Daniel Prophet and Man of God

Daniel’s Prayer
(9:4-15)

While a fuller exposition of the riches of this text is not possible here, we shall seek to highlight the main features of this portion of Daniel’s prayer.

(1) Daniel Prayer is one of Repentance. Daniel’s confession mirrors the words of 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (see above).

(2) The Word of God is the standard, not mans laws, as spoken by the prophets and recorded in the Holy Scriptures, is the standard by which Daniel’s sins, and those of his fellow-Israelites, are identified.

3. 
   Daniel’s confession of sin is precisely what is required of Israel in order to be forgiven and restored.
   
4. 
   For us - if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
   

Daniel’s Petition
(9:16-19)

Beginning at verse 16, a change is evident in Daniel’s prayer. Consider the following observations which summarize this change and its implications.

(1) Daniel’s prayer in verses 16-19 moves from the confession of verses 4-15 to petition.

(2) Daniel’s request is according to God’s promises & will in Scripture.

3. 
   Daniel’s petition is God-centered. At least 19 times, reference is made to God, while man is referenced approximately 11 times. Somehow, whether in confession or in petition, we always seem to find a way to make our prayers man-centered.
   
4. 
   In confession, we focus on our sins, while Daniel focuses on God’s righteousness.
   

In petition, we focus on our needs, while Daniel focuses on God’s purposes and His glory.

The Appearance of Gabriel
(9:20-23)

- Read Daniel 9:20-23
Daniel was praying and it was answered - was anyone else praying?
- Don't ever think that the prayers of one person can't be a powerful thing!

- Does anyone have KJV?. NAS, NASV, 1st part of vs. 24 is often translated

"seventy weeks" instead of "seventy sevens"
- the word in question is Shabua - it litterally means seven - not weeks.
- it can be compared to our word dozen which means 12.
- this is important - Isreal is God's clock, but the impact affects the whole world.

- seventy sets of seven years - we are back to that 490 year cycle.
- Isreal has 490 years to complete this 'action item ' list.

I believe there is a very clear connection between the arrival and announcement of Gabriel in chapter 9 and the vision Daniel received in chapter 8, even though it happened 12 or more years earlier.

Daniel 8	Daniel 9
The “little horn” (8:12-14, 22- 25)	The “prince who is to come” (v. 26)
Gabriel is the interpreter (v. 16)	Gabriel explains the vision (v. 21)
Concerns events of the end time(vv. 7,19,26)	Events bring matters to conclusion (v. 24)
Opposes the “Prince of princes”	Messiah the Prince will be cut off (vv. 25-26)
Removes regular sacrifice (v. 12)	Stops sacrifice and grain offering (v. 27) “People of prince” destroy Jerusalem and the sanctuary (v. 26)
Destroys many (vv. 24, 25)	Destruction, abominations, desolation (v. 27)
Horn broken without human agency (v. 25)	Complete destruction poured out on him (v. 27)

Gabriel appears by name in both chapters (8 and 9) and here only.¹ The focus of both chapters 8 and 9 is on Israel, the last days, the opposition of the “little horn,” and the “suffering of the saints.”

When Daniel received his vision of the “ram” and the “goat” in chapter 8, he could not understand it. Gabriel was instructed to explain the vision to Daniel, but even after he had done so, the vision was still a mystery to him. The closing words of chapter 8 underscore this:

Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it (Daniel 8:27).

When Gabriel appears in chapter 9, it is a 12 years later. During his second appearance, Gabriel did not come as a part of any vision. He informed Daniel that he had been instructed to come to give him “insight with understanding” (9:22), so that he could “gain understanding of the vision” (9:23).

This could be an interesting view of the time of transcendent beings - Gabriel just coninues with the discussion of the vision as if it had just occurred, yet it was 12 years later!

It is interesting to note that this will clarify the chpt. 8 vision because of this:

1. Chapter 8 was specific for Antiochus, but Daniel was still unclear.

2. Chapter 9 lets Daniel (and the rest of us) know that the end won’t be for 490 years, not at the rebuilding that would take place shortly or the re-dedication after Antiochus. It brings clarity to the vision.

The Announcement of Gabriel
(9:24-27)

24 “Seventy weeks( bad translation - should be sevens)

07620 ewbv shabuwa` shaw-boo'-ah or ebv shabua` shaw-boo'-ah also (fem.) habv sh@bu`ah sheb-oo-aw'

properly, pass part of 07650 as a denom. of 07651; TWOT-2318d; n m
AV-week 19, seven 1; 20
1) seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week

1a) period of seven days, a week

1a1) Feast of Weeks

1b) heptad, seven (of years)

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.

1. The first achievement is "to finish transgression." The culmination of the appointed years will witness the conclusion of man's "transgression" or "rebellion" (pesa) against God--a development most naturally entered into with the establishment of an entirely new order on earth. This seems to require nothing less than the inauguration of the kingdom of God on earth. Certainly the crucifixion of Christ in A.D. 30 did not put an end to man's iniquity or rebellion on earth, as the millennial kingdom of Christ promises to do.

2. The second achievement is very closely related to the first: "to put an end [hatem, from tamam, `be complete'] to sins (hattaot, or, according to the Qere reading, hattat'sin']." This term refers to missing the mark or true goal of life and implies immorality of a more general sort, rather than the revolt against authority implied by the pesa ("transgression") of the previous clause. This second achievement suggests the bringing in of a new society in which righteousness will prevail in complete contrast to the present condition of mankind. Again we see indications pointing to the kingly rule of Christ on earth, rather than to the present world order.

3. The third achievement is "to atone for wickedness," which certainly points to the Crucifixion, an event that ushered in the final stage of human history before the establishment of the fifth kingdom (cf. 2:35, 44). As Peter affirmed at Pentecost, "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: `In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people'" (Acts 2:16-17). This implies that the "last days" began at the inauguration of the NT church at Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost occurred just seven weeks after the Resurrection, which followed the Crucifixion by three days. The Crucifixion was the atonement that made possible the establishment of the new order, the church of the redeemed, and the establishment of the coming millennial kingdom.

4. The fourth achievement is "to bring in everlasting righteousness" (sedeq olamim, "righteousness of ages"). This clearly indicates an order of society in which righteousness, justice, and conformity to the standards of Scripture will prevail on earth, rather than the temporary periods of upright government that have occasionally occurred in world history till now.

5. The fifth achievement will be the fulfillment of the vision [hazon] and "the prophecy," which serves as the grand and central goal of God's plan for the ages--that final stage of human history when the Son of Man receives "authority, glory and sovereign power" (7:14) so that all nations and races will serve him. This fulfillment surely goes beyond the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ; it must include his enthronement on the throne of David--as supreme Ruler over all the earth.

6. The final goal to be achieved at the end of the seventy weeks is the anointing of "the most holy" (qodes qadasim). This is not likely a reference to the anointing of Christ (as some writers have suggested) because qodes qadasim nowhere else in Scripture refers to a person. Here the anointing of the "most holy" most likely refers to the consecration of the temple of the Lord, quite conceivably the millennial temple, to which so much attention is given in Ezekiel 40-44.

The reason for our detailed discussion of the six goals of v. 24 is that the terminus ad quem of the seventy weeks must first he established before the question of the seventieth week can be properly handled. If all six goals were in fact attained by the crucifixion of Christ and the establishment of the early church seven years after his death, then it might be fair to assume that the entire 490 years of the seventy weeks were to be understood as running consecutively and coming to a close in A.D. 37. But since all or most of the six goals seem to be as yet unfulfilled, it follows that if the seventieth week finds fulfillment at all, it must be identified as the last seven years before Christ's return to earth as millennial King.

25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince

The Rabi’s interpret this to mean Cyrus (From Isaiah 41:1,13), which uses the same word to describe him!

I believe God wrote it this way, so that they could be blinded even from a prophetic text that so accuratly points to Jesus!

Messiah = 04899 xyvm mashiyach maw-shee'-akh

from 04886, Greek 3323 Messiav; TWOT-1255c; n m
AV-anointed 37, Messiah 2; 39
1) anointed, anointed one

1a) of the Messiah, Messianic prince

1b) of the king of Israel

1c) of the high priest of Israel

1d) of Cyrus

1e) of the patriarchs as anointed kings

there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 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.

This happened in 27 ad (or 32as as Sir Robert Anderson sets fourth), and was completed in 70ad. It was the Roman people who destroyed the temple, and from whom the prince who is to come (the Anti Christ) will come from.