Daniel 9

Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:1-19

The essence of sin is individualism. Selfishness, pride, and rebellion against God are all rooted in the idea that I want what is best for me, and I don’t care how it affects you and your life.

Meanwhile, Godliness in essence, is about putting others first. It’s about self- sacrifice, caring about the way that others think and feel. There is no greater example of this than our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “He came into the world not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.” So, the bible is clear; Christ like behavior is to care about others, and the way we treat them.

The bible describes unions we belong to in the world, and the responsibility we have to those unions. I’m not talking about labor unions but relationship unions.

For example, as children of God we are a part of a family. We are a part of the universal body of Christ. We have a responsibility to pray for our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

We are also a part of a local body. We call ourselves Faith Baptist church and we covenant with each other to do the work of the Lord. We serve together and we work together, with a common bond to live and do the will of God. So, we have a responsibility to one another.

We are also part of a biological family. We are parents and grandparents, brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives. We are responsible to those in our biological family. We live in the United States of America, so, we are part of a union of citizens. We are responsible as citizens to take care of our land, and to pray for our people, our nation, and our leaders.

Well here in chapter 9 we see a great example of Godliness from Daniel. You can sense the burden and responsibility he feels for his people. He turns to the Lord in prayer, and he seeks God’s forgiveness for the nation of Israel.

That is what we are going to talk about this morning. Daniel 9 teaches us we have a responsibility to pray for our people and our nation to be restored to God through Jesus Christ. (Read 9:1-19)

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.

6 “Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.

7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.

8 “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;

10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

11 “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.

12 “Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.

13 “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.

14 “Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

15 “And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked.

16 “O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.

17 “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.

18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.

19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Pray)

In our passage this morning Daniel is starting to realize his time in captivity is almost over. However, Daniel is an old man now, and he knows he probably never will return to Jerusalem again. But he has a sense of hope for his people, and he turns to the Lord in prayer. Daniel teaches us we have a responsibility to pray for our people and our nation to be restored to God through Jesus Christ.

The first thing I want you to see in this passage is Daniel’s reason for prayer. Vs. 1-3. A common theme we find throughout the book of Daniel is each chapter begins with a historical marker and chapter 9 is no different.

Notice Vs. 1 this takes place “in the first year of Darius who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.” That means this happened in the year 539 BC. Babylon has just been conquered by the Medo – Persia empire. Daniel is about 85 years old now, and he has been captive for nearly 70 years.

That is important because that is the reason Daniel begins to pray. Look at Vs. 2. “I Daniel observed in the books the number of years.” You see Daniel wasn’t only a man of prayer, but he was a student of the Word.

He knew the scriptures. He knew what God said through the prophet Jeremiah, the captivity was only going to last for 70 years. Then God would judge Babylon. Well, Daniel is watching the Word of God unfold before his eyes.

I don’t want you to miss the fact that Daniel refers to Jeremiah as “the books.” That tells us that even though the Old Testament was not complete, Jeremiah was already considered sacred scripture.

What is amazing to me is 2600 years later and we can read the same passage Daniel was studying that day. Look at Jeremiah 25:11-12, “This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 29:10, “For thus says the Lord, “When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place.” You see when God makes a promise it’s not conditional, it is as good as gold and it going to happen just like he said it would.

Daniel knew the Word of God, and he knew that if he was going to pray for his people, he had to do it according to the Word.

So many times, in our life we get caught up in the world and we fail to pray. We stop seeking God, we stop studying the scriptures. But why? because we stop believing that what God has said is true.

Daniel was a man who diligently studied the scripture. He built his life on it and you see that in his prayer. He teaches us we have a responsibility to pray. If you do not have a disciplined time with God’s Word, chances are you don’t have a disciplined prayer life.

Notice how Daniel prepared himself to pray. Vs. 3, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” Notice Daniel wasn’t waking up in the morning, grabbing cup of coffee on his way out the door and saying thank you Jesus.

Daniel’s prayer life was more than just turning the radio down in the car, on the way to work for a moment of silence. No, Daniel prepared his heart, sacrificed his appetite, he went to his prayer closet, and he prayed.

This phrase “I gave my attention to the Lord” literally means “he turned his face toward God.” Let me ask you this when was the last time you turned your face toward God?

I am reminded of that famous passage in 2 Chr. 7:24 where God says, “If my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I would hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.”

Daniel shows us how to do that. He shows us a man who would turn from reading the scriptures to seeking the face of God in prayer. Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Don’t pray when you feel like it, have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.” Reading the scripture and spending time in prayer are essential to the spiritual life of every believer. It is as essential as the air we breathe, and the water we drink.

The next thing I want you to see in this passage is Daniel’s confession of sin and plea for God’s mercy, Vs. 4-19. What is interesting to me is Daniel wasn’t responsible for the transgressions of the people. In fact, he was just a boy when he was taken prisoner. However, they were his people, and he shares in their burden with God.

We need to think about that when it comes to sharing the burden of America. We might not participate in its sin, but we are citizens of this country, and we have a responsibility to pray for our people. Billy Graham once said, “To get nations back on their feet we must first get down on our knees.” We are either a part of the problem or we are a part of the solution.

As I read through these verses, a pattern of prayer begins to emerge. in Vs. 4 we see adoration. In Vs. 5-14 we see Daniel’s confession, and in Vs. 15-19 We see his petition as he intercedes for his people.

First, notice the adoration Vs. 4 says, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments.” We always want to begin our prayer by adoring God.

The word “Lord” is the word Yahweh. That is the covenant name for God. It speaks of deliverance and redemption. It is the name He gave Himself on Mt. Sinai before He led the people out of slavery in Egypt.

Then Daniel calls Him “the great and awesome God” That means that He is to be feared, reverenced, and held in high esteem. He is awesome because He is our loving Father, who pours out His kindness on His people. Make no mistake, Daniel is choosing his words wisely here. He is reminding God of the promises he made to His people.

Second, we see confession. Notice Vs. 5-14 Daniel uses words such as, “Committed iniquity, acted wickedly, rebelled, turned away, not listened. He says, “You are righteous oh God in your judgments, but we should be ashamed of ourselves.”

Daniel is acting like a prosecuting attorney in a court room, building a case against his people, and once again don’t miss the fact that he includes himself as a guilty party. 28 times he uses the words we, us, and our in these verses.

That is important because you don’t go to God in repentance pointing your finger at someone else. We need to own our mistakes and when you are interceding for someone else you own their mistakes.

Daniel understood they deserved everything they were getting from God because they had dishonored Him. And Daniel’s heart is broken because he realizes nothing has changed. They were every bit as sinful now as they were when they first went into captivity. What good would it do for them to return to the promised land without a heart of repentance and understanding where they went wrong.

Listen this is not just Israel’s problem it is the problem we face today. When everything is great, we forget about God. It’s not until there’s a crisis in our life that we begin to pray and seek Him. So, the accusations by Daniel are on all of us. We are all guilty as charged. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Daniel began his prayer with adoration. Then He confessed his sin and the sin of the people. So, naturally in Vs. 15-19 he turns to petitions. He asks God for forgiveness. Notice all the reasons why Daniel tells God He should forgive them.

In Vs. 15, “These are Your people, who you brought out of slavery.” In Vs. 16, “O Lord do it for your righteous acts, and because Jerusalem is your city.” Vs.17, “do it for You name sake O Lord.” In other words, don’t do it for us do it for you, protect your honor.

Vs. 19 is the complete plea by Daniel on behalf of his people He says, “O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord listen and take action! You can hear the passion in his voice as he pleads with God to act now. After all God it is your reputation at stake.

I can’t help but think as I read this we should be just as passionate in prayer today. Like Daniel we should seek the face of God through praise and thanksgiving, pleading with Him for the needs of our families, our nation, and the world. Jesus said in Matt. 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. We have been given a mandate to make a difference in our world and we do that through prayer.

Finally, I want you to see God’s response to Daniel’s prayer, Vs. 20-27. God’s response to Daniel’s prayer is the same as God’s response to ours; we need Jesus.

These verses reveal God’s plan for Israel and for the world. Notice the speed of God’s response in Vs. 20 & 21.

Twice we read Daniel was still speaking and praying when the angel Gabriel shows up on the scene. That means God heard his prayers immediately. The same thing is true in your life. There is no delay in God’s ability to hear your prayers. There is sometimes a delay in the answer, and sometimes the answer is no, but there is nothing that prevents God from hearing you when you pray.

Also notice the timing of Gabriel’s arrival. The end of Vs. 21 says, “The time of the evening offering.” In other words, this takes place at the time of the evening sacrifice. That is important because this is already pointing us toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see Daniel’s prophecy is going to be about the coming of the Messiah. God is going to forgive the sins of the people, but He is going to do that through the death of the Savior on the cross.

The fact that Daniel is praying at the time of the evening sacrifice tells us, he believed that forgiveness comes through sacrifice. That’s important because that is the only way God forgives sin. There must be a sacrifice. That is why Jesus died on a cross for your sin and mine. He is the one-time sacrifice for the sin of the world.

So, when Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through Me.” That’s what He is talking about. He is the only way to heaven because He is the only sacrifice for our sin provided by God.

Now in Verses 24-27, this prophecy gets very complicated. I like what Alistair Begg said. He said, “In what follows, I reserve the right to change my mind later this evening, and as often as necessary for the rest of my life, until I finally settle the matter. What I’m about to now unfold for you will annoy some, disappoint others, confuse many, and perhaps encourage a few.” I reserve that same right now. This is what is known as the seventy weeks of prophecy.

Look at Vs. 24-26a, “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. “So, you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing.”

We see the obvious reference to Jesus here coming into the world. He is called the Messiah. He is called the Prince. We know the issuing of the decree is referring to the order for the Jews to go home and rebuild the city.

We see the reference to His death here where it says, “He will be cut off.” We understand this is talking about the cross. We know the phrase “And have nothing” means His death would appear to accomplish nothing. It will look like all has been lost, that God has been defeated in the battle of life. That is the easy part.

What is confusing about this prophecy is the reference to seventy weeks because virtually all the scholars agree the sevens represent years and not weeks. That is because the word “seven” in the Hebrew language is used a lot like our English word “dozen.” It can refer to seven days, weeks, months, and even years.

And what God is telling Daniel here is, this exile that you are going through, is going to last more than seventy years, but it will in fact last seventy times seven or 490 years. What is interesting is that is exactly how long it was. From the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until Jesus came and was crucified.

While this is difficult for us to comprehend the Hebrews would understand this math completely. We are talking about a people that celebrated a Sabbath every seven days, a Sabbath year every seven years and, a year of Jubilee every 49 years or seven times seven. So, while this is confusing to us it makes perfect sense to a Jewish person.

Notice in Vs. 24 we are told “seventy weeks have been decreed.” Then I want you to notice those seventy weeks are broken down into three parts. In Vs. 25 it talks about seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Well that only adds up to 69, we are missing a week. In Vs. 26, it talks about how the Messiah would be cut off after those sixty- two weeks. We know that is a reference to the cross. So, when does this final week take place.

Let’s finish reading the passage. Vs. 26-27, “The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come-one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

We believe the seventieth week here in Vs. 27, is a reference to the end of history when the antichrist will come, just before the return of Christ and the coming of the kingdom of God. We believe there is what Old Testament scholars commonly refer to here as a prophetic gap.

What that means is the seventieth week is actually separated in time from the sixty- nine weeks. And this passage is not only a reference to the first coming of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem but also, the return of Jesus at the end of the age.

The phrase the “one who causes desolation” is referring to the antichrist. In the last days he will commit atrocities against the world, forbid people to worship, and attack God’s people. But notice in Vs. 27, “One has been decreed that is poured out on the one who makes desolate. “ That means in the end God is not going to allow it to continue but, Jesus will return and the antichrist will be destroyed.

Conclusion

What we learn from this passage is how important it is to pray for our people, our nation, and our leaders. We take things like peace and prosperity for granted. And while we live at ease, we grow complacent. We fail to understand God. We fail to understand the scriptures, and we fail to pray. We take for granted that everything in our world will continue just as it has, and God tells us it will not.

The time clock is ticking, and I can’t help but wonder where you are at in your commitment to Christ. I am not talking about church attendance or tithing but I’m talking about your relationship with God. Because if you don’t know the Lord as your Savior now you will not be a part of the everlasting kingdom that is to come.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 , Every believer should examine himself to see if he is in the faith.

Just as Daniel pleaded with God to forgive his sin and the sin of the people, we need to plead with God to forgive our sin. And just as God’s response to Daniel was to send the Messiah, Jesus is the answer to your need as well. Won’t you turn to Him in faith and dedicate your life that you might live forever.