DANIEL’S SEVENTY WEEKS
PART I 

DATE:4/17/2011 pm 

TEXT: Daniel 9:1-19

INTRODUCTION

The events of chapter 9 took place in the first year of King Darius 

He was made king at the fall of Belshazzar in chapter 5:30 

This is when the Babylonian Kingdom yielded to the Medo-Persian kingdom 

The image of chapter 2 now moves into the area of silver, on the arms and breast of the image

Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold (2:38) 

But now comes the breast and arms which are silver (2:39)

This is the divided kingdom, as it was divided between the Medes and the Persians (5:38)

It was after Daniel was cast into the lion’s den and he was exalted in the kingdom, that he received the vision of the seventy weeks

¶One of the great signs of Bible prophecy, if not the greatest sign, is the nation of Israel 

If you want to know what time it is on God’s Prophetic Clock, look at the nation of Israel 

Israel has been called the linchpin of Bible prophecy 

That is what makes Daniel chapter 9 one of the most important chapters in the book, as well as the whole Bible 

As we have seen in our study of the book of Daniel, parts of the book are historical and parts are prophetical 

When it comes to the prophecies of the book, you can divide them into two distinct parts 

There is prophecy concerning the Gentile nations of the history and prophecy concerning the nation of Israel  

Chapters 2 and 7 outline the prophetic program for Gentiles nations 

Chapter 9 outlines God’s prophetic outline for the nation of Israel

¶In vs.1-19 we will see Daniel in his devotion time 

He was reading from the prophet Jeremiah – v.2 

During his devotion time Daniel again has a heavenly visitor 

We read in vs. 20, 21 

In this chapter we will study it by a 3 fold division:
	
Daniel “studying” in vs. 1, 2
Daniel “praying” in vs. 3-19
Daniel “seeing” in vs. 20-27 (which will be another msg.)

Let’s pray and begin to look at “Daniel’s 70 Weeks” 

~~~Prayer~~~

I. DANIEL “STUDYING” – vs.1, 2    

It is very clear that Daniel was a student of the Word of God  

We don’t have a record; that I know of, how Daniel obtained the Book of Jeremiah …

But we do know that by Jeremiah’s writings Daniel came to an understanding of what was going to happen to Jerusalem and how long the captivity was to last 

It is believed by some that Daniel returned to Jerusalem and there he obtained the writings of Jeremiah, 

But I don’t find this in the Scriptures as far as I know 

But it seems to me that Daniel must have had some of the Scriptures with Him, for all appearance given of him, he was a real student of the Word 

Note this very important thought:

The truths that were revealed to Daniel were done by dreams or visions, but here we see that Daniel learns from the Book 

When God has a message revealed in His Book,

He does not use dreams or visions 

Because His will has already been revealed in His Word, and one must study the Word 

There are a whole lot out there today who claim that they have received new revelations from God 

Revelation 22:18, 19 – “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:” 
“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” 

(These are the false prophets) 

The Bible is God’s complete revelation for this age, so get in it and find out what God has to say 

Daniel was reading and studying from Jeremiah 25:1-14 

We know this from his statement in v.12

A.	Daniel’s ‘Teacher’ – v.2 

“Jeremiah the prophet”

Jeremiah was a prophet to the people of Israel and warned them of their spiritual decay

He was prophesying in the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

He was known as the weeping prophet, and received his knowledge from a vision that was from the Lord

B.	 Daniel’s ‘Text’ – v.2 

“by the books”  The Bible 

The word “books” is plural meaning more than one

We know that Jeremiah had written several books, or his books were written in several different divisions 

We have in our Bible two books written by Jeremiah;

The Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentation

These, no doubt, were the Books that Daniel was studying 

And through them, God gave him an understanding of what was to take place

C. Daniel’s ‘Understanding’ – v.2   

“that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem”

Daniel received this understanding in the 1st year of king Darius which was the king that followed the kings of Babylon

Thus, God had fulfilled His Words in bringing to naught the Babylonian government so that it will never rise again

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” 

From this, Daniel knew that the people would be able to return back to Jerusalem, and from Cyrus the king came the commandment to rebuild the city of Jerusalem

Ezra 1:1-11

It was through the Word of God that Daniel came to an understanding of the seventy years of Jewish captivity

May God teach us and may by His grace we learn that this Book is the means by which God uses to teach us His Divine Will

DANIEL “STUDYING” 

II.	DANIEL “PRAYING” – vs. 3-19

“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
And I prayed unto the Lord my God,” - Daniel 9:3, 4

We see 2 important truths presented to us that goes together and should never be separated:

Bible study – v.2 
Prayer – v.3 

All though the Book of Daniel we find Daniel to be a man of prayer, 

Praying much for the will of God to be revealed 

A. Note Daniel’s ‘Position’ before God – v.3 

“And I set my face unto the Lord Go, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;”

Daniel’s praying was not a casual prayer 

He prayed in earnest and sincerity 

1. “He set his face” 

Setting your face would be purposing in your heart that you will not be distracted from what you are doing 

This became the most important thing in Daniel’s life, nothing, even his duty as Prime Minister would not rob him of his duty to pray

2. “To seek by prayer and supplications”

This speaks of the earnestness of his praying 

He would seek God with a broken and contrite heart 

Prayer and supplications goes hand in hand in the true spirit of praying 

Ephesians 6:18 – “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” 

James 5:16b – “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” 

3. “Fasting, sackcloth, and ashes”

This speaks of the self-denial that must be in true praying

Daniel denying himself teaches us a great principal in relation to our prayer life 

It is not until we permit ourselves to become totally emptied of self, and laying before God ‘ourselves’ in true humbleness, that we will find an answer from God 

B.	 Note Daniel’s ‘Confession’ unto God – v.4 

“And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession,”

Daniel’s Prayer was a Confession 

Confession of our sin is such an important part of our prayer life 

The preacher wrote in Proverbs 28:13 - 

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy”

Let’s look at 5 things that Daniel’s Confession Acknowledged

1.	Daniel’s Confession acknowledged ‘God’s Greatness’

“O Lord, the great and dreadful God,” –v.4b 

God was a God to be feared, and it is the duty of every person to stand in awe of our great God 

“Great” means — He is a God of Majesty 

“Dreadful” means — He is a God to be feared or revered 

2.	Daniel’s Confession acknowledged ‘God’s Faithfulness’ 

“… keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments:” v.4c

God is a God who keeps the Word of His Covenant and mercy 

This He keeps to those who love Him and keep His commandments

In this verse we see 3 great truths -

→ The Who - “O Lord, the great and dreadful God,”

→ The What - “keeping the covenant and mercy” 

→ The Whom - “to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments;”

Remember that God is not obligated to honor nor to bless those who are wicked in heart 

3. Daniel’s Confession acknowledged ‘God’s Righteousness’ – vs. 5-8

“O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee,” –v.7

Whatever God did, He was righteous in it, for the people had sinned against Him 

a. We have ‘Sinned’ – v.5

“We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly”   

Daniel included himself for he too was an Israelite 

Remember that dealing with sin, we cannot pass the buck unto others 

We must face the reality of sin in our own lives, 

Even if we have not been directly involved in it 

b. We have ‘Rebelled’ –v.5

“We have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments”  

Daniel, to me, was a man whose integrity was impeccable, 

But in his confession, he confessed of their neglect and rebellion against God’s Word 

The more that we see ourselves in God’s light, 

The more we see our sinfulness 

Our attitude toward the Word of God, is our personal attitude toward God Himself 

c. We have not ‘Listened’ – v.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”

When the man of God preached, 

No doubt this is a direct reference to Jeremiah’s preaching, they had turned a deaf ear

One of the reasons why their ear became deaf, was because the prophets didn’t speak to their liking 

Paul says that this will be a mark of the latter days:

II Timothy 4:3, 4 - “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” 
“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” 

The results was the “confusion of faces” 

This speaks to the shame of their guilt 

Israel were the children of the most High God, 

But instead of living in His blessings, 

They were living in captivity, living in shame and disgrace 

Remember that sin always robs one of God’s blessings 

In this, Daniel acknowledges the righteous act of God’s judgment upon them 

4.	Daniel’s Confession acknowledged ‘God’s Grace’ – vs. 9-11 

v. 9 - “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him:”                

God’s grace is manifested in that He has showed mercy and forgiveness even though they had sinned against Him

Daniel read in the Book where God would bring them once again from captivity back to Jerusalem, 

Thus, Daniel declared the mercies and forgiveness of the God of grace!! 

5.	Daniel’s Confession again acknowledges ‘God’s faithfulness’ – vs. 12-15 

“And He hath confirmed His words which He spake against us,”

God had spoken about the judgment He would bring upon the people if they rebelled against Him, 

And He has now done exactly that 

God is always faithful to His Word 

He is unable to deny Himself 

Deuteronomy 28

When we make our confession unto God, we must realize that we must confess our sinfulness as we recognize His greatness 

This prayer of Daniel is a masterpiece 

We would do well to follow its pattern 

C.	 Note Daniel’s ‘Request of God’ – v.16 

“O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech Thee,”

Daniel now makes his request of God, 

And as we read it carefully we see that it is properly placed in his prayer 

We have no right to make a request of God until we confess His greatness and our sinfulness 

1. Daniel’s request was for God to turn His anger from the city of Jerusalem – v.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.”

Understanding from the Bible that God would cause Israel to return, Daniel prayed with that understanding

The more that we study the Book and know the Book, the more we will know how to pray in His will 

2. Daniel’s request was for God to hear His servant’s prayer – v.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”

Daniel used the term, “Thy servant” and “Thy sanctuary”, thus, it was to be done for the Lord’s sake 

God had become renown among the nations of the world for what He had done with Israel in relation to Egypt, - v.15 

Thus, Daniel is reminding Him of His greatness, and to do a marvelous work for His Name’s sake again

3. Daniel’s request was for God’s glory, not because of the people’s righteousness – vs.15-19 

“O my God, incline Thine ear, and bear; 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 righteousness, but for Thy great mercies”
	
There is no way that someone can pray based on his own personal righteousness

We must pray because God is a righteous God and full of mercy 

CONCLUSION 

God in His grace gives us what we don't deserve, 

And God in His mercy doesn't give us what we do deserve 

Daniel asked the Lord to turn away His anger from Jerusalem and the holy temple 

He admits that the sins of Israel (including his own) were the cause of that great evil, 

But that God had promised to forgive, if His people would repent and confess their sins – v.18  

But even more, Daniel desired the nation to be restored that God might be glorified 

After all, the Jews were God's chosen people, and Jerusalem was the place of His holy temple; the longer the people and the land were under God's wrath, the less glory the Lord would receive

God would answer Daniel's prayer 

The next year, Cyrus issued a decree that permitted the Jews to return to their land, take the temple treasures with them, rebuild the temple, and restore the worship 

What a remarkable ministry Daniel had in Babylon! 

He was counselor to four kings, intercessor for the people of Israel, a faithful witness to the true and living God, and the author of one of the greatest books of prophecy in the Old Testament 

Daniel now knew God's immediate plans for the nation of Israel, 

But what about the distant future? 

He had already learned from the visions God gave him, that difficult days lay ahead for God's people, with a kingdom to appear that would crush everything good and promote everything evil 

Would God's people survive? 

Would the promised Messiah finally appear? 

Would the kingdom of God be established on the earth?

That, we will look at next time

Closing Prayer

INVITATION 

If there is any hope of a revival every breaking out in America, it will be because of those, like Daniel, who realize what it is going to take

Will you Dare to be A Daniel  

DANIEL STUDIED 

DANIEL PRAYED