Daniel 9:1-19
“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 desolations of Jerusalem.” (Daniel 9:1-2)
About six years after his vision in Daniel 8, and shortly after the Medo-Persian forces took over Babylon, Daniel was reading Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 25:8-12. “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, 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, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.”
The people of Jerusalem would be captives in Babylon for seventy years. The first group, including Daniel had been taken about 605 BC. Belshazzar was killed and Darius became king around 550-545 BC, or about sixty years before. Suddenly Daniel realized that the captivity might end soon. In fact Cyrus the Great would free the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem in 538 BC, less than a year after he conquered Babylon. Daniel learned that their captivity had been the result of years of disobedience against God. Please understand that all the dates are only approximations, as there was no universal system of dating at the time, and even their ways or recording years varied from group to group.
“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 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.
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, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
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.
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 upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.” (Daniel 9:3-14)
As Daniel studied, he realized that God had promised that if they turned their backs on God, he would bring them into captivity, and that because they had done so, God had kept his promise. They had no one to blame but themselves for their problems. God had been entirely right in bringing this judgment on them. Rather than break his promise as many believed he had in fact fulfilled it. Their belief was the result of a failure to study the entire scripture, picking only the parts they liked. He began to pray, telling God he now understood why God had allowed these things to happen.
“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.” (Daniel 9:15-16)
In his prayer, he acknowledges how God had miraculously given them a land of their own and they had been unappreciative, turning away from him. He asks that God would forgive them, because he now understood that their sin had brought reproach on Gods reputation.
“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. 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. 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 9:17-19)
God had invested a great deal into Israel. Daniel was asking him not to give up on them and cut his losses, but to give them another chance even though they were still not doing what they should. He was not asking it for benefit to himself, but that God’s reputation for mercy not be sullied because of a wicked group’s disobedience. To allow Israel to be destroyed would make it appear God had failed to those who didn’t know the whole story.
“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 desolations of Jerusalem.” (Daniel 9:1-2)
About six years after his vision in Daniel 8, and shortly after the Medo-Persian forces took over Babylon, Daniel was reading Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 25:8-12. “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, 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, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.”
The people of Jerusalem would be captives in Babylon for seventy years. The first group, including Daniel had been taken about 605 BC. Belshazzar was killed and Darius became king around 550-545 BC, or about sixty years before. Suddenly Daniel realized that the captivity might end soon. In fact Cyrus the Great would free the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem in 538 BC, less than a year after he conquered Babylon. Daniel learned that their captivity had been the result of years of disobedience against God. Please understand that all the dates are only approximations, as there was no universal system of dating at the time, and even their ways or recording years varied from group to group.
“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 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.
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, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
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.
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 upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.” (Daniel 9:3-14)
As Daniel studied, he realized that God had promised that if they turned their backs on God, he would bring them into captivity, and that because they had done so, God had kept his promise. They had no one to blame but themselves for their problems. God had been entirely right in bringing this judgment on them. Rather than break his promise as many believed he had in fact fulfilled it. Their belief was the result of a failure to study the entire scripture, picking only the parts they liked. He began to pray, telling God he now understood why God had allowed these things to happen.
“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.” (Daniel 9:15-16)
In his prayer, he acknowledges how God had miraculously given them a land of their own and they had been unappreciative, turning away from him. He asks that God would forgive them, because he now understood that their sin had brought reproach on Gods reputation.
“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. 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. 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 9:17-19)
God had invested a great deal into Israel. Daniel was asking him not to give up on them and cut his losses, but to give them another chance even though they were still not doing what they should. He was not asking it for benefit to himself, but that God’s reputation for mercy not be sullied because of a wicked group’s disobedience. To allow Israel to be destroyed would make it appear God had failed to those who didn’t know the whole story.
Great post, and a wonderful reminder that we must not "cherry-pick" verses to justify our lifestyle choices or beliefs, but that we must consider the whole weight of Scripture. Cults take verses out of context to create heresy that sends people to hell.
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Laurie
That tendency to cherry pick the scriptures is a really easy trap to fall into, and has led to a lot of questionable or false teaching about Christ's return.
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