Daniel's Prayer for His People
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
The vision in Daniel 9 was given to Daniel during the same time period as Daniel 6. This Darius is the person mentioned in Daniel 6.
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
Jeremiah 25:11-12 (ESV) 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 (ESV) 10 "For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel pleaded with God to bring about the promised return of his people to their land. The prophet Jeremiah had written that God would not allow the captives to return to their land for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). Daniel knew of this prophecy and realized that this 70-year period was coming to an end. Daniel also demonstrated that he knew the Scriptures and studied them. Just as Daniel immersed himself in the Word of God, we should daily read our Bibles and pray for God's help to understand what we are reading.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
The captives from Judah had rebelled against God and refused to listen to him. Their sins had led to their captivity. But God shows mercy even to rebels when they confess their sins and return to him (see 9:9). Don't let your past mistakes, rebellion, or stubbornness keep you from returning to God. Don't let your sin have the final word. Your past disobedience may make it seem like a great gulf has opened between you and God, but God is eagerly awaiting your return. Delay no longer. Run to his open arms!
God had sent many prophets to speak to his people through the years, but their messages had been ignored. The truth had been too painful to hear. God still speaks to us clearly and accurately through his Word, the Bible. He also speaks to us through preachers, teachers, and concerned friends.
7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
Daniel mentioned the curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28. God had given the people of Israel a choice: Obey him and receive blessings, or disobey him and face curses. The affliction was meant to turn the people to God. When we face difficult circumstances, we should ask ourselves if God has reason to send judgment. If we think so, we must urgently seek his forgiveness. Then we can ask him to help us through our troubles.
12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
Daniel spoke about how God continually tried to bring Israel back to himself. Yet even after disaster struck them, they refused to obey him. God still uses circumstances, other people, and, most importantly, his Word to get our attention and bring us back to him. What would it take for God to get your attention?
15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 "O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
Daniel begged for mercy, not for help, because he knew that his people deserved God's wrath and punishment. God sends his help not because we deserve it but because he wants to show great mercy. If God would refuse to help us because of our sin, how could we complain? But when he sends mercy when we deserve punishment, how can we withhold our praise and thanksgiving?
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name."
In Daniel's prayer for the nation he confessed his own sin and the sin of all his fellow Israelites, using the pronoun we throughout. In times of adversity, it's easy to blame others and excuse our own actions. If any Israelite was righteous, it was Daniel; yet he confessed his sinfulness and need for God's forgiveness. Daniel consistently humbled himself before God. He also interceded on behalf of all the Israelites. Like Daniel, let us confess our sin and pray for God's forgiveness for others. Pray for your family—your parents, your children, and your church. God proclaims that our prayers are like incense and an offering to him (Acts 10:4; Revelation 8:4). He hears our petitions.
Daniel knew how to pray. As he prayed, he fasted, confessed his sins, interceded for others, and pleaded that God would reveal his will. He prayed with complete surrender to God and with complete openness to what God was saying to him. When you pray, speak openly to God. Leave your resistance and hesitation behind. Be open, vulnerable, and honest, and be ready to respond when God replies.
Gabriel Brings an Answer
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, "O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
Gabriel told Daniel that at the very moment he began praying, his prayer was answered, and Gabriel had come to his aid. What an incredible moment. Three times Gabriel reminded Daniel how greatly valued he was (10:11-12, 19). Daniel had a special role, but God cares deeply about you as well. He loves you, and he will always hear your prayers.
The Seventy Weeks
24 "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
Each day of these 70 weeks ("seventy sets of seven") may represent one year. Others, however, interpret this time period as a literal 70 weeks or 490 years, observing that Christ's death came at the end of the 69 weeks (i.e., 483 years later). One interpretation places the seventieth week as the seven years of the Great Tribulation, still in the future. Consequently, the number would symbolize both the first and second comings of Christ.
26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
Isaiah 53:7-8 (ESV) 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
Ephesians 3:4-6 (ESV) 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is[a] that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Matthew 24:15-22 (ESV) 15 "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
The Messiah, the Anointed One, would be rejected and killed by his own people. The Jewish people were expecting a mighty king to vanquish their Roman enemies with a military overthrow. When Jesus did not attempt a physical rebellion and reestablishment of the earthly kingdom of Israel, they were confused and disappointed. Instead, Jesus defeated the greater power of sin and death by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Death and sin had to be defeated before any true and lasting kingdom could be established. Gabriel prophesied here that Jesus would seem to have failed in his mission, but the fullness of his perfect, just, and all-powerful Kingdom would come later.
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."