Daniel

Every word, every letter, every punctuation on the pages of the Bible are all there by God’s design. Ezra and Nehemiah chronicled the times when the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of the Lord and city walls.  70 years before them Daniel was taken captive and hauled away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Daniel grew up in a foreign land, with foreign customs but did not once forsake the God of his forefathers. Daniel ate well, worked hard and never compromised his relationship with the one, true and living God.

Daniel spent most of his adult life in Babylon. He brought with him sacred scrolls from Jerusalem and had been reading from the scroll of Jeremiah. He knew from the text that Jeremiah had foretold that they would be in captivity for 70 years. Daniel was now in his 90’s and knew that their days of captivity were nearing an end.

Daniel was a man of prayer. On one such occasion he positioned himself with his face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed  iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.”

Now while Daniel was still praying, Gabriel, who he had seen in a vision, came flying swiftly to him and proclaimed “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” Daniel 9:24.

Gabriel outlined for Daniel, seventy weeks of years or 490 years that would determine the coming of the Messiah and the future time of tribulation. He went on to predict the time when the Messiah the Prince would present Himself to the world. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;  The street shall be built again , and the wall, even in troublesome times.” Daniel 9:25.

Recorded here in the book of Daniel is the date, in advance, of the Messiah’s first coming. Unfortunately for Daniel, at this point in time the command to rebuild Jerusalem had not yet been given. It would be some years later that Nehemiah would record the actual calendar reference “And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and the bread and gave it to the king.”  Nehemiah 2:1.

While serving the king bread and wine Nehemiah first prays then asks the king if he may journey to Jerusalem to rebuild it. The king grants Nehemiah’s request which is the trigger that starts the clock ticking in Gabriel’s prophecy to Daniel.

The prophecy goes on to say “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;” Daniel 9:26.

If you do the math, account for different calendars, 173,880 days from the declaration of Artaxerxes calculates to April 6^th, AD 32 which is the exact day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

This was the day the psalmist prophesied about “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord!  O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” psalm 118:24-26. Jesus and His disciples sang this psalm as they left the Passover meal.

Zechariah wrote 520 years earlier “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9.

But after the 69 weeks were fulfilled, Gabriel told Daniel that the Messiah would be “cut off, but not for Himself.” This was the crucifixion where He was cut off for us. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven.

This good news is too wonderful to ignore! Won’t you ask Jesus to be your Lord, King and Savior? Read, believe and ask Him into your heart and you will never be the same again! God is trying to reach you and today is the day of salvation! Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and God has raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.