Daniel 9 - Daniel Recognized That The Time Was Near - RSV

1. Daniel Prayed for His People.

Daniel 9:1-3 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasu-e'rus, by birth a Mede, who became king over the realm of the Chalde'ans-- [2] in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, ________________ in the books the number of years which, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the ___________________ of ________________, namely, seventy years. [3] Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and _______________________ with fasting and ________________ and ashes.

Daniel 9:4-6 I prayed to the LORD my God and made __________________, saying, "O Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepest covenant and ________________ love with those who love him and keep his commandments, [5] we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments and __________________; [6] we have not listened to thy ______________ the ______________, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Daniel 9:7-12 To thee, O Lord, belongs _______________________, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those that are near and those that are far away, in all the lands to which thou hast driven them, because of the ________________ which they have ________________ against thee. [8] To us, O Lord, belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. [9] To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness; because we have ______________ against him, [10] and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by ________________ his laws, which he set before us by his servants the ______________. [11] All Israel has _____________________ thy law and turned aside, ______________ to obey thy voice. And the curse and oath which are ____________ in the law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. [12] He has ________________ his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by ______________ upon us a great ______________; for under the whole heaven there has not been done the like of what has been done against Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:13-14 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not ________________ the favor of the LORD our God, ____________ from our iniquities and giving heed to thy truth. [14] Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has ____________ it upon us; for the LORD our God is ________________ in all the works which he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.

Daniel 9:15-16 And now, O Lord our God, who didst bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast made thee a name, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done ______________. [16] O Lord, according to all thy ________________ acts, let thy anger and thy wrath turn away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy hill; ____________ for our sins, and for the __________________ of our ____________, Jerusalem and thy people have become a byword among all who are round about us.

Daniel 9:17-19 Now therefore, O our God, hearken to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplications, and for thy own sake, O Lord, cause thy face to shine upon thy ________________, which is ______________. [18] O my God, ____________ thy ear and hear; open thy eyes and behold our ___________________, and the city which is called by thy name; for we do not ____________ our supplications before thee on the ground of our _______________________, but on the ground of thy great mercy. [19] O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, give heed and act; delay not, for thy own sake, O my God, ____________ thy city and thy people are called by thy name."

Do you think the last few Old Testament verses recognize the concept of grace? _________

2. God Sent Gabriel to Further Explain the Vision to Daniel.

Daniel 9:20-23 While I was speaking and praying, __________________ my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and __________________ my _____________________ before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God; [21] while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening ________________. [22] He came and he said to me, "O Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. [23] At the ________________ of your _____________________s a word went forth, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore ______________ the word and understand the vision.

1) Who was Gabriel? ______________________________________________

2) Gabriel is mentioned by name in Daniel 8, Daniel 9 and Luke 1. What did he have to say in Luke 1? ______________________________________________

3. Gabriel Gives a Very Specific Explanation. This Time He Specified Seventy Weeks. Remember the Year Day Principle.

Daniel 9:24-27 "Seventy weeks of years are decreed __________________ your people and your holy city, to finish the _______________________, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in ___________________ _______________________, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. [25] Know therefore and __________________ that from the going forth of the word to restore and build ________________ to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. [26] And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the ________________. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; ___________________ are decreed. [27] And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause ________________ and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes ______________, until the decreed end is poured out on the ________________."

The previous verses place special emphasis on the final week of the seventy week prophecy. During this week the Messiah would make an end of sin. Some Christians have taken the final week of this prophecy and applied it to the end of time. But as Gabriel explains it, the prophecy points to the final week, or seven years, as taking place in the time of the Messiah. It says that in the middle of the week the Messiah would be cut off. In other words, He would die three and one half years after his ministry began. When the Messiah died, there would no longer be a need for temple sacrifices and offerings. These pointed forward to the one sacrifice the Messiah would make for all who would be saved by faith in Him. Once He had died, no one would need these temple sacrifices to teach what the Messiah would accomplish. After He died everyone would be able to study Him rather than observe the sacrificial system.

The Jews were to be allowed seventy weeks, or 490 years, to cooperate more fully with God's plan of salvation. Near the end of this time period the Messiah would come. The time period began with the command to restore the temple in Jerusalem and came to a close three and one half years after the Messiah was crucified in the middle of the week final week. The end of the week came when Stephen was stoned with the approval of the Jewish officials. At that time the Gospel focus turned away from the Jews and more emphasis was placed on the Gentiles.

As it turned out, Saul of Tarsus, one of the greatest persecutors of the church became Paul the Apostle, one of its greatest missionaries. He worked primarily with the Gentiles. The book of Acts tells us that Paul stood by and watched with approval as Stephen was stoned. He later met Jesus on the road to Damascus where he had planned to find Christians to bring back to Jerusalem for trial.

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