Synopsis: Daniel prays a collective prayer of
repentance after contemplating a prophecy of Jeremiah - Daniel 9:1-23.
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Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash |
The “first year” of Darius the Mede
locates the vision of the “Seventy Weeks” in approximately 538 to 537 B.C. This
is the same period when Babylon fell to the “kingdom of the Medes and
Persians,” as well as the release of the Jewish exiles from Babylon by the
decree of Cyrus the Great (536 B.C. - 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-11).
The chapter begins with Daniel studying a
scroll that contained the book of Jeremiah and the passage that promised
the end of the Captivity after seventy years:
(Daniel 9:1-2):
In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerusˎ of the seed of the Medes,—who
was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans: in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel perceived by the writings,—the number of the years as to which the word of Yahweh
came
unto
Jeremiah the prophet, to fulfil the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years.” – (From the Emphasized Bible).
(Jeremiah 25:8-13):
“And
this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and
these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And when seventy
years are accomplished, I will punish the king of Babylon
and that nation for their iniquity…I will bring upon that land all my words
which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this
scroll that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.” – (Adapted
from the American Standard Version).
For the Prophet Daniel, the “desolation”
of the kingdom of Judah began with the subjugation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in
606-605 B.C. This means the period of seventy years was nearly over by the time
Daniel consulted this text (Daniel 1:1-2).
Daniel
understood from the “writings” the number of the years Yahweh required “to
accomplish the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years.” “Writing”
is a translation of sepher (Strong’s #H5612),
meaning, “scroll.” “Accomplish” represents the Hebrew verb mala
or “complete” (Strong’s #H4390), and “desolations”
the noun horbah (Strong’s #H2723). The terms
“desolation” and “accomplish” are prominent in the prophecy from Jeremiah
25:11-13 (“This whole land shall be desolation (horbah)
and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy
years…And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished (mala)…”).
Daniel refers to the prophecy from the book
of Jeremiah the “word of Yahweh,” that is, the dabar
(Strong’s #H1697). This term occurs again in Verse
25, “The going forth of the word (‘dabar’) to
restore and to build Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:24-27). In
fact, the prophecy by Jeremiah is the text on which Chapter 9 begins to build
its interpretation of events.
The prophecy from Jeremiah is dated to
the “fourth year of Jehoiakim” and the “first year of Nebuchadrezzar.”
That is, in 606-605 B.C., the same year referred to at the opening of the book
of Daniel. A related word by Jeremiah set the conditions for the release of
Judah, a prophecy made after the main deportation of the Jews to Babylon (597 B.C.).
It now forms the basis of Daniel’s supplication.
(Jeremiah 29:10-14):
“For
thus says Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will
visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this
place…You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your
heart…and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the
nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you.” – (The American
Standard Version).
Yahweh promised to release Israel after
seventy years but only if she repented, an act Daniel carries out as the
representative of his nation. For him, the Captivity began with
Nebuchadnezzar’s first attack against Jerusalem in 606-605 B.C. The decree of
Cyrus to release the exiles was issued in 536 B.C., that is, seventy years
after the deportation of Daniel and his companions to Babylon.
The Confession
of Sins
(Daniel 9:3-14):
“So I set
my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplication, with fasting
and sackcloth and ashes; Yea, I prayed unto Yahweh my God and made confession
and said, ‘I beseech you, O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the
covenant and the loving kindness to them who love Him and to them who keep His
commandments. We have sinned and committed iniquity, and been guilty of
lawlessness and rebellious, even departing from your commandments and
regulations; and have not hearkened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in
your name to our kings, rulers, and fathers, and to all the people of the land.
To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us the shame of faces, as at this
day, to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all
Israel, the near and the far off, throughout all the lands whither you have
driven them in their treachery wherewith they had been treacherous against you.
O Yahweh, to us belong the shame of faces, to our kings, to our rulers and to
our fathers, in that we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belongs
compassions and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him; and have not
hearkened to the voice of Yahweh our God to walk in his instructions which he
set before us through means of his servants the prophets; yea, all Israel have
transgressed your law, even going away so as not to hearken to your voice,
therefore were poured out upon us the curse and the oath which had been written
in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we had sinned against him. Thus
has he confirmed his words which he had spoken against us and against our
judges who had judged us, by bringing in upon us a great calamity, as to which
there had not been done under all the heavens, as has been done unto Jerusalem.
Even as written in the Law of Moses has all this calamity come in upon us, yet
entreated we not the face of Yahweh our God by turning away from our iniquities
and by getting intelligence in Your truth. Therefore has Yahweh kept watch for
the calamity and brought it in upon us, for righteous is Yahweh our God
concerning all his deeds which he has done, seeing that we had not hearkened to
his voice.”
This prayer is comprised of two parts –
First, a confession of sin (verses 4-14); second, a supplication for mercy and
restoration (verses 15-19).
Daniel did not
pray for revelation into the meaning of the original prophecy; he understood
its predicted time of fulfillment (“I, Daniel, understood by the writings
the number of the years…”). Instead, he confessed the sins of Israel in response
to the instructions of Jeremiah’s prophecy. The restoration of exiles would occur
when they sought Yahweh, “with all your heart.” In both the books of Daniel
and Jeremiah, “seek” translates the Hebrew verb baqash
(Jeremiah 29:10-14).
The confession expressed
sorrow over Israel’s rebelliousness. Daniel acknowledged Yahweh’s covenant
faithfulness, mercy, and His righteousness (“O Lord…keeping the covenant and
the loving kindness to them who love him”). Israel failed to heed the
prophets. No Jew of any social or political rank was exempt from judgment – The
entire nation rebelled against Yahweh. Righteousness belonged to God but, the “shame
of faces to all Israel, the near and the far off,” all this on account of her
“treachery.”
The Babylonian Captivity was
the result of the national sins that spanned generations (“all Israel have
transgressed your law”). It was the “curse that had been written in the
Law of Moses poured out upon us.” The “curse” has in view earlier
warnings:
(Leviticus 26:14-39):
“But if you will not hearken unto me and
will not do all these commandments… I will give your cities to desolation…When
I scatter you among the nations and make bare after you a sword. then shall
your land become an astonishment and your cities become desolation. Then shall
the land be paid her Sabbaths, all the days she lies desolate, while you are in
the land of your foes, then shall the land keep Sabbath and pay off her
Sabbaths.” – (A.S.V.).
(2 Chronicles 36:20-21):
“And he
exiled the remnant left from the sword into Babylon, where they became his and
his sons as servants until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfill the
word of God by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid off her Sabbaths,
all the days of her lying desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill seventy years.”
– (A.S.V.).
Daniel does not interpret the Captivity as a random event; it was
God’s just punishment in accord with “the law of Moses."; however, even
after Yahweh’s repeated warnings and punishments, Israel failed to “entreat
the face of Yahweh our God by turning away from our iniquities and discerning
your truth.” The confession by Daniel is the appropriate response to
Israel’s plight.
A Plea for
Restoration
(Daniel 9:15-19):
“Now
therefore, O Lord our God, who brought forth your people out of Egypt with a
firm hand and made for yourself a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have
been guilty of lawlessness. O Lord, according to all your righteousness I
beseech you, let your anger and your indignation turn away from your city
Jerusalem, your holy mountain, because of our sins and because of the
iniquities of our fathers Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to
all who are round about us. Now, therefore, hearken to the prayer of your
servant and to his supplications, and let your face shine upon your Sanctuary
that is desolate for the sake of your servants, O Lord. Incline,
O my God, your ear and hearken, open your eyes and behold our desolations,
and the city on which has been called your name; for not on the ground of our
own righteousness are we causing our supplications to fall down before you, but
on the ground of your abounding mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord,
hearken and perform! Do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your
own name has been called upon your city and upon your people.” – (A.S.V.).
Daniel supplicated God for the restoration of
Israel. His past deliverance of Israel from Egypt was in fulfillment of His
covenant promises to Abraham. This supplication appealed to the proven covenant
faithfulness of Yahweh. Daniel petitioned Him to turn away his anger from “your
city Jerusalem, your holy mountain.”
In this context, “holy mountain” refers to Mount Zion and its Temple. Daniel placed the responsibility for Israel’s plight on her sins, not on the Babylonians.
Daniel also pleaded for God to hear his prayer concerning
the Sanctuary that was lying “desolate,” as well as concerning the “desolations”
of the nation. Both words are derived from the Hebrew term shamem,
the verb used in Verse 27 of this chapter for the “abomination that desolates”
(Daniel 8:13, 11:31, 12:11). The Temple lay in ruins and the city was left
“desolated.” These repeated words not only appeal for the
reversal of the “desolation” already afflicted on Israel, furthermore,
they anticipate a future “desolation” of the city and Temple that is predicted
at the end of this chapter:
(Daniel
9:26-27):
“The end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the
end shall be war; desolations are determined. 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…”
Daniel bases his plea for forgiveness and
restoration on the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh (“for not on the ground
of our own righteousness are we causing our supplications to fall down before
thee, but on the ground of your abounding mercies”).
Gabriel’s
Visitation
(Daniel 9:20-23):
“And
while yet I was speaking and praying and confessing my own sin, and the sin of
my people Israel, and causing my supplication to fall down before Yahweh my God
concerning the holy mountain of my God; while yet I was speaking in prayer,
then the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, wearied
with weariness, touched me about the time of the evening offering. Yea, he came
and spoke with me and said, O Daniel, now have I come forth to teach you
understanding. At the beginning of your supplications came forth a word, I,
therefore am arrived to tell because you are a man delighted in, mark then the
word and have understanding of the vision.”
Gabriel appeared while Daniel was still praying,
the same figure “seen in the vision at the beginning.” This visitation,
along with several verbal links, connects this vision to the preceding one about
the “little horn” and the defilement of the Sanctuary, the “transgression that desolates.”
The connection is critical when interpreting the prophecy of the “Seventy
Weeks” (Daniel8:8-18).
The clause, “wearied with weariness”
refers to Daniel, not to Gabriel. The angel touched him to relieve his
weariness. At the end of his last vision, Daniel found himself “faint and
ill.” His weariness is another (conceptual) link to the preceding vision. Gabriel
came so he would “understand the vision” from the previous chapter, so
now, also, the angel arrives to teach the prophet “understanding.” The
verbal and conceptual parallels are deliberate (Daniel 8:15-18, 8:27).
Again, Gabriel is sent to give Daniel understanding. The text refers to “the vision,” however, no vision is described in Chapter 9. The explanation of the “Seventy Weeks” is so he might “understand” the significance of the vision he received already as recorded in Chapter 8.
The prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks” is not a vision
but, instead, is given verbally. Furthermore, it builds on the preceding vision
about the time when the Sanctuary would be “put right” and the “latter
part of the indignation” (Daniel 8:14-19).
A common error when interpreting the “Seventy
Weeks” is to overlook the verbal and conceptual links to the previous visions
of the book, as well as to its final vision (Daniel 10:1-11:45).
The visions of the last half of the book have common
themes and terms, including the “abomination that desolates,” the
cessation of the daily sacrifice, and the defilement of the Sanctuary. The explanation
of the “Seventy Weeks” is not given in isolation from the rest of the book
of Daniel.
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