Daniel 9

It is interesting that the later part of this chapter gets a lot of attention and not so much this prayer of Daniel. How humble and contrite Daniel is in recognizing his sin and the sin of the people in putting themselves in the position they are in. They knew full well the things God said would happen if they disobeyed, and all that He has done has been Him being faithful to His word. How different Daniel’s words are compared to what others were saying about Israel’s condition? How representative this prayer is to what we see in our own nation and how we have forsaken the things of God? And yet God is a God of mercy and that is the thing Daniel relies on to get an answer from God, not any righteousness that he or the Jews have. He also appeals to God to act because of His great name, because His people bear His name so His reputation is on the line even though the Jews have discredited that reputation.

And it is in response to this prayer that this prophecy is given. How good it must have been for the angel to tell Daniel that he is highly favored and that is why he had been dispatched. Daniel had asked about the holy city Jerusalem and what would happen to it and the Jewish people, and that is what the prophecy addresses. It is an incredible revelation in fairly cryptic terms. Some make much of it, and others don’t..but it does give an outline of God’s plan for the Jews. It runs from the rebuilding of Jerusalem, to the coming of the Messiah, to the coming of the anti-christ. It describes how the anti-christ will function in a seven year period and both make and break a treaty with the Jews. He will dismantle and disrespect their worship and yet come to an end himself. Much of what is said here is reflected in the book of Revelation where more detail is given. This validates the nature of Daniel’s prophecy to me and reenforces the hope we have in the reality that God is in control even when bad things are happening in the world.