Chapter 9:4-19 (ESV) - I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
Question to consider: To what characteristic of God does Daniel recognize and make an appeal?
Knowing that their time of exile was coming to an end, Daniel repented on behalf of his people and appealed to the mercy of God. He reminded the LORD that He keeps covenants, an appeal to Leviticus 26:42 which promised that if Israel confessed their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, He would remember His covenant and the land.
Throughout Leviticus 26, there were curses given for those who refused to keep the covenant of Moses with each set of curses progressively getting worse the longer they refused to repent. The final curse was for them to be entirely expelled from the land. Even this was a mere type and shadow of being eternally expelled from the presence of God, for the LORD was still with His people in exile. The land was given a promise to be able to enjoy its Sabbaths.
“Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it.” (Leviticus 26:34-35)
Every seven years, the land was to be given rest from harvest. This was difficult to do when the other six years were being plagued by famine and pestilence, but rather than following up disobedience with more disobedience, the desire of God was for them to repent and turn back to Him. Instead, as was written in 2 Chronicles 30:20-21, “He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”
Seventy years meant 70 missed land Sabbaths. This amounted to 490 years of disobedience. As I mentioned at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, these sevens had spiritual significance, but they were also literal. I believe that this is an important point to take with us into deciphering the response given to Daniel by Gabriel.
It is a blessing to know that despite a nation of people willing to follow the decree of Darius to petition no other god but him for a month, the LORD listened to the repentance of one man willing to intercede for the people. As James wrote in his epistle, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16) While James gave the prayer of Elijah as an example, Daniel fits this description as well. Think of what a terrible state we would be in if God did not mercifully allow one righteous person to stand for the sins of the many!
Dear heavenly Father, please open our eyes to the incredible mercy You have shown us that we may be filled with the joy and gratitude of being known by You and reconciled to You through Christ. Please stir up in us a desire to serve in the church and intercede for her sins, and please make Your face to shine upon the bride of Christ. O Father, incline Your ear and hear. Amen.