Powerpoint illustrating recent daily reflectons available at www.mmjt.eu

1. Daniel 9
Repentance and Revelation

2. The Language of Daniel
• Hebrew (1:1-2:4a,
8:1-12:13)
– biblical, theological,
historical, in-house
• Aramaic (2:4b-7:28)
– colloquial,
international,
contemporary
• Bilingual and cross-
cultural
• ‘Theological’ and
‘popular’ style

3. Different styles of Daniel
• Narrative – theology through
events
• Apocalyptic – apocalypto -
hide
• Coded language to describe
political events
• Think Dreams and Events!

4. Why study the book of Daniel?
1. Character study
2. Theology of history
3. Missionary manual
4. Textbook on prayer
5. Messianic prophecies
fulfilled in NT
6. Witness in an oppressive
regime

5. 6 Narratives (chapters 1-6)
• Arrival at Babylon (1)
• Interpretation of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (2)
• The golden image and fiery
furnace (3)
• Nebuchadnezzar’s second
dream (4)
• The writing on the wall (5)
• The lion’s den (6)

6. 4 Visions (chapters 7-12)
• Dream of the four beasts (7)
• Vision of the ram and the goat
(8)
• Daniel’s prayer and word of
revelation (9)
• Vision of the end of days (10-
12)

7. Daniel 9:1-2
1
In the first year of Darius son of
Xerxes[a]
(a Mede by descent),
who was made ruler over the
Babylonian[b]
kingdom— 2
in the
first year of his reign, I, Daniel,
understood from the Scriptures,
according to the word of the
LORD given to Jeremiah the
prophet, that the desolation of
Jerusalem would last seventy
years.

8. In the 1st
year
• Jeremiah 25:11-14
• 11
This whole country will
become a desolate wasteland,
and these nations will serve the
king of Babylon seventy years.
• 12
“But when the seventy years
are fulfilled, I will punish the
king of Babylon and his nation,
the land of the Babylonians,[a]
for their guilt,” declares the
LORD, “and will make it
desolate forever.

9. Jeremiah 29:10-12
• 10
This is what the LORD says:
“When seventy years are
completed for Babylon, I will
come to you and fulfill my good
promise to bring you back to
this place. 11
For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares
the LORD, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future. 12
Then you will call on me and
come and pray to me, and I will
listen to you.

10. Jeremiah 29:13-14
• 13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all
your heart. 14
I will be found by you,” declares the LORD,
“and will bring you back from captivity.[a]
I will gather you
from all the nations and places where I have banished
you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the
place from which I carried you into exile.”

11. Daniel 9:2
• 3
So I turned to
the Lord God
and pleaded
with him in
prayer and
petition, in
fasting, and in
sackcloth and
ashes.

12. Daniel’s Prayer
• 4
I prayed to the LORD my God and
confessed:
• “Lord, the great and awesome God,
who keeps his covenant of love with
those who love him and keep his
commandments, 5
we have sinned and
done wrong. We have been wicked and
have rebelled; we have turned away
from your commands and laws. 6
We
have not listened to your servants the
prophets, who spoke in your name to
our kings, our princes and our ancestors,
and to all the people of the land.

13. GENERAL CONFESSION
Almighty and most merciful Father; we
have erred and strayed from thy ways like
lost sheep. We have followed too much the
devices and desires of our own hearts.
We have offended against thy holy laws.
We have left undone those things which we
ought to have done, and have done those
things which we ought not to have done;
and there is no health in us. But thou,
O Lord, have mercy upon us miserable
offenders.

14. GENERAL CONFESSION
Spare thou them, O God, which confess
their faults. Restore thou them that are
penitent; according to thy promises
declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our
Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father,
for his sake; that we may hereafter live a
godly, righteous and sober life, to the glory
of thy holy Name. Amen

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

16. What is a lament?

17. Where O where’s your presence?
Where O where’s Your presence O God
In this dry and weary land
So many people drifting away
How we need to understand…
You’re still God
Even when we’re unbelieving , still God,
When we’re desperate for our healing
Still God, still God, You’re still God
You’re still God
Even when our friends desert us
Still God
Even though the things that hurt us
Still God, Still God
So I will be still and know you are God

18. Where O where’s your kingdom O God?
We have let holiness go
So many idols litter our land
We’ve got to let this nation know
You’re still God
When the government has no answers
Still God
When the media lowers the standard
Still God, still God, You’re still God
You’re still God
When the plans we make are worthless
Still God
When we lose our sense of purpose
Still God, still God
So I will be still and know you are God

19. When will Jesus really be seen
Through the church that bears his name
Agents of his kingdom, his peace
In a world for which he came
You’re still God even though you were rejected
Still God
Though you were ridiculed, deserted
Still God, still God, still God
You’re still God
Though you suffered execution
Still God
You’re alive and Christ our champion
Still God, still God
So we will be still and know you are God
(Geoffrey and Gill Birtill, 2004© Thankyou Music)

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

21. HASHIVENU
Hashivenu, hashivenu, hashivenu, Adonai elecha
V’nashuva, v’nashuva. Chadesh, chadesh,
yameinu k’kedem (x2)
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we
may return; renew our days as of old
(Lamentations 5:21).

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

23. 7 x 7 + 62 x 7 = ?
25
“Know and understand this: From the time the word
goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the
Anointed One,[f]
the ruler, comes, there will be
seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be
rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of
trouble. 26
After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed
One will be put to death and will have nothing.[g]

24. 24
Isaac Newton
1642-1727
• “Thus have we in this short
Prophecy, a prediction of all
the main periods relating to
the coming of the Messiah; the
time of his birth, that of his
death, that of the rejection of
the Jews, the duration of the
Jewish war whereby he caused
the city and the sanctuary to
be destroyed, and the time of
his second coming:”

25. The Command to Restore Jerusalem
• Rebuilding the Temple
– Cyrus cylinder – 538 b.c. (Ezra 1:1)
– Darius Hystapsis – 519 b.c. (Ezra 6:3)
– Artaxerxes – 458 b.c. (Ezra 7:11)
• Rebuilding the City of Jerusalem
• Artaxerxes - 445 b.c. (Nehemiah 2:1) + 483
years = ?

26. Different Interpretations Possible!
• Jewish view – 1 Maccabees –164
b.c. – Rededication of the Temple
• Jeremiah’s prophecy – 605 b.c.
• Cyrus on throne -556 b.c. (7 x 7
=49 years)
• Death of Onias III – 171 bc (62 x 7
= 434 years)
• Total – 69 x 7 = 483 years plus 7 =
164 b.c.

27. Traditional Christian view
• Jesus’ death at Passover a.d. 33
• Decree of Nehemiah – 445 b.c.
• 69 x 7 = 483 years (360 days per solar
year)
• = 32 a.d.
• But John Goldingay ‘it is not
chronology but chronography – a
stylized scheme of history’

28. Daniel in the New Testament
• The Son of Man (7:13)
• The anointed prince -
Messiah (9:26)
• The abomination of
desolation (9:27)
• The restoration of Israel (9)
• Book of Revelation

29. Conclusion
• Repent!
• Receive!
• Rely!
• Rejoice!

31. Context of Daniel - Exile
• Abraham leaves Ur 1650 bce
• Moses leaves Egypt 1280
• Joshua enters Israel 1240
• David king of united tribes 1004
• Northern Kingdom falls 722
• Josiah’s reforms 621
• Babylon captures Nineveh 612
• Jerusalem falls 586