He Changes Times And Seasons › Daniel 9
CHAPTER 9
Daniel’s Prayer and the Seventy Weeks
The God who keeps covenant answers prayer with prophecy
Chapter 9 is the most important prophetic chapter in the Old Testament and one of the most beautiful prayers in all of Scripture. It belongs to the first year of Darius the Mede (539 B.C.), when Daniel was an old man. Having read the prophet Jeremiah, he realizes that the seventy years of exile are almost fulfilled, and he turns not to charts but to his knees.
The chapter has two parts: Daniel’s prayer (vv. 1-19) and Gabriel’s answer (vv. 20-27). The answer reaches far beyond Daniel’s immediate question and lays out a timetable for Israel and Jerusalem that reaches to the coming of the Messiah and to the end of the age.
Understanding by the Books
DANIEL 9:1–3
1In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,
2in 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 desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.
3And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
In the first year of Darius, Daniel perceived by the books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem: seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11-12, 29:10). Daniel does not conclude that because God has promised, he need not pray. He sets his face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
True understanding of prophecy leads to prayer. God’s promises are not a substitute for prayer; they are the ground on which prayer stands.
Confession Begins with the Character of God
DANIEL 9:4–6
4And 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,
5we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy precepts and from thine ordinances;
6neither 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.
Daniel prays to the Lord his God and makes confession. He begins with who God is: the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments. Then he says “we”: we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from Thy precepts and from Thine ordinances. Neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets.
Daniel, who himself had been faithful for over sixty years, identifies himself with the sins of his people. The great intercessors of the Bible (Moses, Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel) all pray this way.
Righteousness Belongs to the Lord, Confusion to Us
DANIEL 9:7–14
7O 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.
8O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;
10neither have we obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11Yea, 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.
12And 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.
13As 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.
14Therefore 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.
Daniel contrasts God and the people: righteousness belongs to Thee, O Lord, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day. Compassions and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against Him. All Israel has transgressed His law and turned aside; therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses has been poured out upon them.
The exile is not a mystery or an accident. God had warned and was faithful to His word. Yet all this evil has come upon us and we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, that we should turn from our iniquities. Therefore the Lord has watched over the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He doeth.
“For Thine Own Sake, O My God”
DANIEL 9:15–19
15And 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.
16O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, let thine anger and thy wrath, I pray thee, 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 round about us.
17Now therefore, O our God, hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
18O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies’ sake.
19O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
The prayer turns from confession to petition. Daniel reminds the Lord that He brought His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and made Himself a name. He asks that Thine anger and Thy wrath be turned away from Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain. He bases his request not on Israel’s righteousness but on God’s great mercies: Hear, O Lord; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for Thine own sake, O my God, because Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name.
Notice how short and direct the final verses are. After the long confession the petitions come in rapid succession: hear, forgive, hearken, do, defer not. The person who knows God’s character asks with boldness.
Gabriel Arrives at the Time of the Evening Offering
DANIEL 9:20–23
20And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22And he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee wisdom and understanding.
23At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.
While Daniel is speaking, praying, confessing his sin and the sin of his people, and presenting his supplication, the man Gabriel, whom he had seen in the vision at the first, being caused to fly swiftly, touches him about the time of the evening oblation. Gabriel says that he has come forth to give Daniel wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved.
The answer began when the prayer began. Daniel’s request was about seventy years of exile; God’s answer is about seventy sevens of history. The Lord often gives more than we ask.
Seventy Weeks Are Decreed
DANIEL 9:24
24Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. The Hebrew word for weeks means “sevens,” and the context shows that each seven is a period of seven years, so seventy sevens equals 490 years.
Six goals are named, and together they describe the full work of redemption: to deal with transgression, sin, and iniquity, and to establish everlasting righteousness, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the anointing of the most holy place. Some of these were accomplished at the cross, and others await the return of Christ.
Sixty-Nine Weeks to Messiah the Prince
DANIEL 9:25
25Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times. Sixty-nine sevens equals 483 years.
The starting point is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Most conservative interpreters identify this with the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8). On the prophetic calendar of 360-day years, Sir Robert Anderson calculated that the period ends at Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Other scholars start with different decrees (for instance that of Cyrus in 538 B.C. or of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C.) and arrive at the same general conclusion, that the Messiah was to appear in the first century. In every case the prophecy points to a particular time when the Anointed One would come.
The Messiah Cut Off and the Prince Who Is to Come
DANIEL 9:26–27
26And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
27And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
After threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. These words were fulfilled when Christ was crucified and when the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70. The prince that shall come is a ruler who arises from the people who destroyed the city, which points to the Roman Empire and to the revived form of that empire in the last days.
And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate. Futurist interpreters understand that there is a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, during which the church age runs, and that the seventieth week is a seven-year period of tribulation beginning when the coming prince signs a covenant with Israel. In the middle of that week he breaks the covenant and sets up the abomination that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24:15. Other interpreters (historicists and some amillennialists) apply the seventieth week to the ministry of Christ and the early church. Both agree that the passage presents Jesus as the Messiah who was cut off for the sins of His people.
Discussion Questions
- Why did Daniel pray when he already knew that God had promised to restore Israel?
- What do you learn about confession from verses 4–19?
- What six goals are listed in verse 24, and which have been fulfilled in Christ?
- How does the seventy weeks prophecy strengthen your confidence in Scripture?