Dan. 9:1 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;
Dan. 9:2 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 desolations of Jerusalem.
Historical note: Darius is probably the title for Gubaru of ancient record. Darius means “holder of the scepter.”
The main point in these verses is that Daniel was familiar with the writings of the prophet, Jeremiah, and he recognized it as God’s word. He knew from his study of these writings that the time of the captivity of his people in Babylon was coming to an end, and the people would be allowed to return to Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Why 70 years? We are told by the writer of Chronicles.
2 Chronicles 36:20–21 “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.”
In fact, the words from the above verse are from a letter the prophet sent to the captives in Babylon.
Jeremiah 29:1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon….
Dan. 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Daniel demonstrates sincerity, purpose, and humbleness through fasting and the wearing of sackcloth and using ashes (either to sit in or put on the head or both). The words prayer and supplication imply earnest intercession.
Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Dan. 9:4 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;
Daniel identifies the Lord as HIS God. He recognizes God as one who keeps His promises and is full of mercy to those that love Him and keep His commandments.
“dreadful” = fear and revere
We are to fear and revere the LORD, the self-existent eternal God, to the point that we are determined to honor and obey Him.
Daniel is quoting from the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations….
What does it mean to confess? It is to admit one’s sins or faults in agreement with God.
Dan. 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Dan. 9:6 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.
Sin = miss the mark (according to God’s standard)
Iniquity = purposed wrongdoing
Daniel doesn’t just point fingers at his Jewish brethren; he identifies himself as one who has sinned. He sees himself in comparison to God’s holiness and in light of what we know about how we should live to please Him according to His word. I think he is also confessing as an intercessor for his people as he admits how the people as a whole had rebelled in disobedience against the LORD.
Daniel is very specific in identifying their sin; and I think we should be as well to the best of our ability.
- “We” have acted wickedly.
- “We” have been rebellious.
- “We” have ignored God’s laws and principles.
- “We” haven’t listened to God’s appointed messengers.
Point is made that the prophets had been sent to all the people, from the kings and princes to the common people of the land. Since God holds the individual accountable, He always makes sure that the message is given to all—not just the leaders.
Dan. 9:7 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.
Dan. 9:8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
“confusion” = shame
Daniel recognizes God as The God of right and moral virtue. He identifies the people of all Israel (includes the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all descendants of the 12 tribes throughout the world) as people of shame and deserving of God’s judgment of their sin that resulted in their being driven into other countries both near and far.
Dan. 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
Dan. 9:10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Daniel recognizes that God is able to forgive in spite of their sin and that this forgiveness is an act of mercy—not deserved. Again, he acknowledges that they have disobeyed His laws and principles and warnings from the prophets.
Dan. 9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they 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.
Daniel makes clear before the LORD that he (Daniel) knows that he and his people deserved to suffer the curse of His judgment because of their sin against Him.
Daniel is again referencing the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 28:15, 25, 32, 36-37 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee….The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth….Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand….The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
Dan. 9:12 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.
God always keeps His word—although not necessarily in the timeframe that we might expect. From Daniel’s perspective, his people and the holy city of Jerusalem had suffered evil and judgment that was far greater than that experienced by any other nation under heaven.
I can’t help but wonder at what would be his expression after seeing the history of his people and Jerusalem since that time. God gave Israel a special position before the nations as His people under His special blessing. With that privilege came great accountability. Luke words it like this:
Luke 12:48 “…For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required….”
We who claim His name today have great blessing with that same accountability. Our judgment will come just as surely as did Israel’s if we continue in sin without repentance.
Dan. 9:13 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.
Daniel acknowledged that the people of Israel were suffering because they refused to be obedient to God. They refused to admit that they were doing wrong. They didn’t seek to understand God’s word. God had warned the nation through Moses that judgment would come if they did not obey Him.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
God had also promised that if they repented and set their heart to seek Him, they would find Him.
Deuteronomy 4:27-31 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
Dan. 9:14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
This is another statement of God’s righteousness in following through with judgment according to His word when His people refuse to obey.
This expresses the difference in the perspective of a child of God and the unbelieving world. One who loves the LORD will always recognize that God is just and holy regarding whatever He allows to happen in one’s life. He is ready to recognize his own responsibility before the LORD and repent of his sin. This doesn’t mean that everything “bad” that happens in our life is because of personal sin, as Job so perfectly examples; but it does recognize that God has a purpose in everything that touches us, and sometimes that purpose is to make us recognize our sin.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The unbelieving world never looks at events from the perspective of their own responsibility or God’s righteous purposes. They just want to know how a loving God can allow such horrible things to happen to “innocent” people without reference to any personal accountability before God.
Dan. 9:15 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.
I think Daniel is recognizing that God’s deliverance after this time of judgment will again cause the nation(s) to recognize God’s greatness and power. The existence of Israel as a nation today testifies just as loudly, though the world refuses to acknowledge that truth.
Again, Daniel acknowledges the sin and wickedness of his people.
Dan. 9:16 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.
Daniel is concerned for Jerusalem and his plea becomes personal. He recognizes that the land has been made desolate because of the sins of its people. Because of their sins, the Jews have been placed in a position of reproach, disgrace and shame in the eyes of the other nations. He is interceding from a position of confidence that God will restore his nation and Jerusalem to a place of blessing according to His word through Jeremiah.
Dan. 9:17 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 Lord’s sake.
Daniel makes his supplication before God as His servant. His prayer is for the glory of Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God to be restored—not for the sake of the people, but for the sake of God’s reputation among the nations of the earth.
America was founded on the principles of the scripture. When we pray for our nation, what is our motive? Is it to bring glory to God and see His name glorified, or is it for more selfish motives?
Dan. 9:18 O 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.
Dan. 9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
Daniel is begging God to hear and see anew the desolation of His people and Jerusalem, the city that is known as the dwelling place of God. Daniel then changes his prayer to be representative of the people—“we.” They are approaching Him on the basis of His mercy. He asks for forgiveness evidenced by action—again, not because the people are deserving, but in honor of God’s name.
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