Healing: Prayers of National Repentance Part II

Daniel continues in the prayer in Chapter 9, that will lead to the healing and restoration of Israel back to

1. Who She is as a Nation and
2. A recognition of what she has done which caused the Captivity and
3. The Supplication for God's Healing of the nations and return from Exile.

When Daniel makes the supplication to the God of Heaven, as has been mentioned, he is aware that the timing of the Return according to Jeremiah is at hand, and that the Lord is faithful:

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. Dan 9:2

and

...the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; Dan 9:4

Here is a critical issue in the healing of the Nation of Israel: THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT of THE COVENANT. The COVENANT is EVERLASTING and holy and has been from the beginning. This means that the 'RIGHT' state of Israel is when she is keeping COVENANT with her GOD. When Israel moved away from GOD 'missing the mark', a definition of sin and national sin, then she was in a 'diseased' state, and the intervention of God became necessary to bring her back into a whole and right state.

Blut und Boden

In Germany in WWII, there was a concept of 'blut und boden' or blood and soil, which entailed the identity of the German people or 'Volk' being so tied up in the land they lived in and on, that to be German was to be on Aryan soil, and to be on Aryan soil was to be German by necessity. This concept, many are not aware gave rise to the modern environmental movement, but caused a severe persecution of the Jews to drive them out of the bloodlines (blut) of Europe and off of the land (boden) to create a pure 'oneness' of people, spirit and land.(See Blood and Soil In the case of Germany, the concept was used against the Jewish people.

In God's Covenant with the Chosen people though throughout history, the promise of the Seed and Land, a Jewish form of blut und boden, was essentially different though because it was holy, set apart, in the purposes of GOD and meant for the salvation of the world. The late German form was merely an emulation of the COVENANT, essentially opposite from the COVENANT of the Everlasting nation and meant not for the preservation of the Jews, the oracles and vehicles of the Word of God but for the opposite. Why is this important in the discussion of the healing of a nation? Because there really is an issue of the healing of the Jewish nation being tied to them being:

1. In the Covenant
2. In Obedience
3. In the Land

in order to be in that perfect, healed state, an equilibrium and balance when all is as it should be, when they are in a 'RIGHTEOUS' state.

Why does this matter in the national healing of Israel? Because Israel, to be healed needed to be back in the Land!. It was part of her 'wholeness'. Is this true for all nations? It is somewhat difficult to answer because virtually all nations are on their own land. During WWII, a few monarchs and heads of state had to flee Nazi occupation: without their heads, nations such as the Netherlands felt downtrodden and hopeless: they were in a dissensioned state.
When their rightful leadership was back in place, their form of government, etc, they began to HEAL as a nation. Israel is a special case of the nations having survived in and out of the land for 5000 years, depending on how some historians count origins.

BACK TO REPENTANCE

The Prophet Repents for a Nation in Captivity

One of the first things to realize as Daniel prays, is that without their 'permission' or even knowledge, Daniel, the prophet of exile takes it upon himself
to pray vicariously in repentance for the good of the nation. Why would God receive Daniel's prayer in this way? Would it not take the whole nation repenting? Well, it happens both ways: in Daniel, the prophet prays in Proxy as a representative of the whole nation of Israel in Babylonian captivity. In Esther we see the whole nation called to prayer for their self-defense and protection, including severe repentance.

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.-Dan 9:5-8

In Esther:

And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, [there was] great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Esther 4:3

Now in Daniel, the Prophet stands in proxy of the people, declaring unto God in heart and soul, his sorrow over his and their sins which set them in captivity to a pagan nation. In Esther, we see both: Esther intercedes with the pagan King Ahasuerus for the nation of Israel, Mordecai 'stands in the gap' for Israel when he sees the nation about to fall to the wicked Haman, and later all Israel mourns, weeps, fasts, wails and lays in sackcloth and ashes, begging for the great hand of God to again defend the beleaguered nation. Is this merely about begging for protection? No, it is also about the healing of the nation beginning with repentance.

If a soldier is wounded on a battlefield, his wounds are not neatly attended to there: he needs to be dragged off the front, to a place of safety and some rest so that he can be healed and made whole. Rest is required. In the case of a nation, they are substantially asking to be 'dragged off the battlefield' to a place of rest where they would be made whole again, by the hand of GOD. REPENTANCE, both via a representative in this case a prophet or a Queen, or leader of Israel (Mordecai), brings the desired intervention and in all three cases, a miraculous healing of the nation. For Daniel, the Repentance is intense and severe and occurs amidst a pagan atmosphere, and risks the wrath of the king and courtiers.

Daniel notes that the nation has fallen to CONFUSION because of rebellion:

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; Dan 8-9

and that the failure to obey the LAW (Torah) of GOD, has resulted in the 'diseased' condition of the captive nation:

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.

Why is national repentance needed? Because a whole nation sinned:
-

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.

We will continue with this study again shortly but a few points in summary are applicable not only to the Israel of long ago, but to all nations today:

1. We have fallen to a 'curse' by
-disobedience,
-sin,
-failure to hear God,
- failure to walk in His Law or Way
[I am the WAY , the TRUTH and the LIFE Jn14:6)

2. The 'Curse' of National Sin results in
-Confusion
-Inability to hear from GOD
-Captivity and brutal treatment
-A lack of Clarity as in confusion, lack in decision-making
-Lack of leadership and direction
-'Dissension' of the fabric of society

3. Both Prophets and Ministers of God need to Repent for the Nation and Themselves


4. The Nation Must Repent in Seriousness
-Calling on God with Praise, Fasting and Supplication
- Turning from the way they are on by obeying Christ's commands
-Spending the time necessary to seek out GOD's forgiveness and will.

___________________________________________________________

This study will continue at a later date. by Elizabeth Kirkley Best

Prayers of National Repentance: Daniel, Esther, & More

The national repentance which is required for the Healing of a Nation is clearly seen in several passages of scripture. The Ninevites turned in national repentance at the prophesying of Jonah; Daniel's repentance brought the vision of the future of Israel clear to the end of time, along with a Return to the Land, the national repentance of the Jews saved them in Medo-Persia from India to the Meditteranean [the following is by Elizabeth K. Best] from the foes raised by the edict Haman procured. Ezra demands by God a national repentance and the putting away of 'strange wives' in the purification of Israel, and there are a number of other times as well. [e.g. the repentance of Israel during certain wars ] Corporate confession of national sin came either by
1) The whole nation praying a confession or
2) By a person praying in Proxy for the sins of the Nation

Daniel's prayer is the essence of the prophet praying in Proxy for the Sins of Israel, supplicating God for the time which has been determined as the prophesied time for the end of captivity.

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

The form is worth noting: First there is the
-ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE MAJESTY OF GOD,
-THE CHARACTER OF GOD, and the critical
-COVENANT

Dan 9:4 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;

Following the praise and essential declaration of Covenant, which has kept Israel alive and protected her throughout captivity, the major tenets of the sin are listed:

Dan 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

Dan 9:6 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.

Healing of the Nations- The Beginning of Healing in Exile- Repentance, the Anointed, and the Remnant-Part C

In discussing the nature and pattern of healing of a nation or the 'healing of nations' [both are a separate concern], we have already discussed that first, the 'dissensioned' state of a nation which has removed itself from the right ways of God must be recognized as lacking wholeness, being 'diseased' or corrupted and in a state of disequilibrium. Many examples of this appear in scripture, such as the Babylonian empire around the time of Belshazzar, in which the kingdom is wrested away from Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, or in the period in Israel just prior to the Exile, when Israel was in such a condition, that every prophet of the time is given similar prophecies regarding the destruction of the nation loved by God because of a sin state. Once the disease is recognized, though, or the dissensioned state of a nation, either of God's or the world, The second stage in healing in Scripture is a

1.call to Repentance,
2.the appearance of the anointed,
3.a Return, and
4.the re-establishment of at least a Remnant.

Repentance and God's Anointed

Jonah, the recalcitrant Prophet, eventually rises up in Nineveh, calls for repentance, the first rung in the ladder of the Healing of a Nation, and Nineveh, the vile city is spared the prophesied destruction for 120 or so years. Two things are characteristic of the prophecy that leads to that healing:

I. The Prophet is compelled to the Prophecy and Call to Repentance
II. While the Nation Repents and is healed for the next generation,
the original prophecy of destruction of Nineveh for its many crimes
still takes place at a later time.

So REPENTANCE, the first rung of a Nation's healing, can change the immediate fate of a nation leading it into a whole state in equilibrium, but the PROPHETIC PRONOUNCEMENT is still true. When Nineveh turns away from its repentance, the judgment returns. (See Nahum).


Repentance turns a nation which has fallen into distress back to the path of healing. In the Holy Scripture, to my knowledge there is not a time when God heals either Israel or any of the 'Heathen' nations without a heart repentance of that nation.

The Repentance of Israel

There are a number of instances of national Repentance in Israel, which lead to healing of Israel. The healing almost always involves a total restoration, abundantly above all that is asked or expected. Several examples of the national repentance of Israel are found in the Wars of Israel, in which the nation in repentance and supplication goes on to win a war after an initial failing. One such example is in Joshua's Battle with the Southern Canaanites in Israel's route into Canaan. In the first battle, God commands the taking of the mountain where the Anakim dwell, where the Southern Canaanites dwell, and Joshua and Caleb spy out the mountain, reporting back to Israel that they can take it though it be fearsome. Israel, though, despite the command of God, turns back, afraid to go to battle. [Numbers 14] They then turn to repent, but out of step with the Lord's command, they fail to do things the Lord's way and fail:

And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we [be here], and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

Num 14:41-44 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, [even] unto Hormah.

In the case of the defeat even with repentance, it was not a repentance fully, for they turn again to the battle, only without waiting for the Lord. They are soundly defeated.

In the Life of a Nation, the first and foremost step in healing a 'dissensioned' nation is for the problem to be identified, and acknowledged as sin and separation from the ways of God, along with a seeking of God with the heart and mind and soul not only of individuals, but of a whole nation.

There are times when on behalf of Israel, a few repentant prophets and people prayed in proxy for their people who had forgotten and despaired of turning back to their God. One such prophet, was Daniel, one of the most great trial-ed prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Daniel had been taken as a child from a royal family and in the midst of war and destruction and the sacking of Jerusalem was taken captive by the brutish armies of Nebuchanezzar. One really needs to meditate a bit on what that meant: royal children are spoiled at least a little: they have servants, a lush lifestyle and comfort and are tenderly treated. These were the children taken by a brutal army and ripped from parents,comfort, love and innocence: some were made into eunuchs, in a cruelty so unspeakable, that none could fathom any child having to face it.

Relocated, 'deported' to a foreign land under these circumstances, and placed in the palace of a horrendous King, only a few resolve not to lose their faith or identity: Daniel, given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar [not Belshazzar], and Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego, of the fiery furnace fame. Even within the courts though, forced to read and study the abomination of dark arts and magic of the Chaldeans, Daniel notes as he grows in excellence, the timing due in the Jewish scriptures of the Return, and sees the need of the Healing and Repentance of the Nation of Israel, precipitous to the Great Return.

As with others at times of Israel's distress, Daniel, knowing his nation to be in a dissensioned state captive in Babylon, does not rush to think that all Israel will bow the knee and ask God to save and deliver them from Babylon. Most of Israel has grown old in exile in this time: the ones who were very young children are now old men, and many of a lesser character have forgotten the great need of repentance: they do not remember much about Israel, it became in Babylon as it became in the holocaust or Shoah: "Ha Eretz Y'israel", the semi-mythical Utopia of the Jews which in exile appears as the only hope, distant, unattainable and far away.

Daniel however is not willing to leave it as a distant and unattainable hope: through his studies of Jeremiah's prophecies and through prayer, constant prayer, he falls on his knees hoping to repent not only his own sins, but the Sins of a people, the nation of Israel.

Chapter 9 of Daniel details that prayer of national repentance and serves as a prototype of heart repentance for a nation in dissension or a nation in exile. The Book of Esther also contains national repentance and prayer as Mordecai and Esther place their lives on the line before a pagan King, Artaxerxes, and all Israel falls in fasting and prayer to save their lives. In Daniel, however, it is a 'proxy' prayer, as one 'warrior' intercedes with God for a whole nation which has lost its way, and does not even remember the true ways of Israel before her bridegroom.
Dan 9:3 ¶ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

Dan 9:3 ¶ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Dan 9:4 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;

The issues and characteristics of national repentance will be examined in the next section before moving on to other issues of the Healing of a nation.

Healing: V-Healing of the Nations: Part B

The Ways and Characteristics of God's Healing of Nations.

Israel, eminent among the nations, was set as an ensign for the world to view as the way God deals with nations in general. In history, despite opinion, the scriptures declare it the only God-appointed Theocracy. The Only one. One of the earliest secular historical mentions of Israel, mentions the children of Benjamin, desert wanderers whose God was King, and later, contrary to God's heart, Kings and Judges were appointed in Israel, some very good, some very bad, and all a type and kind of Israel's Meschiach to come.

Israel though, was not loyal in heart, an adulterous wife, so much so that by the time of the Babylonian destruction, the image of her in God's heart was presented via the prophet Hosea forced to take a harlot for a wife. While Israel had been before in exile or under foreign rule, such as under a Babylonian King for 8 years earlier in her history¹, or in the Egyptian exile, it had not always been a judgment because the the extremity of sin. By the end of the Division between the Southern and Northern Kingdoms, with 10 of the 12 tribes willingly rebellious not only in national issues but issues of false worship, and with the degradation of sin brought to bear, a severe 'breaking off' occurred, as a limb in need of completely being reset, and the Northern Kingdom was taken captive by Assyria, and the Southern, later by Babylon. [Babylon and Assyria had both been one nation, but had split and was used as an instrument of God's chastisement]

God's dealing with the nation of Israel and his healing process included several
tenets:

1) The 'Disease' Process of Israel falling away from God
2) The Beginning of Healing in Exile- Repentance, the Anointed, and the Remnant
3) The Dealing with a Rebellious King: Healing earthly sovereignty
4) Restoration to Health.

The Healing of 'a' nation is one thing, the healing of 'the' nations, is a very unique thing in God's sovereignty. The healing of any nation at any time, follows the pattern and meanings of the healing of individuals. Most often it includes
repentance of a people, even a 'heathen' or pagan/unbelieving nation, towards the truth of the true God of Heaven. An example of this is found in Jonah. Jonah, a genuine prophet of God is called to Nineveh, the people who have brutally treated Israel, to preach judgment and repentance for the salvation of Nineveh.

Jon 1:2-Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Jonah, however having seen the brutality and destruction the Ninevites wrought on Israel, runs the other way, on the Ships of Tarshish [comfort and ease], only to find the vital severity of God in dealing with recalcitrant prophets. Eventually though, after a short travel into death and the depths, he is thrown on the shore of Nineveh to do God's bidding, and the call is made and answered with more repentance than even Israel was willing to do at the time:


jon 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Jon 3:6-8 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered [him] with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused [it] to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that [is] in their hands.

to be continued


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