Daniel 9.6-Daniel Confesses Israel's Rejection of the Prophets God Sent to Her Kings, Princes, Fathers and People
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday October 10, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 9:6-Daniel Confesses Israel’s Rejection of the Prophets God Sent to Her Kings, Princes, Fathers and People
Lesson # 261
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. 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, 5 we have sinned, thus we have done wrong so that we have been condemned as guilty because we have rebelled. Specifically we have deviated from Your commands, that is, from Your laws.” (Author’s translation)
Daniel 9:6 “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.” (NASB95)
“Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets” indicates that Israel never paid attention to God’s servants, the prophets.
The prophets, who were under God’s authority, served God by communicating to Israel His message to them.
It was to the detriment of the nation, that Israel never paid attention to God’s servants, the prophets.
“The prophets” refer to those men whom God sent to communicate His message of judgment or blessing to the nation of Israel.
There were a number of activities that the prophets of God were involved in such as communicating doctrine, issuing judgments, communicating future events, serving in the Temple, performing miracles, proclaiming Messianic prophecies, and interceding through prayer for the people (Hab. 3).
An inspired prophet could be identified using the tests for prophets in Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:14-22.
“Who spoke in Your name” indicates that the prophets spoke to Israel with the full authority of God.
“To our kings” indicates that for the benefit of the kings of Israel, God sent the prophets to speak to them.
“Our princes” is referring to both political and military leaders of the nation of Israel throughout her history up to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C.
“Our fathers” is referring to those generations of Jews who lived before the generation in Israel which was sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar.
“And all the people of the land” makes clear that God sent the prophets to communicate a message to all aspects of Israelite society and all classes.
Daniel 9:6 “Furthermore, to our own detriment, we never paid attention to Your servants, the prophets who spoke by Your authority to and for the benefit of our kings as well as our leaders and in addition our ancestors, yes, to and for the benefit of all the people belonging to the land.” (Author’s translation)
Daniel continues to intercede for his fellow countrymen by confessing to God that the nation of Israel never paid attention to His servants, the prophets who spoke by His authority for the benefit of Israel’s kings, leaders, ancestors and in fact all the people of the land.
Notice that Daniel tells the reader that every aspect or every class in Israelite society rejected the prophets God sent to them.
These prophets were sent to Israel as an expression of God’s grace, which flows from His attribute of love.
God sent these prophets to Israel to rebuke the nation and call them to repentance.
However, in response to this, Israel rejected these prophets and in fact killed many of them.
So not only did Israel reject the Mosaic Law by disobeying its various commands and prohibitions but also they rejected the prophets by disobeying their message from God to repent.
Therefore, because of the rejection of His prophets, God finally severely disciplined the nation of Israel by sending Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem and exile the people to Babylon.
God the Holy Spirit through the prophet Jeremiah who was a contemporary of Daniel also communicated to Israel that she had rejected the prophets.
Jeremiah 26:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word! 3 ‘Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’ 4 “And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 5 to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’” (NASB95)
Jeremiah 29:1 Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’ 8 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 ‘For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. 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. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’ 15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— 16 for thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile— 17 thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. 18 ‘I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not listened to My words,’ declares the Lord, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the Lord.” (NASB95)
Jeremiah 35:12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord. 14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again; yet you have not listened to Me. 15 “Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.” (NASB95)
Jeremiah 44:1 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, 3 because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. 4 ‘Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” 5 ‘But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods. 6 ‘Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day.” (NASB95)
2 Chronicles 36:16 tells us that Israel scoffed at God’s prophets, despising the very words God gave the prophets to communicate to Israel.
The prophets of God who were sent to Israel were in effect covenant enforcers in the sense that they called the people to repent by confessing their sins to God to be restored to fellowship with God.
They also exhorted them to obedience to God to maintain that fellowship with God but by rejecting this message, Israel put themselves under divine discipline.
The fact that God sent the prophets to warn Israel reveals that God did not want to judge the nation and in fact loved the nation.