Daniel 9 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible - Daniel) Free Bible Online

Daniel 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,
2 - in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which The LORD's word came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.
3 - I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
4 - I prayed to the LORD 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,
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.
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.
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.
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 - To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him.
10 - We haven't obeyed the LORD our God's voice, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
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.
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.
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 the LORD our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.
14 - 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, and we have not obeyed his voice.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
20 - While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
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.
22 - He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, "I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Images and Notes

The Book of Daniel

Daniel 6:15-16 - Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians [is], That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast [him] into the den of lions. [Now] the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

Daniel 7:13-14 - I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 9:24-27 - Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survey - Daniel
Hebrew Name - Dani-El "God is my judge"
Greek Name - Danil (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Daniel (According to Tradition)
Date - 607 BC Approximately
Theme - The final kingdom of the Messiah
Types and Shadows - In Daniel Jesus was the fourth man in the fiery furnace

The First Day. Light.

Summary of The Book of Daniel

The prophet Daniel was actually taken captive during the Babylonian invasion on Jerusalem, the first attack in 607 BC. When Daniel came to Babylon he became a chief minister at Nebuchadnezzar's royal court. He became known as a man who could interpret dreams and visions. God did mighty miracles through Daniel that impressed King Nebuchadnezzar himself, so much so that he worshiped the Jewish God. Later when the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon King Cyrus ruled the Persian Empire. He also had visions that Daniel had given interpretation to. some of the great miracles mentioned in the Bible happened in the book of Daniel: the fiery furnace, the handwriting on the wall, and Daniel in the lion's den. Daniel can be seen in the Bible as the Empire predicting prophet, because he accurately  predicted the world governing empires before they came on the scene, first Babylon, second Persia, third Greece, fourth Rome, and in the last days would be another Roman empire where the antichrist would arise. At this time the Messiah will return and set up his everlasting kingdom. Daniel also predicted the exact day and year the Messiah would die. There is also a prophecy Daniel refers to as the 70th week, which speaks of a seven-year period in the future that will mark the second coming of the Messiah (Son of Man) coming with the clouds of heaven. - The above text is © Rusty Russell - Bible History Online and must be sourced for use on a website.

"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:13-14

Daniel was among the Jewish captives who were brought to Babylon from Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar conquered the city. Daniel was still a youth but apparently of high status (Daniel 1:3). He was of such a high status that he was considered one of the wise men of the court of Babylon .He was quickly recognized in Babylon for his devotion to the one God Yahweh, and he refused to eat of the "dainties" which were brought to him by the king's servants. He also became recognized as the interpreter of dreams (Daniel 1:8-16), because when King Nebuchadnezzar being disturbed by a dream asked his own wise men to interpret they could not. Daniel offered to give the king the interpretation and the King was very appreciative to Daniel, he was so impressed that he allowed Daniel to rise to a place of great prominence in Babylon. Later when Babylon fell to the Persians the Jews had new masters over them, and Daniel was quickly recognized as a very special man and he had favor with the king of Persia. This caused many of those in authority to scrutinize Daniel and to look for flaws in his character and they could not find any. They developed a plot which forced the King to have Daniel thrown in the lion's den. The King recognizing their treachery and hoped for Daniel's deliverance, and when the Lord saved Daniel from the mouth of the lions Darius ordered his own leaders to be thrown into the lion's den and they were torn in pieces immediately.

Daniel the Empire Predicting Prophet

Daniel is clearly seen as the Empire predicting prophet. He was an interpreter of dreams, and God revealed through his interpretations his plans for the kingdoms that would rise to power in world history. At that time Babylon was in power, and in fact a world governing Empire in the ancient world. But Daniel said that Babylon would be defeated by the Medes and the Persians who would become a world governing empire. Then Greece would come and dominate the world, and after Greece the Romans would become a world governing empire. Then Daniel predicted that way in the future a final world governing empire would rise that would be like Rome, but different in that it would consist of 10 kings, and then finally 1 king who would rise to power. This 1 king would be a man referred to in the Bible as the antichrist. This would all take place in the final seven-year period known as the 70th week of Daniel. At its consummation the Lord will return, he will crush the enemy, and he will set up a kingdom, an everlasting kingdom, which will never be destroyed.

The 70 weeks of Daniel

The 70 weeks in Daniel are mentioned in Daniel 9, and they refer to a prophecy of Daniel where he claims that the king of Persia will release the Jews to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem. When he makes this decree the Jews are to begin counting, and after 70 weeks (7 year periods or 490 years) the kingdom of the Messiah will be established on earth. But something interesting would happen, at the end of the 69th week (483 years) the Messiah will be "cut off" which indicates His death. The final seven year period is suddenly thrown into the future, to the time of the end of the world. This final seven year period is described in the book of Revelation as a time of the Messiah taking back the earth. It is divided into two 3 1/2 year periods and directly in the middle is when the antichrist sets up his throne in Jerusalem and reveals himself as God. Certain portions of this final seven years are mentioned in other prophetic books of the Bible like Zechariah.

Daniel, The Author of His Book

Daniel was the author of this book, and this was confirmed by Jesus himself, but there has been considerable criticism about the book of Daniel because of the accuracy of the prophecies. Many claim that these had to been written after the fact, and that Daniel could not possibly have known so much detail about the future. The first major critic of the genuineness of the book of Daniel was Porphyry of Tyre, a Greek philosopher of the third century AD who claimed that the book of Daniel had been written by a person living in the second century BC during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. His main reason for rejecting the book of Daniel was centered around the person of Antiochus Epiphanes, whom Daniel claimed was a prototype of the Antichrist. Daniel's prophecies written a few hundred years prior but were very very accurate in their detail. Many other critics have tried to discredit the book of Daniel, but the Bible and history have confirmed that Daniel was the author of this book, and therefore was written at the time of the Persian Empire (sixth century BC).

The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :

Outline of the Book of Daniel

Daniel is divided into two sections of six chapters each. Daniel 1-6 are largely historical, explaining how Daniel came to be in the court of Nebuchadnezzar and of his rise to power. It tells of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the image which Daniel interpreted to refer to the current kingdom and three world powers which would arise after it and of the kingdom of God "a kingdom which shall never be destroyed" which would arise during the era of the last of these great empires. This section also includes the account of the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace and of the handwriting on the wall which spelled out the defeat of Belshazzar at the hands of the Medes and the Persians.

The second section, Daniel 8-12, describes visions which Daniel received concerning the great world powers of the future and the kingdom of God.

The Greek translation of Daniel contains additions not found in the Hebrew and Aramaic text. These additions are found as separate books in the Apocrypha and are called The Song of the Three Holy Children, the History of Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon.

The book of Daniel assures God's people that their situation in exile would not be permanent, that God would keep his promise to Abraham, he would keep his promise through Jeremiah the prophet that they would return after 70 years. And he would also keep his promise that the Jews would still be the channel through which all nations would be blessed. The book of Daniel is a grand tribute to the providence of God and His lordship of history and the universe.

The First Day. Light.

Daniel Resources

The Divided Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
The Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
The Return From Babylon
The Prophets
The Messiah

The Book of Daniel

More About the Book of Daniel
Daniel in the Picture Study Bible
Timeline of the Ancient World
Back to the Old Testament
Back to Bible History Online
 

Bibliography Information

Free Bible Online - Picture Study Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: www.free-bible.com, 1995-2013. Bible History Picture Study Bible. Oct 31, 2024.


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