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Reading & Devotional Guide: Daniel 9

Passion City Church
November, 21, 2024

Click here to listen to this week’s episode of Further In, in which members of the Passion City Church DC team discuss the passage of scripture we’re studying and consider how to apply the truths of God’s word to our lives.

 

 

This Week’s Reading: Daniel 9, Jeremiah 25 & 29, Matthew 24

 

Before you read… 

 

We find ourselves in the first year of Darius the Mede’s reign. Daniel is now in his 80s, still faithfully serving and seeking God despite having been in exile for decades. The end of the exile is nearing, so Daniel turns to the LORD…

 

–Read Daniel 9:1-23– 

 

Daniel’s Situation (9:1-3). In the first year of Darius, Daniel surveys Scripture and reflects on Jeremiah’s prophecy that Jerusalem’s desolation would last 70 years (See Jeremiah 25 & 29). Realizing that the time spoken by Jeremiah was near, Daniel turns to the LORD God with fasting, signs of remorse (wearing sackcloth and ashes), and prayer over the wrongdoing of himself and all of Israel. 

 

Daniel’s Adoration (9:4). Notice how Daniel starts his prayer: adoring God by acknowledging his greatness, awe, covenantal nature, and loyal love. Daniel’s confession and petition to God follow his praise for God.

 

Daniel’s Confession (9:5-15). Daniel’s prayer then moves to honest confession. He does not shift blame, make excuses, or hide. Rather, he openly admits the faults of himself and all of Israel. He takes personal ownership of their plight. Notice all verbs Daniel mentions: “We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled”… “We have not listened”… “We have sinned against you.” Daniel recognizes that Israel had not simply violated a moral law; they had violated their God, to whom righteousness, mercy, and forgiveness belong. 

 

Daniel’s Petition (9:16-19). Daniel then transitions to a heartfelt plea for God’s mercy. He asks God to turn His anger away from Jerusalem, His holy city, not because of Israel’s righteousness but because of His great mercy. Daniel’s petition is urgent and passionate: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act.”

 

Meditations

Adoration. Daniel’s prayer began with adoration. The character of God drives his prayer life. Spend a moment adoring God for who he is and what he has done for you.

 

Confession. Daniel realized that he and all of Israel had turned away from the whole life God intended for them. Realizing his transgression, Daniel didn’t blame or hide but confessed. Spend a moment confessing to God the ways (both big and small) you have neglected his instruction and guidance. 

 

Petition. Daniel’s prayer didn’t end at confession. He also had the confidence to make a petition—to ask. Daniel asked that God listen to them, forgive them, and move on their behalf. Spend another quiet moment asking God to move on your behalf. 

 

Prayer

Lord,

You are faithful and just, 

abounding in mercy and loyal love.

I confess my shortcomings and wrongdoings.

Forgive me, 

not because of my righteousness, 

but because of Your great mercy.

Strengthen me to seek Your face 

with humility and confidence.

Amen.

– Read Daniel 9:20-27–

 

What happened?

Heaven’s Response (9:20-23). While Daniel is still praying, the angel Gabriel appears and assures Daniel that his prayer was heard the moment he began to pray and that he is “greatly loved.” Heaven’s response to Daniel’s confession is compassion. Gabriel also brings Daniel a message of insight and understanding.

 

Heaven’s Plan (Seventy ‘Sevens’) (9:24-27). Gabriel’s prophecy of the “Seventy Sevens” ultimately outlines God’s redemptive timeline for his people. Most agree that the “sevens” (also translated “weeks”) represents years– totaling 490 years. These 490 years are divided into three periods: seven sevens (49 years) from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to its completion, sixty-two sevens (434 years) leading to the arrival of the “Anointed One” (understood as Jesus), and one final seven (7 years) marked by desolation and destruction.

 

Interpretations of this prophecy vary. One interpretation thinks the timeline culminates in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, believing the prophecy was fulfilled in His redemptive work and the events that followed in the 1st century. Another interpretation understands the numbers symbolically, seeing the current Church age as now existing within the final seven years. A third interpretation separates the 69 sevens (483 years) from the final seven, believing the last period will be in the future as a time of tribulation, viewing the current Church age as a gap until then. 

 

Despite these differences, the prophecy foretells God’s faithfulness. What is important is this: God’s plan for his people, through Jesus, is to finish transgression, put an end to sin, atone for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness. 

Meditations

“You are greatly loved”

Gabriel’s immediate response to Daniel’s confession reminds us that God responds with grace to our honest confession. In the same way Daniel is “greatly loved,” so are you. How does knowing you are “greatly loved” impact your confidence in prayer?

 

Putting an End to Sin

This prophecy promises that Jesus will put an end to the very thing that tears life apart: sin. Jesus will pay for it and defeat it. Spend a quiet moment thanking Jesus for being the hero that has already come to deal with sin, and will one day eradicate it forever. 

Prayer

Lord,

You work all things according to Your perfect plan.

Thank you for meeting my prayers with grace. 

Thank you Jesus:

The Solution to all brokenness. 

I long for the day when you restore all things

and your kingdom reigns forever.

Amen.

Scripture References

Daniel’s Prayer

1In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the

Lord
given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4I prayed to the

Lord
my God and confessed:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

7“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame,

Lord
, because we have sinned against you. 9The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10we have not obeyed the
Lord
our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the

Lord
our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14The
Lord
did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the
Lord
our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

The Seventy “Sevens”

20While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the

Lord
my God for his holy hill— 21while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:

24“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

25“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

Passion City Church
Passion City Church
Content created by the team at Passion City Church. Passion City Church is a Jesus Church. A small tribe of His followers connected by our common faith and a deep desire to see our city [and the world] come to know His power and beauty. We are not perfect. But Jesus is. Thankfully, we are a Jesus Church.