Daniel 9:1-3 “My Buddy Daniel!”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹In the year the first to Darius the son of Ahasuerus (from a seed of a Mede) who was made king upon the kingdom of the Kasidim, ²in the year the first of his reign, I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of the years which were of the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet to fulfill the desolations of Jerusalem seventy of a year, ³And I set my face to the Lord God to seek [by] prayer and requests in fasting and sack cloth and ashes ⁴and I prayed to the LORD my God...

My, my. What a treasure! This entire chapter promises enormous blessings, but I find that just these first few verses could keep us all learning and growing for a lifetime! The entire chapter offers us a glimpse into the very heart of our friend Daniel. Would we have the faith of Daniel? Would we live the faithfulness of Daniel? Then here we have a glimpse into the heart of Daniel, that we might learn from him and be like him.

The “first year of Darius” would be the first year after Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon and killed wicked Belshazzar. The night Belshazzar died was chapter 5, the story of the handwriting on the wall. We first saw Daniel under Darius in chapter 6 with the story of the lions’ den.  There’s no way to know for sure, as Daniel writes this chapter 9, whether he’s already been through the lions’ den episode or not. We know he’s writing in the first year. It didn’t say in chapter 6 what year that was. All we know is this is the first year of Darius. My guess would be that he hadn’t faced the lions’ den yet. Back there in chapter 6, it said, “It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.” It then goes on to say, “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” It’s hard to imagine all of that happening just in the course of the first year that Darius was ruling. So I will assume the lions’ den experience is still ahead for our 80-some year old Daniel.

Let us be reminded too these last few years have been emotionally brutal for Daniel. Being godly doesn’t exempt us from feeling the turmoil of a world in convulsions -- and that is about the best word you could use for Daniel’s world. Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, had ruled the civilized world. Although Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked man, yet he was a very capable administrator, and Daniel got to enjoy the relative calm of living and working under that stable government. Since Nebuchadnezzar died, just eleven years earlier, he’s been through four changes of administration with the royal family butchering each other. That had gone on until the completely incompetent, profligate Belshazzar was placed on the throne and the nation finally collapsed as the Medo-Persian empire rose to power and themselves conquered the civilized world.

Let us remember no one likes change. I have many times observed people when their companies were being bought and sold. It is very unsettling to us humans. We like stability. We don’t like uncertain futures! From Daniel’s perspective, as I’ve noted before, all through human history it has been the common practice of conquering kings to kill everyone even remotely associated with the previous administration. Daniel, being high up in the government of Babylon would have been a prime target for exactly that sort of mayhem. Even if he didn’t fear death, he would have faced that awful uncertainty of the future. He no doubt had some sort of government salary he lived on and lived in his apartment. With every new administration, would he just be fired and pushed out on the street? It is too often true, when companies are being bought and sold, people lose their jobs. Remember too, he’s in his 80’s. If he can’t do his government thing, who will hire him to do anything different? Just like us, Daniel had to live in the moment, never knowing for sure exactly what the future holds.

In the midst of all this instability and chaos, what do we find our Daniel doing? Studying his Bible and praying! How encouraging is that! He says, “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, and so I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him...” What’s he doing? Exactly the same thing I’m doing (and I hope it’s true of you too!). He pulls out His copy of the Scriptures, picks a particular passage, studies it, and tries to understand what the Lord is saying. Words fail to express how much that warms my heart to see none other than Daniel himself doing exactly what I’m doing, 2,600 years later! I note too, that Daniel is no ascetic recluse, shutting himself in some room and spending all day every day reading the Bible and praying. Remember what it said in Chapter 6, “Now Daniel so distinguished himself by his exceptional qualities…” And chapter 8 just finished with the words, “Then I got up went about the king’s business…” My point is that Daniel is working hard at his job, but making time to spend studying his Bible and praying. What a wonderful example he is!

Then, think more about what he’s doing. He says he “understood from the Scriptures, according to the Word of the Lord…” Daniel believed the Bible was “the Word of the Lord.” Daniel believed in the inspiration of the Bible. While he hovered over the words, he was convinced he was reading a message straight from the mouth of God.

He says it was “the Word of the Lord, given to Jeremiah the prophet.” Daniel believed that Jeremiah wrote the words, but they were given to him by God. Then notice how he studies. When he reads in Jeremiah 25:11,12 or 29:10, that the Babylonian captivity would last 70 years, what does he think that means? It means 70 years. He could do the math. He could say something like, “Hey! I was 15 when I was brought here, and now I’m 85. 85-15 = 70! Oh, my goodness, that means…” It is always interesting to me when some commentator reads in Revelation 20:4 that Jesus’ people will rise and reign with Him “a thousand years,” then says, “That just means a long time.” They say that in spite of the fact those exact words get repeated in vv.5,6,&7. Four times in four verses, we’re told it will be “a thousand years.” What does that mean? A long time? No, it means a thousand years. What would Daniel have thought it meant? Seventy years meant seventy years. Daniel would tell us, a thousand years means a thousand years. It is enormously encouraging to see he believes exactly what we do!

For whatever it’s worth, I wanted to note that Daniel and Jeremiah were somewhat contemporaries. Jeremiah was actively prophesying when Jerusalem fell and Daniel was taken captive to Babylon. According to Jeremiah 1:2, Jeremiah started his ministry in “the thirteenth year of King Josiah” (626 BC), while Daniel was taken captive in 605. If Jeremiah started at age 20, he would have been 41 years old when Jerusalem fell. If Daniel was 15 at that time, then Jeremiah was 26 years his senior. It’s crazy to think Daniel probably actually heard Jeremiah’s preaching while he was still there in Jerusalem. Perhaps not a particularly important point, but provides a little context.

Finally, it is interesting that Daniel’s response to it all was to pray earnestly. Daniel has already clearly established in his book that he believes “the Most High rules in the nations of men.” God is absolutely sovereign. Now he reads that the Lord already said the captivity would only last 70 years. When he does the math and realizes the time is upon him, you would think he could sit back and say, “Yep. The Lord has it all under control!” However, that is not his response. His response is to pray earnestly. This is kind of a deep thought, but that tells us that Daniel realized God’s infinite sovereignty actually embraces our prayers. This fact is, in a sense, completely illogical. If God is infinitely sovereign, if He has already ordained all that will happen (like a 70 year captivity), then what is the point or even the need for us to pray?  Yet He Himself invites us to prayer. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God…” (Phil. 4:6). James would have us know, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective!” (5:16).

Our God is so infinitely sovereign He can actually include our very prayers in that great sovereign plan of His. Although He is, in fact, infinitely sovereign, He would stoop so low as to allow you and me to participate in that plan. Someone could ask, but wouldn’t it all have happened whether Daniel prayed or not? Do you see, that is a silly question? The fact is, Daniel’s prayers were a part of it all and it did happen. Period. That’s how great our God is and how amazingly gracious He is to us insignificant blades of grass – to let us be a part of what He is doing in this world.

As always, Daniel teaches us what it means to be a good citizen in this world, to be a good worker at our jobs, and yet to make time to study our Bibles, to pray, and to be a part of our God’s great purposes and plans in this world! Again, words fail me to say how encouraging it is to see Daniel studying His Bible just like you and me! What a good friend he would be if he were alive today! What a great example he is!