Why does Daniel start praying when he understands the seventy years of desolation?

Daniel has been reading the writings that speak of seventy years of Jerusalem’s desolation. When he realizes that this time is almost over, he does not sit back and wait. He turns to God with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. He understands that God’s promises are meant to move people to pray, not to make them lazy. So he confesses sin, asks for mercy, and pleads that God will now do what he has said and restore His city and people.

What is the main focus of Daniel’s prayer in this passage?

Daniel’s prayer is mostly confession and pleading for mercy. He openly says, “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly.” He includes himself with the people and does not blame only the kings or the fathers. He admits that God is right and they are wrong, that they ignored God’s commands and His prophets. Then he asks God to turn His anger away from Jerusalem, forgive His people, and cause His face to shine again on His ruined sanctuary.

What does this passage teach about God’s character?

This passage shows God as both righteous and merciful. Daniel says that righteousness belongs to God, and that the disaster on Jerusalem came because the people broke His law and would not listen. So God’s judgment is not random but just. At the same time, Daniel says that to the Lord belong “mercies and forgivenesses.” He bases his prayer not on the people’s goodness, but on God’s great mercy, His covenant, and His past saving work in bringing Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Who is Gabriel in this passage and why does he come to Daniel?

Gabriel is described as a man that Daniel had seen in an earlier vision, but he is actually an angel sent by God. While Daniel is still praying, Gabriel comes quickly and touches him around the time of the evening sacrifice. Gabriel tells Daniel that he has come to give him skill and understanding. From the start of Daniel’s prayer, a word went out from God, and Gabriel is sent to show Daniel what will happen, because Daniel is greatly loved. He then explains the vision of the seventy weeks.

What are the “seventy weeks” that are determined for Daniel’s people and city?

The seventy weeks are a set period God has fixed for Daniel’s people and Jerusalem. The wording points to weeks of years, adding up to a long span. In that time God will finish transgression, put an end to sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most Holy. It stretches from a command to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah, His being “cut off,” and later the destruction of the city and sanctuary.

Why does the passage say the Messiah will be “cut off, but not for himself”?

The wording shows that the Messiah will be rejected and cut off, not because of His own guilt. He does not die for His own sins, but for others. This fits with the larger promise in the passage: making an end of sins and making reconciliation for iniquity. The Messiah’s being cut off is the way God deals with sin and brings in everlasting righteousness. The words also hint that, from a human point of view, He will seem to have little value, yet His death brings great benefit.

What does it mean that sacrifice and offering will cease in the middle of the final week?

The passage says that in the last week a covenant will be confirmed with many, and in the middle of that week sacrifice and offering will stop. This has been understood in more than one way, but a main reading is that by His death and resurrection the Messiah brings the old sacrificial system to its real end. Once reconciliation for iniquity is made, those offerings lose their purpose. Later, the destruction of the city and sanctuary makes those sacrifices physically stop as well.

Why is this passage sometimes hard to understand, especially the timing of the weeks?

The numbers and phrases in this passage are packed and not all details are explained. The weeks, the starting command, and how each part lines up with later events have been read in different ways by faithful readers. Still, the main line is clear: God tells Daniel there is a set plan for his people and city, leading to the coming of the Messiah, His being cut off, the ending of sin, the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, and a later ruin of Jerusalem because of ongoing rebellion.

How can Daniel’s prayer in this passage guide how I pray today?

Daniel’s prayer gives a simple pattern. He starts with who God is, great and faithful to His covenant. He then openly admits sin, without excuses, and says God is right to judge. After that, he asks for mercy based on God’s character and promises, not on any goodness in himself or the people. He prays for the good of God’s city and name, not just for comfort. You can follow this by confessing honestly, trusting God’s mercy, using His promises as the ground of your requests, and caring about His honor.

What was happening to Jerusalem and Israel when Daniel prayed this prayer?

At this time many from Judah and Israel are scattered in foreign lands because of their sins. Jerusalem has been destroyed, the sanctuary is in ruins, and the people are a shame among the nations around them. Daniel is living under the rule of Darius over the former Babylonian lands. He knows from what he has read that the seventy years of desolation are almost ended, yet the city still lies waste. So he prays that God would turn away His anger, restore the city, and show mercy to His people again.

Dan.9.1

Daniel 9:1

KJV

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;

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

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;

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.

3 ¶ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

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;

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:

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.

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.

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.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10 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.

11 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.

12 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.

13 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.

14 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.

15 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.

16 ¶ 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.

17 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.

18 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.

19 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.

Gabriel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks

20 ¶ And whiles I was speaking, and 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;

21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Cross References

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