O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom the captives. In 538 B.C., there was another group of captives being held hostage in the Middle East. It was a much larger group than the one that we are currently concerned about.

It was the remnant of the people of God, the nation of Israel, the whole nation in captivity. They'd been taken captive by the Babylonians some 70 years previous to that. And the circumstances under which they were taken were amongst the grossest and most horrifying that you would care to read about.

Jeremiah had been warning the people for a whole generation that unless they repented unless they turned again to the Lord their God that's precisely what would happen to them he preached his message for 40 years and so far as we can tell he didn't convince a single convert and God's message through Jeremiah over and over and over was you are my people chosen for my name a people in whom My righteousness is to shine forth as a light to the nations. And You have departed from My statutes and My ordinances. You have abused My law.

You have entered into all manner of sin. You have trusted in foreign alliances rather than the strength of the arm of the Lord. You have compromised the purity of Your commitment to Me and have bowed down and served false gods.

And unless you repent, you will surely be visited with destruction. Nobody listened. They tried to silence Jeremiah.

They tried to kill him. They destroyed his prophecy. They ripped it up and threw it in a fire.

And then it came true. The Babylonians marched into Israel they ravished the women they destroyed most of the young men they sowed salt into the fields so that they'd never produce again and those who were left who weren't killed in that slaughter they led off into captivity with pruning hooks through their mouths and out their cheeks like you would hold fish on a line the people of God God's bride. And for 70 years they remained in captivity, hostage to the most degrading of circumstances and virtually without hope.

That was in 538 B.C. Just that year, King Cyrus of Persia was coming into the ascendancy and shortly he was about to conquer the Babylonians. And what's doubly interesting about that particular story is that ancient Persia, where all of this is taking place, is precisely the same piece of real estate as modern-day Iran.

If you were to take a survey of the history of ancient Persia, I think something would strike you. unarguable that down through countless generations of history the nation of Persia by whatever name it's been called and under whatever government it's lived has by and large been anti-God anti-God's people anti-Jewish and then anti-Christian and one begins to be aware of the fact that there is a spiritual problem that has fastened itself to that particular part of the world in a dramatic way. I'd like to take a look at a story this morning of a man who prayed for his people under those circumstances.

The man's name was Daniel. You'll find the story on page 772 of the Bibles in your pews. as we see the man Daniel at prayer the Holy Spirit lifts the corner of the tent just a few inches and we see into a world that is usually unseen by us, a world of spiritual reality above and beyond the machinations of men and nations.

It seems to me that whatever else you have to say about this present circumstance, that what is becoming increasingly clear every day is that it is not primarily a matter of the lives of 50 people and their families, it is not even primarily a matter of the honor or the might or the future role of America. But it is in fact a spiritual confrontation between two diametrically opposed world views, between two diametrically opposed religious perspectives. Our president has asked us to pray.

Church bells all across the land and here at Truro are ringing every day. And the media tells us that there is a higher level of awareness and concern about this particular situation than anything in recent history. But the question is, how do we pray?

What do we pray? Do we pray that America would be vindicated? Or is there a deeper concern that God would bring to us this morning?

I'm just going to summarize the story of Daniel 10 and invite you to read it at your leisure with your family. it may strike you as one of the most bizarre stories in the whole of the Bible. We read that in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, and the word was true and it was a great conflict.

I've described a little bit of the conflict to you. It was a time of depressing, demoralizing, devastating conflict. And Daniel was moved to pray into a sustained period of prayer and fasting, of denying himself and mourning for his people.

And he prayed, it tells us, for three weeks. And at the end of that time, a full three weeks later, an angel comes to visit him. And the angel's message is this.

He says, I was sent from God to you at the very beginning of your prayer. You say, well, how come it took three weeks? Because as I came to you, I was hindered by the prince of the kingdom of Persia.

Now that's biblical language for an angelic being. That is not a human person that we're talking about. The king of Persia we've already identified as Cyrus.

but the prince over the kingdom of Persia is an angelic being opposed to the angels of God on the side, in fact, of the evil one. Can you picture this? An angel sent from God come to Daniel, and en route he's opposed and there's some kind of a fight between the angel of God and the angel of Satan in the heavenlies.

And the angel says it was only when Michael, the archangel, who was given particular superintendency over the nation of Israel, only when Michael came to my aid that I was able to prevail. One senses, as you read between the lines, that it was as Daniel continued to pray that Michael was dispatched to the rescue. Look at verse 12 and following.

Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, so I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia and came to make you understand what is to befall your people in the latter days.

For the vision is for days to come. As I say, that may strike you as an utterly bizarre account. And I can't prove it to you this morning.

I can hardly even explain it to you in the amount of time we have. But that's a tiny glimpse into the biblical worldview. And I would submit to you that until we begin to believe that God has His angels and archangels and Satan has his angels and archangels and the real battle is a spiritual one between the forces of God and the forces of the evil one, we're going to be very limited in our prayers.

I don't know if you've worked this out at all, but what do you think it is for you to pray and ask God to intervene in the affairs of men? How is he going to do that? The answer is that when we dare to ask God to affect the course of history, what we're doing is engaging in spiritual warfare by remote control. That's what we're really doing. When you dare to begin to believe that, it changes the way you pray. You see, the Iranians are not the problem. You don't have to hate the Iranians.

The problem is a spiritual one. And I would submit to you this morning, I don't know if you'd agree or not, but I would submit to you that half-civilized Islam is God's rebuke to the decadent West. I'll say that again.

That half-civilized Islam is God's rebuke to the decadent West. Because for all of their saber-rattling and all of their warmongering and all of their lust for martyrdom, they rightly abhor the things stench in the nostrils of God. A million abortions a year.

Divorce rate of nearly 50% the collapse of the family. A gluttony for material luxury while the world starves around us. Corruption in government, corruption in business, corruption in industry.

this nation of ours which began with such a longing to be the Puritans called it an errand into the wilderness a new beginning to be God's chosen people to be a light to the nations as was ancient Israel and we who have gloried in the heritage that is ours as Jews and Christians the people of God have departed so far from it. If you read through the prophecies of Jeremiah, you'll see a pattern over and over and over again. God says, I will raise up nations to rebuke my own people.

Nations which are themselves secular, which are themselves godless, which are themselves idolaters. I'll raise up other nations to be the instrument of my discipline when my people depart from their covenant. it's not to say they're right it's to say I'll use even them because I care about my people that's not just Old Testament friends Paul put it this way he said we're not contending against flesh and blood it's not a human struggle but against the principalities against the powers against the world rulers of this present darkness against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

And then he encouraged those Ephesians to take unto themselves the whole armor of God for a spiritual battle. And the primary offensive weapon, he says, pray. Pray.

When you begin to see who the enemy really is, it's not the Iranians. It's a spiritual battle. And the issue is not the vindication of our nation.

It's the vindication of God. What was the result of Daniel's prayer? You might be interested in knowing.

Cyrus came into the ascendancy. He conquered the Babylonians and became the emperor of the greatest world empire that had ever been seen up to that date. And Cyrus, this secular man, this godless man, this man sold into idolatry, became the liberator of Israel.

To everybody's surprise, that's the last thing they expected. He issued an edict. Let him go home.

He issued a decree, rebuild the temple that was destroyed in Jerusalem, and he paid for it out of his royal treasury. Do you believe that God can intervene and change the hearts and minds of men? Once you deal with the spiritual problem, the men fall into place.

Do you know that Cyrus is called by the prophet Isaiah a Messiah? Not the Messiah, a Messiah. His role was so benevolent to the people of God that it was like a prefiguring of Christ's freeing of our spiritual captivity.

well how did Daniel pray that's some kind of praying isn't it how did he pray what did he pray look at chapter 9 it might just surprise you this was not in fact the very same incident this was just a little bit before it but the theme is identical verse 2 Now that's a remarkable statement. Here's Daniel along with his whole generation in captivity. They've been there.

And he has a scroll of Jeremiah's prophecy and he's reading it. And he's shaking his head in dismay saying, Yep, yep, it all came true just as he said it would. And all of a sudden he comes to chapter 29, verse 10, where it says the desolation will last for 70 years.

And Daniel says, wait a minute, let's see. Yeah, it's been 70 years. And he falls to his knees to pray.

I turn my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, O Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepeth covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him, and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. We have not listened to Thy servants, the prophets, who spoke in Thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

To Thee, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day. And the prayer goes on at great length. Read it.

Allow it to frame your prayers. And notice these things about it. Daniel's prayer is not, Lord, go smash them.

His prayer is not, Lord, vindicate us. We're Your people after all. His prayer is, Lord, forgive us.

We're getting exactly what we deserve. And what's even more remarkable about it is that if you know the story of Daniel, you know that if there was anybody in all of the nation of Israel who really didn't need to pray that, it was Daniel. If there was ever a righteous man who stood before God, it was Daniel.

If there was ever anybody who didn't compromise the covenant, it was Daniel. So much so that he's thrown into the den of lions because he won't bow down and worship a statue or pay obeisance to idols or acknowledge the sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel identifies himself with the sin of his people.

He, a righteous man, confesses the unrighteousness as if it were his own. He confesses the justice of God. We're getting just what we deserve.

And he begs for mercy. And he expects that God will hear him. Who commissioned Daniel to pray that prayer?

Who said, Daniel, okay, it's up to you to confess the sins of your people? Who elected Daniel to be the representative before God? To be the man who stands in the gap and affects the life of the nation?

As far as I can tell, nobody. Daniel's prayer was occasioned by his confidence in the Word of God. He took it literally and he dared to apply it to a concrete situation.

He looked at his nation and he said, we come under God's judgment. But maybe God, in His mercy, will forgive us our sin and heal our land. And he prayed expectantly.

We read that, again, an angel was sent to him. In verse 20 it says, While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God while I was speaking in prayer. The man Gabriel, whom I'd seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

He came and he said to me, O Daniel, I've now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth and I've come to tell it to you, for you are greatly beloved. therefore consider the word and understand the vision I submit to you that that's the prayer that unlocks the forces of God to move in the heavenlies to defeat the powers of evil to bind the strong man that his house might be plundered here on earth that gives release to the captives and restores God's people I don't know what the end of this particular immediate crisis is going to be.

Maybe it will peter out and go away. Maybe it's the beginning of the end of America's influence. There are those who think so.

But let's look beyond the immediate to the broader issues God is speaking to this nation, I believe, this morning. the message of Advent is repent that applies on the individual level of course God's message as our nation is being called daily to prayer is repent and to those of us who are trying to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ it's not for us to stand back and say it's those guys we confess the sin as our own with brokenness. It's all summed up in another word God gave to Solomon at the dedication of the first temple.

We read that when that temple was dedicated the glory of the Lord came down so profoundly that the priests couldn't stand because of the weight of glory. And in the midst of that awesome moment, God gave a warning and a promise. He said, when calamities come upon this people, know that I, the Lord, am sending them to rebuke, to chasten, to discipline, to punish them, to call them back to their beginnings, to faith, to trust, to obedience to Me.

And then this promise. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. Let us pray.

Thank you. Lord God of our fathers, we read that the Lord Jesus on Palm Sunday came down the mountain and paused to weep over the city of Jerusalem. We would share in His weeping over the city of Washington and the nation that is ours.

We dare to see Your hand still involved in the life of our nation and the world. We confess that our nation, which was born out of a desire to worship You freely, has increasingly demanded the freedom from worshiping You at all. we confess to printing the words in God we trust on the thing we really do trust we confess that we are a sinful and adulterous generation we confess to the murder of countless unborn children in the name of our rights we confess to demanding luxury while most of the world is starving to death we confess to military arrogance rather than obedience to you as our only sure defense.

And as a chilling darkness begins to spread across America's horizon, we repent of our sin. We beg You to forgive us. Forgive us our sin.

We pray for our President, for the members of Congress, for all those in civil authority. that You would give them wisdom and even more than that, a heart for righteousness. We do pray for the lives of the hostages, for their well-being and that of their families.

We ask You for mercy. We dare to believe that You can intervene and we dare to believe this morning that our prayers can release your power to do so. O come, Emmanuel, and ransom us for your name's sake.

Amen.