Daniel 9

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

2 in the first year of his reign, I Daniel saw diligently in the books the number of the years, of which the LORD spoke unto Jeremiah the prophet, which would conclude the desolation of Jerusalem in seventy years.

3 And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

4 and I prayed unto the LORD my God and made my confession and said, Now O Lord, thou great God who is worthy to be feared, who keeps the covenant and the mercy with those that love thee and keep thy commandments;

5 we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and we have been rebels, and we have departed from thy commandments and from thy judgments.

6 We have not hearkened unto thy slaves the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings and to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 O Lord, the righteousness belongs unto thee, but unto us the confusion of face, 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 lands where thou hast driven them because of their rebellion with which they have rebelled against thee.

8 O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9 Of the Lord our God is the ability to have mercy and to forgive, even though we have rebelled against him

10 and have not listened to the voice of the LORD our God to walk by his laws, which he set before us by the hand of his slaves the prophets.

11 And all Israel transposed thy law, departing by not hearing thy voice; by which the curse has fallen upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the slave of God, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke over us and over our judges that governed us, by bringing upon us such a great evil: that such has never been done under the whole heaven as has been done upon Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us, and we never sought the face of the LORD our God, that we might be converted from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14 And the LORD hastened upon the chastisement and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is just in all his works which he has done, for we did not listen to his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and hast won for thyself a very clear name as appears unto this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, 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 all thy people is given in reproach to all that are about us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy slave and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is made desolate, by the Lord.

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 confiding in our righteousnesses, but in thy many 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.

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 I was even yet speaking in prayer, and that man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 And he caused me to understand and spoke with me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to cause thee to understand the interpretation.

23 At the beginning of thy supplications, the word went forth, and I have come to teach it unto thee; for thou art a man greatly beloved: therefore understand the word, and understand the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are determined {Heb. Cut} upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the prevarication and to conclude the sin and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and seal the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.

25 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to cause the people to return and to build Jerusalem unto the Anointed {Heb. Messiah} Prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks, while the street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One {Heb. Messiah} shall be killed and shall have nothing: (and the ruling people that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; whose end shall be as a flood, until at the end of the war it shall be cut off with desolation).

27 In one week (they are now seventy) he shall confirm the covenant by many: and at the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and because of the many abominations, desolation shall come, even until complete destruction shall be poured out upon the abominable people.

Daniel 9 Commentary

Chapter 9

Daniel considers the time of the captivity. (1-3) His confession of sin, and prayer. (4-19) The revelation concerning the coming of the Messiah. (20-27)

Verses 1-3 Daniel learned from the books of the prophets, especially from Jeremiah, that the desolation of Jerusalem would continue seventy years, which were drawing to a close. God's promises are to encourage our prayers, not to make them needless; and when we see the performance of them approaching, we should more earnestly plead them with God.

Verses 4-19 In every prayer we must make confession, not only of the sins we have been guilty of, but of our faith in God, and dependence upon him, our sorrow for sin, and our resolutions against it. It must be our confession, the language of our convictions. Here is Daniel's humble, serious, devout address to God; in which he gives glory to him as a God to be feared, and as a God to be trusted. We should, in prayer, look both at God's greatness and his goodness, his majesty and mercy. Here is a penitent confession of sin, the cause of the troubles the people for so many years groaned under. All who would find mercy must thus confess their sins. Here is a self-abasing acknowledgment of the righteousness of God; and it is evermore the way of true penitents thus to justify God. Afflictions are sent to bring men to turn from their sins, and to understand God's truth. Here is a believing appeal to the mercy of God. It is a comfort that God has been always ready to pardon sin. It is encouraging to recollect that mercies belong to God, as it is convincing and humbling to recollect that righteousness belongs to him. There are abundant mercies in God, not only forgiveness, but forgivenesses. Here are pleaded the reproach God's people was under, and the ruins God's sanctuary was in. Sin is a reproach to any people, especially to God's people. The desolations of the sanctuary are grief to all the saints. Here is an earnest request to God to restore the poor captive Jews to their former enjoyments. O Lord, hearken and do. Not hearken and speak only, but hearken and do; do that for us which none else can do; and defer not. Here are several pleas and arguments to enforce the petitions. Do it for the Lord Christ's sake; Christ is the Lord of all. And for his sake God causes his face to shine upon sinners when they repent, and turn to him. In all our prayers this must be our plea, we must make mention of his righteousness, even of his only. The humble, fervent, believing earnestness of this prayer should ever be followed by us.

Verses 20-27 An answer was immediately sent to Daniel's prayer, and it is a very memorable one. We cannot now expect that God should send answers to our prayers by angels, but if we pray with fervency for that which God has promised, we may by faith take the promise as an immediate answer to the prayer; for He is faithful that has promised. Daniel had a far greater and more glorious redemption discovered to him, which God would work out for his church in the latter days. Those who would be acquainted with Christ and his grace, must be much in prayer. The evening offering was a type of the great sacrifice Christ was to offer in the evening of the world: in virtue of that sacrifice Daniel's prayer was accepted; and for the sake of that, this glorious discovery of redeeming love was made to him. We have, in verses ( 24-27 ) , one of the most remarkable prophecies of Christ, of his coming and his salvation. It shows that the Jews are guilty of most obstinate unbelief, in expecting another Messiah, so long after the time expressly fixed for his coming. The seventy weeks mean a day for a year, or 490 years. About the end of this period a sacrifice would be offered, making full atonement for sin, and bringing in everlasting righteousness for the complete justification of every believer. Then the Jews, in the crucifixion of Jesus, would commit that crime by which the measure of their guilt would be filled up, and troubles would come upon their nation. All blessings bestowed on sinful man come through Christ's atoning sacrifice, who suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Here is our way of access to the throne of grace, and of our entrance to heaven. This seals the sum of prophecy, and confirms the covenant with many; and while we rejoice in the blessings of salvation, we should remember what they cost the Redeemer. How can those escape who neglect so great salvation!

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 9

This chapter contains a prayer of Daniel, and the answer to it. The time, occasion, and manner of his prayer, or circumstances of it, are observed, Da 9:1-3, the parts of it, an address unto God, under various suitable epithets and characters, Da 9:4 confession of sin, of his own, of the inhabitants of the land, kings, princes, and people, which are largely dwelt upon and exaggerated, Da 9:5-15 and petitions for mercy, Da 9:16-19, then the answer follows; the time when it was ordered and given, and the person by whom it was sent, are expressed, Da 9:20-23 who delivered to him the vision of the seventy weeks to be considered by him; in which both the work of the Messiah, and the time of his coming, are clearly pointed out, Da 9:24-27.