10/07/22 – Daniel 9:1-9 – Daniel’s prayer Pt 1
Daniel 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;
Ahasuerus here is probably either Astyages or Xerxes of that time (and in no way could relate to the Ahasuerus of Esther). Benson says that Darius was Cyaxares, the son of Astyages. But, whoever this Darius is, he’s the one made king (probably by Cyrus) when he took Babylon in 539 (or 538) BC. Daniel 9 can be dated as around 538 BC.
Daniel 5:31 – And Darius the Median took the kingdom, [being] about threescore and two years old. That word “took” most correctly means “received”. It is translated “shall receive” in Daniel 2:6 – But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour …..
In Daniel 7:18, it is translated as “shall take” but even there it is better written as “shall receive” – But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
Here in Vs 1 above, “was made” is in the Hophal tense (passive tense) and therefore someone else carried out the action that caused Darius to be made king. Thus, we can assume that when Cyrus took Babylon in 539 (or 538) BC, he gave the kingdom of Babylon to Darius the Mede to rule on his behalf, and here again we see that the same Darius “was made king” (by someone else, in this case, Cyrus).
It appears from history that all the kings of this empire were Persians and that Medes fulfilled secondary roles. This is also demonstrated by the smaller horn of the ram of Ch.8 being Media with the larger horn being Persia.
the realm of the Chaldeans – or the Neo-Babylonian empire, commencing with Nabopolassar (Nebuchadnezzar’s father) through to Nabonidus (and Belshazzar).
Daniel 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.
books – Here it refers to the writings of Scripture
accomplish – fulfil; accomplish; complete;
confirm
desolations – or wasting; ruining. Note that Jeremiah foretold that Jerusalem would be a desolation (laid waste) in Jeremiah 25:11.
seventy years – Jeremiah, who died around 570 BC, prophesied before the captivity that this desolation would be for 70 years.
Jeremiah 25:9-11 – 9Behold, 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. 10Moreover 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. 11And this whole land shall be a desolation, [and] an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jeremiah said that after 70 years of exile, they (the Jews) would return to Jerusalem.
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.
Isaiah (who died more than 300 years before the first year of the rule of Darius the Mede) wrote that it would be Cyrus who would give the order to return and rebuild the temple.
Isaiah 44:28 – That saith of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Ezra wrote that the proclamation to have the temple rebuilt was made by Cyrus in his first year as king of Persia. Note that while Cyrus was king of the Persian empire, Darius the Mede was king over the realm of the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylon).
Ezra 1:1-2 – 1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing, saying, 2Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah.
It was after the collapse of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon which occurred in 539 or 538 BC.
Jeremiah 25:12 – 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.
Daniel was taken from Jerusalem in around 605 BC (it could have been 606 BC) which allows 68 years or less, not 70. Some suggest that Cyrus actually made the decree in 536 BC, which could allow the 70 years to be properly fulfilled. However, Ezra 1:1 says that it was in the first year of Cyrus who took Babylon in 539 BC (some sources say 538 BC). So, is the first year of Darius the Mede the same as the first year of Cyrus, or did Cyrus take over officially in 536 BC as some suggest? If so, then Daniel (in 538 BC) isn’t actually saying that any decree to return is made in the first year of Darius the Mede, but only that he realises that the 70 years is approaching and that a need exists to confess the sins of Judea before the return. This view would require Cyrus to have taken over his kingly role maybe 2 or 3 years after Babylon was taken. There are other views on this as well, but each is dependent upon the selection of the starting date for the captivity. History doesn’t record any being taken captive in 605 or 606 BC, but it is clear that Daniel must have been taken before the first recorded group taken captive in about 598 BC.
Thus Daniel understood from his study of the Scriptures (particularly Jeremiah) that the desolation (laying waste) of Jerusalem would be fulfilled (completed) in 70 years. It is not clear though from what he writes exactly when he thinks that 70 years is fulfilled. This passage is the first part of his prayer concerning the 70-year judgment.
Daniel 9:3 – And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
I set my face unto the Lord God – or I devoted (directed) my fullest attention toward seeking the Lord God. Daniel recognised the importance of seeking God before all else in this matter.
Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
to seek – to seek to find; seek to
secure; to seek the face; require; ask; request; desire.
supplications – entreating the favour of God
fasting, sackcloth, and ashes – Fasting demonstrated the genuine need of
the prayer, a sense of the affliction they were bringing before God.
Ezra 8:21 – Then
I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict
ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little
ones, and for all our substance.
sackcloth (as the clothing of the low-born) signified the lowly state of the one
praying, thus mourning and humiliation, being humbled before mighty God
Amos 8:10 – And
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and
I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I
will make it as the mourning of an only [son], and the end thereof as a
bitter day.
ashes signified great grief and sorrow
Esther 4:3 – And
in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, [there
was] great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing;
and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. (Generally
sackcloth and ashes are put together as they are here.)
For Daniel this is a time of great emotional
feeling, with feelings of affliction and mourning, and a desire to humble
himself greatly before God.
1 Peter 5:5-6 – 5Likewise,
ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be
subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6Humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time:
Daniel 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;
And I (Daniel) prayed to the Lord my God, and made my confession (praise and confession), and said, “O Lord, the great (in importance) and dreadful (awesome) God, keeping (watching over; preserving; protecting) the covenant (alliance; pledge; that agreement which has been made between God and man) and mercy (kindness; faithfulness; lovingkindness; favour) toward them that love Him, and toward them that keep (observe; take heed of) His commandments.
John 14:15 – If ye love me, keep
my commandments.
Note that “keeping’
and “keep” are both based on the same term
but would be interpreted differently depending upon whether it is God or man
doing the keeping.
Daniel commences his prayer by establishing the
covenant or agreement that binds him to God as per the covenant established
between God and Abraham and continued in following generations.
Daniel 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:
He acknowledges the collective sin (to miss the goal or path of right and duty; to incur guilt or penalty by sin) of his people. Note that he includes himself (“We”) even though it does appear unlikely that it was his sin that caused the Jews to be taken captive. They have committed iniquity (done wrong; committed iniquity; perverted God’s law; acted wickedly; turned away from God). They have done wickedly (they have acted in a way that deserves condemnation). They have rebelled (revolted against God; they have thought that they could overrule His will for them probably because they thought they knew better). They have departed (turned aside) from God’s precepts (the same word is used for “commandments” in Vs 4 above) and from His judgments (ordinances) – they have ignored what God has stated to be good for them and have criticised God’s righteous justice upon them (when He sent them into captivity for their rebellion).
As God’s people, it is our right to be chastened that we might grow in righteousness.
Hebrews 12:11 – Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
It does seem quite unfair of such rebellion against God’s laws when those laws were only designed to make them sufficiently acceptable to God to fellowship with Him. The sin was to do with their selfish desires in seeing the satisfaction of their own desires as overruling God’s requirements of holiness for them.
Daniel 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.
We didn’t listen to your servants the prophets who spoke your word in your name to our people, to all classes of our people (rulers – kings, princes; family authorities – fathers; all the citizens of our land, without exception as “all” signifies). We didn’t pay attention to your prophets when they warned all of us of your righteous judgments of our behaviour as a nation. We were warned about our sin and its consequences.
Jeremiah 26:4-6 – 4And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, 5To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending [them], but ye have not hearkened; 6Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
Jeremiah 44:21 – The
incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem,
ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land,
did not the Lord remember them, and came it [not] into his mind?
Daniel 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.
O Lord, righteousness is all yours; You alone are righteous while we, your people, are not righteous at all. Instead of righteousness, we, your people, have shame on our faces because of the trespasses (unfaithful or treacherous acts) with which we have trespassed (acted unfaithfully or treacherously) against You (God).
In particular, this shame of face applies firstly to the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and also to all Israel (all 12 tribes are indicated here), to those of the 12 tribes who are nearby (that is, Judah and Benjamin) and to those of the 12 tribes who are far off. The far off ones would refer more to the ten northern tribes of Israel (many of whom would still be in and around Assyria where they had been taken captive) plus others of them who had gone from there to all the countries to which God had driven them after their captivity at Nineveh. Note that while the Judeans (including Benjamin) returned to Judea, Israel (the 10 northern tribes) were not to return after their captivity.
Daniel 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.
O Lord, to us belongs the shame of our faces (of our guilt before God); we are ashamed because we are certainly guilty of all the sins and iniquities that you have accused us of. And this shame (of our guilt) is not only due to us as your people now, including our rulers (kings and princes), but also to our ancestors (“our fathers”), because we are all collectively guilty of having sinned against you (God). It wasn’t just our generation that has shame of face but many generations before us as well.
Daniel 9:9 – To the Lord our God [belong] mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
mercies – racham (womb; compassion. Can be translated as tender love, mercy, compassion, womb or bowels) It is derived from the same root word as “womb” (rechem) (Eg Psalm 139:13 – For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.) The idea is that mercies and forgivenesses are based upon strong emotions and such emotions strongly affect us physically in such a way that we could refer to them as manipulating our innermost physical and emotional behaviour, thus in our wombs or bowels.
Note Philippians 2:1-2 – 1If [there be] therefore
any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2Fulfil ye my joy, that ye
be likeminded, having the same love, [being] of one accord, of one mind.
forgivenesses – or pardons
It is God alone who may show such “mercies and forgivenesses”, in spite of our rebellion against Him. Some might say that God’s judgment was harsh, demonstrating a lack of “mercies and forgivenesses”, yet if God were to have applied the law in its fulness, then they would not have lived to have seen even the captivity. The law demanded absolute holiness of God’s people.
Leviticus 20:7 – Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the Lord your God. The penalty demanded by the law for lack of absolute holiness was death,
As God’s covenanted people they expected and even demanded the mercies of God as their right. This was also true in the days of Paul who had to say of the Jews that even being God’s covenanted people they had no right to demand God’s mercies, for it was God’s right alone to choose to whom He should show His mercies and forgivenesses.
Romans 9:14-16 – 14What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
God is indeed holy and by right of His holiness may destroy
all mankind in an instant. Lamentations 3:22-23 – 22[It is of] the
Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23[They
are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness.
To Messages and Teachings page
List of all my posts on this site