Day 4

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 ...

Israel was in captivity for seventy years because they disobeyed God’s command, which He gave to them through Moses in Leviticus 25:1–5. God even warned Israel in Leviticus 26:33–35 that if they disobeyed His command, He would allow them to be taken captive and removed from their land so that the land could get its rest. The Israelites chose ...

As we examine Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, again, God reveals to us why the nation of Israel had been taken into captivity for almost 70 years when Daniel wrote this prayer. We know from God’s Law, which He gave to Moses, that God warned the Israelites that if they chose not to obey Him, then they could count on the curses of God being poured...

Daniel was a man of prayer because he knew God’s covenant with the nation of Israel, which God had given to Moses. Daniel also knew the writings from the prophet Jeremiah and the prophecies shared through Jeremiah. So, because of Daniel’s intimacy with God and His Word, Daniel knew what to pray as he petitioned God. Daniel started his prayer ...

As we examine Daniel’s prayer, we read Daniel’s confession of sin for the nation of Israel. Daniel said in Daniel 9:4–6, “I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed…we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. 6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the pro...

As Daniel prayed, we read in Daniel 9:20–21, “Now while 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 in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came...

While Daniel was praying, God sent the angel Gabriel to give Daniel the prophecy in Daniel 9:24–27. Gabriel gives Daniel the Seventy Weeks prophecy. This prophecy is about the Jews and the city of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24) and consists of a 490-year time period. Gabriel told Daniel the kingdom would come, not after the 490 years Daniel and Isra...