Daniel 9

Context

Daniel 9 is a threefold summit: of the whole book of Daniel, of Old Testament apocalyptic literature, and of Old Testament prayer theology. It is also the most dramatic chapter in the Bible for showing true repentance and true answer joined directly together.

The timeline is critically important. It is the first year of Darius (c. 538–537 BC), the first year after Babylon fell, on the eve of the first return. Daniel is now over 80 years old. He has served under Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius, and has seen the golden statue, the fiery furnace, the writing on the wall, and the lions' den. Yet his deepest service was not in the royal court but in the inner room.

The chapter is densely dramatic:

1. 9:2 Daniel reads Jeremiah and notices the "seventy years of desolation" (Jer 25:11-12 and 29:10). The seventy years are exactly complete.
2. 9:3-19 Daniel fasts in sackcloth and ashes and offers "representative repentance" for his people. There is no "they" in the prayer, only "we." It is one of the greatest prayers in the Old Testament.
3. 9:20-23 "While I was still speaking," the angel Gabriel comes flying swiftly.
4. 9:24-27 Gabriel brings the "seventy sevens" prophecy: a 490-year plan set for Israel, six things that must happen, the Messiah who will be cut off, and the one who makes desolate. It is the clearest Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah's death.

Structurally, this is the most important chapter in the final Hebrew-language section of Daniel (chapters 8–12). Chapter 8 foretells Greece and Antiochus, chapter 9 foretells the Messiah and the destruction of the temple, and chapters 10–12 foretell the last days. Chapter 9 is the "heart" of the vision section (chapters 8–12) and the theological summit of the whole book: the rise and fall of nations is only the backdrop, and the coming of the Messiah is the purpose of history.

Structure of the Passage

The chapter has four sections:

• ① 9:1-3 · Daniel reads Jeremiah and turns to prayer
• ② 9:4-14 · The "we" confession, a five-step prayer pattern (part 1)
• ③ 9:15-19 · "Hear and act," a five-step prayer pattern (part 2)
• ④ 9:20-27 · Gabriel's swift arrival and the seventy sevens prophecy

The structural core is the tight pairing of prayer and answer. 9:20 ("while I was speaking, praying, and confessing"), 9:21 ("while I was still speaking in prayer"), and 9:23 ("at the beginning of your supplications the commandment went out") nail down one fact: as soon as Daniel opened his mouth, heaven had already dispatched Gabriel. This is the most direct Old Testament evidence that prayer is answered, and the deepest Old Testament root of James 5:16-18: "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much."

Key Verses

9:3 "I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes."

Daniel 9:3（World English Bible）

9:18 "My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake."

Daniel 9:18（World English Bible）

9:19 "Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do. Don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”"

Daniel 9:19（World English Bible）

9:23 "At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision."

Daniel 9:23（World English Bible）

9:24 "“Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy."

Daniel 9:24（World English Bible）

9:26 "After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined."

Daniel 9:26（World English Bible）

A Shepherd's Heart

Dear brothers and sisters, Daniel 9 is one of the greatest prayers in the whole Old Testament, and it is also the deepest model of a shepherd's heart. It deserves to be returned to again and again and meditated on word by word.

First, read Scripture first, then pray (9:2-3). Daniel read Jeremiah first and noticed that "the seventy years are complete," and only then did he fast and pray. Today we often start with a need and then look for a verse to support it. Daniel first let God's word enter his heart and then let his heart respond. That is the right starting point for prayer. Is your prayer today based on "your own needs" or on "His word"? Where your prayer is rooted determines where it goes.

Second, "we" and not "they" (9:4-19). Daniel, the most blameless man there was and over 80 years old, confesses the sins of his people, and from beginning to end he says "we." There is not a single "they." When today's spiritual leaders face the weakness of the church, the sins of a people, and the injustice of a nation, are they willing to "enter in and stand among the sinners with 'we'"? This is the heart of Christ's incarnation. He "knew no sin," yet "was willing to be numbered with sinners," "received the baptism of sinners" (Matt 3:13-15), and "bore the sin of the world" (Isa 53). A shepherd who only "accuses" and never "enters in" is not a shepherd of Christ.

Third, "not for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies" (9:18). Daniel, who in chapter 1 refused the king's food and in chapter 6 at over 80 still prayed three times a day, the man with the most to point to, says frankly, "It is not on me." This is the deepest Old Testament root of justification by faith. Your greatest sin today is not "what you have done." It is "relying on yourself": relying on your piety, your service, your experience. "All self-reliance is a variant of sin." Only "relying on His mercy" is the gospel of the New Testament.

Fourth, "while I was still speaking, Gabriel had already flown to me" (9:20-23). God's response is faster than your prayer. He is "already on the way," and we simply "do not know it yet." When you pray today, "He is more eager than you are." He moves not after the prayer is finished but while it is being prayed, and this is the deepest evidence of "how gladly He listens." "He is not far from us, only a breath away." That is the deepest comfort in prayer.

Fifth, the fulfillment of the "seventy sevens" (9:24-27). About 500 years later, Christ came exactly within the prophesied window: "anointed, cut off, ending sacrifice," word by word fulfilled. Scripture's prophecies "come to pass word for word," and this gives us deep confidence about "the parts not yet fulfilled at the end." Today "the Antichrist has not yet appeared and the final temple has not yet been built," so "some things remain unfulfilled." Yet "the chain of fulfillment" has already proved "precise across 500 years," and "the remaining parts" will be fulfilled with the same precision. The Lord said, "When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near" (Luke 21:28).

Reflection Questions

1. Is your prayer today based on "your own needs" or on "His word"? Do you follow the order of "read Scripture first, then pray" faithfully?
2. As a pastor, elder, parent, or spouse, when you face "the weakness of those around you," are you willing to say "we" rather than "they"? Do you stand in the position of "entering in" or in the position of "accusing"?
3. Is your greatest "sin" "what you have done" or "relying on yourself"? "Relying on piety, on service, on experience" are all "variants of self-reliance." How much of it are you willing to give up?

Section 1 (9:1-3) · Daniel Reads Jeremiah and Turns to Prayer

9:1 "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans," 9:2 "in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years." 9:3 "I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes."

Daniel 9:1（World English Bible）

"The first year of Darius," in Hebrew בִּשְׁנַת אַחַת לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ (bi-shnat achat le-Daryavesh, "in year one of Darius"), is a critically important time anchor. The first year of Darius, about 538–537 BC, is the first year after the fall of Babylon (Belshazzar was killed in chapter 5), and the same period in which Cyrus issued his decree allowing the people to return (2 Chr 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-4). The narrator deliberately gives the date so that the reader can do the arithmetic: "Seventy years from the first deportation in 605 BC to 538 BC is exactly complete," and "the prayer and the promise land exactly on the seam of time." This is the most dramatic place in the Old Testament for "the precise fulfillment of the word," where "the one praying and the prophecy line up in the same frame."

"Of the Medes, the realm of the Chaldeans." This verse has a subtlety of translation and history. There are two Dariuses:

1. The Darius the Mede of this chapter (5:31; 6:1; 9:1). Scholars debate whether he is Cyrus himself (see 6:28, where the rendering "Darius, that is, Cyrus" is disputed) or the Median governor Gubaru, appointed by Cyrus.
2. Darius I of Persia (522–486 BC), who has no direct contact with Daniel. The narrator uses the double label "of the Medes, over the realm of the Chaldeans" to indicate that "the new master is Medo-Persia, but the old territory is still Chaldea." "The regime has changed, but the land has not." This shows the complexity of the exiles' identity: "still in a foreign land, but hope has opened the door."

"Understood by the books," in Hebrew בִּינֹתִי בַּסְּפָרִים (binoti ba-sefarim, "I understood from the books"). The plural "sefarim" (books, scrolls) indicates that the prophetic writings had begun to be collected. This verse carries great significance for the study of Scripture's formation. By 538 BC Daniel already regarded Jeremiah as "Scripture on the same level as the Torah of Moses." It is the earliest internal evidence of the prophets becoming canonical: "Jeremiah had been dead only a few decades, and his scroll was already regarded as 'the word of the LORD.'" This shows that the formation of Scripture was not "something the church arranged several hundred years later," but that "the prophet's own generation already received it as God's word."

"The seventy years complete," in Hebrew לְמַלֹּאות לְחָרְבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם (le-malot le-chorvot Yerushalayim, "to fulfill the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years"). Daniel studied closely Jer 25:11-12 ("this whole land shall be a desolation… when seventy years are accomplished") and Jer 29:10 ("after seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you"). The number "seventy" has a double root in Hebrew theology:

1. Historical: from the first deportation around 605 BC to Cyrus's decree in 538 BC is about 67 years; and from the destruction of the temple (586 BC) to the completion of the rebuilt temple (516 BC) is exactly 70 years (the 70 years of the temple's desolation).
2. Theological: seventy sabbath years (one rest every seven years) add up to 490 years of "accumulated unkept sabbaths." This matches 2 Chr 36:21, "until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths," so "the 70 years of desolation is the land making up 490 years of rest." The narrator has planted a precise foreshadowing that paves the way for 9:24, "seventy sevens = 490 years." "70 years" and "490 years," "the past" and "the future," form a "structural echo."

"Set my face," in Hebrew וָאֶתְּנָה אֶת־פָּנַי (va-ettenah et-panai, "I gave my face"). "Giving the face" means "focus, resolve, the whole person turned toward," "as if fixing my face on Him." The phrase has the same structure as Ezek 14:8, "I will set my face against that man," but the direction is reversed: "He sets His face to judge" and "I set my face to plead." "Setting the face" works both ways, and "judgment and repentance" both use the same motion.

"Fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." These are the three deepest mourning rituals of the ancient Near East, and here they appear together. Fasting refuses the most basic need, "repentance at the level of the body." Sackcloth, coarse goat hair that scratches the skin, is "humiliation at the level of appearance." Ashes, smeared on head and clothes, are "lowliness at the level of identity." The three layers pile up, body, appearance, and identity, "nailing the whole person into the position of mourning." Daniel, over 80 and having served over 60 years as a high official in a foreign court, is still willing to "put on sackcloth and cover himself with ashes." This is the template for "the deepest spiritual career": "the higher the position, the lower the heart."

Note the key sequence: Daniel read Scripture first (9:2) and prayed afterward (9:3). Reading comes first and prayer after. This is "the right starting point for prayer": "first let His word enter the heart, then let the heart respond to His word," and not "first have a need, then look for a verse to support it." This pattern of "reading → responding" is the deepest Old Testament demonstration of the New Testament principle that "faith comes from hearing" (Rom 10:17).

Section 2 (9:4-14) · The "We" Confession · A Five-Step Prayer Pattern (Part 1)

9:4 "I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments," 9:5 "we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances." 9:6 "We haven’t 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."

Daniel 9:4（World English Bible）

This is one of the greatest prayers in the whole Old Testament. Together with Solomon's temple dedication prayer (1 Kgs 8), Ezra's prayer of confession (Ezra 9), and Nehemiah's prayer of confession (Neh 9), it is counted among "the four great intercessions of the Old Testament," and Daniel 9 is the one with the deepest theology, the most complete form, and the most direct answer.

The five-step structure (a biblical template for a shepherd's prayer):

1. Acknowledge His greatness (9:4)
2. Acknowledge our sin (9:5-14; 9:7-14 also develops the third step, "righteousness belongs to God")
3. Acknowledge His righteousness (9:7-14)
4. Ask for His mercy (9:15-18)
5. Plead with three verbs (9:19)

These five steps are the most complete model in the Bible's teaching on prayer. First vertical (He), then horizontal (we), then vertical (His righteousness), then horizontal (mercy coming to us), and finally the cry (He must act). This fivefold alternation of "He, we, He, we, He" is "the breathing rhythm of prayer" and also "the theological skeleton of true repentance."

"The great and awesome God," in Hebrew הָאֵל הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא (ha-El ha-gadol ve-ha-nora, "the God, the great and awesome"). "Gadol ve-nora" is the standard phrase Moses used to describe God (Deut 7:21, 10:17; Neh 1:5, 4:14). Daniel deliberately uses Moses' language, as if to say, "The One I am praying to is the One who made covenant at Sinai." "His greatness has not diminished and His awesomeness has not changed." This is the first step, acknowledging that His identity has not been affected by "the people being taken into exile." "He does not become 'smaller' because a nation fell."

"Keeping covenant and loving kindness," in Hebrew שֹׁמֵר הַבְּרִית וְהַחֶסֶד (shomer ha-berit ve-ha-chesed, "keeping the covenant and the steadfast love"). "Chesed" is the richest word for grace in the Old Testament (the same word as in Lam 3:22), "unchanging love at the level of covenant." Daniel deliberately binds "covenant" and "loving kindness" together, as if to say, "His grace has a legal foundation. It does not depend on our emotions but on the covenant He Himself made." This is "the deepest anchor of faith": "He 'will surely' keep covenant, because His nature is chesed."

"To those who love Him and keep His commandments." This phrase gently names "the object of the covenant": "those who are of one heart with Him." Daniel does not say "You have nothing to do with us." He says, "He makes covenant with those who love Him." This leaves a door open for "those who turn back": "Though we have sinned, so long as we 'love Him and keep His commands,' His love still holds." This is the first step in "taking hold of His promise" in prayer: "not grasping our own merit, but grasping His covenant."

"We have sinned, done wrong, done wickedly, rebelled, and turned aside," in Hebrew חָטָאנוּ וְעָוִינוּ הִרְשַׁעְנוּ (chatanu ve-avinu hirshanu, "we have sinned, we have twisted, we have acted wickedly"). These are five verbs, the "complete vocabulary of sin" in Hebrew prayer. It has the same structure as the triple in Lev 16:21, where the high priest on the Day of Atonement confesses "all the iniquities, transgressions, and sins," but Daniel uses five, more detailed than Leviticus, because 70 years of sin has "accumulated" and needs "full confession."

The most important linguistic fact is that the whole prayer uses "we" and never "they." Daniel himself, the most widely recognized "blameless man" in the whole book, who in chapter 1 refused the king's food (a fellow exiled youth alongside the three friends), and in chapter 6 was unharmed in the lions' den, the person least in need of repentance, in the first year of Darius in 538 BC confesses 70 years of sin on behalf of the whole people. The "we" includes the kings, the princes, the priests, the people, and Daniel himself. This is the highest model of "representative repentance": "the leader personally enters the position of sin, and stands 'among' the people rather than 'above' them with 'we.'" It is the deepest Old Testament foreshadowing of Christ in the New Testament, "who became flesh, received the baptism of sinners, and bore the sin of the world."

Pastors in the church today should "confess the sins of their own congregation" rather than "accuse others on behalf of the congregation." Daniel, over 80, did not say, "Those kings who did not keep the covenant deserved to be exiled." He said, "We have sinned." This is the deepest form of "a shepherd's heart."

"We have not listened to Your servants the prophets," in Hebrew וְלֹא שָׁמַעְנוּ אֶל־עֲבָדֶיךָ הַנְּבִיאִים (ve-lo shamanu el-avadekha ha-nevi'im). "Lo shamanu" ("we did not listen") names Israel's root sin: "not listening," which is not "not hearing," but "hearing without obeying." The prophets accuse the people of this again and again (Isa 6:9-10; Jer 7:13; Ezek 12:2; Hos 4:1), and Daniel confesses: "kings, princes, fathers, and people all 'did not listen' to the prophets." This is a confession of "the fundamental sin at the level of the nation."

Note the coverage: "kings, princes, fathers, and all the people." Four levels, all "did not listen," with no class exempt. "Sin is universal to the people," so "judgment is universal to the people," yet "mercy can also be universal to the people." This prepares for the nationwide plea for grace in 9:18, "we present our supplications before You."

9:7 "“Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you." 9:8 "Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you." 9:9 "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him."

Daniel 9:7（World English Bible）

"You are righteous, we are put to shame," in Hebrew לְךָ אֲדֹנָי הַצְּדָקָה (lekha Adonai ha-tzedaqah, "to You, Lord, righteousness"). This line has a striking structure of contrast between "You" and "we": "Your attribute is righteousness," "our condition is shame." "You and us," "attribute and condition," "the eternal and the present," three layers of contrast that lay bare "the truth about sin."

"Ha-tzedaqah" (righteousness) does not mean "harshness." It means "integrity within a covenant relationship," that is, "everything He does is consistent with the covenant He made." "Judgment" is also "righteous," because He told the people beforehand, "If you break the covenant, judgment will come" (Deut 28). So "when judgment comes," it means "He keeps His own word," which is "His righteousness." Daniel confesses from this standpoint: "Judgment was not a failure of duty on His part but His keeping of duty." This is the deepest relief in prayer.

"Near and far," in Hebrew הַקְּרֹבִים וְהָרְחֹקִים (ha-qerovim ve-ha-rechoqim, "the near and the far"), is "geographical coverage," from Jerusalem (near) to Babylon, Egypt, Media, and Persia (far). All the exiled people, "the whole nation, are brought into the prayer," with "no place excepted." This is a model of "prayer with a fully open horizon," and it foreshadows the prayer of "the universal church" in the New Testament, "interceding for believers in all nations."

"As at this day," in Hebrew כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה (ka-yom ha-zeh, "as this day"). This is a special phrase, used in settings of "honest acknowledgment" (Deut 4:38, 8:18; Num 20:14; Ezra 9:7), and it means "not the past but the present, still so." "Seventy years have passed and the shame has not ended." It acknowledges "that the aftermath of sin remains." It points in the same direction as Lam 3:42, "We have transgressed and rebelled; you have not pardoned." "Confessing sin does not mean 'judgment is immediately withdrawn.'"

"Mercy and forgiveness," in Hebrew הָרַחֲמִים וְהַסְּלִחוֹת (ha-rachamim ve-ha-selichot, "the mercies and the forgivenesses"): "rachamim" (womb-love, the same word as in Lam 3:22) and "selichot" (repeated forgivenesses, plural). Daniel uses the "plural": "He has many kinds of mercy and many acts of forgiveness," "grace that cannot be exhausted." This is exactly parallel to the plural of "chesed" (many kinds of steadfast love, see Lam 3:32). "His grace is always spoken of in the plural," "the singular is not enough to describe it."

"But we have rebelled against Him." This line is extremely forceful. "He is merciful and forgiving, but we rebelled." "It is not that He was unmerciful, but that we would not receive it." This verse places "the responsibility for judgment" entirely on "the people." "He did not break faith, we did." It is in exactly the same tone as Moses in Deut 32: "He is the Rock, his work is perfect… a perverse and crooked generation has dealt corruptly with him." "He has not changed, we have." This is the first step of true repentance.

9:10 "We haven’t obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets." 9:11 "Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice. “Therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him." 9:12 "He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem." 9:13 "As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us. Yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth." 9:14 "Therefore Yahweh has watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice."

Daniel 9:10（World English Bible）

"The curse and the oath poured out on us," in Hebrew הָאָלָה וְהַשְּׁבֻעָה (ha-alah ve-ha-shevuah, "the curse and the oath"). "Alah" (curse, self-imprecation) and "shevuah" (oath) refer back to Deut 27-30, "the curses and blessings on the mountains." At Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim the people themselves swore, "If we do not keep the covenant, let us be cursed," "words they spoke themselves," and 70 years later "they were fulfilled word for word." By saying "curse and oath," Daniel confesses that "judgment did not come from outside. It was 'the oath the people swore in those days.'" "He was only keeping the people's own word," the strictest application of "reaping what one sows."

"Poured out on us," in Hebrew וַתִּתַּךְ (va-titakh, "and it was poured out"). The image is "like liquid being poured out," the same as wrath poured out like water on Israel (Isa 42:25). "Judgment is poured out like water," "flooding the whole people," and "no one can stand outside it."

"Under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done on Jerusalem," in Hebrew אֲשֶׁר לֹא־נֶעֶשְׂתָה תַחַת (asher lo-ne'esta tachat, "which has not been done under heaven as on Jerusalem"). It is a very heavy confession. Daniel says, "No place in the world can compare with the judgment on Jerusalem," "the holy city bore the deepest judgment." Why? Because "the holy city received the greatest grace," and "where grace is greatest, sin runs deepest and judgment weighs heaviest." This is the law of "privilege matching responsibility."

This line foreshadows Matt 11:21-24 (Capernaum will go down to Hades, and it will be more tolerable for Sodom). The Lord uses the same logic: "the city that received the most grace receives the heaviest judgment," and "the church that has received the deepest grace today should be the one most ready to put on sackcloth and ashes."

"Yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God." This is the deepest verse of the whole prayer. Daniel confesses, "Seventy years of judgment have come, and still we have not turned back to ask for grace." "Judgment did not automatically produce repentance." "Pain is not the same as turning back." "If pain is not accompanied by 'asking for grace,' it is only 'suffering for nothing.'" This is a pastor's deepest insight: "Suffering by itself does not shape the soul. 'Suffering plus asking for grace' shapes it." It points in the same direction as Heb 12:11 (discipline later yields the peaceful fruit) and Rom 5:3-4 ("suffering produces perseverance… and perseverance, character"). Pain has "a right response," and pain "without the right response" is just "suffering in vain."

"Turn from our iniquities," in Hebrew לָשׁוּב מֵעֲוֹנֵנוּ (la-shuv me-avonenu, "to turn back from our iniquity"). "Shuv" is the foundational word for "repentance" in Hebrew theology, "turning away and turning back," and an important Old Testament background for the New Testament idea of repentance. Daniel confesses, "For 70 years, we did not 'shuv.'" "We only sighed and did not turn around," "we only complained about the suffering and did not leave the sin." This is the common trap of "false repentance": "hating the consequences of sin, not hating sin itself."

"The LORD our God is righteous in all His works," in Hebrew כִּי־צַדִּיק יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (ki-tzaddiq YHWH Eloheinu, "for the LORD our God is righteous"). It is the second time in this prayer that "His righteousness" is acknowledged (9:7, 14). The "repeated acknowledgment" means, "On this point there is 'no bargaining.'" "He is 'right,' 'always right,' and we are 'wrong,' 'always wrong.'" This is the deepest mark of true repentance: "accepting His verdict," with no "bargaining," and no "admitting part and pushing off part."

Section 3 (9:15-19) · "Hear and Act" · A Five-Step Prayer Pattern (Part 2)

9:15 "“Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as it is today; we have sinned. We have done wickedly." 9:16 "Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us." 9:17 "“Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake."

Daniel 9:15（World English Bible）

"You brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand," in Hebrew הוֹצֵאתָ אֶת־עַמְּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ (hotzeta et-amkha me-eretz, "You brought Your people out from the land of Egypt, with a strong hand"). "Yad chazaqah" (strong hand) is a signature phrase of the exodus (Exod 3:19, 6:1, 13:9, 32:11; Deut 4:34). Daniel echoes Moses' prayers (Exod 32:11-13 and Num 14:13-19), where Moses at Sinai interceded for the people with the same phrase. "You did this once. We ask You to do it again today." This is "taking hold of His past acts" as the foundation of today's prayer: "He does not change. He 'once saved,' and 'can save today.'" Rom 8:32, "He who didn't spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?", has exactly the same structure: "the great thing already done" is the guarantee of "the smaller thing to come," the deepest logic of prayer.

"Gotten Yourself renown," in Hebrew וַתַּעַשׂ־לְךָ שֵׁם (va-ta'as lekha shem, "and You made for Yourself a name"). "Shem" (name) in the ancient Near East means "reputation, identity, the manifestation of power." Daniel confesses, "The exodus was not for Israel to gain a land. It was for You to gain a name." "The people's rescue was only the vehicle for 'His making a name.'" This is a deeper angle on prayer: "In everything He does, His first concern is His own name, and only second our benefit." It points in the same direction as Phil 2:9-11 (the name above every name, every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord): "all His works ultimately point to His own name."

"Let Your anger turn away from Your holy mountain," in Hebrew יָשָׁב־נָא אַפְּךָ וַחֲמָתְךָ (yashov-na apkha va-chamatkha, "let Your anger and Your wrath turn back from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain"). "Your city, Your holy mountain." "Your" is repeated. Daniel deliberately calls Jerusalem "Yours": "The holy city is not 'ours' but 'His,'" "the destruction of the temple is Your loss, not only ours." This is the shrewdest way in prayer of "taking hold of His interests," "asking Him to rise for His own inheritance." It is exactly like Moses in Exod 32:11-12 ("your people, whom you have brought out with great power, why should the Egyptians say…"): "taking hold of His name, His city, and His people as the fulcrum of prayer."

"According to all Your righteousness," in Hebrew כְּכָל־צִדְקֹתֶךָ (ke-khol tzidqotekha). The key words are "tzedaqah" in the plural and "ke-khol" (according to all). Your righteousness has many forms, not only "the righteousness of judgment" but also "the righteousness of redemption." This theology recurs in Isa 45:21-25, 46:13, and 51:5: "Your righteousness is near, Your salvation has gone out." "Righteousness is salvation." For the covenant people, "Your righteousness causes You to 'fulfill the covenant of redemption.'"

Daniel's stroke here has astonishing theological height: "According to Your righteousness, do not judge, but have mercy." "Mercy does not contradict righteousness. Mercy is the other side of righteousness." "His righteousness includes 'keeping His promise,' including the promise of 'return after 70 years.'" This is the direct Old Testament root of Rom 3:25-26 (he demonstrates his righteousness at this present time, that he might himself be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus), "the righteousness that justifies."

"Cause Your face to shine," in Hebrew וְהָאֵר פָּנֶיךָ (ve-ha'er panekha, "and make Your face shine"). "Making the face shine" means "showing favor." It appears in Num 6:25, Aaron's blessing ("the LORD make his face to shine on you"), in Ps 67:1 ("cause his face to shine on us"), and in Ps 80:3, 7, 19 ("cause your face to shine, and we will be saved"). It is the deepest image of blessing in the whole Old Testament, and the opposite of "He hides His face" (Isa 59:2 and Lam 3:44). "His veiling" is "judgment." "His shining" is "redemption."

"Your sanctuary that is desolate." This phrase creates a strong contrast. The "sanctuary" (מִקְדָּשׁ, miqdash) should be "full of glory," yet it is now "desolate." The juxtaposition of the two words "sanctuary and desolation," the profound contradiction of the holy and the ruined: "How can the sanctuary be desolate?" "How can the holy and the ruined be in the same frame?" Daniel uses the word to confess, "It has already become this way," accepting the fact, and then asks You to shine again: "Though the sanctuary is desolate, You have not changed, so come back." It is a deeply felt prayer of "hope in the midst of despair."

9:18 "My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake." 9:19 "Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do. Don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”"

Daniel 9:18（World English Bible）

"Turn Your ear and hear, open Your eyes and see," in Hebrew הַטֵּה אֱלֹהַי אָזְנְךָ (hatteh Elohai oznekha, "incline, my God, Your ear"). There are four verbs: "incline the ear, hear, open the eyes, see," asking Him to respond "with every sense." It is exactly the same as Hezekiah's prayer in Isa 37:17, "LORD, incline your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and see." Daniel reuses the language of Hezekiah's prayer from the Assyrian siege: "You saved Hezekiah then. We ask You to save us today." It is a model of "biblical intertextuality" in prayer.

"Not for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies," in Hebrew כִּי לֹא עַל־צִדְקֹתֵינוּ (ki lo al-tzidqoteinu, "for not on account of our righteousness do we cast down our supplications before You, but on account of Your great mercies"). This is the deepest declaration in the whole Old Testament of prayer that does not rely on merit.

"Lo al-tzidqoteinu" ("not on our righteousness") clearly rejects "prayer founded on merit." Daniel, the person least in need of "talking about his own righteousness," the man who in chapter 1 refused the king's food and in chapter 6 at over 80 still prayed three times a day, the man with "the most merit," says frankly, "It is not on me." This is the most direct Old Testament root of the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith: "There is no one righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3:10) and "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). Paul says "all," Daniel says "we." "We" means "including Daniel," that is, "including everyone." "No one can stand on their own."

"Al-rachamekha ha-rabbim" ("on Your many mercies"), רַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים (rachamekha ha-rabbim), with "rachamim" in the plural and "many" as the adjective. "Your mercies cannot be counted." It is exactly like Ps 51:1, "Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness; according to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions." Dan 9:18 is the "applied version" of Ps 51: "David pleads for personal sin," "Daniel pleads for national sin." Two "truly repentant people" both rely on "Your mercy" and "not on themselves."

"Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and do!" in Hebrew אֲדֹנָי שְׁמָעָה אֲדֹנָי סְלָחָה אֲדֹנָי הַקְשִׁיבָה וַעֲשֵׂה (Adonai shema'ah, Adonai selachah, Adonai haqshivah va-aseh). Three verbs: "shema'ah + selachah + haqshivah va-aseh," "hear, forgive, listen and act." This is the complete gradient of prayer: "hearing" (You pay attention) → "forgiving" (You respond) → "listening and acting" (You move).

These three steps are the most concise expression in the whole Old Testament of "the structure of answered prayer." They correspond to 1 John 5:14-15 (if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us; and we know that we have the requests we have asked of him): "hearing → answering → giving" has exactly the same structure, but Dan 9:19 is the "Old Testament prototype" of 1 John 5.

"For Your own sake, do not delay," in Hebrew אַל־תְּאַחַר לְמַעֲנְךָ אֱלֹהַי (al-te'achar le-ma'ankha Elohai, "for Your own sake, do not delay, my God"). "For Your own sake." This is the most brilliant close of the whole prayer: "You act, not for us, but for Yourself." "Your reputation, Your city, and Your people all belong to You, so 'rise for Your own sake.'" This is "the highest form of 'taking hold of His interests'" in prayer. It cannot take hold of our merit at all, and "takes hold only of His name."

"Do not delay" is the boldest language in prayer. Daniel, in his 80s, says to the Most High, "Do not drag it out." This is "the urgency of faith," and it is the same as the tone of Rev 6:10, "How long, Master, the holy and true, will you not judge and avenge our blood?" "Only the one who loves most deeply dares to say 'I cannot wait.'" "Urgent prayer" instead shows "mature faith," not indifference.

Section 4 (9:20-27) · Gabriel Flies In · The Seventy Sevens Prophecy

9:20 "While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;" 9:21 "yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering." 9:22 "He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, “I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding." 9:23 "At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision."

Daniel 9:20（World English Bible）

"I was speaking and praying," in Hebrew וְעוֹד אֲנִי מְדַבֵּר וּמִתְפַּלֵּל (ve-od ani medabber u-mitpallel, "and while I was still speaking and praying"), "while I was still speaking." This is the most dramatic description of "prayer and answer" in the whole Old Testament. Daniel is still praying, his words are not finished, and heaven has already sent Gabriel. "The speed of the answer to prayer" is faster than "a telegram between people." "He moves not after the prayer is finished but while it is being prayed."

This verse foreshadows Isa 65:24, "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." "Prayer and answer happen 'at the same time.'" This is the deepest evidence of "how gladly He listens." When believers pray today, "He is more eager than we are," and "His answer is 'already on the way,' though we do not know it yet." This is the deepest comfort in "the theology of prayer."

"Gabriel, caused to fly swiftly," in Hebrew הָאִישׁ גַּבְרִיאֵל אֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי בֶחָזוֹן (ha-ish Gavri'el asher ra'iti ve-chazon, "the man Gabriel, whom I saw in the vision, flying swiftly, touched me"). "Gavriel" (גַּבְרִיאֵל) means "God's mighty one" (gever, mighty man, and El, God). In the Old Testament he appears only in Daniel (8:16; 9:21). In the New Testament he appears twice: Luke 1:11-20 (announcing John to Zechariah) and Luke 1:26-38 (announcing Jesus to Mary). Gabriel is "the angel who announces the Messiah." Dan 9 is his "first announcement of the Messiah," and Luke 1 is his "announcement of the Messiah's birth." The two echo each other: "prophesied 500 years earlier, carried out in that generation." It is the same angel, and "the continuity of the message" is striking.

"At the time of the evening offering," in Hebrew בְּעֵת מִנְחַת־עָרֶב (be-et minchat-arev, "at the time of the evening offering"), about 3:00 in the afternoon. The temple had been destroyed for 70 years, so there was no "evening offering." Yet Daniel still prayed at "the time of the evening offering." "Though the temple was destroyed, the hour of prayer did not change." "The outer sanctuary was lost, but the inner sanctuary was not." This is the deepest model of the "temple in the heart" of believers.

In Acts 3:1, "Peter and John were going up into the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer," they also prayed at "the hour of the evening offering." "The hour of the evening offering" became "the root of evening prayer in the New Testament church." Even today the monastic "Vespers" (evening prayer) is still said between 3 and 6 p.m., and the root is in Dan 9:21.

"At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out," in Hebrew בִּתְחִלַּת תַּחֲנוּנֶיךָ יָצָא דָבָר (bi-tchillat tachanunekha yatza davar, "at the beginning of your supplications a word went out"). "Yatza davar" ("a word went out") has exactly the same structure as Isa 55:11, "so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void." "Your word goes out and will surely accomplish." Prayer "triggers His word," and His word "triggers the accomplishment of things." "Prayer → His word → things accomplished" is the theological chain of "effective prayer."

"For you are greatly beloved," in Hebrew כִּי חֲמוּדוֹת אָתָּה (ki chamudot atah, "for you are one greatly treasured"). "Chamudot" ("greatly treasured") is an extremely tender title, comparable to "the beloved disciple" John (John 13:23): "He especially favors you." This line tells us that for the person of "true repentant prayer," "He shows special favor," and "the inner layer of answered prayer is His intimate relationship with the person," "listening in love, answering in love."

9:24 "“Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy."

Daniel 9:24（World English Bible）

This is the most concentrated and most important messianic prophecy in the whole Old Testament.

"Seventy sevens," in Hebrew שָׁבֻעִים שִׁבְעִים (shavu'im shiv'im, "seventy sevens"), "seventy" × "seven." But what is the unit of the "seven"? The main scholarly readings are:

1. A seven-year unit (490 years), based on the logic of "70 sabbath years" in Lev 25, 2 Chr 36:21 ("the land enjoyed its sabbaths"), and Dan 9:2 ("70 years of desolation").
2. A symbolic time unit, not necessarily literally 490 years, a symbol of "complete time."

The evangelical tradition mainly takes the first reading, that is, 490 years.

"For your people and your holy city" is a key limitation. The seventy sevens are decreed "for Israel and Jerusalem," not "for the Gentiles." This is a timetable of "Israel's redemptive history." Most theologians today agree that "the seventy sevens" are mainly a national redemptive plan for Israel, though the seventieth seven is deeply interwoven with "universal redemption."

"Six things must happen." Note that this is the core content of 9:24, the purpose of the whole prophecy:

1. "To finish the transgression," in Hebrew לְכַלֵּא הַפֶּשַׁע (le-khalle ha-pesha, "to shut up the transgression"). "Pesha" means rebellion, and "shut up, close" means "to make the rebellion stop."

2. "To make an end of sins," in Hebrew וּלְהָתֵם חַטָּאות (u-le-hatem chattaot, "to seal up sins"). "Hatem" (to seal, to put a seal on) means "sins are 'sealed up' and no longer active."

3. "To make atonement for iniquity," in Hebrew וּלְכַפֵּר עָוֹן (u-le-khapper avon, "to atone for iniquity"). "Kipper" means atone, cover, "sin is cleared away," the same word used for the Day of Atonement in Lev 16.

4. "To bring in everlasting righteousness," in Hebrew וּלְהָבִיא צֶדֶק עֹלָמִים (u-le-havi tzedeq olamim, "to bring in eternal righteousness"). "Everlasting righteousness" is the reward of "justification by faith," the same as "the eternal righteousness" in Rom 5:17, "the core blessing of the New Testament."

5. "To seal up vision and prophecy," in Hebrew וְלַחְתֹּם חָזוֹן וְנָבִיא (ve-lachtom chazon ve-navi, "to seal up vision and prophet"). "Sealing" means "completion, no longer needed." "The function of vision and prophecy is 'sealed full' in the Messiah." It is the same as Heb 1:1-2 (God has in these last days spoken to us by his Son): "revelation reaches 'completeness' in Christ."

6. "To anoint the most holy," in Hebrew וְלִמְשֹׁחַ קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים (ve-limshoach qodesh qadashim, "to anoint the most holy"). "The most holy" has two readings:

   1. The Most Holy Place (the center of the rebuilt temple)
   2. The Most Holy One (the Messiah himself, whose anointing is Christ).

   Both readings finally point to Christ as the Most Holy One, and to Him as the new temple (John 2:19-21, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up").

These six things are the final purpose of the seventy sevens. "Sin is stopped, everlasting righteousness is brought in, the Most Holy is anointed." This is the most concentrated declaration in the whole Bible of "redemption completed," and also the most direct Old Testament basis for the New Testament doctrine of "Christ completing redemption."

9:25 "“Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times."

Daniel 9:25（World English Bible）

"From the decree to the anointed prince / 7 sevens + 62 sevens = 69 sevens," in Hebrew מִן־מֹצָא דָבָר לְהָשִׁיב (min-motza davar le-hashiv, "from the going out of the word to restore Jerusalem, until the anointed prince, seven sevens and sixty-two sevens").

"The decree to rebuild Jerusalem." The main scholarly candidates:

• Cyrus's decree in 538 BC (Ezra 1:1-4), focused on the temple, not the whole city;
• Artaxerxes's decree in 458 BC to Ezra (Ezra 7:11-26), mainly about temple service;
• Artaxerxes's decree in 444 BC to Nehemiah (Neh 2:1-8), which explicitly 'rebuilds the wall,' and best fits the literal "rebuild Jerusalem."

The evangelical tradition mainly takes 444 BC.

"69 sevens = 483 years." 444 BC + 483 = AD 39? But most interpreters use the "prophetic year" of 360 days (not 365.25): 483 × 360 = 173,880 days ÷ 365.25 ≈ 476 solar years, and 444 BC + 476 ≈ AD 32-33. That is exactly the window of Christ's baptism, anointing, public ministry, and crucifixion. This is the result calculated by Sir Robert Anderson (1841-1918, head of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard and a Bible scholar) in his book The Coming Prince (1894), who computed it to Palm Sunday (6 April, AD 32) as the day of fulfillment, "Christ entering Jerusalem anointed as king."

Although the exact date is disputed among scholars, "444 BC + about 483 prophetic years ≈ around AD 30" is a window that "coincides exactly with Christ's life on earth." It is the strongest historical verification of "the seventy sevens," and makes it hard not to admit that "Dan 9:25 is precise word for word."

"In troubled times, with street and moat, it will be built again." The prophecy foretells the difficult conditions of the post-return rebuilding. It matches Neh 1-6, where Nehemiah rebuilt the wall in 52 days amid opposition. "Troubled times" means "opposition from outside, corruption within, shortage of materials, and political pressure," all fulfilled.

9:26 "After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined."

Daniel 9:26（World English Bible）

"The Anointed One will be cut off," in Hebrew יִכָּרֵת מָשִׁיחַ וְאֵין לוֹ (yikkaret Mashiach ve-ein lo, "the Anointed One will be cut off, and He will have nothing"). "Mashiach" ("anointed one") is the Old Testament term corresponding to the New Testament "Christ," χριστός (Christos). "Yikkaret" ("will be cut off") from "karat" (to cut down, to cut off) is exactly the same word as in Isa 53:8, "he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people." "Ve-ein lo" ("he will have nothing") means "alone, with no support, with no inheritance," "cut off 'completely.'"

This is the most direct and clearest verse in the whole Old Testament prophesying "the Messiah's death." Dan 9:26 and Isa 53 are the two pillars of the Old Testament's "suffering Messiah."

The New Testament echoes it directly:

• Matt 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:33, and John 19:18, "they crucified him," the direct fulfillment of "Christ being cut off";
• Acts 8:32-35, where Philip explains Isa 53 ("like a sheep led to the slaughter") to the Ethiopian eunuch, directly "this Scripture points to Jesus";
• Heb 9:26-28 (Christ has been revealed once at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself), "cutting off is sacrifice," a direct acknowledgment of Dan 9:26;
• Heb 10:14, "For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being made holy," "once, perfect forever," which corresponds to Dan 9:24, "to make atonement for iniquity."

"The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary," in Hebrew וְהָעִיר וְהַקֹּדֶשׁ יַשְׁחִית עַם נָגִיד הַבָּא (ve-ha-ir ve-ha-qodesh yashchit am nagid ha-ba, "the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary"). "Am nagid ha-ba" ("the people of the coming prince") foretells that "not long after the Messiah is cut off," "the holy city and the sanctuary" will again be destroyed, "fulfilled in AD 70 when the Roman army under Titus destroyed the temple." A prophecy of 538 BC, fulfilled in AD 70, a span of about 608 years, is one of the strongest examples of a biblical "chain of fulfillment."

The Lord Jesus himself cited Dan 9:26-27 in predicting the destruction of the temple: Matt 24:1-2, "Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down," and Matt 24:15, "When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place." The Lord directly cites Dan 9, confirms Dan 9, and foretells the fulfillment of Dan 9. This is the New Testament's highest endorsement of Dan 9.

"With a flood," in Hebrew וְקִצּוֹ בַשֶּׁטֶף (ve-qitzo va-shetef, "its end will be with a flood"). The "flood image" is the same as Isa 8:7-8 (the king of Assyria's waters, strong and many, overflowing up to the neck) and Isa 28:17-18 ("hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place"). "A flood means a foreign army invading, which means judgment arriving," the standard biblical image of "flood judgment."

9:27 "He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, wrath will be poured out on the desolate.”"

Daniel 9:27（World English Bible）

This verse is the most complex verse in the whole book of Daniel and has the most varied interpretations. The three main scholarly readings:

Reading ① (Christological reading · widely accepted in the evangelical tradition):

• "One week" = the 70th seven, corresponding to Christ's ministry;
• "A firm covenant" = Christ confirming the "new covenant" with many (Matt 26:28, "this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins," and the new covenant of Heb 8:6-13);
• "The middle of the week" = 3.5 years, about the length of Christ's public ministry (the evangelical tradition holds about 3.5 years);
• "Cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease" = Christ's one offering abolishing the old covenant sacrificial system of the temple (Heb 10:9-10: he takes away the first, that he may establish the second);
• "The one who makes desolate" = the third fulfillment: the Roman army under Titus destroying the temple in AD 70, or the final fulfillment at the end of the age.

Reading ② (Eschatological reading · dispensational tradition):

• "One week" = the last 7 years, "the Great Tribulation," with a "gap for the church age" between the 70th seven and the previous 69 (gap theory);
• "He" = the Antichrist of the end times, making a "covenant" with many;
• "The middle of the week" = 3.5 years = "the second half of the Great Tribulation" = Rev 11:2-3, 12:6, 14, and 13:5, "42 months / 1,260 days, a time, times, and half a time," exactly matching numbers;
• "Cause the sacrifice to cease" = the Antichrist abolishing the sacrifices of the newly built temple;
• "The one who makes desolate" means the Antichrist setting up a "blasphemous thing" within the end-time temple (corresponding to **2 Thess 2:3-4, "the son of destruction… sits in the temple of God, setting himself up as God").

Reading ③ (Double fulfillment, historical and end-time · synthesized reading):

• "The one who makes desolate" = threefold fulfillment:
  • 167 BC, Antiochus IV: set up a statue of Zeus in the temple and offered a pig (1 Macc 1:54-59), the first fulfillment of "the abomination that makes desolate" in Dan 11:31;
  • AD 70, Titus: the Roman army set up eagle standards and offered sacrifices in the temple, the fulfillment of what the Lord foretold in Matt 24:15;
  • The end-time Antichrist: the final fulfillment in the future (2 Thess 2:3-4 and Rev 13);
• "A firm covenant, ending the sacrifices": Christ's "first coming" abolishes the old covenant sacrifices;
• "The one who makes desolate, wrath poured out": the final judgment "before the second coming" at the end of the age.

Evangelical scholars mostly take Reading 1 or 3, because they stay most faithful to the intertextuality of Scripture (the Lord, Paul, and John all cite Dan 9), because Christ cites it directly in Matthew 24, and because the chain of fulfillment is clear.

"Cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease," in Hebrew יַשְׁבִּית זֶבַח וּמִנְחָה (yashbit zevach u-minchah, "he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease"). "Zevach" (animal sacrifice) and "minchah" (grain offering) cover the two main categories of "the old covenant sacrificial system." Christ's one offering "abolished" the need for the old covenant blood sacrifices and grain offerings. Heb 10:12 says, "He, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God." "Sat down" means "the work is finished," because "the sacrifice is complete" and "there is no further need for sacrifice."

The deepest New Testament application: at the moment Christ breathed His last on the cross, the temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt 27:51), physically "the veil of the Most Holy Place torn open" and theologically "the end of the sacrificial system." "The Lord Himself 'caused the sacrifice to cease,'" and Dan 9:27 is fulfilled word for word.

"The abomination that makes desolate," in Hebrew שִׁקּוּצִים מְשֹׁמֵם (shiqqutzim meshomem, "abominations that desolate"). It recurs throughout Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11), and the three occurrences correspond to three fulfillments:

1. 167 BC, Antiochus
2. AD 70, Titus
3. The end-time Antichrist.

The Lord Jesus himself in Matt 24:15 says, "spoken of by Daniel the prophet," and adds, "let the reader understand." "Understand" means "think and be alert." The Lord regards Dan 9:27 as the fundamental prophecy about "the signs of the end." This is the New Testament's highest endorsement of Dan 9.

Key Vocabulary Cards

Daniel's Five-Step Prayer · A Pattern for a Shepherd's Prayer

This is the most complete prayer pattern in the whole Old Testament, worth meditating on word by word and using again and again.

Step 1: Acknowledge His Greatness and Awesomeness (9:4)

"Oh, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness to those who love him and keep his commandments,"

Key concepts:

• His greatness and awesomeness, Moses' language (Deut 7:21; 10:17)
• Keeping covenant, the guarantee at the level of covenant
• Loving kindness, unchanging love

Application: The first step of prayer is not "my need" but "who You are." "Knowing Him" is what lets prayer stand firm. The Lord's Prayer, "Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy" (Matt 6:9), has exactly the same structure: honor Him first, then enter the asking.

Step 2: Acknowledge Our Sin (9:5-11a)

"We have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets…"

Key concepts:

• Five verbs in a row: sinned, dealt perversely, done wickedly, rebelled, turned aside
• "We" and not "they," the leader entering the position
• Covering four levels: kings, princes, fathers, all the people

Application: Confessing sin is not "a formal admission of fault" but "full confession" and "representative confession." If a shepherd only confesses "their sin" and does not confess "our sin," he is not standing among the people, and does not have "a shepherd's heart."

Step 3: Acknowledge His Righteousness (9:7-14)

"Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face… Therefore the LORD has watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does."

Key concepts:

• Twice acknowledging "You are righteous" (9:7, 14)
• Judgment is the keeping of the curses the people themselves swore (Deut 27-30)
• "As at this day," the shame has not ended

Application: Acknowledge His righteousness, accept His verdict, and do not bargain. The accusing tone of "He is wrong, I am right" is the most deadly attitude in prayer. "You are right, I am wrong" must always be confessed first.

Step 4: Ask for His Mercy and Take Hold of His Name (9:15-18)

"My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies."

Key concepts:

• Taking hold of His name: "Your city, Your holy mountain, the people called by Your name"
• Not relying on our own righteousness, but on Your great mercies (plural)
• Echoing the prayers of Moses (Exod 32:11-13), Hezekiah (Isa 37:17), and David (Ps 51), supported by intertextuality

Application: In "asking for mercy," what we take hold of is not "our own merit" but "His name, His promise, and His past acts." In prayer today we can say, "Lord, as You have done before, do so today." This is the power of "taking hold of His past" in prayer.

Step 5: Plead with Three Verbs and "For Your Own Sake" (9:19)

"Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and do! Don't defer, for your own sake, my God."

Key concepts:

• Three verbs: hear, forgive, listen and act
• "For Your own sake," ultimately pointing to His name
• "Do not delay," the urgency of faith

Application: The close of prayer is not "for me" but "for Your own sake." "You act, ultimately for Your name." This is "the highest 'taking hold'" in prayer, "taking hold of Your reputation as the ultimate reason."

Overall application: Pastors today can use these five steps as a template for weekly intercessory meetings, church-season prayers, and personal morning prayer. The breathing rhythm of "He, we, He, we, He": first vertical (honoring Him), then horizontal (confession), then vertical (acknowledging His righteousness), then horizontal (asking for mercy), and finally vertical (for Your name). Then "the breathing of prayer" is "normal," and the channel of "true repentance and true answer" is "open."

The Historical Fulfillment of the Seventy Sevens · The Most Precise Prophecy in Scripture

This section lays out in detail the mathematics, history, and theology of the seventy sevens, because this is the strongest empirical proof of "the credibility of biblical prophecy."

The Starting Point: Counting from "the Decree to Rebuild Jerusalem"

Historically there are four candidates:

1. Cyrus's decree in 538 BC (Ezra 1:1-4), mainly about rebuilding the temple, not the whole city;
2. Darius I's renewed decree in 519 BC (Ezra 6:1-12), a reaffirmation of the decree to rebuild the temple;
3. Artaxerxes's decree to Ezra in 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26), mainly about temple service and the administration of the law;
4. Artaxerxes's decree to Nehemiah in 444 / 445 BC (Neh 2:1-8), explicitly "rebuilding the wall, the markets, and the whole city," which best fits the literal meaning of "rebuild Jerusalem."

The evangelical tradition mainly takes 444 BC.

The Mathematics: 69 Sevens = 483 Years

• Prophetic year (360 days per year): 483 × 360 = 173,880 days
• Converted to solar years (365.2422 days per year): 173,880 ÷ 365.2422 ≈ 476.07 solar years
• 444 BC + 476 ≈ AD 32-33

The one who calculated it, Sir Robert Anderson (1841-1918), head of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard and a Bible scholar, computed in The Coming Prince (1894) to Palm Sunday (6 April, AD 32), the very day Christ entered Jerusalem "welcomed by the people as king," that is, the day when "the Anointed Prince" was fulfilled.

Afterward he was cut off. "6 April, Palm Sunday," and a few days later the crucifixion, "coincide exactly with the life of Christ."

Biblical Intertextuality: Christ Himself Hints That "the Hour Has Come"

• Mark 1:15, "The time is fulfilled, and God's Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News," "the time is fulfilled," the Lord's clearest declaration that "the seventy sevens are being fulfilled";
• Gal 4:4, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman," "the fullness of time" means "the end of the 69th seven of the seventy sevens";
• Rom 5:6, "For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly," "the appointed time" means "the hour set by the seventy sevens."

Uncertainties: Scholarly Disputes over the Exact Date

Although there is dispute about reaching exactly Palm Sunday, "444 BC + about 483 prophetic years ≈ around AD 30" is a window that "coincides exactly with Christ's life on earth," a method adopted by many evangelical scholars. Counting from 458 BC gives a result between AD 26 and 33, which also roughly fits the life of Christ; but the choice of starting point and of date conversion affects the result (counting from Cyrus's decree in 538 BC, 483 years does not fall in the time of Christ), so it is not appropriate to say that "any starting point" points to Christ.

Today, in facing skeptics of the gospel, "the seventy sevens" is among the strongest apologetic tools for "the credibility of biblical prophecy." "A prophecy given 500 years earlier, precise in its numbers, and coinciding with the life of Christ." "This cannot be a coincidence." This is the strongest evidence that "the Bible is indeed the word of God."

9:26 "The Messiah Will Be Cut Off" · The Clearest Old Testament Prophecy of the Messiah's Death

This verse is one of the most critical prophecies of the Messiah's death in the whole Old Testament, and deserves to be studied alongside Isa 53 and Ps 22.

The Force of the Original

• "מָשִׁיחַ (Mashiach)," "anointed one," the literal form of "Christ";
• "Yikkaret," "cut off," to cut down, cut off, destroy, the same word כָּרַת (karat) as in Isa 53:8, "cut off out of the land of the living."
• "וְאֵין (ve-ein) lo," "he will have nothing," alone, with no support, with no inheritance, "cut off completely," foreshadowing Christ with "the disciples scattered from him," "nailed naked to the wood," and "buried in a borrowed tomb," "truly with nothing."

Fifty Years Earlier Than Isaiah 53

Dates of writing:

• Dan 9 written: about 538–530 BC (shortly after the first year of Darius)
• Isa 53: disputed among scholars; the evangelical tradition takes about 700 BC (Isaiah's own work); some scholars take about 540 BC ("Second Isaiah," written in the exile).

If one takes the evangelical tradition, Isa 53 is about 160 years earlier than Dan 9; if one takes the view of some scholars, Isa 53 is contemporary with Dan 9 or slightly later. Either way, Dan 9:26 and Isa 53 are the two pillars of the Old Testament's "suffering Messiah," and the two passages confirm and complement each other.

Isa 53 emphasizes: the details of suffering (crushed for our iniquities, mouth not opened, like a sheep led to slaughter); Dan 9:26 emphasizes: the precision of the time (within the seventy sevens, after the 69th seven, cut off).

Together, they give us the complete answer to "when, how, and why."

Direct New Testament Echoes (Cited Many Times)

• Matt 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:33, and John 19:18: "they crucified him," the literal fulfillment of "cut off";
• Acts 8:32-35: Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch, "beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Jesus," directly "this Scripture points to Jesus";
• Heb 9:26-28: "Christ has been revealed once at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," "cut off means sacrifice means sin put away";
• Heb 10:14: "For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being made holy," "once, perfect forever," corresponding to Dan 9:24, "to make atonement for iniquity";
• 1 Pet 1:18-20: "…with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake," "revealed at the end of times" means "after the 69th seven of the seventy sevens";
• Rom 5:6-10 and 1 Cor 15:3-5: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," "the Scriptures" meaning Dan 9, Isa 53, Ps 22, and others.

Theological Meaning: "For Us" and "Nothing"

Dan 9:26 uses "וְאֵין (ve-ein) lo" ("he will have nothing"), which carries very deep theology. Christ is "cut off" "for us." He "has nothing," and we "have everything"!

This is the deepest logic of the New Testament doctrine of "substitutionary atonement":

• 2 Cor 5:21, "For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God," "His having nothing" means "our having everything";
• 2 Cor 8:9, "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich," "poverty means having nothing" and "riches means having everything";
• Phil 2:7-8, "but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross," "emptying, having nothing" means "the cutting off of the seventy sevens."

Pastoral Application

When believers ask, "Why did Christ have to die?", Dan 9:26 is the most concentrated answer: "Seventy sevens are decreed on your people and your holy city, to make atonement for iniquity and bring in everlasting righteousness," and "the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing."

"Cut off" means "sacrifice," which means "iniquity atoned for," which means "everlasting righteousness brought in." Without "being cut off," there is no "everlasting righteousness." "His 'having nothing'" means "our 'having forever.'" This is the deepest logic of the gospel, and it is right here in the single verse Dan 9:26.

9:27 "The Abomination That Makes Desolate" · Threefold Fulfillment · The Pivot of Daniel's Apocalyptic

"The abomination that makes desolate," in Hebrew שִׁקּוּצִים מְשֹׁמֵם (shiqqutzim meshomem), appears three times in Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11), each corresponding to a historical event of "the temple being desecrated and destroyed."

First Fulfillment: Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 167 BC

History:

• A king of the Seleucid dynasty who reigned 175-164 BC, who called himself "Epiphanes" ("the manifest one") (a title of pagan self-deification, likening himself to the Lord of heaven appearing among men);
• In 167 BC he invaded Jerusalem, set up a statue of Zeus in the Most Holy Place of the temple, offered pigs, and forbade the Jews to keep the Sabbath, practice circumcision, or read the law;
• This triggered the Maccabean revolt (1 Macc 1:54-59 and Dan 11:31);
• In 164 BC Judas Maccabeus retook the temple and cleansed the temple, which is the origin of "the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah" (John 10:22).

Corresponding text: Dan 11:31, "Forces from him will stand, and they will profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and will take away the continual burnt offering. They will set up the abomination that makes desolate," fulfilled word for word in Antiochus.

Second Fulfillment: The Roman Army under Titus, AD 70

History:

• In AD 66 the Jews rose up against Rome;
• In August AD 70, Titus (later Roman emperor) led the Tenth Legion and captured Jerusalem. The temple was burned down, leaving only the "Wailing Wall" (the Western Wall), which stands to this day;
• The Roman army set up eagle standards in the temple area and offered sacrifices to Roman idols, "the abomination that makes desolate" fulfilled.

Corresponding text: The Lord in Matt 24:1-2 foretold, "not one stone will be left here on another, that will not be thrown down," in Matt 24:15, "When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place," and in Luke 21:20, "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand." The Lord himself applied Dan 9:27 to AD 70.

The precision of the fulfillment: The Lord foretold it around AD 30, and it was fulfilled in AD 70, a difference of about 40 years. That generation had not all died, and they saw the fulfillment with their own eyes (Matt 24:34, "this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished").

Third Fulfillment: The End-Time Antichrist (some scholars hold it is still unfulfilled)

The eschatological reading:

• The 70th seven = "the last 7 years," that is, "the Great Tribulation." Some scholars hold that "there is a 'gap' between the 70th seven and the previous 69, that is, 'the church age,' and the 70th seven has not yet begun";
• "The Antichrist" means "making a covenant with many, abolishing the sacrifices in the middle of the week, and setting up the abomination that makes desolate";
• A newly built third temple at the end (some Bible scholars hold that the end-time temple will be rebuilt), which the Antichrist desecrates;
• New Testament correspondences:
  • 2 Thess 2:3-4, "the son of destruction, the man of lawlessness… who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, displaying himself as God";
  • Rev 13:1-18: "the beast," the vision describing the end-time Antichrist, parallel to Dan 7-9;
  • Rev 11:1-2: "the court which is outside… has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months," that is, "half of the one seven, 3.5 years";
  • Rev 12:6, 14: "1,260 days, a time, times, and half a time," also 3.5 years.

The Evangelical Mainstream's Synthesized Reading

Most evangelical scholars take "double or triple fulfillment." "A firm covenant" = Christ's first coming making the new covenant with many (Matt 26:28);

• "Abolishing the sacrifices" means Christ's one offering abolishing the old covenant sacrifices (Heb 10:9-14) and the temple veil being torn in two when the Lord breathed His last on the cross (Matt 27:51**), "You caused the sacrifice to cease," fulfilled word for word;
• "The abomination that makes desolate" = threefold fulfillment: Antiochus in 167 BC (the clear fulfillment of Dan 11:31), Titus in AD 70 (applied by the Lord Himself in Matt 24:15), and the end-time Antichrist (the future fulfillment of 2 Thess 2 and Rev 13).

Pastoral Application

Dan 9:27 gives believers two deep comforts:

1. "The part already accomplished": 167 BC, AD 70, and Christ's abolishing of the sacrifices, fulfilled word for word, give us "absolute trust" in Scripture;
2. "The part not yet accomplished": at the end, "wrath poured out on the one who makes desolate, until the determined end," gives us a certain hope about "the end." "You have already determined the end," "what is determined will surely come."

The church today, in the face of "the signs of the end," is neither anxious nor careless: "The Lord's prophecy was fulfilled after 40 years and after 500 years, so 'what is still awaited' will also be fulfilled." "Waiting for His return" is rooted in the chain of fulfillment in Dan 9:27, and "the fulfilled past" guarantees "the fulfilled future."

The Language of Apocalyptic · The Distinctiveness of Daniel 9

Daniel 8–12 is the earliest model of apocalyptic literature, and the distinctiveness of Daniel 9 lies in:

The Precise Use of Numerical Symbolism

• "7" = completeness, covenant; "seventy sevens" means "completeness on top of completeness," "the most perfect time";
• "7 × 70" = "490," the "accumulation of sabbath years" (already laid out in 2 Chr 36:21), "the repayment of rest and the completion of redemption";
• "Half a seven" = "3.5," "half of completeness," "an unfinished period," which Revelation uses repeatedly as 42 months / 1,260 days, a time, times, and half a time, rooted in Dan 9:27 and 12:7.

The Pattern of Double Fulfillment, Historical and End-Time

Dan 9 is a model of "prophecy's double fulfillment":

• "70 years of desolation," already fulfilled in Cyrus's decree of 538 BC;
• "70 sevens," partly fulfilled in Christ's first coming (the end of the 69th seven);
• "The 70th seven," which some scholars hold still awaits end-time fulfillment (or has already been fulfilled in Christ's ministry and AD 70).

This "double fulfillment" pattern runs through the New Testament again and again:

• Isa 7:14, "a virgin will conceive," partly fulfilled in Isaiah's time and completely fulfilled in Christ's birth (Matt 1:22-23);
• Hos 11:1, "out of Egypt I called my son," partly fulfilled in the exodus and completely fulfilled when Christ returned to Nazareth after taking refuge in Egypt (Matt 2:15);
• Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:16-21, "in the last days, I will pour out my Spirit…," partly fulfilled at Pentecost and completely fulfilled at the end of the age.

"First and complete," "already and not yet." This is the "breathing pattern" of biblical prophecy, giving believers "both the assurance of fulfillment" and "the hope of waiting."

"While I Was Still Speaking, Gabriel Had Come," the Core Mechanism of Apocalyptic

Dan 9:20-23 is the core demonstration of the apocalyptic "prayer–answer" mechanism:

• Prayer → heaven responds immediately → an angel is sent → bringing revelation;
• "The answer is already on the way before the words are finished";
• Revelation's "transparency," "Your answer lets us 'see,'" is in line with John 1:51, "You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man," the New Testament image of "heaven opened," rooted in Dan 9:21.

Revelation is not "His silence." It is "He speaks faster than we do," and only "we have no 'ears to hear.'" "Pray first, meditate afterward," letting "the word He has already sent out" enter the heart. This is the fundamental method of "receiving revelation."

Ancient Near Eastern Background

The Problem of Darius's Identity

Darius in Daniel refers to two people:

1. Darius the Mede (5:31; 6:1; 9:1). Scholars dispute whether he is "Cyrus" (see 6:28, where the rendering "Darius, that is, Cyrus" is disputed) or "the Median governor Gubaru appointed by Cyrus."
2. Darius I of Persia (522-486 BC), who has no direct contact with Daniel but is related to the delay in rebuilding the temple (Ezra 5-6 and Haggai, Zechariah).

Some evangelical scholars favor "Gubaru is Darius the Mede," that is, "the Chaldean governor appointed by Cyrus"; others identify him as Cyrus under another name or as another figure, and the question remains unsettled. On the first reading, the effect of this identification on the narrative is that "the first year of Darius" is "the first year after the fall of Babylon," exactly "the point when the 70 years were complete."

Cyrus's Decree and the Fulfillment of the Seventy Years

Cyrus's decree in 538 / 537 BC (2 Chr 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-4) allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the temple. This event fulfilled:

• Jer 25:11-12, "when seventy years are accomplished, I will punish the king of Babylon";
• Jer 29:10, "after seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you… and cause you to return to this place";
• Isa 44:28, "who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure," the "Cyrus" prophecy, spoken by Isaiah around 700 BC and fulfilled about 160 years later, the ultimate "prophecy by name."

When Daniel prayed in chapter 9, "the 70 years were just complete," and Cyrus was "about to issue the decree." This "precision of timing" lets Daniel "realize that You have 'already acted.'" His prayer was not "changing His plan" but "joining in what He was about to do." This is the deepest insight in the "theology of prayer": true prayer "becomes one with His plan," and does not "ask Him to do our own thing."

The Jewish Pious Tradition of "the Evening Offering"

"The time of the evening offering" (about 3:00 in the afternoon). By this moment the temple had been destroyed for 70 years and there should have been "no evening offering," yet Daniel still prayed at "the hour of the evening offering." This pious practice runs through the Jewish exile period:

• The people in exile, with the temple destroyed, saw synagogues arise, and prayed in the synagogues at "the hour of the evening offering";
• In the New Testament era, AD, the temple was rebuilt and destroyed again (AD 70), and the Jews still prayed at "the hour of the evening offering" (Acts 3:1, "the ninth hour, the hour of prayer");
• The early church, "evening prayer" (Vespers), between 3 and 6 p.m., rooted in Dan 9:21;
• The monastic tradition, still keeping daily "evening prayer" today, the deepest model of "the temple destroyed, the hour of prayer not lost."

Believers today who keep "fixed hours of prayer," morning, noon, and evening, all have their root in Daniel's faithfulness of "the temple destroyed, the hour not lost." "The outward form was lost, but the substance was not." This is the deepest model of "the interiorization of piety."

The Seventy Sevens and the Jewish Calendar

In the Jewish calendar there are "sabbath years" (every 7 years) and "jubilee years" (every 50 years = 7 × 7 + 1), a cyclical structure of "sevens." The "seventy sevens" of Dan 9 directly echoes this structure of the Jewish calendar:

• 70 years of desolation = 70 sabbath years (accumulated by 490 years of unkept sabbaths), 2 Chr 36:21, "until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths";
• 70 sevens = 490 years, echoing the jubilee's sevenfold cycle (but 490 is not divisible by 50 and should not be counted as a whole number of jubilees), symbolizes "complete release." In Luke 4:18-19 the Lord quotes Isa 61:1-2, "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," "jubilee" means "the gospel," which means "the completion of the seventy sevens."

This theology goes deeper layer by layer: "the fulfillment of the 70 years" = "the repayment of the 70 sabbath years" which is "the start of the seventy sevens," which is "the final completion of the jubilee," which is "the full realization of the gospel." "The timetable of Dan 9" is "the compression of the whole biblical history of redemption."

Tracing Theological Themes: Daniel 9 in the Main Line of Daniel

The four major themes of Daniel all appear in Dan 9:

1. God is the Most High Lord, 9:14, "the LORD our God is righteous in all His works," and 9:15, "You brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand," "He is the subject of judgment and the subject of redemption." His sovereignty includes "letting the people go into exile" and "letting the people return," and both sides are in His hands.

2. Faithfulness in a hostile land, 9:21, praying "at the time of the evening offering." Though the temple was destroyed and the evening offering had stopped, Daniel still prayed to the rhythm of piety, "the outward form lost, the substance not lost," "over 80 and still fasting, in sackcloth and ashes," "the highest official in a hostile land, in 'the lowliest posture in the inner room.'"

3. A determined end, the seventy sevens prophecy of 9:24-27, the most concentrated demonstration of the theme of "determination" in the whole book of Daniel, "the determined end," "surely fulfilled word for word," including "the part already accomplished" (Christ's first coming) and "the part yet to be accomplished" (the end-time completion).

4. Hope in suffering, "the 70 years of desolation" is "the deepest suffering," but "the 70 years complete and the prophecy of the seventy sevens" is "the greatest hope." "Suffering and hope in the same frame," "the present of suffering, the future of hope," is the deepest way Daniel shepherded the exiled people.

New Testament Citations of This Chapter

"The abomination that makes desolate," a phrase Daniel received in prayer, was named by Jesus on the Mount of Olives: let the reader understand.

9:27 The Abomination That Makes Desolate Comes on the Wing (Double Fulfillment · Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14)

• Old Testament background: the last stretch of the seventy sevens: "He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate" (Dan 9:27; see 11:31; 12:11).
• Original Old Testament meaning: a nearer layer was fulfilled first in 167 BC, when Antiochus IV set up an altar to Zeus in the temple and offered a pig. The Jews of the Maccabean era remembered this phrase with searing clarity.
• New Testament citation: Jesus points it forward again: "When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains" (Matt 24:15-16; Mark 13:14). It was fulfilled again in AD 70 when the Roman army surrounded the city and destroyed the temple, while the "man of lawlessness seated in God's temple" of 2 Thess 2 suggests a final layer at the end (2 Thess 2:3-4).
• Fulfillment: "The abomination that makes desolate" is a drama in several acts: Antiochus was the rehearsal, AD 70 was another act, and the Antichrist is the final act. Each act urges the same thing: stay alert and do not cling.
• Application today: Jesus deliberately inserts "let the reader understand," assuming that the disciples read Daniel. Half of our steadiness at the end comes from having understood the Old Testament.

New Testament Echoes

The formal citations have been explained one by one above. The table below gathers the remaining echoes, and the seventy sevens are explained in detail in the dedicated section above.

Daniel 9 is one of the most important Old Testament roots of New Testament apocalyptic, messianic theology, and the theology of prayer, with at least 10+ direct echoes:

Core New Testament message: Daniel 9 is a chapter that combines four things in one: "true repentance, true answer, the timetable of redemptive history, and the prophecy of the Messiah's death." It is the most important pillar in the whole Old Testament for the New Testament doctrines of "justification by faith, Christ's substitutionary atonement, and the Lord's return." If the church today "only values the form of prayer," Daniel would shake his head. If it "only believes in the grace of salvation," Daniel would nod but point to "sackcloth and ashes." If it holds "true repentance, true trust, and waiting for His return" as a threefold unity, Daniel would be glad. This is the deepest Old Testament demonstration of "complete faith" in the New Testament.

Special note · Daniel 9 and the doctrine of "answered prayer":

James 5:16-18: "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain…" James uses "Elijah" as a model of prayer, and Daniel is ranked alongside Elijah as among "the greatest in prayer." Of the two "men of prayer," "Elijah called down fire and rain" and "Daniel called an angel to fly to him," the two deepest Old Testament models of "prayer that changes history."

Believers today are "cold in prayer" and say "He does not listen." Dan 9 gives us this answer: You are "more eager than we are," and we "have no 'ears to hear'" and "no 'mouth of true repentance.'" "When we pray as Daniel prayed, You will answer as You answered Daniel." This is the deepest comfort in "the theology of prayer."

Character Analysis Cards (simplified version; this chapter is mainly prayer and vision, with few characters)

Theological Highlights of the Chapter