Daniel 9 Part 1

Let’s continue on with our series on Daniel. First let’s recall some  important notes that will help us this week.

In chapter 2, all the magicians, sorcerers and wise men of Babylon were threatened with execution if they could not both tell and interpret the disturbing dream of Nebuchadnezzar. So Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego prayed together and the dream of the statue with it’s gold head, silver chest and arms, it’s belly and thighs of bronze, it’s legs of iron and it’s feet of iron and clay and the interpretation were revealed to Daniel. 

At the end of Chapter 5 we learned that the Babylonian empire fell under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar in 539 BC when God passed judgement on him through the writing on the wall and on that very night, the Medes and Persians invaded the seemingly impregnable city of Babylon, killing Belshazzar and making Darius the regent of Babylon at the age of 62. This ended the Babylonian empire represented  by the gold head in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and brought in the silver arms and chest that represented Medo-Persian empire.

However we learned in Chapter 7 through the dream Daniel had, that Heaven has an opposite perspective on these same 4 empires as seen in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the impressive statue. Instead the 4 empires are inhumane Beasts. They get more grotesque and fearsome as history progresses.

We discovered that the ancient Babylonian harlot religion described in Revelation 17 has never gone away. Incredibly, the ancient throne of Satan mentioned in the letter to the Pergamon church was moved to a museum in Berlin in 1930 and is still open today. This throne was an inspiration for Adolf Hitler and even though Hitler was defeated, a one world religion of tolerance is emerging in our lifetimes and this should be another warning to us to get ready for the soon return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Last week, we learned in Daniel 8 a little bit more detail of the Medo-Persian empire with Daniel’s vision of the ram with 2 horns and of the goat with the 1 horn that became 4 representing the Greek empire, the first horn being Alexander the Great who died at the young age of 32 at the peak of his powers. We noted that the Greek Empire was important to the rapid spread of the Gospel throughout Asia and Europe in early Church history because Greek was the common  language as a result of the Greek conquests. We also learned some more about the coming Antichrist who will emerge in the latter times when sin is at it’s worst in history. As the Antichrist emerges, the Ancient of Days is seated ready to judge and the Son of Man who we now know is Jesus Christ the Son of Man, Son of God who will come on the Clouds to slay the Antichrist and establish his reign on earth with the saints of God to inherit the greatness of his kingdom which will be forever. Amen !

Now let’s turn to Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:1

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans

 Darius was the son of King Ahasuerus. That reminded me that a certain King Ahasuerus was mentioned in the book of Esther so I looked him up.

Esther 1:1-4

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants—the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him— when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all.

The party lasted 6 months and was basically a continuous drink fest. At the party, King Ahasuerus replaced his Queen Vashti with Esther as his wife after Vashti refused to come and parade herself before the other partygoers. 

Let’s join some dots. If Darius was the son of Ahasuerus and 62 years old when he became regent of Babylon, there is a very high probability that as the royal son, Darius would have known Esther very well growing up. In fact there is a Jewish tradition that Esther was Darius’s mother. Certainly his age is a pointer to this being true.

Also note that the throne of King Ahasuerus was based in  Shushan. Last week when we heard about Daniel’s dream of the ram and the goat, we heard that he had the dream while he was visiting Shushan. 

All of this might explain why Darius treated Daniel with favour and had the great concern for Daniel’s welfare we saw in Chapter 6 with the story of Daniel and the Lions Den. He would have not been able to say but if Darius was half Jewish, it explains a lot.

See the work of God in making all the connections that would fulfil his promise to the Jews after seventy years of captivity in Babylon. Who of us can tell how events in far off places will work for the good of believers far into the future.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Daniel 9:2

— in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 

Daniel had seen the fall of Babylon and he remembered the prophecy of Jeremiah long ago. His hope was renewed by recent events. They had been made captive and brought to Babylon in 605 BC and it was now 539 BC so they had been there about 66 years at this point.

Daniel read the words of Jeremiah and his eyes lit up. Our hope is renewed when we read prophecy and see it coming true in our lifetimes. Daniel had not had an easy life remember. He had been taken captive when he was a teenager and now he was an old man in his 80’s, still a prisoner in a foreign land. He’d been thrown to the lions and faced other very difficult trials. Daniel remembered what Jeremiah had written about these dark years.

Jeremiah 25:8-13

“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a 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 lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations.

Notice that Jeremiah’s prophecy concerns all the nations. That means it is important for us in New Zealand to pay attention. Our nation would do well to learn from Daniel’s response.

Daniel read again that it was going to be 70 years of very tough punishment from God. That’s a long time to be sorry ! A simple apology doesn’t always fix things. Some times we think life is unfair and not working out as hoped but we are not home yet ! Just remember it’s not all roses, there are thorns too. God is working in your life too and even if it is a difficult life, God is doing far greater things than you can know so we ought to remain faithful to him just like Daniel. The Lord is faithful to his promises. Daniel remembers that the 70 years is nearly over, there’s not long and they will be free. 

Jeremiah 29:10-14

For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Daniel read they would be free but he also read they needed to pray, to call on the Lord and seek him with all their heart. 

How was Daniel able to persevere through such trials being a prisoner for 70 years? Daniel was faithful to the Lord because Daniel was a man of prayer. That was the key. May the Holy Spirit give us all the grace we need to be men and women of prayer so we can remain faithful to the Lord throughout the entirety of our lives just like Daniel.

Daniel didn’t assume everything would be alright without a change in himself. He recognised that he needed to change.

Daniel 9:3-7

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 

Notice how Daniel included himself with his people. He didn’t think he was better than anyone else. He realised all have fallen short of the lives we should be living including himself. I also have sinned.

We look forward to Jesus coming again to release us from our captivity. But maybe we also need to take a sober look at ourselves. Instead of being happy that his captivity would soon be over, Daniel felt great sorrow instead and acknowledged things needed to change in his nation, even in himself. And Daniel was as godly a man as there has ever been !

Despite being a very godly and faithful man, he felt sorrow remembering that as a people, himself included, they had not followed the Lord like they should and instead done evil instead. Living in this world, we don’t always recognise how much we have become like it. We’ve absorbed the culture, we watch the same movies, listen to the same music, we have not separated ourselves and lived holy lives like we know we should.

Israel had forgotten about what the prophets said. We also can neglect to read our Bibles daily. We also can easily forget what the Lord said would happen in the future. If we remember and watch, we can see like Daniel, the Lord’s promise coming true. It is as in the days of Noah right now.

It wasn’t just in Babylon where the Jews were captive away from home. They were not free in the Medo-Persian territory either which went from Ethiopia to India. Haman had persecuted the Jews in Esther’s time as well. Sometimes we need to take an honest stock of where our lives are at. What is the honest truth about New Zealand at the moment. Are we truly Godzone right now?

Daniel 9:8-15

“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! 

Confessing and repenting of our sins is not the part of being a Christian we like to do. It doesn’t make us feel good. We don’t want others to know we have done wrong or even that we’re  not as good as they think. The world calls it imposter’s syndrome and tells you to ignore the feeling. It is really difficult to be honest with ourselves and others, that we have been wicked and deserve God’s judgement. But Daniel goes on to say the good news. 

Daniel 9:16-19

“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” 

Only according to the Lord’s righteousness and mercy, nothing to do with our deeds. I appreciate what our government are trying to do but I don’t think a budget will fix our nation’s woes. If the nation repents it may not be too late, not because we are good but because the Lord is good and merciful.

Daniel 9:20-24

Now while I was speaking, 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, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the 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. 

At last some good news, Heaven responds to Daniel’s prayer. Have you ever had an encouraging word from the Lord when you were seeking the Lord  but feeling at your worst? Repenting and putting his faith in the Lord’s mercy is why the Angel was sent by God to tell Daniel he was loved and freedom was coming. We also need to acknowledge we’re not good and put our trust in what Jesus did for us by dying on the Cross for our sins. Not because we are good but because He is good and merciful. 

Wait just a minute though! Daniel was expecting that they would soon be free after 70 years of captivity. What are these 70 weeks until the Everlasting Righteousness that the Angel talked about. Are they the same thing?

To be continued next week…