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Today's talk comes from Pastor Ben Stewart.

Well, we are wrapping up a series today, our study of the book of Daniel,

which is not really a Christmas passage per se, but you could argue it's a Christmas prequel.

In the book of Daniel is where we first meet Gabriel, who we will see again as he announces to marry the birth of Jesus. In the book of Daniel is where we met the Magi, people from the east who study the stars,

and they'll make an appearance at the birth of Christ the king. It's also in the book of Daniel

that we have some of our clearest prophecies about the Messiah who would

come and when he would come, and that he would be cut off, and then yet he would come again in power and

glory. But one of the major themes of the book of Daniel is the theme of longing. If you haven't been

with us in the book of Daniel, it's in the Old Testament, and Daniel was a part of that generation of the people of God who had been in exile under foreign power.

And Daniel and his people longed to return to the promised land where they could find peace and safety, and they longed to meet their Messiah, the king.

They longed for what we would call the first coming of Jesus,

or Christmas, right? The interesting thing is, we have a hymn. We sing around Christmas time,

Oh, come, O come, Emmanuel. It's actually written about 1,200 years ago, and it sort of expresses

that longing, and it grabs some of the Old Testament longing. Some of you may not understand the words as you sing it, but we sing, oh come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appears. And then they hear the chorus,

rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel will come to thee, O Israel. And then we fast forward and

speak to us. And we say, O come thou rod of Jesse free thine own from Satan's tyranny,

from the depths of hell thy people save, and give us victory over the grave. And then we're told,

rejoice for he'll come to thee.

So they longed for the first coming of Christ. We still dwell in longing as we long for a second

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