Bible Study: Daniel 9
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good Morning
Let’s share any Prayer Requests and Praises Reports.
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Let’s pray
Text: Daniel 9:1-2
Text: Daniel 9:1-2
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—
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.
In verse 1 we can see that the “first year of Darius” is 539 B.C.
The word Darius is not a proper name but a title like the word Pharaoh.
This is referring to Cyrus.
He was the first monarch of the Medo-Persian empire.
So this time note was also the first year after the death of Belshazzar, when Babylon fell.
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The “seventy years” referred to in verse 2 shows how Daniel’s study of “the books” (which are Old Testament scrolls) focused on the years prophesied for the captivity by the prophet Jeremiah.
We see this specifically in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and Jeremiah 29:10.
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.
And
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.
Since the end of that span was near, Daniel prayed for God’s next move on behalf of Israel.
We can see that in 2 Chronicles 36:21 it is indicated that the 70 years of exile were always intended to restore the Sabbath rests that Israel had ignored for so many years:
21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
In Leviticus 25:4-5 God made it clear that their needs to be a year of sabbath for the land to rest. Since Isreal ignored this God forced them into exile for 70 years to make up for this sin.
4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
Text: Daniel 9:3-15
Text: Daniel 9:3-15
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This passage give us a rich example of faithful instruction regarding prayer.
In verse 3 we see that Daniel’s statements are characterized by fervency and self-denial.
In verse 5 we see Daniel identifies himself with the whole nation of Isreal and unselfishly confess his sin with God’s people.
From verse 5 to 15 we see Daniel’s prayer is strengthened by humble confession with no excuses.
In verses 4, 7, 9, and 15 we see Daniel’s dependence on God’s loving and merciful character.
These are all elements we should incorporate into our daily prayers.
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In verse 11 “the curse” refers to the judgment that God brought about, as promised, for Israel's disobedience in the Land.
In the Old Testament we see this laid out in Leviticus 26:21–42 and Deuteronomy 28:15–68.
These are good passages to go back and revisit and see how God warned Israel from the very beginning.
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However, God had given Isreal the promise that even in a time of judgment, if they would confess their sin, He would bring blessings to them again.
Just take a look at what it says in Leviticus 26:40–42:
40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,
41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,
42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Text: Daniel 9:16-19
Text: Daniel 9:16-19
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.
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 this passage we see that the goal of Daniel’s prayer is God’s glory.
This is another vital aspect we need to take away and apply to our daily prayers.
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Daniel prayed for restoration in 3 key aspects.
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He asked God to bring back “Your city”
We see this in verses 16 and 18.
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He asked God to make His face shine upon “Your desolate sanctuary.
We see this in verse 17.
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He asked God to pay attention to “Your people”
We see this in verse 19.
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And in the upcoming section we will cover on this chapter...
We will see that God’s answer embraced all three of these key aspects in verse 24 which reads:
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.
Text: Daniel 9:20-23
Text: Daniel 9:20-23
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.
In verse 21 we see that the “man Gabriel” is the angel Gabriel.
He is called a “man” because he appeared in the form of a man.
As you may recall he also appeared in in Daniel 8:16.
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The evening sacrifice also mentioned in verse 21 was the second lamb of two that were offered daily.
This one was at 3 pm and this was a common time for prayer.
We see this confirmed in Ezra 9:5:
5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God,
Text: Daniel 9:24-27
Text: Daniel 9:24-27
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.
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.
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.”
So, in verse 24 we see that God promises 2 sets of 3 accomplishments each.
The first set is related to sin:
1) The phrase “finish the transgression” means to restrain sin and Israel’s in particular in its long trend of apostasy.
2) The phrase “put an end to sin” means to judge sin with finality as it says in Hebrews 9:26:
26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
3) The phrase “to atone for iniquity” means to furnish the actual basis of covering sin by full atonement and the blood of the crucified Messiah who is “cut off”.
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The second set is related to righteousness:
1) The phrase “bring in everlasting righteousness” means the eternal righteousness of Daniel’s people in their great change from centuries of apostasy.
2) The phrase “seal up both vision and prophet” means no more revelation is needed and God will bring these anticipations to completion by their fulfillment in Israel’s blessing as a nation.
3) The phrase “anoint a most holy place” means to consecrate the Holy Place in a temple of the future that will be the center of worship in the millennial kingdom.
This is referenced to in Ezekiel chapters 40–48.
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Summing up, the first 3 are fulfilled in principle at Christ’s first coming, in full at His return.
The last 3 complete the plan at His Second Advent.
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In this passage the “seventy weeks” mentioned in verse 24 are weeks of years.
The time spans from the Persian decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 445 BC to the Messiah’s kingdom.
This includes:
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1) The 7 weeks from verse 25 can be interpreted as 49 years (7 days of the week x 7 weeks = 49).
This is possibly the closing Nehemiah’s career in the rebuilding of Jerusalem as well as the end of the ministry of Malachi and the close of the Old Testament.
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2) The 62 weeks in verses 25 and 26 can be interpreted as 434 more years (7 days of the week x 62 weeks = 434) for a total of 483 years (434 years + 49 years = 483) to the first advent of Messiah.
This would have been fulfilled at the triumphal entry of Jesus on 10 Nisan on 30 AD and recorded in Scripture in Matthew 21:1–9:
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
In verse 26 it says that the Messiah will be “cut off” which was a common reference to death and pointed to the crucifixion of Christ.
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3) In verse 27 we see the final 7 years or the 70th week which is of the time of Antichrist.
The Roman people, from whom the Antichrist will come, will “destroy the city” of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD.
This was foreshadowed with the actions of Antiochus that was discussed during the previous chapter.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Please join me one more time in prayer.