Daniel 9:2
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
in the first year of his reign
This phrase situates the events within a specific historical context, referring to the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede. Historically, this period follows the fall of Babylon to the Medo-Persian Empire. The transition of power is significant, as it marks a shift in the political landscape that would eventually allow the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem. The phrase underscores God's sovereignty over nations and history, orchestrating events to fulfill His divine purposes.

I, Daniel, understood
Daniel's understanding is not merely intellectual but spiritual. The Hebrew root for "understood" (בִּין, bin) implies discernment and insight. Daniel's comprehension is a result of his diligent study and prayerful meditation on God's word. This highlights the importance of seeking divine wisdom and understanding through Scripture, emphasizing that true insight comes from God.

from the Scriptures
The term "Scriptures" refers to the sacred writings available to Daniel at the time, particularly the prophetic texts. This indicates that Daniel had access to and revered the holy texts, which were considered authoritative and divinely inspired. The Scriptures serve as a source of revelation and guidance, affirming the belief in the inerrancy and sufficiency of God's word for understanding His will.

according to the word of the LORD
This phrase emphasizes the divine origin and authority of the message. The "word of the LORD" is a common biblical expression denoting God's communication to humanity. It underscores the reliability and faithfulness of God's promises, as His word is unchanging and trustworthy. This assurance provides hope and confidence to believers, knowing that God's plans will come to fruition.

given to Jeremiah the prophet
Jeremiah, a major prophet, is specifically mentioned, highlighting the interconnectedness of biblical prophecy. Jeremiah's prophecies, particularly regarding the seventy-year exile (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10), are being fulfilled, demonstrating the accuracy and consistency of God's prophetic word. This connection between Daniel and Jeremiah illustrates the continuity of God's revelation throughout history.

that the desolation of Jerusalem
The "desolation of Jerusalem" refers to the destruction and abandonment of the city following the Babylonian conquest. This desolation was a consequence of Israel's disobedience and idolatry, serving as a divine judgment. However, it also sets the stage for God's redemptive plan, as the desolation is not permanent but part of a larger narrative of restoration and hope.

would last seventy years
The specific timeframe of "seventy years" is significant, as it reflects God's precise and sovereign control over history. This period was predetermined by God and communicated through Jeremiah, demonstrating His foreknowledge and purpose. The seventy years symbolize a complete and sufficient time for judgment and purification, after which God promises restoration and renewal for His people. This assurance of a defined period of trial followed by deliverance offers hope and encouragement to believers enduring hardships.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Daniel
A prophet and a key figure in the Babylonian and Persian empires, known for his wisdom and faithfulness to God.

2. Jeremiah
A prophet whose writings Daniel studied, specifically regarding the prophecy of Jerusalem's desolation lasting seventy years.

3. Jerusalem
The city that was desolated and whose restoration was prophesied by Jeremiah.

4. Babylonian Exile
The period during which the Israelites were exiled in Babylon, which Daniel references in his understanding of the seventy years.

5. The LORD
The covenant God of Israel, who communicated His plans through the prophets.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Scripture Study
Daniel's understanding came from diligent study of the Scriptures. This emphasizes the importance of engaging deeply with God's Word to discern His will.

God's Faithfulness to His Promises
The seventy years of desolation were prophesied and fulfilled, demonstrating God's faithfulness to His word. Believers can trust in God's promises today.

The Role of Prophecy
Prophecy serves as a guide and assurance for believers. Understanding biblical prophecy can provide insight into God's plans and purposes.

Prayer and Intercession
Daniel's response to understanding the prophecy was prayer and intercession (as seen in the following verses). This teaches the importance of responding to God's Word with prayer.

Historical Context and Application
Understanding the historical context of biblical events can enhance our application of Scripture to contemporary life.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Daniel's approach to understanding prophecy challenge or inspire your own study of Scripture?

2. In what ways can you see God's faithfulness in your life, similar to how He fulfilled His promise to end the desolation of Jerusalem?

3. How can the study of biblical prophecy impact your faith and understanding of current events?

4. What role does prayer play in your response to understanding God's Word, as seen in Daniel's example?

5. How can understanding the historical context of biblical events help you apply Scripture to your life today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10
These passages contain the prophecy that Daniel refers to, where Jeremiah speaks of the seventy years of desolation for Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 36:21
This verse highlights the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy, emphasizing the seventy years of rest for the land.

Ezra 1:1
This passage describes the decree of Cyrus, which marks the end of the seventy years and the beginning of the return from exile.
The Omnipotence of PrayerJ.D. Davies Daniel 9:1-19
The Nation's Advocate At God's BarH.T. Robjohns Daniel 9:1-21
People
Ahasuerus, Daniel, Darius, Gabriel, Jeremiah, Nahum
Places
Egypt, Greece, Jerusalem
Topics
Accomplish, Accomplishing, Accomplishment, Books, Clearly, Complete, Completion, Daniel, Desolation, Desolations, Fulfilling, Jeremiah, Jerusalem, Making, Meditated, Namely, Observed, Pass, Perceived, Prophet, Reign, Revealed, Rule, Scriptures, Seventy, Understood, Waste, Wastes, Whereof
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Daniel 9:2

     1429   prophecy, OT fulfilment
     1654   numbers, 11-99
     1690   word of God
     5175   reading
     7773   prophets, role
     8281   insight
     8355   understanding

Daniel 9:1-6

     8431   fasting, reasons

Daniel 9:1-19

     8611   prayer, for others

Daniel 9:1-23

     4926   delay, human

Daniel 9:2-3

     1035   God, faithfulness
     8160   seeking God

Library
Daniel: a Pattern for Pleaders
"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God; for thy city and thy people are called by thy name."--Daniel 9:19. DANIEL was a man in very high position in life. It is true he was not living in his own native land, but, in the providence of God, he had been raised to great eminence under the dominion of the country in which he dwelt. He might, therefore, naturally have forgotten his poor kinsmen; many have done so. Alas! we have known some that have
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Man and the Book.
In this and the following lectures I attempt an account and estimate of the Prophet Jeremiah, of his life and teaching, and of the Book which contains them--but especially of the man himself, his personality and his tempers (there were more than one), his religious experience and its achievements, with the various high styles of their expression; as well as his influence on the subsequent religion of his people. It has often been asserted that in Jeremiah's ministry more than in any other of the
George Adam Smith—Jeremiah

Whether the Time of the Future Judgment is Unknown?
Objection 1: It would seem that the time of the future judgment is not unknown. For just as the holy Fathers looked forward to the first coming, so do we look forward to the second. But the holy Fathers knew the time of the first coming, as proved by the number of weeks mentioned in Daniel 9: wherefore the Jews are reproached for not knowing the time of Christ's coming (Lk. 12:56): "You hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the heaven and of the earth, but how is it that you do not discern
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

That Whereas the City of Jerusalem had Been Five Times Taken Formerly, this was the Second Time of Its Desolation. A Brief Account of Its History.
1. And thus was Jerusalem taken, in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, on the eighth day of the month Gorpeius [Elul]. It had been taken five [34] times before, though this was the second time of its desolation; for Shishak, the king of Egypt, and after him Antiochus, and after him Pompey, and after them Sosius and Herod, took the city, but still preserved it; but before all these, the king of Babylon conquered it, and made it desolate, one thousand four hundred and sixty-eight years and
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem

From the Supplement to the Summa --Question Lxxii of the Prayers of the Saints who are in Heaven
I. Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers? II. Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede for us? III. Are the Saints' Prayers to God for us always heard? I Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers? On those words of Job,[267] Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand, S. Gregory says: "This is not to be understood of the souls of the Saints, for they see from within the glory of Almighty God, it is in nowise credible that there should be anything without of
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

The Blessing of God.
NUMB. VI. 22-27. We have already seen the grace of GOD making provision that His people, who had lost the privilege of priestly service, might draw near to Him by Nazarite separation and consecration. And not as the offence was the free gift: those who had forfeited the privilege of priestly service were the males only, but women and even children might be Nazarites; whosoever desired was free to come, and thus draw near to GOD. We now come to the concluding verses of Numb. vi, and see in them one
James Hudson Taylor—Separation and Service

Three Things Briefly to be Regarded in Christ --viz. His Offices of Prophet, King, and Priest.
1. Among heretics and false Christians, Christ is found in name only; but by those who are truly and effectually called of God, he is acknowledged as a Prophet, King, and Priest. In regard to the Prophetical Office, the Redeemer of the Church is the same from whom believers under the Law hoped for the full light of understanding. 2. The unction of Christ, though it has respect chiefly to the Kingly Office, refers also to the Prophetical and Priestly Offices. The dignity, necessity, and use of this
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

General Account of Jesus' Teaching.
^A Matt. IV. 17; ^B Mark I. 14, 15; ^C Luke IV. 14, 15. ^a 17 From that time Jesus began to preach [The time here indicated is that of John the Baptist's imprisonment and Jesus' return to Galilee. This time marked a new period in the public ministry of Jesus. Hitherto he had taught, but he now began to preach. When the voice of his messenger, John, was silenced, the King became his own herald. Paul quoted the Greeks as saying that preaching was "foolishness," but following the example here set by
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

Appendix v. Rabbinic Theology and Literature
1. The Traditional Law. - The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplemented by a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation. In the first class, or Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [6370] which may be thus designated: religio-agrarian, four; [6371] ritual, including questions about clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [6372] concerning
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

"And There is None that Calleth Upon Thy Name, that Stirreth up Himself to Take Hold on Thee,"
Isaiah lxiv. 7.--"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee," &c. They go on in the confession of their sins. Many a man hath soon done with that a general notion of sin is the highest advancement in repentance that many attain to. You may see here sin and judgment mixed in thorough other(315) in their complaint. They do not so fix their eyes upon their desolate estate of captivity, as to forget their provocations. Many a man would spend more affection,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Sin-Bearer.
A COMMUNION MEDITATION AT MENTONE. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."--1 Peter ii. 24, 25. THE SIN-BEARER. THIS wonderful passage is a part of Peter's address to servants; and in his day nearly all servants were slaves. Peter begins at the eighteenth verse: "Servants, be subject
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day and Defends his Act.
(at Feast-Time at Jerusalem, Probably the Passover.) ^D John V. 1-47. ^d 1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [Though every feast in the Jewish calendar has found some one to advocate its claim to be this unnamed feast, yet the vast majority of commentators choose either the feast of Purim, which came in March, or the Passover, which came in April. Older commentators pretty unanimously regarded it as the Passover, while the later school favor the feast
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Manifestation of the Messiah
(JOHN I. 31.) "Before me, as in darkening glass, Some glorious outlines pass, Of love, and truth, and holiness, and power-- I own them thine, O Christ, And bless Thee in this hour." F. R. HAVERGAL. The Herald's Proclamation--The Meeting of John and Jesus--Christ's Baptism--"It Becometh Us."--"My Beloved Son." John's life, at this period, was an extraordinary one. By day he preached to the teeming crowds, or baptized them; by night he would sleep in some slight booth, or darksome cave. But the
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

The Intercession of Christ
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us! T he Redemption of the soul is precious. Fools make mock of sin (Proverbs 14:9) . But they will not think lightly of it, who duly consider the majesty, authority, and goodness of Him, against whom it is committed; and who are taught, by what God actually has done, what sin rendered necessary to be done, before a sinner could have a well-grounded
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold.
^A Matt. XXIV. 1-28; ^B Mark XIII. 1-23; ^C Luke XXI. 5-24. ^a 1 And Jesus went out from the temple [leaving it to return no more], and was going on his way; and his disciples came to him ^b as he went forth ^a to show him the buildings of the temple. ^b one of his disciples saith unto him, Teacher, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings! ^c 5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said [The strength and wealth of the temple roused
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Christ's Priestly Office
Q-35: HOW DOES CHRIST EXECUTE THE OFFICE OF A PRIEST? A: In his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us. 'Now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.' Heb 9:96. What are the parts of Christ's priestly office? Christ's priestly office has two parts - his satisfaction and intercession. I. His Satisfaction; and this consists of two branches. [1] His active
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Scriptures
Q-II: WHAT RULE HAS GOD GIVEN TO DIRECT US HOW WE MAY GLORIFY AND ENJOY HIM? A: The Word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. 2 Tim 3:16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,' By Scripture is understood the sacred Book of God. It is given by divine inspiration; that is, the Scripture is not the contrivance of man's brain, but is divine in its origin. The image of Diana was had in veneration
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

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