Daniel 9.4-Daniel Praises the Character and Nature of His God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday October 8, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 9:4-Daniel Praises the Character and Nature of His God
Lesson # 259
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 9:1.
Daniel 9:1 During Darius’ first year, Ahasuerus’ son, who was from Median descent, who was made king over the Chaldeans’ kingdom- 2 during the first year of his reign, I myself, Daniel understood by means of the scrolls the specific number of years which the word of the Lord communicated to Jeremiah the prophet for completing devastating Jerusalem-seventy years. 3 Therefore, I devoted my full attention to my Lord, the one and only God by repeatedly presenting prayer request in the form of pleas for mercy while fasting with sackcloth as well as ashes. (Author’s translation)
Daniel 9:4 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.” (NASB95)
Verse 4 reveals that Daniel’s prayer was in praise of God’s faithfulness to His covenant relationship to Israel.
Verses 5-16 also make clear that it was a prayer of confession on behalf of the Jewish people in light of their failure to be faithful in their covenant relationship with God.
Verses 17-19 indicate that Daniel’s prayer involved a request that God would forgive Israel and restore them to land of Israel and Jerusalem on the basis of His great mercy.
The proper noun Yahweh, “Lord” is the personal name of God emphasizing the personal relationship that Daniel and the nation of Israel had with the Lord.
The noun ʾělō∙hîm means “God,” which emphasizes the transcendent character of the God of Israel, and refers to the Lord’s complete sovereign power over all creation and every creature and over every nation and ruler as evidenced by fulfilled prophecy.
“And confessed and said” defines specifically what type of prayer Daniel was offering up to his God.
“Alas” is the interjection ʾān·nā(ʾ) (אָנָּא) (awn´-naw), which is used here by Daniel to express his great sorrow that Israel has rebelled against God.
“O Lord” is the noun ʾǎḏō·nāy (אֲדֹנָי) (ad-o-noy´), which is referring to the God of Israel expressing His sovereignty authority over Israel and all of creation.
“The great and awesome God” is composed of the noun ʾēl (אֵל) (ale), “God” which is modified by the adjective gā·ḏôl (גָּדוֹל) (gaw-dole´), “great” which is followed by the verb yā∙rē(ʾ) (יָרֵא) (yaw-ray), “awesome.”
Daniel uses the articular form of this noun ʾēl with the adjective gā·ḏôl in order to emphasize with the reader that his God, the God of Israel is to be distinguished from the heathen gods.
The articular construction of this noun denotes the uniqueness of Daniel’s God, in that He is the one and only God, the Creator and Redeemer and Sovereign ruler over all of mankind and sets Daniel’s God in contrast to the gods of the heathen.
The adjective gā·ḏôl means “great” in the sense that it describes Daniel’s God as superior to the gods worshipped by the heathen.
The articular construction of this adjective indicates that Daniel’s God is unique in comparison to the heathen gods and converts the word into a title for Daniel’s God.
The verb yā∙rē(ʾ) means “awesome” in the sense that Daniel’s God inspires awe in people as demonstrated by His destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of His people Israel to Babylon for their unrepentant disobedience.
“Who keeps His covenant” is expressing the fact that Daniel’s God, the God of Israel demonstrates unswerving adherence to His covenant promises with His people, Israel, which inextricably unite Him with Israel.
“Covenant” denotes a compact or agreement between two parties binding them mutually to undertakings on each other’s behalf and here of course the two parties are God and the nation of Israel.
It denotes a gracious undertaking entered into by God for the benefit and blessing of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and specifically of those descendants who by faith receive the divine promises and commit themselves to the obligations, which this undertaking with God involves.
There two categories of covenants: (1) Conditional (2) Unconditional.
The fulfillment of unconditional covenants depended entirely upon the faithfulness of God rather than the faithfulness of man whereas the fulfillment of a conditional covenant depended upon the faithfulness of man.
In a conditional covenant, that which was covenanted depended on the recipient of the covenant for its fulfillment, not on the one making the covenant.
Certain obligations or conditions would need to be kept by the recipient of the covenant before the giver of the covenant would be obligated to fulfill what was promised.
This type of covenant has an “if” attached to it and the Mosaic Covenant made by God with Israel is an example of a conditional covenant.
In an unconditional covenant, on the other hand, that which was covenanted depended for its fulfillment solely on the one making the covenant.
That which was promised was sovereignly given to the recipient of the covenant on the authority and integrity of the one making the covenant, entirely apart from the merit or response of the receiver.
It was a covenant with no “if” attached to it whatsoever.
An unconditional covenant which binds the one making the covenant to a certain course of action, may have blessings attached to it that are conditioned on the response of the recipient and that response is simply faith or to trust that God will deliver on His promise.
We must understand that an unconditional covenant may have certain blessings attached to it.
Faith or trusting God to deliver on His promises is the condition.
The fulfillment of unconditional covenants does not depend on the continued obedience of the recipient but rather the integrity and faithfulness of God who instituted the covenant.
“And lovingkindness” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and,” which is followed by the noun ḥě∙sěḏ (חֶסֶד) (khed-sed), “lovingkindness.”
The noun ḥě∙sěḏ means “unconditional love” describing God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterizes how God acts towards His covenant people Israel.
The conjunction wa is a marker of cause indicating that God is faithful to His covenant “because of” His unconditional love.
“For those who love Him” refers to those who love God benefiting from His unconditional love and faithfulness to His covenant and refers to the act of honoring, respecting, revering and being dedicated and devoted to God to the point of self-sacrifice.
This act is the proper, appropriate, obedient and obligatory response by the believer to God’s revelation of Himself in creation, in His Son and the Scriptures since the believer has been created and redeemed for God’s purpose and good pleasure.
“And keep His commandments” defines specifically the previous statement which speaks of those who love God.
Therefore, this would indicate that Daniel is telling the reader that God is faithful to His covenant because of His unconditional love on behalf of those who love Him “namely” on behalf of those who obey His commandments, which indicates that obeying God’s commandments constitutes loving Him (cf. John 14:15).
This clause refers to the action of observing conscientiously God’s commandments in the sense of being careful, thoughtful, heedful, attentive, meticulous in conforming one’s actions in compliance with these commandments.
“His commandments” refers to that which God requires of those who entered into a covenant relationship with Him.
Here it refers to the authoritative directives of the God of Israel which were communicated to His subordinate Moses who in turn communicated them to the nation of Israel.
Daniel 9:4 Indeed, I caused myself to enter into prayer to the Lord my God. Specifically, I caused myself to enter into confession and said, “O my Lord, the one and only God, the Great One yes the Awesome One, who is faithful to His covenant because of His unconditional love on behalf of those who love Him, namely on behalf of those who conscientiously observe His commands.” (My translation)
In Daniel 9:4, Daniel tells the reader that he caused himself to enter into prayer with his God.
He then specifies a particular aspect of prayer he began with, namely confession on behalf of the nation Israel which constituted an intercessory prayer for the nation.
Before he begins to tell the reader that he confessed the sins of Israel to his God, he describes his God.
When addressing his God, Daniel describes the God of Israel as His Lord, which describes Daniel’s covenant relationship with the God of Israel.
He then describes the God of Israel as “the one and only God” which refers to the fact that the God of Israel is superior to the gods of the heathen and is distinguished from the heathen gods as the true and living, the Creator.
Daniel then describes His God as “the Great One,” which describes Daniel’s God as superior to the gods worshipped by the heathen.
It too emphasizes that Daniel’s God is distinguished from these heathen gods.
Then, Daniel describes his God as “the Awesome One,” which means that his God inspires awe in people.
This has been demonstrated in the book of Daniel with God delivering Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Nebuchadnezzar’s power.
It was also demonstrated by God delivering Daniel from the mouths of the lions as well as deposing Nebuchadnezzar from power for seven years and then restoring him to power after his repentance.
The God of Israel is also worthy of this title “the Awesome One” because of the discipline He administered to the nation of Israel because of their unrepentant rebellion against Him.
Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Israel was awe inspiring and the God of Israel raised up this wicked king to carry out this destruction.
Daniel continues to describe his God as being “faithful to His covenant” which is expressing the fact that the God of Israel demonstrates unswerving adherence to His covenant promises with His people, Israel, which inextricably unite Him with Israel.
It denotes that He always upholds His covenant promises.
The covenant in view here is the Mosaic covenant, which is indicated in Daniel 9:11 and 13 which refers to God disciplining the nation of Israel for disobeying the law of Moses.
Daniel then tells the reader the reason why God is faithful to His covenant, namely because of His unconditional love, which describes God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterizes how God acts towards His covenant people Israel.
God is characterized as remaining faithful to His covenant promises even though His people fail Him because He is unconditional love.
Even though Israel fails Him, He remains faithful and continues to love them because He is unconditional love.
Then, the reader is told what specific group of individuals who are the beneficiaries of God’s faithfulness which is based on His attribute of love, namely those who love Him.
Daniel then defines what he means by the phrase “those who love” God by telling the reader that it refers to those who conscientiously obey His commands.
Thus, Daniel is telling the reader that the conscientious observance of God’s commands constitutes loving God in the sense of honoring and respecting Him.
The various descriptions of the God of Israel which Daniel presents to the reader express the fact that he was worshipping the God of Israel in this prayer of intercession on behalf of the nation of Israel.
The opening to Daniel’s intercessory prayer on behalf of the Jewish exiles reveals that he was steeped in the Word of God.
It demonstrates that his mind was saturated with the Law of Moses since the language he uses here in Daniel 9:4 echoes descriptions of God in the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 7:21; 10:17, 21).
Daniel’s intercessory prayer reveals that he was claiming the promises which appear in Leviticus 26:40-42.
Daniel begins this intercessory prayer on behalf of the Jewish exiles by praising the God of Israel’s character and in particular His covenant faithfulness which is based upon His attribute of love since he is going to appeal to this love in order to cause God to act and restore the Jewish exiles to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
It is also an acknowledgement that God has kept His side of the covenant and Israel has not.
It makes clear that God has no responsibility for the collapse of the relationship between Himself and Israel.
So the beginning of Daniel’s prayer is an acknowledgement that God is in the right and verses 5-16 will make clear that Israel was clearly in the wrong and totally and completely at fault for the collapse of the relationship between herself and God.
The fact that God answered Daniel’s prayer was an answer to Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple which he built for the worship of God (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-53).