Daniel 9.23-At the Beginning of Daniel's Prayer, God Sent Gabriel to Him to Communicate a Message Which He was to Carefully Consider and Understand
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday December 3, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 9:23-At the Beginning of Daniel’s Prayer, God Sent Gabriel to Him to Communicate a Message Which He was to Carefully Consider and Understand
Lesson # 278
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. 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. 7 You are righteous my Lord but we are publicly disgraced as is the case this very day. To the detriment of the Judean people as well as to the detriment of Jerusalem’s inhabitants likewise to the detriment of all Israel, those nearby as well as those far away in all the countries where You have driven them because of their unfaithfulness which they perpetrated against You. 8 We are publicly disgraced Lord, to the detriment of our kings, to the detriment of our leaders as well as to the detriment of our ancestors because we have sinned against You. 9 My Lord, our God is merciful as well as forgiving even though we have rebelled against Him. 10 Specifically, to our own detriment, we never paid attention to the Lord, our God’s voice by living by means of His laws which He gave in our presence through His servants, the prophets. 11 Indeed, all Israel has transgressed Your law. In other words, they deviated to their own detriment by never paying attention to Your voice. Consequently, the sworn judgment was poured out against us, which was written in the law given to Moses, the servant of the one and only God because we have sinned against Him. 12 Specifically, He carried out His words which He spoke against us as well as against our rulers who ruled us by causing a great disaster to take place against us, which has never taken place under all heaven like what has taken place against Jerusalem. 13 As what is written in the law given to Moses, all this disaster has taken place against us. However, we never sought the Lord’s favor, our God by turning from our iniquity followed by giving heed to His truth. 14 Therefore, the Lord was vigilant concerning this promised disaster in order to cause it take place against us because the Lord, our God is righteous with regards to all His actions, which He has performed. However, to our own detriment, we never paid attention to His voice. 15 Indeed, now my Lord, our God who caused Your people to be brought out from Egypt by means of great power so that You made a name for Yourself as to this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. 16 O Lord in keeping with all Your righteous acts, please, I beg of You, turn away Your anger, yes, Your righteous indignation from Your city, Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. For by means of our sins as well as by means of our ancestors’ iniquities, Jerusalem as well as Your people are a disgrace among all those around us. 17 Therefore, at this moment, our God, please respond favorably to Your servant’s prayer request, yes, favorably to his pleas for mercy. Indeed please cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary for the sake of my Lord. 18 Please incline Your ear O my God! Indeed, please respond! Please open Your eyes! Yes, please see our desolate ruins, namely the city which bears Your name because we are by no means repeatedly presenting our pleas for mercy in Your presence on behalf of it on the basis of our righteous acts but rather on the basis of Your great merciful acts! 19 O my Lord, please hear! O my Lord, please forgive! O my Lord, please pay attention and then act! Please do not delay O my God for Your own sake because for the benefit of Your city as well as for the benefit of Your people, they are called by Your name!” 20 Now, I myself was still speaking specifically praying, namely confessing my sin as well as my people’s sin, Israel and in addition presenting my request for mercy in the Lord, my God’s presence on behalf of my God’s holy mountain. 21 As I myself was still speaking during this prayer request, then that man, Gabriel, whom I had seen during the previous vision, touched me as I was faint in a state of weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 Then, he spoke with me, yes he provided instruction and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth in order to impart to you understanding.” (My translation)
Daniel 9:23 “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.” (NASB95)
“The command was issued” is composed of the verb yā·ṣā(ʾ) (יָצָא) (yaw-tsaw´), “was issued” and then we have the noun dā∙ḇār (דָּבָר) (daw-bawr), “the command.”
The noun dā∙ḇār means “message, word” and not “command” since it is referring to the prophecy of the seventy weeks which contains God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel.
If Gabriel wanted to say that a command was issued, he would have employed the noun miṣ·wā(h) instead since this word means “commands, commandments” referring to that which God requires of those who entered into a covenant relationship with Him.
It refers to an authoritative directive either written or verbal, given as instruction or prescription to a subordinate.
However, Gabriel does not use this word but dā∙ḇār since he wants to communicate to Daniel he received a message from God, thus the reason for his visit.
The verb yā·ṣā(ʾ) does not mean “to issue” but rather “to come forth, to go out, to publish” indicating that a message from God “had gone out, went out, was published” regarding His prophetic program for the nation of Israel.
“And I have come to tell you” presents the result of the previous statement that a message from God went forth in the sense that it was communicated to Gabriel.
“To tell” is the verb nā∙ḡǎḏ (נָגַד) (naw-gad´), which means “to reveal” and denotes that Gabriel had come to visit Daniel in order to “reveal” to him a message from God which communicated God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel.
The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of the verb nā∙ḡǎḏ indicating the purpose for which Gabriel had come to visit Daniel.
“For you are highly esteemed” presents the reason for Gabriel’s previous statement that he had come to visit Daniel in order to reveal a message to him from God.
“So give heed to the message” presents the result of Gabriel’s previous statement to Daniel that he was visiting Daniel in order to reveal to him a message from God because he was considered by God as precious.
“And gain understanding of the vision” advances upon the previous statement and intensifies. it.
“The vision” is the noun mǎr∙ʾě(h) (מַרְאֶה) (mar-eh), which means “revelation, vision” referring to a revelation from God which is communicated to Daniel in verbal content.
It does not mean “vision” (NET, NASB95, ESV, LEB, NIV) since if Gabriel meant vision here, he would have employed ḥā∙zôn rather than mǎr∙ʾě(h) since the former refers to extrasensory audiovisual experiences, which are revelatory in character.
Furthermore, there is nothing in Daniel chapter nine, which would indicate that Daniel received a vision from God which is interpreted by Gabriel in Daniel 9:24-27.
Daniel does not communicate any audiovisual experiences being communicated to him as was the case in chapter eight.
Daniel 9:23 “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a message went forth so that I myself have come in order to reveal it because you are considered precious. Therefore, consider carefully this message. Indeed, you are to understand this revelation.”
After appearing to Daniel and then informing him that he came forth from God in order to impart understanding to him, Gabriel tells him that at the beginning of his intercessory prayer for his fellow Jewish countrymen a message went forth from God so that he Gabriel had come forth to reveal this message to him.
The reason why Gabriel was sent by God to reveal this message to him was that Daniel was greatly respected by God.
The book of Daniel reveals there were many reasons why God considered Daniel precious in His sight.
It reveals that Daniel loved God as demonstrated by his obedience to God’s laws and he loved his fellow human being by interceding in prayer for them according to the will of God.
The book reveals that he was concerned about God’s glory and reputation to the point of self-sacrifice.
Throughout the book we see that Daniel loved God with all his entire being and his neighbor as himself.
Daniel’s godly character prompted God to immediately send Gabriel to him and give him not only the answer to his prayer but also much more than he asked for.
If you recall, Daniel was interceding for the Jewish exiles in Babylon because of Jeremiah’s prophecy recorded in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10-14.
Daniel was praying that God’s will for Israel as revealed in Jeremiah’s prophecy would be accomplished.
Daniel’s prayer for the Jewish exiles as recorded in Daniel 9:3-19 makes clear that this is what Daniel was praying for.
However, Gabriel provides him more information with regards to the future of the nation of Israel than he asked for, which fulfills the principle taught by Paul in Ephesians 3:20 that God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.
The prophecy of the seventy weeks not only answered Daniel’s prayer that the Jewish exiles would return from Babylon to their homeland after seventy years but also provided Daniel a comprehensive understanding of God’s program for the nation of Israel.