Scripture to Read: Daniel 9:1–2
God lays out for us the setting in Daniel 9:1–2. Daniel 9:1 says, “Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.” Darius was the king of the Medo-Persian Empire. This is the empire that came to power in Daniel 5 when we studied the handwriting on the wall. This is the same Darius who was tricked into throwing Daniel into the lion's den in Daniel 6. The year would have been around 538 B.C., the first year of Darius, so Daniel would have been in his early eighties when Daniel 9 took place. This would have been sixty-seven years after Daniel was first taken as an exile into Babylon. We know then that this is three years before Cyrus, the next Persian king. Cyrus was the king who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. God led the prophet Isaiah to write about Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28 and Isaiah 45:1, which was written two hundred years before Cyrus was born. We read in Daniel 9:2, “in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.” Daniel found his answer in Jeremiah 25:11–12 and Jeremiah 29:10. These are the only passages where God used Jeremiah to explain that Israel’s captivity would last seventy years. We’re reminded today how detailed God is in everything and that we can trust His plans.
Challenge & Application
• What did God show you today about how He used Jeremiah and Isaiah in what would happen to Israel?
• How do you know you can trust God’s sovereign plan, and how does that affect your faith in our Lord?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!