Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, who was of Median descent and who had been appointed king over the Babylonian empire –

The Medes and Persians were the next door neighbors to the Babylonians. They had been paying tribute to Babylon for many years and were tired of it. They wanted to rebel and overthrow Babylon.

Darius was the title of the Median king, similar to that of czar, Caesar, or emperor. The Darius of the Medes was most likely Cyaxares II of Media-Persia secular history (Dan. 5:31). The first year of his reign was between 536-538 B.C.

9:2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books that, according to the word of the LORD disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem were seventy in number.

Notice that Daniel is writing in first person. It is biased for a liberal to come around 2,500 years later and claim that Daniel did not write this book. How does the liberal know? Was he there?

During the first year of Darius Cyaxares, Daniel was still a captive in Babylon. Daniel studied the Book of Jeremiah and learned that Israel would only be captive in Babylon for a total of seventy years. Since the seventy years of captivity were just about to come to an end, Daniel was eagerly expecting the Messiah to return and establish the Messianic Kingdom.

9:3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Daniel knew that the Messianic Kingdom would not occur until Israel as a nation confessed her sins. Therefore, Daniel prayed and confessed the sins of Israel to God. Verses 4-21 recorded the confessional prayer of Daniel.

9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way: “O Lord, great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant with those who love him and keep his commandments,

Daniel prayed to the name of Jehovah, the one who keeps His promises. He confessed his personal sins. Nowhere in the Bible does it ever mention a sin of Daniel, but he was still a sinner and he confessed them. He praised God’s great and awesome character. Daniel reminded God of His Abrahamic Covenant and praised Him for being faithful to His promise.

9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards.

Israel sinned by not keeping the Mosaic Covenant. Daniel included himself in this confession of sin.

9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, and to all the inhabitants of the land as well.

The prophets warned Israel to turn back to God, but Israel did not listen to them. In fact, Israel killed her own prophets. Israel killed men who were bringing to them the Word of God.

Many nations still attempt to kill their pastors today. Other nations are too civilized to kill Bible teaching pastors. Instead, they censor the Bible in schools. Most communities refuse to support pastors who faithfully teach the Word of God. However, communities will sport cults, isms, liberals, charismatics, women, and prosperity pastors.

9:7 “You are righteous, O Lord, but we are humiliated this day – the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you.

Jehovah was righteous, but Israel was not. Therefore, Jehovah scattered them among the nations. Notice that Israel was not lost, just scattered.

9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.

The kings and religious leaders also sinned against Jehovah, causing them to be humiliated by the Babylonian Captivity. God planned for Israel to become priests to all of the nations, but they followed their own human viewpoint destiny and became slaves to Babylon.

9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.

Daniel praised God for his attributes of compassion and forgiveness.

9:10 We have not obeyed the LORD our God by living according to his laws that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

Daniel confessed that Israel had not kept the Mosaic Covenant.

9:11 “All Israel has broken your law and turned away by not obeying you. Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you.

The Mosaic Law was a conditional covenant. It included blessings and cursings for obedience and disobedience.

9:12 He has carried out his threats against us and our rulers who were over us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!

God judged Jerusalem, just as He promised. The seventy-year captivity was part of the judgment.

9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom from your reliable moral standards.

The Mosaic Law was written down as a contract to demonstrate to the world that Israel had not kept her end of the covenant.

9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just in all he has done, and we have not obeyed him.

Jehovah did the right thing in punishing Israel.

9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly.

God was praised for bringing Israel out of Egypt. The exodus was supernatural and even remembered during the days of the Babylonian Captivity. Daniel confessed that Israel had sinned and behaved wickedly.

9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, please turn your raging anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

The seventy years of captivity were just about over. Daniel asked Jehovah to take away His judgment from Jerusalem and her people. Jerusalem and Israel were mocked by the other nations, because the other nations believed that Jehovah was an inferior God who could not protect Israel. The other nations believed that their demonic pagan gods were stronger than Jehovah.

9:17 “So now, our God, accept the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to your devastated sanctuary for your own sake.

The Holy of Holies had been devastated by the Babylonians seventy years earlier. This destruction left Israel without sacrifice for seventy years. Daniel asked God to restore the Temple.

9:18 Listen attentively, my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins and the city called by your name. For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, but because your compassion is abundant.

Daniel asked God to listen to his prayer. He asked God to look at the ruins of Jerusalem. He asked not because Israel was righteous, but he asked because he knew that Jehovah was a nice and compassionate God.

9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.”

Daniel asked God to hear his prayer, to forgive Israel, to pay attention to their situation, and to act on their behalf. He asked God to not delay in this request. He asked God to answer in the name in which he was called.

Gabriel Gives to Daniel a Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain –

Daniel asked for an immediate answer without delay.

9:21 yes, while I was still praying, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, around the time of the evening offering.

Daniel was praying at the time of the evening offering, which was about 3 PM. As he was praying, the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel.

The Mosaic Law required a daily morning sacrifice, a daily evening sacrifice, a weekly Sabbath sacrifice, a monthly new moon sacrifice, a once a year Day of Atonement sacrifice, and sacrifices on every day of the many feast days. The feast days included Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. All of these sacrifices pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. It is interesting to note that this evening sacrifice had not been practiced during the last seventy years, yet Daniel still prayed at this exact time.

9:22 He spoke with me, instructing me as follows: “Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you.

Daniel thought that since the seventy years of captivity were about to end, that God would now establish His Messianic kingdom. Gabriel was sent to correct Daniel on his misunderstanding and give him divine information on when the Messianic Kingdom would actually be established.

9:23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. Therefore consider the message and understand the vision:

Daniel was very precious to God. Therefore, Gabriel was sent to answer his prayer before it was even finished. Daniel's prayer took about three minutes. Therefore, it took Gabriel three minutes to travel from heaven to earth.

9:24 “Seventy weeks have been determined concerning your people and your holy city to put an end to rebellion, to bring sin to completion, to atone for iniquity, to bring in perpetual righteousness, to seal up the prophetic vision, and to anoint a most holy place.

The Hebrew for “seventy weeks” is שִׁבְעִ֜ים שִׁבְעִ֜ים (shabyim shabyim). It does not mean seventy weeks, but “seventy sevens.” The seventy sevens can mean anything, just as a dozen dozens can mean 144 eggs, 144 chickens, 144 cookies, etc. Since Daniel was studying the seventy years of captivity prophecy, then seventy sevens meant seventy sevens of years, or 490 years. Therefore, the Messianic Kingdom will not come at the end of seventy years, but instead, it will come at the end of 490 years. It is important to note that the Jewish calendar is lunar and not solar, meaning that each of these years will be 360 days long.

In earlier chapters, Daniel predicted the Times of the Gentiles. The Times of the Gentiles is a dispensation when Gentiles will be ruling over the city of Jerusalem. The Times of the Gentiles began at the Babylonian Captivity. According to Daniel 2 and 7, there would be three more empires which would rule over Israel. The three empires were Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Rome would later split into the Western and Eastern (Byzantine) empires. In the end times, these two empires would break into ten regions controlled by the Antichrist.

The Hebrew word for “put an end” is חָתַך (hatad), meaning to cut off or cut out. Daniel predicted that Jerusalem would be under the control of these other three empires for a total of 490 lunar years. This time period would be חָתַך (hatad), or cut out, of the total span of Gentile history.

The purpose of this 490 lunar year cut-out piece of history was to accomplish six different things. The first three accomplishments were negative, while the last three accomplishments were positive.

The first accomplishment was that Israel was to put an end to “the” rebellion. The Hebrew word for “rebellion” is הַפֶּ֜שַׁע (ha-pasha), meaning “the” rebellious act. The Hebrew article is emphasized to point out that Israel was to put an end to one certain specific rebellious act which they would perform later in history. This one single rebellious act was the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. They rejected Jesus as Messiah and called him demon-possessed. At the end of 490 lunar years, Israel will nationally confess the sin of killing their very own and long-awaited Messiah.

The second accomplishment is that sin will come to a completion. The Hebrew word for “bringing to completion” is חָתַם (hatam), meaning to seal up in prison. There will be some Gentiles who will reject Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom, but all of Israel will be saved. After 490 cut-out lunar years, there will be no more rejection of the Messiah by the nation of Israel.

The third accomplishment is that there will be atonement for sin. After 490 cut-out lunar years, the sin of Israel will be removed forever.

The fourth accomplishment is to bring in everlasting righteousness. The Hebrew word for “perpetual” is עוֹלָם (olam), which is usually translated as “eternal.” However, there is no Hebrew word for “eternal.” עוֹלָם (loam) actually means a long age. After 490 lunar years, there will be a long dispensational age of righteousness. This long dispensational age is called the Millennial Kingdom. Its length of duration is first mentioned in Revelation 20 as 1,000 literal years.

The fifth accomplishment is that all prophecy will be fulfilled. After 490 cut-out lunar years, all of the prophecies of the Millennial Kingdom will be fulfilled. This prophecy does not include the eternal order of Revelation 21-22, because these prophecies were not revealed in the Old Testament.

The sixth accomplishment is that the most holy place will be anointed. The holy place is the fourth temple, which will be the Temple of the Millennial Kingdom. After 490 lunar years, the Millennial Kingdom will be rebuilt.

9:25 So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.

The seventy sevens is divided into three cut-out time periods of seven sevens, sixty-two sevens, and one seven. The seven sevens is the 49-year time period which it took to rebuild Jerusalem. The sixty-two sevens is the time period between the decree of Cyrus and the arrival of Jesus the Messiah. The last seven is the seven years of the Great Tribulation.

Isaiah 44-45 predicted that King Cyrus of Persia would make this decree to rebuild the temple. Isaiah predicted this event accurately 150 years before King Cyrus was even born. This decree was made in 538 B.C.

After Cyrus made this decree in 538 B.C, then 62 sevens of cut-out years, or 434 cut-out lunar years, will pass. The anointed one will arrive 434 lunar years after Cyrus makes his decree. This would equate to 483 solar years.

The Hebrew word for “anointed one” is מָשִׁ֣יחַ (mashiach), meaning the Messiah. In solar years, Gabriel predicted that the Messiah would arrive 483 years after the decree of Cyrus. Since the decree of Cyrus was made in 538 B.C., this meant that the Messiah of Israel would be born around 5 B.C. During this time period, the temple would be rebuilt during distressful times for the Messiah. This will be the time period of King Herod’s temple. Herod was an Edomite king, meaning that he was an enemy of Israel. Rome will be ruling Israel. Israel will be paying tribute to Rome.

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction.

After the sixty-two weeks of sevens, or 483 lunar years, and before the last seven years of the Great Tribulation, the Messiah will be executed and have no Messianic Kingdom. The city is Jerusalem. The people of the coming prince are the Romans. The Romans will destroy the city and the temple like a flood. The flood is a symbol for a military invasion. The Roman leader Titus will destroy the city and the temple in 70 A.D.

9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”

Gabriel explained the events of the 70th week. The Antichrist will be of Roman descent. He will make a covenant with the nation of Israel. The signing of this covenant will start the Great Tribulation. At the three-and-a-half-year-mark of the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist will break the covenant, stop all offerings and sacrifices, go upon the wing of the temple, declare himself to be God, and he will set up an idol in the temple. Since he will stop the sacrifices, the Jewish temple must be rebuilt. He will remain in control of Jerusalem until the decreed end of the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation was decreed to end in exactly seven years, or 42 months, or 1260 days, and not a second longer. These time periods were given three times in Scripture in three different dating methods so that the Amillennialists and Postmillennialists would not miss it.

If this passage is not spiritualized, and if it is taken literally, then Jesus will return exactly seven years after the covenant is signed between the Antichrist and Israel. He will return exactly three-and-a-half years after the Antichrist steps into the rebuilt Jewish temple and declares himself to be God. He will return on the last day of the Great Tribulation when the Jews cry out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” These are three of the many signs of the exact day and time period of the Second Coming. This event was predicted with precise exactness in the Old Testament.

There are no signs for the Rapture. The Rapture is imminent and can come at any time. The Rapture was not predicted in the Old Testament. It was called a mystery, or a new revelation, in the New Testament. Therefore, the Rapture and Second Coming must be two different events. The Rapture may come many days, weeks, years, decades, or centuries before the Great Tribulation.

This is an incredible chapter of the Bible, because it gives the exact day of the birth of the Messiah. Remember that Daniel was the head of the school of the magi in Babylon. He passed this information down to his students. This is how the wise men from the East (Babylon) knew the exact day of the birth of the Jewish Messiah. It also gives the exact day of the second coming of the Messiah. Once the Antichrist signs the peace treaty with Israel, then the devil, demons, and mature Bible students will know that they have exactly seven years before Jesus returns. The devil will attempt genocide on these mature Bible students who will be living during the seven years of the Great Tribulation. Some mature Bible students will survive this satanic genocide attempt, but others will be martyred and transported to heaven.