Daniel 9: Daniel's Prayer, God's Answer, and the Coming Messiah

[David]

When I read Daniel 9, one thing really stands out to me. Daniel wasn't sitting around trying to figure out who the Antichrist might be or when the world would end. He was studying the Scriptures, and something he read in Jeremiah caught his attention.

God had told Jeremiah that the captivity would last seventy years. Daniel had lived through much of that captivity, and now he realized that the time God had spoken about was coming to an end.

But here's what I find interesting. Daniel didn't just close his Bible and wait for something to happen. He got down on his knees and began to pray.

Why would Daniel pray for something God had already promised?

I believe the answer is found in Jeremiah 29:10-13. God had not only promised to bring His people back, but He also told them they would call upon Him, pray, and seek Him with their whole heart.

Daniel believed God's Word, and that belief moved him to prayer. There's a lesson there for us. Knowing what God has promised should encourage us to pray, not give us an excuse to stop praying.

 

[David]

Daniel Didn't Blame Everyone Else​

Something else caught my attention in Daniel's prayer. He didn't begin by pointing his finger at everyone else.

Daniel 9:5 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."

Notice that Daniel said we have sinned.

Think about that for a moment. Here was a man who had remained faithful to God through captivity, persecution, and even the lions' den. Yet he wasn't standing before God telling Him how righteous he had been compared with everyone else.

He was acknowledging the sins of the people he belonged to.

That's quite different from what we often see today. It's easy to look around at the wickedness in our world and point out what everyone else is doing wrong. But how often do we examine our own lives before God?

Daniel understood that Israel's captivity wasn't God's fault. God had warned His people repeatedly, and they refused to listen.

In Daniel 9:14, he says, "For the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice."

That is something we should never forget. God doesn't become unrighteous because His judgment is severe. Israel had been warned in the Law of Moses about what would happen if they turned away from Him.

Daniel didn't try to excuse their rebellion. He acknowledged that God had done exactly what He said He would do.

 

[David]

Daniel Knew They Didn't Deserve God's Mercy​

I believe one of the most important verses in this chapter is Daniel 9:18.

"For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies."

Daniel wasn't telling God that Israel had suffered enough and now deserved to be restored. He wasn't reminding God of all the good things they had done.

He was appealing to God's mercy.

And isn't that exactly where we stand when it comes to our own salvation?

Titus 3:5 says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us."

We cannot earn forgiveness by pointing to our good works. We come to God recognizing that we are sinners in need of His mercy.

Then Daniel cries out in verse 19:

"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not."

You can hear the urgency in those words. This wasn't some religious speech Daniel had prepared to impress anyone. He was genuinely concerned about his people, Jerusalem, and the honor of God's name.

I wonder how often our own prayers have that kind of sincerity.

 

[David]

God Answered While Daniel Was Still Praying​

Now here's where the chapter really gets interesting.

While Daniel was still praying, Gabriel appeared with a message from God.

Daniel 9:23 says:

"At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved."

Think about that. Daniel hadn't even finished his prayer, and God had already sent an answer.

Now that doesn't mean God will always answer our prayers immediately. We know from Scripture that sometimes His people have to wait. But it certainly reminds us that God hears His servants.

And notice what Gabriel told Daniel. He was greatly beloved.

Here was an elderly man who had spent most of his life in a foreign country, serving under pagan kings and facing opposition because of his faithfulness to God.

Yet God had not forgotten him.

But what Gabriel was about to tell Daniel went far beyond the restoration of Jerusalem.

Daniel had been praying about seventy years of captivity. God was about to reveal seventy weeks concerning His people, Jerusalem, and the coming Messiah.

 

[David]

The Seventy Weeks and God's Plan for Sin​

Daniel 9:24 begins:

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

Now we need to pay attention to what Gabriel actually said.

Daniel had been concerned about Jerusalem's destruction and the captivity of his people. But God's answer dealt with something much greater than rebuilding a city.

It dealt with sin, reconciliation, righteousness, and the Messiah.

The seventy weeks are commonly understood as seventy groups of seven years, giving a total of 490 years. That understanding fits the context of Daniel's concern about seventy years, although we should recognize that the passage itself uses the expression "seventy weeks."

Before trying to calculate dates, I think we need to understand why God gave this prophecy.

Israel's greatest problem wasn't simply that Jerusalem had been destroyed. Their greatest problem was sin, the very thing that had brought God's judgment upon them.

And rebuilding Jerusalem wouldn't solve that problem.

Think about it. You can rebuild a city, repair its walls, and restore its buildings, but none of that changes the sinful heart of man.

Something far greater was needed.

That brings us to the Messiah.

 

[David]

Messiah Would Be Cut Off​

Daniel 9:26 says:

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself."

When we compare this with Isaiah 53, we begin to see an important connection.

Isaiah 53:8 says:

"For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken."

And Isaiah 53:5 tells us:

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Now compare that with what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:18:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."

Do you see how these passages fit together?

Daniel speaks of Messiah being cut off. Isaiah tells us about the suffering servant who would bear the sins of others. The New Testament reveals how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Scriptures through His death.

We need to be careful not to claim Daniel explained every detail of the crucifixion, because he didn't. But when we examine these passages together, the connection to Christ becomes clear.

Daniel was praying about the consequences of Israel's sin, and God revealed the coming Messiah, through whom reconciliation for sin would be accomplished.

That's far more important than simply knowing when Jerusalem would be rebuilt.

 

[David]

What About the Destruction of Jerusalem?​

Daniel 9:26 also says that the people of a coming prince would destroy the city and the sanctuary.

We know that Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Roman forces in AD 70.

Jesus had warned about this.

In Luke 21:6, speaking about the temple, He said:

"The days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Then in Luke 21:20, He said:

"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."

I believe these passages need to be studied together because they clearly concern Jerusalem and its destruction.

But here's where I think we need to be careful. Just because we can recognize the destruction of Jerusalem doesn't mean we automatically understand every detail of Daniel's seventy weeks.

We still have to deal with verse 27.

 

[David]

Who Is the One Confirming the Covenant?​

Daniel 9:27 says:

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."

This is where people often disagree.

Some believe the one confirming the covenant is Jesus Christ. They connect this with His sacrifice and the new covenant.

Others believe this refers to a coming ruler associated with the prince mentioned in verse 26.

Now, I think we should be willing to examine both explanations, but we must be careful about claiming more than the passage actually says.

The verse doesn't directly identify the person by name.

We know Jesus spoke of His blood being shed for many in Matthew 26:28. We also know Hebrews 10 teaches that Christ offered the sacrifice for sins that no longer needs to be repeated.

Those are important connections.

But we also have to consider the coming prince, the destruction of the sanctuary, and the abomination of desolation described in Daniel.

We should not simply assume that a popular interpretation must be correct.

And we certainly shouldn't take the latest political events and try to force them into the passage.

If we're going to identify the person in Daniel 9:27, we need to demonstrate that identification from Scripture.

 

[David]

How Does This Connect With Matthew 24 and Revelation?​

Jesus Himself referred to Daniel's prophecy in Matthew 24:15:

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand."

That tells us Daniel's prophecy deserves careful attention.

We also find references to the abomination of desolation in Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11.

Then Revelation 13 describes a beast speaking blasphemies and being given authority for forty-two months.

That resembles Daniel 7, where the little horn speaks against God and persecutes His people for "a time and times and the dividing of time."

These passages have important similarities, but we shouldn't assume every reference describes the exact same event without first examining the context.

I think the safest way to study prophecy is to begin with what each passage plainly says, compare it with the other Scriptures, and only then draw conclusions.

We have to be willing to say, "Scripture doesn't tell us," when it doesn't.

There's nothing wrong with admitting we don't understand every detail. Daniel himself was troubled by some of the visions he received.

What would be wrong is teaching our own assumptions as though they were the Word of God.

 

[David]

What Should We Take Away From Daniel 9?​

When I look at this chapter as a whole, I believe the message is much greater than trying to work out a prophetic timetable.

Daniel was studying God's Word and realized that God had promised to restore Jerusalem after seventy years. Instead of sitting back and waiting, he began praying, confessing sin, and asking God for mercy.

And while he was still praying, Gabriel arrived with a message concerning the Messiah, reconciliation for sin, and God's purposes for Jerusalem.

God had not forgotten His people, and He had not forgotten His promises.

But there was a greater problem than the destruction of Jerusalem. That problem was sin.

Even if Jerusalem had been rebuilt immediately, the people would still need forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

That's why I believe the connection between Daniel 9, Isaiah 53, and the New Testament is so important.

Jesus Christ came to accomplish what no earthly kingdom, rebuilt temple, or human effort could accomplish. Through His sacrifice, sinners can be reconciled to God.

Ephesians 1:7 says:

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

And that brings us back to Daniel's prayer.

He didn't ask God to restore Jerusalem because Israel deserved it. He pleaded for mercy.

We come before God on that same basis today, not because we have earned His favor, but because of His mercy and the saving work of Jesus Christ.

I don't believe we should ignore the prophetic details of Daniel 9. They are part of God's Word and deserve careful study. But I also don't want us to become so concerned with counting weeks, identifying rulers, and debating future events that we miss what the chapter teaches us about sin, repentance, God's mercy, and the coming Messiah.

Daniel began with the Scriptures open before him and his heart humbled before God.

I think that's exactly how we ought to approach this chapter ourselves.

And here's something I'd like everyone to consider as we continue our study. Are we spending more time trying to figure out when God's prophetic promises will be fulfilled than we are making sure we're living according to what He has already told us?

There is certainly a place for studying prophecy. God wouldn't have given us these passages if He didn't want us to read and understand them. But understanding prophecy should draw us closer to God and strengthen our obedience to His Word, not become a substitute for either one.

 

[Rose]

Daniel Didn't Blame Everyone Else​

Something else caught my attention in Daniel's prayer. He didn't begin by pointing his finger at everyone else.

Daniel 9:5 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."

Notice that Daniel said we have sinned.

Think about that for a moment. Here was a man who had remained faithful to God through captivity, persecution, and even the lions' den. Yet he wasn't standing before God telling Him how righteous he had been compared with everyone else.

He was acknowledging the sins of the people he belonged to.

That's quite different from what we often see today. It's easy to look around at the wickedness in our world and point out what everyone else is doing wrong. But how often do we examine our own lives before God?

Daniel understood that Israel's captivity wasn't God's fault. God had warned His people repeatedly, and they refused to listen.

In Daniel 9:14, he says, "For the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice."

That is something we should never forget. God doesn't become unrighteous because His judgment is severe. Israel had been warned in the Law of Moses about what would happen if they turned away from Him.

Daniel didn't try to excuse their rebellion. He acknowledged that God had done exactly what He said He would do.

What laws of Moses is Daniel referring to in Daniel 9:13? Identify the relevant cross-references in the books of Moses that describe these laws and the consequences of disobeying them.

If God had already warned Israel about the consequences of disobedience, why did the people still fail to turn back to Him even when those consequences came upon them?