INTRODUCTION
This chapter will deal with the understanding Daniel had of the seventy years that the nation would be in captivity.  Daniel as he understand the end of the captivity is near prays a most passionate prayer.  The prayer is one of confession and conviction. We can gain many lessons from this man of faith and dedication.

                        THE SETTING OF THE ACCOUNT
 
Dan. 9:1-3 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; In the first year of his reign I Daniel
                  understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came
                  to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy  years in the desolation's
                  of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto  the Lord God, to seek by prayer supplications,
                  with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

The Godly Daniel is aged and still in the foreign land of Babylon now controlled by the Medes and the Persians.

Some estimate the age of Daniel at this time near 80 years of age.  The captivity is drawing to a close.

God had decreed that his people would spend seventy years as captive and then he would restore the people back to their land.

Daniel has read and continues to read the inspired prophets of Israel.  As Daniel studies the prophecy of Jeremiah he is filled with hope and anxiety.  Daniel realizes that God has brought the people down, yet the people were still wayward in their actions.

Daniel knew that Jeremiah had this very captivity in mind yet he is concerned about the nation and her sins against God.

Jer. 25:11-12  This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the
                        king of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the
                        king of  Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt, declares the
                       Lord, and will make it desolate forever".

The righteous Daniel as he understood the scriptures began a mourning and period of consecration to the Lord.
 

Daniel began to petition God in pray.  The man of God fasted and clothed himself with sackcloth, he placed the ashes of mourning upon himself.

God was still in control, he is over everything even kingdoms and men.

Daniel was fearful when he realized how rebellious and weak Israel was spiritually.  The captivity did not make them as strong as they should have been.

Daniel with all of these thoughts swirling in his mind began praying.

Dan. 9:4-6 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord,
                   the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him,
                  and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity,
                  and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from
                  thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in
                  thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land"

The prayer of Daniel was to the power room and control center of the universe.

Daniel did not praise his devotion and recite all the good he had performed as a captive.

 Daniel did not recount all the battles he had won for the Lord during his years in Babylon.

Rather,  Daniel began to confess his weakness, and the iniquity of the people.

Daniel evidently did not believe he has arrived.  The meekness and humility of Daniel is a great example we should imitate.

Daniel had proven his faithfulness in a lions den and many other times, yet he realized he was still weak and human in the sight of God.  This was an attribute that drew Daniel close to God.

James 4:6  God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble.
 
Daniel loved his nation and realized they stood in need of God's forgiveness and mercy.

The man of God realized they were in bondage due to their sins.  Their judgment was just and deserved.

Daniel admitted the nation of Israel had forsaken the words of the prophets.

The people of God had followed after sin no matter the warnings and admonition the had been given from God through the prophets.

Sin has always been a reproach to any people.

Prov. 14:34   Righteousness exalteth a nation;  But sin is a reproach to any people.
 
 

    ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PUNISHMENT DESERVED

Daniel understood that the justice and the truth of God demanded that Israel be punished.  All the terrible pain and destruction that had ben theirs was due to their sins.

Daniel understood about the principle of sowing and reaping.

Gal.  6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
                that shall he also reap.

The people of God need to understand that God will bring punishment to sin and sinners.

Rom. 6:23   For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ
                    Jesus our Lord.

Dan 9:7-14 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, 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.
                   O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our
                   fathers, because we have sinned against thee.  To the Lord our God belong mercies
                   and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;  Neither have we obeyed
                   the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, he set before us by his servants
                   the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, That
                  might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is
                  written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
                  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.  As it is written in the law of Moses,
                all this evil is come upon us:  yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God,
                that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.  Therefore hath the
                LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it us: for the LORD our God is righteous
                in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
 
The Jews were to blame for their misfortune and devastation that they had suffered.

God had promised Israel by the words of Moses that if they sinned against him.  He would bring them down,

Deut. 29:15-19  See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
                           in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in
                          his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances,
                          that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee
                          in the land whither thou goest in to possess it.  But if thy heart turn away,
                          and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods,
                          and serve them;     I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish;
                          ye shall not prolong your days in the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan
                          to go in to possess it.   I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day,
                          that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse:  therefore
                          choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed

Instead of repenting over sin, Israel rebelled and thought that they were invincible.

The rebellious people when calamity would strike would not confess sin, rather they condemned and blamed God for the pain and problems they faced.

Isa.  42:24-25  Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not Jehovah?
                          he against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk,
                          neither were they obedient unto his law.    Therefore he poured upon him
                          the fierceness of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire
                          round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

We are much like the wicked children of Israel.  We blame God when our teenagers become pregnant out of wedlock, We they leave the church and never come back.  We blame God when preachers become corrupt and spread false doctrines.

All the things that have befallen us is because he coddled sin, instead of condemned sin.

We wonder why the church has not grown but has in fact become weak and stagnant,

The reason we have become stagnant and weak is because we have become worldly.  We wanted to be popular with the world so our members dressed and talked like the world.

We wanted to be popular with the denominations so we sacrificed truth for popularity.

God still calls his people from the world to be distinctly different and a holy people.

 II Cor. 6:17-18  Wherefore  Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate,
                            saith the Lord,  And touch no unclean thing;  And I will receive you,
                            And will be to you a Father,  And ye shall be to me sons and daughters,
                            saith the Lord Almighty.
 
The captivity was to cleanse the nation and bring her back to God.  God would test them in the furnace of grief and make them realize his glory and power.

Isa. 48:9-11 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain
                     for thee, that I cut thee not off.   Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver;
                     I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  For mine own sake, for mine own
                     sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and my glory will I
                     not give to another.

The defeat of Jerusalem and Judaism would not be in or by Babylon.  God would bring them back to Palestine and then in A.D. 70 he would utterly bring them to desolation.

Jer. 50:4-5  In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come,
                    they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and
                    shall seek Jehovah their God.   They shall inquire concerning Zion with their
                    faces thitherward, saying, Come ye, and join yourselves to Jehovah in an
                    everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.

The sad state of affairs among the religious world is that they quote these passages to support the false doctrine of premillenialism.

When the Jews left Babylon after the 70 years of captivity under Ezra and Zerrubbabel that fulfilled God's restoration and return.

The return of Jews in 1948 has nothing to do with the captivity and restoration found in the Old Testament.
 

                      DANIEL PRAYS FOR THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM
 

Dan. 9: l5-19  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of
                       Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have
                       sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech
                       thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy
                       mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and
                       thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our
                      God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine
                      upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear;
                      open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the which is called by thy name: for we
                      do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great
                      mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for
                      thine sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
 

Daniel calls on the Lord with humility to restore the fellowship Israel had lost.

The Jews had fared well in Babylon even Daniel and his three companions had become powerful.

God still loved Israel, Esther became a queen under the Persians.

Nehemiah was very close to the King.

The Jews had accumulated money and built houses and businesses as well as synogogues.

Though cut off from the temple and sacrifice they held on to a form of righteousness.

The sad problem was that many had not atoned for their sins,  They prayed toward Jerusalem but was not going to Jerusalem.

Sometimes we have it easy even when we are away from God.  The sad day is eternity,  lost forever for those who die in sin.

Daniel pointed out that the Jews were still in debt to God.  Although they though God owed them

They thrilled at God's judgment on others yet boasted in their righteousness.

Daniel prayed fervently for Israel to be restored not only to their land but to their God.
 

                 DANIEL PRAYS FOR HIMSELF AS WELL AS OTHERS

.

Dan. 9:20-27  And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of
                       my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for
                      the holy mountain of my God;  Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man
                      Gabriella, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly,
                      touched me about the time of the evening oblation.  And he informed me, and
                      talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and
                      understanding.   At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth,
                      and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the
                      matter, and consider the vision.  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and
                      upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
                      reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the
                     vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.  Know therefore and understand,
                     that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto
                     the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street
                     shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.  And after threescore and two
                     shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come
                     shall destroy city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto
                     the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with
                     many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall the sacrifice and the oblation
                     to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
                     even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
 

Daniel confessed his sin before the Lord.  We are adept at confessing others sins but we need to confess ours.

 I John 1:9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to
                    cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The children sing, "Its me, its me o lord standing in the need of prayer".

Daniel was innocent of the sins of his forefathers yet he acknowledged personal accountability to God.

He prayed with the proper spirit of remorse and repentance.

The angelic being Gabriel came and instructed the penitent Daniel.

The great God of heaven praised Daniel with great words that astounds us.

Daniel is called " highly esteemed" and " greatly beloved".

What a wonderful thing for the Lord to say about mere mortal man.

 What a great man Daniel was as a servant of God.

Gabriella revealed the future to Daniel.

The words are about the Christ the Messiah Jesus to come.

God had said that Israel would fall to Babylon and the royal seed would be made eunuchs.

Isa.  39:5-7  Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts:  Behold, the
                     days are coming, when all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have
                     laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left,
                     saith Jehovah.   And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget,
                     shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

God decreed that at the end of the seventy years Israel would journey home to Jerusalem.

Jer.  25:11-12  Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry
                         unto the gods unto which they offer incense: but they will not save them at
                         all in the time of their trouble.    For according to the number of thy cities are
                         thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem
                         have ye set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.

A Persian king named Cyrus would send them home.

Isa.  44:28  That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even
                    saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
 

Isa.  45:1  Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,
                  to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the
                  doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:

The seventy years of captivity would not end Judaism, but the coming Messiah the Christ would be the death of Judaism and the kingdom of God would be in the hearts of man.  The kingdom of God is the church of Christ today.
 

From the decree to leave Babylon by Cyrus, until the Messiah would arrive would be 483 years.

This would take place when Christ began his ministry.

The street would be rebuilt and even the wall, then after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.

The walls and streets were rebuilt in the days of Nehemiah.  after about 483 years Christ or Messiah arrives.

After Christ arrives he will soon be cut off not of himself.

Christ did arrive and was killed or cut off for the sins of the world.  He was raised from the dead and lives forevermore.

Jesus referred to the destruction of the temple from these passages.

Matt. 24:15  When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of
                      through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand),

This completed the end of Judaism as a religion.  The temple was destroyed and the priests were killed or taken as slaves.

The fulfillment of this prophecy and the one by Jesus.

Luke 21:20  But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her
                     desolation is at hand.

These prophecies confirm God's only covenant that remains, which is the New Testament. 

Heb.  8:7-13  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been
                    sought for a second.  For finding fault with them, he saith,  Behold, the days
                    come, saith the Lord,  That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
                    and with the house of Judah;   Not according to the covenant that I made with
                    their fathers  In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of
                    the land of Egypt;   For they continued not in my covenant,  And I regarded them
                    not, saith the Lord.   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
                   After those days, saith the Lord;   I will put my laws into their mind,   And on their
                   heart also will I write them:  And I will be to them a God,  And they shall be to me
                   a people:  And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen,  And every man his
                   brother, saying, Know the Lord:   For all shall know me,  From the least to the greatest
                   of them.   For I will be merciful to their iniquities,   And their sins will I remember no more.
                   In that he saith, A new covenant he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming
                   old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away.
 

The things Daniel prophesied were amplified and certified by Christ himself.
 

CONCLUSION
Just as Daniel spoke about the coming of Messiah so must we obey the messiah the Christ.
We need to be part of his body the church.  have you obeyed the one who died for you?
 
  Believe in Jesus as God's son,  John 8:24
  Repent of sins,  Acts 3:19
  Confess the name of Christ,  Romans 10:10
  Be baptized for remission of sins,  Acts 2:38
  Remain faithful,  Revelation 2:10
 
 
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