Daniel 9:1-14

CHAPTER NINE

III. THE PRAYER, THE PRINCE, AND PROSPERITYDaniel 9:1-27

a. REPENTANCE

TEXT: Daniel 9:1-14

1

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasureus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,

2

in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolation of Jerusalem, even seventy years.

3

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

4

And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him, and keep his commandments,

5

we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy precepts and from thine ordinances;

6

neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, that spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7

O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

8

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;

10

neither have we obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11

Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even turning aside, that they should not obey thy voice: therefore hath the curse been poured out upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God; for we have sinned against him.

12

And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13

As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Jehovah our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in thy truth.

14

Therefore hath Jehovah watched over the evil, and brought it upon us; for Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, and we have not obeyed his voice.

QUERIES

a.

Why was Daniel studying the books concerning the captivity?

b.

Why confess sins now after almost 70 years in captivity?

c.

Does Daniel 9:13 mean they had not prayed to God in the captivity?

PARAPHRASE

It was now the first year of the reign of Gubaru (king Darius, the son of Ahasuerus), 539-538 B.C. (Daruis was a Mede but was appointed king of the province of Chaldea by Cyrus). During that first year of his reign I, Daniel, was studying the scroll of Jeremiah the prophet, and learned that the time for the captivities of the Jews and the desolation of their land and holy city, Jerusalem, was seventy years, and thus very near its end. I fasted, donned sackcloth and ashes, and I pleaded with the Lord concerning the end of our captivities. I confessed my sins and those of my people, praying, O Lord, you are a great and awesome God; You always fulfill Your promises and keep Your covenants, returning love to those who love You and keep Your commandments. But we have sinned against You every way possible. We have been perverse, stubborn, wicked, rebellious, disobedient to Your precepts and commandments; we did not even pay attention to the prophets when You sent them to speak to our leaders and to us. O Lord, You are altogether righteous and holy, but we are shame-faced with sin to this very day. All of Your covenant peoplethe men of Judah, Jerusalem and all Israelscattered all over by Your righteous judgment for their sins, they are even now shamefaced with sin. But the Lord our God is merciful, and pardons even those who have rebelled against Him. O Lord, our God, we have disobeyed You; we have flouted all the laws You gave us through Your servants, the prophets. All Israel has disobeyed; we have deliberately turned away from You and refused to listen to Your voice. As a consequence the curse of Godpronounced in the law of Moseshas been poured out upon us. And You have done exactly as You warned us You would; for never in all history has there been a disaster like what happened at Jerusalem to us and our rulers. Every curse against disobedience written in the law of Moses has come to pass because we have disobeyed Your law. Yet we have not appeased Jehovah our God by breaking with our sins and turning to the keeping of Your truth. Therefore God deliberately crushed us with the calamity He preparedand He is just and holy in everything He doesbecause we have not obeyed His Truth.

COMMENT

Daniel 9:1-2 IN THE FIRST YEAR OF DARIUS THE SON OF AHASUREUS. We have discussed the identity of Darius the Mede in chapter 5, Daniel 5:31, and concluded that he is the Gubaru of the Nabonidus Chronicle. Mr. Whitcomb, author of Darius, The Mede, says, The fact that no cuneiform text known to us mentions the name of Gubaru's father is no evidence that his father could not have been Ahasuerus. Gubaru (Darius, the Mede) was appointed king of Chaldea and Babylon in the same year that Cyrus conquered it, 539-538 B.C. This then, was the year that Daniel was studying the books concerning the duration of the captivities.

The term books does not mean the entire O.T. canon. Destructive critics would like to have it to mean this in order to claim that the O.T. canon was already complete when the book of Daniel was being written thus making the composition of the book of Daniel as late as 200 B.C. Leupold says, the article before -books-' according to Hebrew usage, need imply nothing more than the idea of the books requisite for the passage involved (i.e. Jeremiah). There is a quotation from Jeremiah made by Jesus in Matthew 27:9 ff. which contains some phrases from the book of Zechariah. This probably indicates that more than one prophet's work was recorded on one scrollthus one scroll contain two or more books. As a matter of fact, many ancient Hebrew manuscripts have what is called the book of The -Twelve (all of the Minor Prophets on one scroll). It is highly probable that Daniel had a scroll of Jeremiah in his hand which also had other books written on the same scroll, but Daniel was studying Jeremiah. The passage that caught his attention was Jeremiah 25:9-11, And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy-years. The desolation began with the captivity of Daniel in 606 B.C. and the first devastation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. So, in the first year of Darius (538 B.C.), the 70 years (536 B.C.) would be almost completed. The above dates are in harmony with 2 Chronicles 36:21-23 and Ezra 1:1 ff which speak of the first year of Cyrus (which was 539-538 B.C.). Some regard the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 as the point from which the 70 years are to be reckoned. But if this be so, Daniel would hardly feel that now, in the first year of Darius, the 70 years were very soon coming to completion and be in fervent prayer about it.

Daniel 9:3-6 AND I SET MY FACE UNTO THE LORD GOD. WE HAVE SINNED. Daniel knows only too well that the cause for the captivity is the stubborn, deliberate rebellion and sin of the people. He sees that the time appointed by God for the captivity is about complete. He knows that the majority of the people still have not turned to God, so he sets himself in earnest, soul-baring prayer as he confesses his sin and those of his people. His main concern is not to know the precise meaning of the number 70; it is to implore Jehovah God for the complete, full and merciful cleansing and pardon for their sin. This is very important in understanding the answer the angel gives to Daniel's prayer! For the answer is not precise in delineating the 70 sevens, calendar-wise, but the answer emphasizes the fact that complete forgiveness is in the future.

That Daniel was in earnest is indicated by the fact that he fasted and humbled himself in sackcloth and ashesthe customary attire for a Jew who wished to subdue the flesh in order to concentrate upon the spiritual.
Daniel salutes God as One who by mighty acts of supernatural character chastens and punishes sinful people. Then he praises God for His manifestations of absolute faithfulness in keeping His covenants (Word) to those who love Him. It is in this way God expresses His lovingkindness to those who love Him. Those who love Him keep His commandments (cf. I John).

The prophet uses four-synonyms for sin in order to emphasize the stubborn deliberations of it. Jeremiah 6:16-19 indicates the rebelliousness of their attitude toward God and toward the prophets who spoke God's message. See also Ezekiel, chapter 2 and 3. Their sin was not one of ignoranceit was willful disobedience. They loved to have it so! Thus the enormity of the nation's sin! Those who have no love for the truth, but take pleasure in unrighteousness, God will allow them to have deluded minds, if they so desire. This impudent, arrogant, wicked people would not listen to the true prophets who predicted punishmentthey listened to false prophets who cried, Peace, peace, when there was no peace.

Daniel 9:7-11. NEITHER HAVE WE OBEYED THE VOICE OF JEHOVAH OUR GOD, TO WALK IN HIS LAWS, WHICH HE SET BEFORE US BY HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS. THEREFORE HATH THE CURSE BEEN POURED OUT UPON US. It is evident from this prayer of Daniel that he thought the time of the captivity was about to be prolonged on account of the sins of his countrymen and he besought the Lord for mercy. It is a prayer of confession. The word confession is in the Greek is homologeo which means to say the same as. In the case of Daniel's confession he is saying the same as God about rebellion against God's will and the consequences of such rebellion. Daniel is admitting (confessing) that God is completely justified in bringing upon the people of Israel this captivity because this was the warning of God when the law was given to Moses (cf. Deut. chaps. 28, 29, 30). The phrase poured out is similar to that of the pouring out of the vials of wrath which symbolize the wrathful judgments of God depicted in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 16:1-4). What the Jews were enduring in their captivities was what they deserved, and what God, through Moses, warned them would come if they should not hearken to the prophets of God.

Daniel 9:12-14 AND HE HATH CONFIRMED HIS WORDS. YET HAVE WE NOT ENTREATED. And now, Daniel is frightened. In spite of the chastening of the captivity for their former sins, they have not, for the most part, entreated the favor of God. They have not mollified God. The verb translated entreated means literally to make the face sweet. They had not sweetened the face of God toward themselves by turning from their sinful ways in repentance and obeyed the will of God as expressed through His prophets. If they had, God would have removed the evil of captivity from them. They are in the same attitude toward God as before the captivity, so Daniel prays that the captivity not be prolonged.

God confirmed His Word as truly inviolable with the captivities of Israel and Judah. What God promises and warns will surely come to pass! The overthrow of the covenant people (both of Israel and Judah) involved an amount of cruelty and suffering that no other case in history could claim! Just one illustration of such unparalleled degradation is in Deuteronomy 28:53-57 where it is predicted that as a consequence of disobedience to God's law the covenant people will actually be driven to eat the flesh of their own children! It was fulfilled literally in 2 Kings 6:24-31 for Israel and in Jeremiah 19:9 for Judah! God means what He says!

There is no unfairness or unrighteousness in God's actions. He has done only what He said He would do, and gave ample warning and abundant help in providing a way to escape His judgment. Despite all this, the covenant people did not, and were not in Daniel's time, hearkening unto Him, so their guilt, therefore, is all the greater.

QUIZ

1.

How could Darius the Mede be the son of Ahasuerus?

2.

Why would destructive critics like to have the term books mean the entire O.T. canon? What does the term mean?

3.

When were the 70 years of Israel's captivity to end?

4.

What is very important in understanding the answer the angel gives to Daniel's prayer (information concerning the 70 weeks)?

5.

Why is Daniel praying about the people's sin in the present tense?

6.

How were God's words concerning His judgment confirmed?