Daniels 70 Weeks Part two Of Three Chapter 9
Daniel’s 70 Weeks Part Two Of Three Chapter 9
THE PRAYER OF DANIEL
This prayer of Daniel is actually a culmination of a life of prayer. Daniel asked for a prayer meeting to learn the dream of Nebuchadnezzar at the beginning of the book, and he has been a man of prayer all the way through. The prayer in this chapter gives the pattern of his prayer life and acquaints us with the conditions of prayer. Here are some of the basic elements in the prescription of prayer:
Purposeful Planning. Prayer was no haphazard matter with Daniel. He wrote, “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes” (v. 3). Prayer was not just a repetition of idle words or the putting together of pretty phrases with flowery grammar. The Lord Jesus said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matt. 6:7). Such is not real prayer.
Painful Performance. Daniel prayed with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. This was not done for outward show but to reveal the sincerity of his heart. One doesn’t see many prayer meetings like that today.
Perfect Plainness. Daniel was candid and straightforward in his confession. He got right down to business with God.
There is the story of a preacher in a Scottish prayer meeting who got up and started one of his long-winded prayers. Finally a dear old lady pulled his coattail and said, “Parson, call Him ‘Father’ and ask Him for something.” We need more plainness in prayer.
Powerful Petition. Daniel received an answer while he was speaking and praying. The angel Gabriel appeared to him to give him some explanation. This man got answers to V 3, p 583 his prayers. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us” (1 John 5:14).
Personal and Private. Daniel did not call a public prayer meeting; he prayed privately. This prayer of his is of three minutes’ duration. Our Lord often prayed privately. His prayer which is recorded in John 17 is also three minutes long. There are many of us who want to call a public prayer meeting when we ought to spend more time in private prayer.
Plenary (full) Penetration. Prayer is the only force that has penetrated outer space to the throne of God. Sir Isaac Newton said that he could take up a telescope and look at the nearest star, but he could put down the telescope, get down on his knees and penetrate the outer heavens to the very throne of God.
Prayer for Daniel was a real exercise of soul in spiritual travail. Such prayer is arduous work. It requires effort and endurance and suffering.
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans [Dan. 9:1].
“First year of Darius … of the seed of the Medes.” The two significant questions are: Who was Darius and what was the date? Darius the Mede may be identified as Cyaxares II of secular history (Dan. 5:31). “Darius” is more an official title, such as king, czar, or emperor, than an actual name. There has been some disagreement as to the exact date. Newell thinks it is 538 B.C.; Culber places it at 536 B.C. I think either date would fit into the background. This man conquered Babylon in 538 B.C.
This is in the first year of the reign of Darius. Daniel has now seen a new great world empire come into position, and he is wondering about the future and especially the future of his own people. So Daniel turns to a study of the Word of God. He reads the book of the prophet Jeremiah who said that Israel would be in captivity for seventy years. The date is about 537 B.C. in this chapter. Daniel is between eighty-five and ninety years of age. He had been captured back in 606 B.C. when he was about seventeen. That means that the seventy-year period is coming to a close. It is about the time that these people will be given the opportunity to return to their own land.
Daniel was concerned about his people. I think he was shaken by that little horn in chapter 8, Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian king of the Seleucid dynasty. He would abuse Daniel’s people, and he would desecrate the temple. All of this caused Daniel great concern.
We should notice that the determining factor which brought Daniel to this prayer was his study of the Word of God. The Word reveals the will of God. A study of God’s Word, followed by prayer, is the formula for determining God’s will. These are the promises which Daniel read: “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. 25:11). “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10).
Keep in mind that Daniel had been studying Jeremiah’s prophecy about these seventy years. When Gabriel used the expression, “seventy weeks” (v. 24), he was extending the time of the seventy years. The Seventy Weeks will cover the entire time of the nation Israel in this time of testing before the kingdom is established on earth.
Just reading Daniel’s prayer reveals how different prayer was in his day from what it is now. Notice first the conditions—
“To seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting.” We are told that the Lord Jesus fasted, but fasting was never given to the people of God as a service. It was something that one could do over and above what was required. It is mentioned that in the early church there were many who fasted. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor. 11:27).
V 3, p 584 Daniel demonstrated a purposeful persistence in prayer. Even Jacob in his prayer cried, “… I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Gen. 32:26).
This prayer of Daniel is very personal. It concerns him and his people, which is evident by the repeated use of the first person pronouns, I, we, and our. They appear forty-one times in this prayer. You may remember that we pointed out how Nebuchadnezzar used the personal pronoun in chapter 4. What is the difference? For Nebuchadnezzar it was a mark of pride, a mark of being lifted up. The contrast of Daniel’s use of the personal pronoun is striking. It denotes humility, confession, and “confusion of faces” in contrast to Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and self-adulation.
Daniel is down on his face before God. He recognizes the attributes of God. First we see that he rests upon his personal relationship to God. He calls Him, “My God,” appealing to God in a very personal way. Before he makes his confession, he dwells on the greatness of God. “Dreadful God” actually means worthy of reverence. One cannot trifle with God.
Daniel acknowledges that God keeps the covenant and mercy to them that love Him. He not only makes promises, but He keeps them. He is immutable and, therefore, He is faithful. He is also a God of mercy. It was by His mercy that the nation Israel had been preserved. It is by His mercy that you and I have been brought to this present moment. It is by His mercy that He saves us. “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not” (Lam. 3:22). God is gracious, but God also expects us to mean business, and God expects to be obeyed.
Now notice Daniel’s confession of sin—
“We have sinned.” Daniel identifies himself with his people back there in the land of Israel when they rebelled against God, which resulted in their captivity. He is specific in his confession. He labels each sin: iniquity, wickedness, rebellion, disobedience, and refusal to hear God’s prophets. He writes them all down. He doesn’t leave any out.
My friend, I believe that our confession of sin requires exactly that. It isn’t enough to go to God and say, “I have sinned.” It means to tell God exactly what we have done. When my wife sends me to the grocery store, she doesn’t say, “Get some groceries.” She always gives me a list of items. I am to get this, get that, and get the other thing—and four or five more things. I have to go through that list. And I feel that confession of sins should be that specific. Spell it out to Him. Maybe we don’t like to do that because it is an ugly thing. But spell it out to Him; He already knows how ugly it is. We need to come to Him in frank, open confession.
Up to this point have you noticed how Daniel contrasted God’s goodness with Israel’s sin? He contrasted His righteousness with their “confusion of face” which was their shame. They were scattered because of their trespass against God. They deserved the punishment they had received. God was righteous in sending them into captivity. God was right; they were wrong.
Oh, my friend, if you go to God and make excuses for your sin, if you say to Him, “Lord, you know that I am weak and I was in this and that circumstance,” you are blaming your sin upon God. You are saying that God made a mistake—He should have taken those things into consideration. He has been too hard on you! My friend, you and I are getting exactly what we deserve. And we need to go to God in confession of our sin. In our day I hear folk implying that God may be wrong in what He is doing. God is not wrong; we are the ones who are wrong.
Daniel’s attitude is the proper attitude that each of us should take as we approach our God in prayer. God will not utterly forsake us, but He certainly is not going to move on our behalf until you and I get to the place where we can claim the mercy of God and stop making excuses for ourselves.
This is the climactic plea of Daniel. He asks God to hear and answer because of who He is and what He has promised. No good thing rests upon Israel. Daniel doesn’t plead because he is Daniel. Rather, he associates himself with his people and says, “We have sinned,” including himself, you see. God’s name is at stake, and Daniel is deeply concerned about the name of God and the glory of God. This is the basis for his plea.
Now we shall see that while Daniel was praying, an answer was on its way.
