Daniel Chapter 9 Part 1

Lessons from a legend

 

By I Gordon
 

Introduction

A few studies back in the Daniel series we looked at the lessons that could be learned from the life of Nebuchadnezzar. I think I called it ‘lessons from a loon’. Well, I don’t think, I know that was the title. This chapter is lessons from the great saint Daniel and it’s appropriately called lessons from a legend. As we shall see in this chapter, even heaven thought of Daniel as a man ‘highly esteemed’ and to the best of my knowledge there is nothing negative recorded in the Holy Scripture about this man.

 

Now this study will focus on Daniel’s intercessory prayer for his people Israel and we’ll look at verses 1-19. The next study will be about the amazing prophecy that Daniel was given in response to his prayer. But don’t jump ahead! The prophecy may be more scintillating but always remember that it is in answer to Daniel’s prayer… so let’s have a look at this prayer.

 

Daniel’s study and action

 

Daniel 9:1-3 “In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”

 

So here is how it all started… with Daniel reading the words of the prophets! The year is 538BC and Daniel is a young sprightly 80ish year old. But he is still looking to see what he can learn from God’s word. And he notices something… something important! He notices that Jeremiah[1] gives the amount of time that the Jews would be exiled in Babylon. To be specific, Daniel would have noticed the two following passages:

 

Jer 25:8-12 “Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words,  I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations… This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.  “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD.”

 

Jer 29:8-14 “Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you… They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD. This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity…”

 

There are two things that stand out from this:

1. Wisdom, hope and steadfastness come from God’s word. Like Daniel, don’t stop reading it! In Daniel’s 80 years he had seen whole kingdoms and empires rise and fall around him, yet he wasn’t shaken. The confidence he received from God’s word held his life steadfast[2] and assured him that God was in control.
2. God expected action. He expects our response to His word. Read the Jer 29 passage again. Daniel could have just read verse 10 & 11 (verse 11 especially seems to be everyone’s favourite) and just thought ‘sweet, God will restore everything after 70 years… let’s see what happens’. No, God said he would be found when His people sought Him with all their heart. So that is exactly what Daniel does![3]

 

Daniel’s awesome prayer of forgiveness

 

Daniel 9:4-10 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: 

“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.”

 

Now there are a few things that stand out to me in this prayer.

1. The first is pretty obvious and sort of hits you between the eyes as you read it – Daniel sure does call a spade a spade when it comes to sin! There isn’t a lot of watering down or blame[4] shifting going on! He is brutally honest about the condition of their current state.[5]  
2. Over and over Daniel associates himself with his people Israel. Daniel himself was a righteous man (even God places Daniel in the ‘top 3’ of godly men in Ezek 14:19) yet he identifies himself with his fellow Jews in this intercessory prayer and speaks of their sin as his own. In a sense it gives us a small picture of the one who would one day not only intercede for fallen humanity but would totally identify himself with their sin by taking it upon Himself and destroying it at the cross!
3. Daniel recognises that it is God who is righteous and that the shame is upon the people. I know… that’s not exactly rocket science! It’s a pretty plain obvious point… yet we can get this around the wrong way at times![6]

 

How do you judge where God’s people are at?

 

Daniel 9:11-14 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

 

There are two points that I want to focus on in this part of the prayer.

1. What is the measure that Daniel uses to judge where Israel is at? Does he compare them to the Babylonians? Does he compare them to what they were like in previous generations? No, not at all. The only measure that is suitable to use is one that compares their current state with the word of God. I’m not sure if you have noticed but the world is slip sliding away from God’s truth and laws. The church is following behind. There is certainly still a gap in morality between the world and the church so we look at that gap and think everything is ok. And yet all the time the slide continues. Daniel was correct in judging their condition based on what the word of God (which for them was the law of Moses) said. It is a fixed reference point that will always remain constant and true.[7]
2. Daniel speaks a lot about sin in his prayer. But do you know what Israel’s sin actually was at this time? You see, you could be mistaken for thinking that Israel had a lot of immorality or violence or theft or adultery etc and you would of course be dead wrong. That wasn’t the case. They were actually quite religious at the time of the exile into Babylon. They still had the priesthood, the temple, the prophets (both true and false)… the wheels were turning and everyone carried on with their religious duties… but their hearts were long gone. More in the might fine print if interested.[8] 

 

God and His people are one

 

Daniel 9:15-19 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

 

In the last part of the prayer Daniel moves from confession to supplication. There are two related points that I would like to make here:

 

1. Israel had become a reproach to the people.
   The nation of Israel was meant to be a light to the other nations. They were to show the way to the true God through their words and deeds. But what had happened? Well, Daniel correctly identifies and prays that they had become an object of scorn to all those around them. The Hebrew word used here means a source or cause of shame and disgrace. Instead of attracting the people, the Israelites where doing the opposite! Through the lives and current state they were actually repelling people from coming into a true knowledge of the true God.
2. God and His people are inseparably linked.
   Israel alone worshipped the true God yet because of their sin, Jerusalem now lay in ruin and the people in exile. So what did this mean for the God of Jerusalem? In the eyes of the Babylonians it meant the God of Israel was weak or false. So notice how Daniel repeatedly reminds God that it is ‘your people’, ‘your city’, ‘your holy hill’… If God is act is it therefore for ‘your sake’ and because of ‘your mercy’ for those that bear ‘your name’. In other words, God and His people are inseparably linked. Like it or not, when God’s people become a reproach it is also brings shame and scorn for God Himself. If God were to act, it would be because of his grace and mercy towards His people and because of regard for His own name.

 

So what about God’s people, the Church, today? When another Pastor is caught in adultery… when the world watches and sees that that the only thing televangelists are interested in saving is $’sss… does not the name of the Lord suffer? If the world watches you (and if it knows you are a Christian then it does!) what does it see? Does your life draw or repel those from coming and knowing the Lord?

 

Conclusion

 

Daniel’s action and prayer is that of a godly man. There is no disputing that. We have seen that he started by reading the word of God and that was the basis (and only true measure) for assessing the condition of his people. Though he himself was separate from their actions, Daniel fully identified himself with their sin as he interceded on their behalf. As he prayed, he used ‘we’, ‘us’ etc 33 times to associate himself with the sins of Israel. We saw also that his prayer and supplication was based on the mercy and compassion of God.

 

I believe we can see something of our own condition in the actions of the wayward Israelites and the need to search our own hearts is ever real. We need to guard against being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and from drifting away from our first love.

 

So would such a godly prayer be answered? You bet it would… In bucket loads! In fact, I don’t think even Daniel would have believed God’s response to his prayer as we shall see in the next study.