Pondering Daniel Chapter 9

Below is what I sent out for the Tuesday morning men's group to ponder. Perhaps there is something here for you to consider. Blessings. Bob

Our passage is Daniel Chapter 9.

I hope that as we move through the Minor Prophets that we’ll read each prophet in its entirety – otherwise we will not capture the full scope of each prophet nor will we see the few passages that we engage with in their context.

With the foregoing in mind I’ll point out just a couple of things in chapters 7 and 8. In Chapter 7, verses 9 – 14 (see also verse 27) reinforce the theme in Daniel that God is in control. In Chapter 7, verses 13 – 14 are important in understanding the reaction of the religious leaders to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 26:64 and Mark 14:62 during His trial (see also Matthew 24:30). 

In Chapter 8 compare verse 10 with Revelation 12:4. Also compare Daniel 7:25 with 8:24. Daniel not only gives us pictures of God’s people being delivered from trial (such as the furnace and the lion’s den) but he also gives us images of God’s people suffering persecution. This is what we see throughout the Bible, and throughout history – sometimes we make it through persecution to live another day on earth…and sometimes we don’t.

Revelation mirrors Daniel in a number of ways; one of these ways is in the portrayal of God’s people suffering persecution – this makes sense when we consider that Revelation was written to churches going through persecution (and they had even more coming). Another similarity is that the dreams and visions in Daniel repeat each other in terms of theme and central point. The same is true in Revelation.

Now we come to Daniel Chapter 9, which is our next-to-last week in Daniel.

Daniel Chapter 9 is one of the great intercessory prayers of the Bible; intercessory prayer is when we place ourselves in the position of those for whom we are praying, it is when we identify with others, it is when we stand in their place before God. Intercessory prayer is not simply praying for others, it is a sustained and concerted placing of ourselves before God on behalf of others. Intercessory prayer is not a popcorn prayer or a sprint, it is a marathon. We engage in intercessory prayer until we either have an answer from God or God otherwise releases us from the prayer. In other words, don’t start in intercessory prayer unless you fully intend to see it through – it may last days, or weeks, or months.

Numbers Chapter 14 contains an intercessory prayer of Moses (compare Numbers 14:18 with Exodus 34:6 – the more we know of God the more effective intercessors we can be).

In Isaiah 59:16 God wonders why there is no intercessor for His people.

In Isaiah 53:12; Hebrews 7:25, and Romans 26 – 34 we see that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit intercede for us.

Ezra Chapter 9 gives us yet another picture of intercessor.

Now back to Daniel 9:

Notice the “us” and the “we” – even though Daniel had remained faithful to God he used “us” and “we” because as an intercessor he identified with sinful Israel and Judah.

Daniel’s intercession was in response to his realization that the 70 years of captivity were coming to a close – and yet, rather than jump up and down and write a book or go on a speaking tour – he engaged in intercession – for what would be the point in the people of Judah returning to Jerusalem if they were still in their sins, if they had not repented and been forgiven? One of the things we can learn from this is that no matter what we think we know that we’d better seek God and His grace and mercy – because there is a lot we still don’t know. (Sorry about this next one…but if all the people who write sensational books about prophecy would pay attention to Daniel – who I think stands far above all of us – maybe we’d have less speculation and be less attracted to people looking into their crystal balls…which seem to change every time the headlines change).

Intercession is identification. Jesus, the sinless One, identified with us. Are we willing to be identified with others in intercession?

Do we want God to bless our churches and communities and nation without intercession? If so, how can this possibly be? Do we want God to allow us to bypass repentance? This simply isn’t going to happen – and who knows, for some things it may be too late…only God knows. However, we are called to intercede – 1 Timothy 2:1-4 – even if everything around us is crashing down.

A refusal to repent of the sins of our nation, past and present; and a refusal to repent of the complicity of the professing church in many of these sins – is an abdication of our calling and duty as Christians to our generation – for as citizens of heaven first and foremost (Philippians 3:20) – we are here on this earth for the glory of God and the blessing and salvation of others.

What can we learn from Daniel’s intercessory prayer? How can we use it as a model for our own prayers? As we gather on Tuesday morning let’s have a time of intercessory prayer for our churches and nation and world…let’s work on developing this in our lives; it really ought to be a way of life for the Church of Jesus Christ…it ought to be a way of life for each of us.