Captures Daniel's confession of shame and appeal to God's mercy.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to have a 'point of beginning' in addressing national problems, and why is Daniel's example relevant?

Context: Weaver introduces the concept that every resolution needs a starting point, using Daniel 9.

How does the rejection of God's law lead to economic and governmental tyranny?

Context: Weaver connects fiat currency, taxation, and licensing to lawlessness.

In what ways do modern Christians lack the seriousness and solemnity that Daniel demonstrated?

Context: Weaver critiques 'playing church' and contrasts it with Daniel's fasting and sackcloth.

Why is humility the prerequisite for prayer and repentance according to 2 Chronicles 7:14?

Context: Weaver explains that without humility, one will not truly pray or turn from sin.

How does knowing God's sovereign plan motivate rather than excuse our prayers?

Context: Weaver argues that God's decrees establish our duty to pray and fast.

What does it mean to 'justify God' in confession, and how did Daniel do this?

Context: Weaver explains the forensic term and applies it to Daniel's prayer.

In what ways is America parallel to Israel in experiencing God's judgment?

Context: Weaver draws parallels between the curses in Deuteronomy 28 and modern America.

What practical steps can we take to 'rend our hearts' and turn to the Lord as Joel describes?

Context: Weaver cites Joel 2:12-13 as the point of beginning for national repentance.

Applications

Set your face to seek the Lord with seriousness

Summary: Imitate Daniel by prioritizing earnest prayer, fasting, and humility as the starting point for personal and national reformation.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'There must be seriousness and a solemnity of purpose for the will of God to be accomplished in deliverance.'

Humble yourself before God

Summary: Cultivate a contrite and humble spirit, recognizing that pride prevents true prayer and repentance.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray.'

Pray against tyrants and for God's intervention

Summary: Even knowing God's sovereign plan, actively pray for the downfall of wicked rulers and the establishment of righteousness.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I do pray against them. I call them by name before the Lord.'

Confess national and personal sins

Summary: Acknowledge that America's troubles are just judgment for forsaking God's law, and confess specific sins of rebellion and disobedience.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God is just in punishing America exactly the way he was just in punishing Judah.'

Justify God in your confession

Summary: In prayer, affirm God's righteousness and accept the shame of sin, appealing only to His mercy.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Daniel is justifying God and condemning himself and his people.'

Engage in fasting as a spiritual discipline

Summary: Practice fasting—whether absolute, normal, or partial—as a means of humbling yourself and seeking God's will above fleshly desires.

Evidence: Weaver describes three types of fasting and says, 'Fasting... is really a means not only of humiliating yourself, it's also a means of denying your flesh.'

Hear and obey God's Word

Summary: Reverse the pattern of rebellion by listening to God's precepts and the messages of faithful preachers.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'This is actually the source of all of our problems. We won't hear.'

Trust in God's mercy alone

Summary: Recognize that deliverance depends entirely on God's forgiveness and grace, not human effort.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Our only hope lies in God himself. He must be merciful to us.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:08:18Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:45:37Z

Clean Transcript

Where We Should Begin as a Nation - A Point of Beginning

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

So let's open our Bibles, if you would please, today to the book of Daniel chapter 9. The book of Daniel chapter 9, and we're going to read the first 11 verses. Daniel chapter 9, and let me just go ahead and say that there will be a second part to this message next week, and I just would encourage you to look carefully with me today. So Daniel chapter 9, and we'll begin reading there with verse 1. "In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem."
#1 | 0:11 to 1:05 | cleaned
"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments."
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"Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."
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I've been asked repeatedly by a number of people, "What shall we do in light of the destruction of our country?" I've been asked another way, basically the same question, and that would be, "Where do we begin?" And the truth of the matter is, every problem has a resolution, but every resolution has a point of beginning. If you do not follow that point of beginning, you will not only not make any progress, you certainly will not reach your desired end or goal.
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That old Chinese proverb, each of us can probably quote from memory, where they said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." And if you don't take the first step, you're certainly not going to make the journey whatsoever. So Daniel was in a position much like we are in today. And Daniel had been taken captive into Babylon. And although he had prospered there because the Lord's hand was upon him, Babylon now had been captured by the Medes and the Persians. And Daniel understood by reading the prophet Jeremiah and other books as well, that the seventy years' captivity was pretty close to an end. He didn't know exactly when, but he understood that by the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. And so Daniel then set himself to seek the Lord because he was eager to get out from under the tyranny and the despotism, not only of the Babylonians, but now of the Medes and the Persians as well. And what Daniel really wanted to see was the law of God established again and people obeying God's law.
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So if you look in verse 2, Daniel says, "In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Now Daniel then studied the prophet Jeremiah. Undoubtedly he studied all of the Torah, which would be the law of God. He also probably studied all of the prophets such as Hosea and Isaiah, all of these who basically spoke. But if you will turn back in your Bibles very quickly to like Jeremiah chapter 25 to begin with, you will see where Jeremiah spoke specifically concerning the seventy years. So in Jeremiah chapter 25 and verse 12, the Bible says this: "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." Then if you look in Jeremiah chapter 29, again there in verse 10, he speaks of the seventy years.
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"For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place." So he understood then after seventy years, it would end. So he was certainly eager to get out from under tyranny. So let me begin by asking you a question. Think about this, please. How long have we been under tyranny? Well, I can answer that question by asking another question. How long have we been without the law of God? When you think about tyranny, there are different kinds of tyranny. In fact, there is indeed an economic tyranny, and that economic tyranny began with what you and I would call fiat currency.
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And then, of course, it made its headway really straightforward under the Federal Reserve, that is for sure. But political and governmental tyranny began with the rejection of God's law. When you stop and consider how many taxes are now placed upon the American people, and how many different licenses that are demanded from the American people, I think you can begin to get an understanding of the extent of our tyranny. And when you understand these things, you will understand why the average American is literally broke.
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For instance, let me give you an illustration. Suppose I went to work for Mike, and he paid me 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. That means I would be required or asked to pay taxes on that Federal Reserve note, 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. I then take that 1,000 Federal Reserve notes on which I would have paid taxes, and I pay Marshall for money that I owe him. Guess what? Now he has to pay taxes on that. And so he then turns around and pays Steve. Steve now receives 1,000 Federal Reserve notes. He would pay taxes on that. Steve turns around and pays it to Gary. And now Gary has to pay.
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In other words, there's a never-ending form of taxation. And that's just on what you and I would call the income tax. That doesn't count all the other taxes that, in fact, used to—the average individual had to work, I think it was through April, to pay all of his taxes before he ever really started having anything for himself. But the last I read, it was through July. Before you actually begin to accrue anything for yourself, because the first six to seven months was basically to pay your taxes. When you stop and think about that, it is certainly a bad scenario. But think about the licenses.
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So let me give you a quote from Black's Law Dictionary. You'll also find this in Bouvier's Law Dictionary. In fact, you'll find it in any dictionary of law. Here's the definition of a license. Listen carefully. "A permission accorded by a competent authority conferring a right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal or would be a trespass or a tort."
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Now just stop and think about that. A license is permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful to do. So here's my question. When did it become unlawful to work? When did it become unlawful to marry? When did it become unlawful to travel? When did it become unlawful to cook? When did it become unlawful to share your food with other folks? When did it become unlawful to cut hair, to trim nails?
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Licenses are required for all of these things. I had a pastor friend—he's now dead, but he lived in Texas. He got thrown in jail in Texas. You know why they put him in jail? Because his church happened to be serving meals to homeless people. They were home-cooked meals. And the reason they wanted to put him in jail and did put him in jail was because he didn't have a license to do that. He had to have a license to do that which was biblical and right.
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And so he asked them, he said, "Let me ask you: if I take all of this food, and I get all the homeless people around here together, and I just take the food and throw it into the dumpster, and I walk away, and they crawl into the dumpster and dig it out and eat it, is a license required?" They said, "No, you've thrown it away." But a license was required if he fed the hungry. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact when you stop and think about the definition, the legal definition of a license: permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful.
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To be absolutely honest, I place no competency in bureaucrats or tyrants, or for any reason whatsoever. And just recently, I was asked by a friend straightforward. He asked me, he said, "Pastor," he said, "do you want to overthrow our government?" I laughed. I said, "Of course not." I said, "All I want to do is throw the wickedness and the corruption out of our government." I said, "You have to understand something. You can't live without government. The most basic government is what you and I would call self-government. And if you are not willing to govern yourself by God's law, then you're going to be ruled over by countless hordes of bureaucrats and tyrants as well."
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Let me give you three quick quotes. The first one is from William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. He said, "Man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants." The second one is John Adams. John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." And then John Winthrop is the one who really hit the nail on the head.
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He said it like this: "...must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet." So basically, the truth is this: if we're not going to be ruled by God, we're actually condemning ourselves to be ruled by tyrants and those hordes of bureaucrats that tyrants send out to control us. In fact, you would find out now just about every aspect of our lives are controlled in some way, either by taxes or licensure.
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I probably told you this, but this happened probably 40 years ago, maybe 50 years ago, I was preaching up in Virginia and I was absolutely horrified to find out that a pastor's son was arrested and put in jail. And the reason he was arrested and jailed was he cut down a tree on his own property without a permit. Without a permit, you had to have permission from Fairfax County to cut down a tree on your own property. I thought, "Lord, have mercy."
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I don't understand this. So this is what is happening: the global elite who are endeavoring to control every area of our lives are doing so more and more, and it will end in greater tyranny and greater slavery unless there is a point of beginning. So here's the title of this message: "Where We Are to Begin in This Nation" or just simply "A Point of Beginning." So in the book of Daniel, chapter 9, Daniel perceived that the seventy years of captivity was almost at an end. He was interested in seeing the tyranny over and he was interested in seeing the holiness and the righteousness and the law of God established again. So here then is our point of beginning.
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I've got two thoughts today. Number one is this: There must be seriousness and a solemnity of purpose for the will of God to be accomplished in deliverance. So if you'll look in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 9 and verse 3, look at what he said: "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes."
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Now you're talking about being serious and solemn. He really and truly was. I think one of the largest problems, one of the biggest problems that we're facing today is the fact that most of us are just simply playing church and most professing Christians are just simply playing at being Christians. There's no seriousness. There's no solemnity in desiring to please and honor God. And the truth is, if we genuinely desire a reformation, not just in our homes, but in our churches, in our communities, in our state, in our nation, there has to be a very serious and solemn point of beginning. And when you ask people why there is no seriousness, and why there is no solemnity, and why nothing is done, well, they answer, "I'm just too busy," or "I don't have enough time." But the interesting thing is when you are arrested just for being a Christian and refusing a license and you're thrown into prison, then you're going to have plenty of time. But that's the standard answer. So let me tell you what we're going to see in verse 3.
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Look at this. First of all, we must learn that deep revolting and rebellion and deep affliction calls for what you and I would describe as deep and solemn humiliation. So there are verses and there are truths that we must see in light of this. Daniel, the Bible says in verse 3, set his face to the Lord God. That is, he made sure that he was seeking the Lord. It kind of reminds you of the passage in Psalm 121, verses 1 and 2.
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where David said, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." And so that's what Daniel was doing. He was setting his face to seek the Lord. But note, if you would, he was seeking the Lord, first of all, by prayer and supplication. In other words, this was not some little nitty-ditty prayer. He was earnest. He was serious. He was solemn.
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He was not praying something, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep." No, that's not what he was praying. Neither was he just biding his time, so to speak. He was actually beseeching God earnestly, genuinely, and sincerely.
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Now, the very fact that he was genuine and sincere is demonstrated by the fact he said to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication, which means continuous intercession. It means he is not ceasing in his prayer. He's continuing to pray. And then he said with fasting. Probably the only time most of us fast is when we go to sleep till we wake up the next morning. In fact, that's why breakfast is called breakfast—break fast is what it amounts to. But when you think about fasting, fasting is taught very clearly in the Bible, but there are three types of fasting.
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Most people do not realize that. There is an absolute fast, where you do without food and water. The longest that you could go on an absolute fast would be three days. You go three days without water, you are endangering your life is what it amounts to. However, there were men in the Bible under divine direction who went forty days and forty nights without food and water. And that was Elijah as one of them. God fed him and he drank water. The Bible said he went forty days and forty nights in light of that. But that was under divine direction. So basically, it's three days, then the regular fast, normal fasting, you know, forty days without starving to death, or before your body turns and begins eating itself. In a normal fast you do without food, but you drink water, or juice or something similar to that. And then there is a partial fast, which we find in Daniel chapter 10.
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In fact, let me read it to you. In Daniel chapter 10 and verse 3, he said, "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." So for three weeks, he just ate no bread. He just ate peas and drank water. That was it. He kept himself alive, but he was not satisfying his flesh.
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And so fasting then, it's really a means not only of humiliating yourself, it's also a means of denying your flesh and you're saying to the Lord, "I desire your will and your answer more than my flesh and my pleasure." So Daniel set his face to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication with fasting. And then he said with sackcloth.
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Now, sackcloth in the Bible was a coarse kind of cloth. It was usually made of hair. And it was made for the purpose basically of making bags. I could not help but think, as I thought of sackcloth, when I was a boy, the flour companies put their flour in beautiful material. And women would buy the flour, not just for the flour, but for the sack in which it came.
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So they can make skirts and blouses and shirts and all of that stuff. But you know, you wouldn't do that with a sack or what we would call a Kroger sack today—that would be much too rough. But that's what sackcloth was. It was something coarse and rough and usually had animal hair on the thing. And you would just gird it about your waist or your loins. And it was just a form of saying, "Look, my appearance is at the same time evidencing my internal appearance."
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In other words, I'm humble. I'm suffering. And I want that to be known. But notice, if you would, he said also there was ashes. Ashes in the Bible, usually they were put on top of the head. A lot of times men sat on ashes as well. And you remember when Job lost his ten children, he lost everything he had. And then he was afflicted with sores and worms eating his flesh. The Bible says in Job 2 and verse 8, "And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes." So undoubtedly, he put some of those on his head as well. Now, we may not wear sackcloth and ashes.
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But what God is demanding is that attitude, that disposition be one of humility and humiliation, because of our sins, which I'm going to show you momentarily.
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Now, let me give you a scripture that probably everyone in this room can quote. But I want you to think about this.
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Second Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14. Listen to this. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." What came first? "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves."
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Now, the point I'm going to make is this. If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray. You're never going to seek his face. You're never going to turn from your wicked ways. The humility basically has to come first. And that's what Daniel is doing. I mean, he's living under tyranny. He's ready for that tyranny to end, and he's humbling himself. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 57 and verse 15?
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I want you to listen to this. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." God said, "I dwell in the high and holy place, but I dwell also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit." Those are the ones he said, "I'm going to revive." Now in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13, God said this: "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
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So if there's no humility, there's not going to be any repentance, there's not going to be any searching for God because the pride and arrogant and haughty spirit is not going to allow you to do that. So clearly, then, what Daniel is doing is making sure that he is humbled before God and that his inward attitude is evidenced by his external actions. Here's the second thing.
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We must understand that God's decree, that God's purpose does not excuse us from our duties and obligations to pray and fast and be humble. The truth of the matter is that God's purpose and God's decree establishes our duties and our responsibilities. Why? Listen carefully. Because God has not only ordained the end, He's also ordained the means to reach that end. And the means to reach that end is just what Daniel is doing, just what 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us.
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Let me give you a good illustration. I know from scripture that every tyrant is going to fall. I know that. All you have to do is read Psalm 2. What did the kings of the earth do? They united together in rebellion against God. They said, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." In other words, we don't like God's law. We don't like what God has placed upon us as far as limits, let's cast them away.
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We'll do what we want to do. What does the Bible say? "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." I know God's going to cast them down. But that does not mean that I no longer have the duty and obligation and privilege to pray against these individuals. And I do pray against them. I call them by name before the Lord and I ask him to do to them exactly what his word declares that he's going to do. What did David pray about some of these men?
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He said, "Break their arm, O Lord." He said, "Break their teeth in their mouth; cast them down, that they rise not up again." Those are pretty good prayers. I also pray that the Lord will take their power from them, take their money from them, take their position from them, and give it to someone who's going to honor God and obey God. Sure. Just because we know they're going to fall does not mean that we no longer have to pray against them. God commands us to do that. God's promises are intended not to supersede, but also to excite and encourage our prayers. And when we see the day close by like Daniel did, the more we should pray and the more we should beseech and the more we should beg God to bring it to pass quickly. So we must understand, in light of what Daniel is teaching us in verse 3, that we have no power in and of ourselves, that everything is of God, and that we must trust in him totally and completely.
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Now, here's the second thing that I want to emphasize today, and that is this: In seeking God, there must be an acknowledging and an admission. So if you look in your Bibles, beginning with verse 4, look at what he said: "And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments."
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Now let's stop there for a moment. So in the serious and solemn prayer, there has to be an acknowledgment and an affirmation. And so the very first thing he does is he acknowledges God. He acknowledges God's sovereignty. He acknowledges God's righteousness and God's holiness. He acknowledges the fact that God is God and he calls him in this passage in verse 4, "the great and dreadful God." Now we use the word "dreadful" differently than the Bible does. So if Marshall told me, "Well, I just lost $20,000," I'd say, "And that's dreadful, that's horrible." That's how we mean the word "dreadful." But the Hebrew word "dreadful" here is the word "yare." And it literally means to be held in reverence, to be honored, to be respected. It means to be feared and to be held in awe. It is the same exact Hebrew word that is translated as "reverence" in Psalm 89 and verse 7, where the Bible says, "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him."
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So the word "dreadful" actually means to be held in reverence as well. So what Daniel is doing in verse 4 is he's honoring God and he's acknowledging God by placing him first. So it's just like our Lord told us to pray in Luke 11. He said, "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done."
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And we honor him before we ever get to "Give us this day our daily bread." In other words, he comes first. So the very first confession, the very first acknowledgement is for God and his honor and his glory.
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Now, the second part of this confession is our admission of our sins. So look, if you would, please, at verse 5. Here's the first admission. So Daniel says, "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments."
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Now, I want you to take careful note of the wording in verse 5. Look at it carefully. He said, "We've sinned, we've committed iniquity, we've done wickedly, we've rebelled." How did you get all of these sins? Here's the answer: "Even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments." Once you leave God's law, you've left holiness and righteousness and obedience and you've gone into sin and wickedness. Now here's the second affirmation. Look in verse 6. He says, "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land." They departed from God's precepts and his judgments because they refused to hear God's preachers who spoke in God's name. Wow. It was not just a sin of the people—it was that—but it was also the sin of the kings and the princes and the rulers. You remember
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when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them into the edge of the promised land and said, "Go in and conquer it." Well, they sent spies in and ten of the spies brought back an evil report. And the people got scared and said, "No, no, we're not gonna go in and fight." God said, "All right, I'm going to judge you. Your men spent forty days searching the land, I'm gonna give you a year per day, you're going to wander the wilderness for forty years." They said, "Oh, in that case, then we're going to go up and fight." God said through Moses, "Don't go. I'm not with you. You're going to get destroyed. Don't go."
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And so the Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 43, "So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill." But you would not hear. If you'll look in your Bibles, just turn back, hold Daniel 9, but turn back to Jeremiah chapter 29. I could show you this passage in a multitude of ways in the book of Jeremiah alone, but if you look in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 19 at what God says, Jeremiah 29 verse 19, look at this. God says, "Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord." God said, "I sent it to you. You just wouldn't listen to me. You would not hear."
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May I remind you that this is actually the source of all of our problems. We won't hear. We will not listen. We do not want the truth. We do not wish the truth. We do not desire the truth. Skip down to verse 10 of Daniel chapter 9, if you would. Go back to Daniel chapter 9. Look, if you would, at verse 10 and verse 11. I want to come back to these two verses, but look at them in light of this verse: "Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets." So God had already given them his law. Then he says this: "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice."
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"Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."
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Now, look, if you would, at verse 11. "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice." We don't want to hear. We don't want to obey. And so we're just not going to listen. Our heart is hardened against you.
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Now, I skipped verses 8 and 9 for a reason. I'm going to come back to verses 8 and 9, and I want to tie them in to 10 and 11, but I want you to look at verse 8. We're still talking about confession, and in this confession, there has to be an acknowledgement and an admission. So in verse 8, you have another acknowledgement concerning God, where Daniel says, "O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face."
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"to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee." Then he says in verse 9, "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him."
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Now, let me just stop and go back to verse 8. He says, "O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face." Notice his confusion of face goes to "our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against thee." You know what confusion of face is? It's when you're perplexed. It's when you don't know what to do. You don't know how to respond. What's a confused individual? A confused individual is someone who could do anything, but he does nothing. Because he doesn't know what to do.
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There's an excellent illustration of this that I read years ago. Spurgeon was talking about one of the great fires in England. And this huge building was on fire. And the people formed a bucket brigade. And they were passing buckets of water trying to put the fire out. And one man who happened to be, I think, a blacksmith ran in with a huge hammer and started beating on a beam.
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And finally, someone stopped and said, "What are you doing? Do you realize that if you break that beam, then the building's going to collapse and fall on us? What are you doing?" And the man responded with this answer: "I don't really know. But under the circumstances, I thought I ought to be doing something." Well, that's what a confused person does. He usually ends up destroying everyone and everything.
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Now, the interesting thing is the Hebrew word for "confused" here is the word "bosheth." It not only refers to that which is confused, but refers to that which is shameful, that which is ashamed, and that which is shamed face. It is also the same word that is used in the Bible for an idol, which it is interpreted or translated as a detestable or shameful thing. So anything that has the word "bosheth" in it in the Hebrew means something that is very shameful, very confused.
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And so this is what Daniel was saying. "To us belongs confusion of face." We need to be ashamed. We need to be confused because we rebelled and we've sinned against you. But he said, in verse 9, "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him." Now, let me tell you what Daniel is doing in these two verses. Daniel is justifying God and condemning himself and his people. How can he be justifying God? You remember that passage in the book of Luke chapter 7 and verse 29, and it has reference to the preaching of John the Baptist. The Bible says in that passage, "And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John." How in the world do you justify God?
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Well, justification is a forensic term. It's an act and a declaration of law. And so when John came along preaching the baptism of repentance because the people were sinning, the publicans and the harlots said, "Yeah, you're right. We're sinners. We're wicked. We're wrong. And God is right in condemning us. He's just in condemning us." So that's how they justify God. And that's exactly what Daniel is doing here.
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He says, "To us belongeth confusion of faces." To us belongs shamefulness. We are the ones that sinned. But he said, "O Lord, to you belong mercies and forgivenesses, dear Lord. And you are just in what you have done unto us."
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Now, the interesting thing is this: Everything that happened to Israel, that happened to Judah and Jerusalem, was just. You know, Daniel is confessing that they should be ashamed because of their willful disobedience to God and His law. I want to show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, first and foremost, to the book of Leviticus, chapter 26. Leviticus 26. And look, if you would, beginning there with verse 39. Leviticus 26 verse 39.
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"And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them." Now, you and I know and understand the expression "to pine away." It means we're suffering. It means we're whining. They're crying, they're doing without. So he says, "You're going to pine away in your enemies' land because of your iniquities." Look in verse 40. "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land." So God says, if you are pining away in your sins, and if you confess and admit that you walked contrary to me, and yes, I'm walking contrary to you because of your sins, and if you begin to repent and seek me, then says God, I will hear.
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But let's make this a little more specific. Let's turn over to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28. And let's begin reading there with verse 45. And I want to read through verse 58. I want you to watch this. Here we go. Look at this. Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 45. God says, "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee." Let me stop right there. What God is saying is very simple.
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You cannot outrun God's judgment. They will chase you down, overtake you and fall over you. He says, "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things."
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You didn't want to listen to me. You didn't want to worship me. "Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand."
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We have a bunch of those already in this country. "A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young." And that's being demonstrated in every city. "And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee."
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"So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates."
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Now look, "If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD." So here's the whole point. They were warned. They would not listen. God not only spelled it out through Moses. Go back in your Bibles to the book of Daniel, chapter 9, and look at verse 11. Look what he says.
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He's telling you exactly what happened. "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him." That's what I just read to you out of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Not only was it spelled out for them, but all these other prophets went and preached and warned them and told them and besought them to repent. And they refused to repent. So what Daniel is saying is this: "God, you are absolutely just in punishing us." Now, here's the thing.
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It's easy for you and I to sit back today and say, "Judah and Jerusalem got what they deserved." And they did. But how eager are you to say that America is getting what she deserves? Because we too have forsaken God's law. God is just in punishing America exactly the way he was just in punishing Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel. The Bible tells you in Isaiah chapter 33 and verse 22, "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us." So God is king, lawgiver, and judge. That is why the Bible says in James 4 and verse 12, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy."
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I want to give you one quick quote before I make some applications. This quote is from John Calvin. Listen to what he says concerning Daniel: "He confessed his sin and that of his people. He does not speak here of one kind of sin, but under the word 'chata'ah,' he comprehends all kinds of wickednesses. As if he had said, 'When I was confessing myself as steeped in sin and drowned in iniquity, I confess the same on behalf of my people.' We must notice also the phrase, 'the sin of my people Israel.'"
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"He might have omitted this noun, but he wished to testify before God to the church being guilty of the slightest hope of absolution, unless God, who may have so deservedly offended, was graciously pleased to reconcile him to himself." And that's why he said, "To us belongs confusion of faces, but to you belongs mercy and forgiveness." So here's the first application. The truth of the matter is our only hope lies in God himself.
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He must be merciful to us. If he is not merciful to us, we are just as gone as Judah and Jerusalem. We may not have the Babylonians like the southern kingdom or the Syrians like the northern kingdom, but we are being invaded left and right. So to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we've rebelled against him. So we have to acknowledge God's mercies and God's forgiveness. That's why the psalmist said in Psalm 130 and verse 4, "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." And then, of course, in Ephesians 1 and verse 7, the Bible says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." When you read Psalm 80, you'll find the psalmist begging God, "Turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned." And the truth is, if God does not turn us, we will not be turned.
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Now, I want to show you two more passages in light of this message. I want you to turn right over to the book of Joel. So you have Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and Amos. So I want you to look in Joel chapter 1 and I want you to look at verse 14. In the book of Joel, destruction was coming. Look in verse 6. "For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white."
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He says, "Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth." Skip down, if you would, to verse 13. Look what he says. "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord."
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That's a point of beginning. "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord." Look, if you would, in Joel chapter 2, beginning there with verse 12. Look at it. "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." Note, if you would, he said, "Turn ye even to me with all your heart." With what? "With fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments."
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In other words, yes, they made the outside to appear as the inside was in reality, but God says you don't have to have sackcloth and ashes on if the inside, if your disposition, if your attitude is one of repentance and humility. He said, "Turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." So what is our point of beginning? Our point of beginning is the same as that of Daniel. For we must with all seriousness and solemnity set ourselves to seek the Lord with mourning, with fasting, with prayer and supplication, with all humility, begging Him to forgive our sins and to heal our land and to turn us from ourselves unto Himself and His law. That's a point of beginning. Let's pray.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace. We ask for your mercy. We ask for your kindness. And we ask, Lord, that you turn us. And Lord, that you would give us some seriousness in our lives, some solemnity when it comes to observing the destruction of our nation, the destruction of our people. Help us, Lord, to cry unto thee with genuine sincerity and earnestness, with humility, seeking repentance and forgiveness. Give us your grace and your mercy, we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:08:18Z

Where We Should Begin as a Nation - A Point of Beginning

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver addresses the question of where to begin in light of national destruction, using Daniel 9 as a model. He argues that the point of beginning is serious, solemn seeking of God through prayer, fasting, and humility, accompanied by confession of sin and acknowledgment of God's righteousness. The message emphasizes that America's tyranny and judgment stem from rejecting God's law, and that only divine mercy can bring deliverance.

Opening

Scripture Reading — Daniel 9:1-11

"In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments." "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

Introduction: The Need for a Point of Beginning

Weaver introduces the question of what to do amid national destruction and asserts that every resolution requires a point of beginning, illustrated by Daniel's situation in Babylon.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 9:1-11

"Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

Daniel's Context and Study of Scripture

Daniel understood from Jeremiah that the seventy-year captivity was ending, prompting him to seek the Lord for deliverance and the reestablishment of God's law.

The Extent of Modern Tyranny

Weaver describes economic and governmental tyranny in America, including endless taxation and licensing requirements that make ordinary activities illegal without permission.

The Necessity of Self-Government Under God's Law

Quoting William Penn, John Adams, and John Winthrop, Weaver argues that without self-government by God's law, people will be ruled by tyrants.

First Point: Seriousness and Solemnity in Seeking God

Daniel set his face to seek God with prayer, supplication, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, demonstrating deep humility and earnestness.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 121:1-2

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

In fact, let me read it to you. In Daniel chapter 10 and verse 3, he said,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 10:3

"I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled."

Scripture Reading — Job 2:8

"And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes."

So undoubtedly, he put some of those on his head as well. Now, we may not wear sackcloth and ashes.

Humility as the Prerequisite for Prayer and Repentance

Using 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Isaiah 57:15, Weaver stresses that humility must come before prayer, seeking God, and turning from wickedness.

Now, let me give you a scripture that probably everyone in this room can quote. But I want you to think about this. Second Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14. Listen to this.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 7:14

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

What came first?

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 7:14

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves."

God's Decrees Do Not Excuse Our Duties

God's ordained ends include ordained means; knowing tyrants will fall does not remove the obligation to pray against them and seek God's intervention.

Second Point: Acknowledging God and Admitting Sin

Daniel's prayer begins by honoring God as great and dreadful, then confesses Israel's sin, rebellion, and departure from God's precepts.

Refusal to Hear God's Prophets

The root of Israel's sin was rejecting God's messengers; Weaver applies this to modern refusal to hear truth.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:43

"So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:43

"Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord."

God said, "I sent it to you. You just wouldn't listen to me. You would not hear."

"Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

Confusion of Face and Justifying God

Daniel confesses shame and confusion belong to the people, while mercy and forgiveness belong to God, thus justifying God's judgments.

America's Parallel to Israel's Judgment

Weaver argues America is under God's just judgment for forsaking His law, just as Israel was, and must likewise confess and seek mercy.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 33:22

"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."

So God is king, lawgiver, and judge. That is why the Bible says in James 4 and verse 12, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy."

Application: Our Only Hope Is God's Mercy

The message concludes that the point of beginning is to seek the Lord with fasting, weeping, and humility, begging for forgiveness and healing.

That's a point of beginning.

Scripture Reading — Joel 1:6-14; 2:12-13

"Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord."

Look, if you would, in Joel chapter 2, beginning there with verse 12. Look at it.

Scripture Reading — Joel 1:6-14; 2:12-13

"Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."

Note, if you would, he said, "Turn ye even to me with all your heart." With what? "With fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments."

Where We Should Begin as a Nation - A Point of Beginning

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	4SCp9W9s8lk
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-09-29
Dictation Name
Book	Book 043: Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need — Chapter 22
Source Timed Segments	79

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Need for a Point of Beginning: Weaver introduces the question of what to do amid national destruction and asserts that every resolution requires a point of beginning, illustrated by Daniel's situation in Babylon.
Daniel's Context and Study of Scripture: Daniel understood from Jeremiah that the seventy-year captivity was ending, prompting him to seek the Lord for deliverance and the reestablishment of God's law.
The Extent of Modern Tyranny: Weaver describes economic and governmental tyranny in America, including endless taxation and licensing requirements that make ordinary activities illegal without permission.
The Necessity of Self-Government Under God's Law: Quoting William Penn, John Adams, and John Winthrop, Weaver argues that without self-government by God's law, people will be ruled by tyrants.
First Point: Seriousness and Solemnity in Seeking God: Daniel set his face to seek God with prayer, supplication, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, demonstrating deep humility and earnestness.
Humility as the Prerequisite for Prayer and Repentance: Using 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Isaiah 57:15, Weaver stresses that humility must come before prayer, seeking God, and turning from wickedness.
God's Decrees Do Not Excuse Our Duties: God's ordained ends include ordained means; knowing tyrants will fall does not remove the obligation to pray against them and seek God's intervention.
Second Point: Acknowledging God and Admitting Sin: Daniel's prayer begins by honoring God as great and dreadful, then confesses Israel's sin, rebellion, and departure from God's precepts.
Refusal to Hear God's Prophets: The root of Israel's sin was rejecting God's messengers; Weaver applies this to modern refusal to hear truth.
Confusion of Face and Justifying God: Daniel confesses shame and confusion belong to the people, while mercy and forgiveness belong to God, thus justifying God's judgments.
America's Parallel to Israel's Judgment: Weaver argues America is under God's just judgment for forsaking His law, just as Israel was, and must likewise confess and seek mercy.
Application: Our Only Hope Is God's Mercy: The message concludes that the point of beginning is to seek the Lord with fasting, weeping, and humility, begging for forgiveness and healing.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Daniel's example provides the biblical pattern for national repentance

Daniel's response to tyranny—prayer, fasting, sackcloth, ashes, and confession—is the model for America today.

Weaver says, 'Daniel was in a position much like we are in today... So here then is our point of beginning.'

Licensing and taxation are forms of tyranny stemming from lawlessness

The legal definition of a license shows that many ordinary activities have been made unlawful, reflecting rejection of God's law.

Weaver quotes Black's Law Dictionary: 'A permission accorded by a competent authority conferring a right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal.'

Self-government under God's law is the alternative to tyranny

Without internal governance by God's word, external tyranny is inevitable.

Weaver quotes John Winthrop: '...must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet.'

Seriousness and solemnity are required for effective prayer

Daniel's use of fasting, sackcloth, and ashes demonstrates an earnestness that modern Christians often lack.

Weaver says, 'I think one of the largest problems... is the fact that most of us are just simply playing church.'

Refusal to hear God's prophets is the root of national sin

Israel's departure from God's law was due to rejecting the prophets; America similarly rejects truth.

Weaver states, 'This is actually the source of all of our problems. We won't hear. We will not listen.'

God's judgments are just and should be acknowledged

Daniel's confession of confusion of face and justification of God shows that America must admit its deserved punishment.

Weaver says, 'God is just in punishing America exactly the way he was just in punishing Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel.'

Fasting and prayer are means God uses to bring deliverance

Joel 1-2 calls for fasting, weeping, and mourning as the proper response to impending judgment.

Weaver reads Joel 1:14: 'Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly... and cry unto the Lord.'

Scripture References

Daniel 9:1-11: The primary text; Daniel's prayer of confession and supplication.
Jeremiah 25:12: Prophecy of seventy years of captivity and punishment of Babylon.
Jeremiah 29:10: Promise of return after seventy years.
Psalm 121:1-2: Illustration of looking to the Lord for help, as Daniel did.
Daniel 10:3: Example of a partial fast.
Job 2:8: Job sitting in ashes as a sign of mourning.
2 Chronicles 7:14: Conditional promise of healing if God's people humble themselves and pray.
Isaiah 57:15: God dwells with the humble and contrite.
Jeremiah 29:13: Promise of finding God when sought with all the heart.
Psalm 2: God's derision of rebellious kings; assurance of their fall.
Psalm 89:7: God is to be held in reverence.
Luke 11:2: The Lord's Prayer model of honoring God first.
Deuteronomy 1:43: Israel's rebellion and refusal to hear.
Jeremiah 29:19: God sent prophets but the people would not hear.
Luke 7:29: The people justified God by accepting John's baptism of repentance.
Leviticus 26:39-42: Promise of restoration if Israel confesses iniquity and humbles themselves.
Deuteronomy 28:45-58: Curses for disobedience, including siege and cannibalism.
Isaiah 33:22: The Lord is judge, lawgiver, and king.
James 4:12: There is one lawgiver able to save and destroy.
Joel 1:6-14; 2:12-13: Call to fasting, weeping, and turning to the Lord.

Historical References

Babylonian captivity and Medo-Persian conquest: Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, which was later conquered by the Medes and Persians; he awaited the end of the seventy-year captivity.
William Penn quote: Founder of Pennsylvania: 'Man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants.'
John Adams quote: Second U.S. President: 'Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.'
John Winthrop quote: Puritan leader: '...must necessarily be controlled either by a power within or a power without them, either by the word of God or by the strong law of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet.'
Pastor jailed in Texas for feeding homeless without a license: A pastor friend of Weaver was jailed because his church served home-cooked meals to homeless people without a license.
Man arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia for cutting a tree without a permit: A pastor's son was jailed for cutting down a tree on his own property without a permit.
Charles Spurgeon illustration of a confused man at a fire: Spurgeon told of a man who beat a beam during a fire, endangering everyone, illustrating confusion.
John Calvin quote on Daniel's confession: Calvin commented on Daniel's comprehensive confession of sin for himself and his people.

Important Quotes

Every problem has a resolution, but every resolution has a point of beginning.

Establishes the central premise that national reformation requires a specific starting point.

Political and governmental tyranny began with the rejection of God's law.

Identifies the root cause of tyranny as abandonment of divine law.

A license is permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be unlawful to do.

Uses legal definition to expose how licensing makes ordinary activities illegal.

Man will be governed by God or he will be ruled by tyrants.

William Penn quote summarizing the choice between divine and human tyranny.

If you don't humble yourself, you're never going to pray. You're never going to seek his face. You're never going to turn from your wicked ways.

Highlights humility as the essential first step in repentance.

God has not only ordained the end, He's also ordained the means to reach that end.

Argues that God's sovereignty includes the means of prayer and fasting.

To us belongeth confusion of faces. To us belongs shamefulness. We are the ones that sinned. But he said, O Lord, to you belong mercies and forgivenesses.

Captures Daniel's confession of shame and appeal to God's mercy.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to have a 'point of beginning' in addressing national problems, and why is Daniel's example relevant?

[Context]

Weaver introduces the concept that every resolution needs a starting point, using Daniel 9.

[Question]

How does the rejection of God's law lead to economic and governmental tyranny?

[Context]

Weaver connects fiat currency, taxation, and licensing to lawlessness.

[Question]

In what ways do modern Christians lack the seriousness and solemnity that Daniel demonstrated?

[Context]

Weaver critiques 'playing church' and contrasts it with Daniel's fasting and sackcloth.

[Question]

Why is humility the prerequisite for prayer and repentance according to 2 Chronicles 7:14?

[Context]

Weaver explains that without humility, one will not truly pray or turn from sin.

[Question]

How does knowing God's sovereign plan motivate rather than excuse our prayers?

[Context]

Weaver argues that God's decrees establish our duty to pray and fast.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'justify God' in confession, and how did Daniel do this?

[Context]

Weaver explains the forensic term and applies it to Daniel's prayer.

[Question]

In what ways is America parallel to Israel in experiencing God's judgment?

[Context]

Weaver draws parallels between the curses in Deuteronomy 28 and modern America.

[Question]

What practical steps can we take to 'rend our hearts' and turn to the Lord as Joel describes?

[Context]

Weaver cites Joel 2:12-13 as the point of beginning for national repentance.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:45:37Z