Daniel
Chapter 9
In the last part of this chapter, in answer to his prayer, Daniel predicts the future even unto the very end. His 70th week, or heptad, will be the final seven years of tribulation where the antichrist will reign on the earth. It will be the "Time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), or as Jesus describes the time in Matthew 24:15-22, a time such as has never occurred on earth.
Yes, Daniel 9, in conjunction with Jesus' prophesies from Matthew 24, Luke 21, Mark 13 and the book of Revelation gives us a bird's eye view of the last seven years of tribulation. Daniel identifies the countries involved and the political happenings for this time.
You won't want to miss this world-wide destruction following the "abomination of desolations" that Daniel describes.
Vv 1 – 23 Daniel's Prayer for His People
V 1 In the first year
of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made
king over the kingdom of the
Chaldeans--
A. Darius began to reign in 539 B.C.
1. Do you think that
Daniel can predict the next king?
2. Yes, Isaiah
chapters 44 and 45.
V 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.
B. Which books
did Daniel use to get the answer for the number of years they would
be held
captive.
1. The scrolls of
the Old Testament.
2. He found the
answer in Isaiah 23:15, 17 and Jeremiah 25:11, 12.
V 3 So I gave my
attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with
fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
C. Do you think that Daniel was serious about seeking God
and his prayer time?
1. Should we be as
serious and dedicated to prayer?
2. One thing to
consider: Jesus hadn’t died to make a way for the Father to get to
us and for
us to get to the Father in Daniel’s time.
3. Today and because
of Jesus, we have access to the throne anytime!
V 4 I prayed to the
LORD my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and
awesome God, who keeps His covenant
and lovingkindness for those who love
Him and keep His commandments, V
5 we have sinned, committed iniquity,
acted
wickedly and rebelled, even turning
aside from Your commandments and
ordinances. V 6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your
servants the prophets,
who spoke in Your name to our kings,
our princes, our fathers and all the people
of the land. V 7 Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to
us open shame, as it
is this day--to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and all Israel,
those
who are nearby and those who are far
away in all the countries to which You
have driven them, because of their
unfaithful deeds which they have committed
against You. V 8 Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our
kings, our princes
and our fathers, because we have
sinned against You. V 9 To the Lord
our God
belong compassion and forgiveness,
for we have rebelled against Him; V 10 nor
have we obeyed the voice of the LORD
our God, to walk in His teachings which
He set before us through His
servants the prophets. V 11 Indeed
all Israel
has
transgressed Your law and turned
aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has
been poured out on us, along with
the oath which is written in the law of Moses
the servant of God, for we have
sinned against Him. V 12 Thus He has
confirmed
His words which He had spoken
against us and against our rulers who ruled us,
to bring on us great calamity; for
under the whole heaven there has not been done
anything like what was done to Jerusalem.
V 13 As it is written
in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have
not sought the favor of the LORD our
God by turning from our iniquity and giving
attention to Your truth. V 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in
store
and brought it on us; for the LORD
our God is righteous with respect to all His
deeds which He has done, but we have
not obeyed His voice. V 15 And now, O
Lord our God, who have brought Your
people out of the land
of Egypt with a
mighty hand and have made a name for
Yourself, as it is this day--we have sinned,
we have been wicked. V 16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your
righteous acts,
let now Your anger and Your wrath
turn away from Your city Jerusalem,
Your
holy mountain; for because of our
sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem
and Your people have become a reproach
to all those around us. V 17 So now,
our God, listen to the prayer of
Your servant and to his supplications, and for
Your sake, O Lord, let Your face
shine on Your desolate sanctuary. V 18 O
my
God, incline Your ear and hear! Open
Your eyes and see our desolations and the
city which is called by Your name;
for we are not presenting our supplications
before You on account of any merits
of our own, but on account of Your great
compassion. V 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord,
listen and take action!
For Your own sake, O my God, do not
delay, because Your city and Your people
are called by Your name.
D. One of the most beautiful intercessory prayers in the
Bible, c.f. Ezra 9 and
Nehemiah 9.
1. Daniel begins by
recognizing the awesomeness of God, V 4.
a. He keeps his
covenant
1) Remember
God said, if you disobey me, then calamity will come.
2) So God kept his covenant with them.
b. He keeps his
lovingkindness with those who love him.
c. He keeps his
commands—good or bad, he keeps them.
2. by confessing his
sin and the sins of his people, v 5
a. Notice the sins
are those of intentional rebellion.
b. committed
iniquity, acted wickedly
3. We have failed to
listen to our preachers, v 6
4. You are
righteous, but all of us everywhere are wicked and unfaithful, v 7.
5. because of our
sins, we have shamed you and ourselves, v 8
6. but you are a
compassionate and forgiving God even though we have sinned
intentionally
against you, v 9
a. This is
important for you and me, too.
b. Do you ever sin
intentionally?
7. We haven’t read,
studied and followed our Bible, v 10
8. Since we sinned
and rebelled, you followed your words, v 11
a. His word
divides and separates, too.
b. His word says
what will happen if they disobeyed his commandments.
9. We must remember,
God will perform his word. That’s what he did here, v 12
10. Even though his word came about as he said, we haven’t
quit rebelling, v 13
11. Righteousness doesn’t always mean goodness—God’s
righteousness was
done,
carried out, when he destroyed their city and their land. It was his
righteousness
that was done because he said that he would do it. v 14
12. You have carried out your word, now let your wrath be
turned away from
your holy
mountain and do as you did when you brought us out of Egypt, v 15, 16
13. Hear my prayer God, but for your sake and your holy
city, not ours. v 17
14. Hear us not because of anything we have done for you,
but because of your
great
compassion. v 18
15. Forgive us because of your holiness and greatness and
your name. v 19
Vv 20 – 23 Gabriel Brings an Answer
V 20 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,
A. Even while he was making supplication to God, the answer
comes.
1. Sometimes answers
take a few days or longer.
2. Have you gotten
answers to your prayers almost immediately?
V 21 while I was still
speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the
vision previously, came to me in my
extreme weariness about the time of the
evening offering.
B. God sends his angel to answer Daniel’s prayer.
1. Gabriel’s name
means “Hero of God.”
2. He is one of only
two good angels named in the Bible.
3. Do you remember
the name of the other? Michael.
4. The time is about
6:00 p.m.
V 22 He gave me
instruction and talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come
forth to give you insight with
understanding.
C. I bring insight and understanding to you.
V 23 At the beginning
of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to
tell you, for you are highly
esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain
understanding of the vision.
D. I came at the very beginning of your prayer.
1. First of all, you
are highly esteemed.
2. Wouldn’t that be
nice of God to say to you.
3. Actually, he
calls you by a better name, his masterpiece or workmanship, Eph. 2:10.
4. My message will
bring you understanding.
5. Do we need angels
to give us understanding?
a. No, not really.
b. Why?
c. Because we have
the Holy Spirit who will guide us and guide us in all truth,
Luke 16:13.
Vv 24 – 30 Seventy
Weeks and the Messiah
V 24 Seventy weeks
have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the
transgression, to make an end of
sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal
up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most
holy place.
A. Gabriel tells Daniel that 70 weeks or heptad is how long it will take to bring
this
prophesy to
completion.
Pg. 4 Chapter 9 Daniel 64
1. heptad = sevens – or 70 sevens or 70 X 7 = 490 years.
a. Seven as there
are 7 days in a week.
b. You got to know
that Eastern languages have no way to 1) show expression – it
is a flat
language, and 2) its mathematics can’t multiply.
2. So Daniel says
there will be 490 years:
a. 70 heptad or sevens.
b. Our language
does allow for multiplication, so we can deduce that:
1) 70
sevens – or weeks – or heptad
2) Equals 70 X 7
= 490 years.
3. These 70 years
are decreed for 6 reasons:
a) to finish the
transgression
b) to make an end
to sin
c) to make
atonement for iniquity
d) to bring in
everlasting righteousness
e) to seal up
vision and prophesy (1 Cor. 13:9, 10)
f) to anoint the
most holy place
4. It will take 490
years to complete these 6 things.
V 25. So you are to
know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will
be seven weeks and sixty-
two weeks; it will be built again,
with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
B. Know this and understand its meaning.
1. Daniel, you can
rest assured that this will happen.
2. Whenever a decree
goes forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem:
a. Some one – a
king – because of the word decree, only a king can make one of these.
b. The decree will
say that Jerusalem
will be rebuilt.
c. The walls, the
temple, the courtyard and moat will be completed.
d. In times of
distress: remember Nehemiah and the men worked with sword in one
hand and
tools of the trade in the other hand as they rebuild the walls.
e. Cyrus gave the
decree to rebuild the temple in 536 B.C.
f. Artaxerxes Longimanus gives the decree to
rebuild Jerusalem
in 443 B.C.
3. From the time the
decree is given until Christ, “the prince,” there will be a time of 7
weeks and
sixty two weeks (62).
a. From the issue
of this decree, 443 B.C. until Jesus is to die will be:
b. 7 weeks or heptads = 49 years plus – the walls, the
court yard and moat would be
finished.
c. 62 weeks or heptads or sevens = 434 added together =
483 years.
4. Then it stands to
reason that we could take 443 B. C. and subtract 483 years, and we
could come
up with 30 A.D. doesn’t it?
a. But it doesn’t
work that way with our calendar.
b. if we subtract
443 from 483, we get, 40 A.D.
5. Rather confusing,
isn’t it?
6. Is the Bible
wrong, then?
a. Of course not!
b. It took smart
men until around 1896 or so to figure this one out.
c. A smart British
man named Sir Robert Andersen wrote a book, The
Coming Prince.
1) Andersen was
an Astronomer.
2) The Jewish
year only contained 360 days and then ever so often added days to their
Calendar to
make the seasons balance.
3) However,
Andersen said, if the moon is full on this date, it was full last month on
this date.
4) So by knowing
the number of days from one full moon to the next, he calculated
from 443
B.C. the 483 years or 62 + 9 weeks or heptads or sevens and came up
with the
date of Palm Sunday, 30 A.D.
7. Incredible or
what? Is the Bible right or not?
V 26 Then after the
sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the
people of the prince who is to come
will destroy the city and the sanctuary And its
end will come with a flood; even to
the end there will be war; desolations are
determined.
C. Then after the 62 weeks plus the 7 weeks = 49 years times
7 or 483 years, Christ will
be
crucified or cut off.
1. Can’t you imagine
how this grieved Daniel?
a. His name meant
God is my Judge.
b. He lived his
life by his name.
c. He had seen
Jesus sitting on His throne.
d. And now Gabriel
is telling Daniel something that Daniel can’t apply to his
perspective
of God is my Judge.
e. My Savior will
be killed – this simply doesn’t compute in his mind.
f. However,
because he has lived his life trusting God, he must go on even in spite
of
contradictory evidence.
g. Since God is my
judge, I’ll accept the sentence even though I don’t understand.
h. Is there a
lesson in there somewhere for us!
2. The people of the
prince, anti-Christ, here and his people, those of Rome and the rest
of his
followers in the whole world, unknown at
this time to anyone.
a. The city of Rome was founded on the Tigris River
in the year 739 B.C. the very
year of
Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah 6).
b. Rome will figure big in
history, Daniel’s legs of iron and clay and toes of iron
and
ceramics, the statue of Chapter 2.
3. Not only would
the people of the prince destroy the Messiah but the city and the
sanctuary,
too, Jerusalem and the Temple burned, AD 70.
4. The city built
and Messiah cut off were to occur during
and at the end of the 69
weeks, or
483 years.
V 27 And he will make
a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of
the week he will put a stop to
sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of
abominations will come one who makes
desolate, even until a complete
destruction, one that is decreed, is
poured out on the one who makes desolate.
D. And he, represents the anti-Christ of v 26, the prince.
1. The anti-Christ
will make a firm covenant with the “many” the Jews for one
heptad or one week or 7 years.
a. This will be
the beginning of the tribulation.
b. Many think that
the covenant will be to let the Jews build their temple and begin
the
Levitical System of Worship.
2. But in the middle
of the week, heptad, or 31/2 years,
he puts a stop to the sacrifices.
a. He enters the
temple, which in itself is an abomination, and offers sacrifices on the
altar.
b. Then they set
up a statute of him in the temple.
c. The statute
remains even 30 days after Christ returns, 1, 290 Daniel 12:11). The last
3and ½
years will consist of 1,260 days, or 360 days X 3 and ½ Jewish years
3. But destruction
will overtake the anti-Christ at this point, and he and his
2nd
lieutenant, his false prophet, will be
thrown alive into the lake of fire
(Revelation
19:20).
Daniel 9:24-27
Definitions:
Weeks = heptad in
Hebrew. Heptad in Hebrew
or Aramaic means sevens, i.e. 7 days in a week.
Eastern languages could not show emphasis or could their
mathematics multiply.
So their
language uses words like trifid which
means three or heptad
which means
seven. The translators of the Bible calls it “weeks.”
So 7 weeks or heptad
= 7 X 7 or 49 years.
By the time
these 49 years were completed, Jerusalem
would be rebuilt
along with
public square and moat.
62 weeks or heptad = 62 *X 7 or 434 years.
At the end
of this time, Messiah would be cut off.
The city of
Jerusalem would
be destroyed
All this is
done by Rome.
By now, a
total of 483 years have transpired.
That’s 69
weeks or heptad i.e. 69 X 7 = 483.
Artaxerxes
Longimanus gives the decree to rebuild Jerusalem
in 443 B.C.
However, one more week or heptad remains unfulfilled.
If it is
going to complete the six (6) things of v 24, the period of time discussed here must
be the tribulation period that ushers in
the Messianic Kingdom or the Millennial
reign of Jesus.
This time
frame isn’t just some typical seven (7) years.
There are
too many things that must take place.
Study Questions
1. When was the
first year of Darius’ reign?
2. How long had the
Jews been in Babylon?
3. What prophet
prophesied that they would be there for ___ years?
4. What did Daniel
begin to do about the prophesy and the length of their stay in
Babylon?
5. What is the
difference between sin and iniquity?
6. According to V-7,
what caused the Jews to be driven to another country?
7. Daniel prayed
“for __________ sake, let your face shine on us.”
8. Daniel says they
could only present their supplications on account of Your great
What?
9. Who came to visit
Daniel while he prayed?
10. What time did this man appear to Daniel?
11. How long did the man tell Daniel that the period would
be?
12. During this period of time, what 6 things would happen?
13. How many years does this period of time represent?
14. When would the period of time begin?
15. How did man figure out exactly when the first 69 weeks
ended?
16. When will the last week of Daniel’s prophesy end?
17. According to verse 27 who ____________ will break a
covenant with the Jews, and
when
____________ will he break it?
18. How long will the statute of the Antichrist remain in
the temple?
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