Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom—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. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
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, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 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.
“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. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 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. 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.”
While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill—while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish 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.
“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, 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. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

• Daniel 9:1-27

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”
So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.)

• Daniel 10:1-21

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Daniel 9 ‘The 70 Weeks’: “When the Persian empire overthrew the Babylonians in 539 B.C. as predicted (5:25-31; cf. Isaiah 41:25-26; 44:26—45:3), Daniel realized the day of Israel’s release was at hand. During the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede (538 B.C.) Daniel consulted the Scriptures and found his expectation confirmed by Jeremiah’s prophecy that predicted the end of the Babylonian exile after 70 years Jeremiah 25:11), the punishment of ‘the king of Babylon and that nation’ (Jeremiah 25:12), and afterward the return of the Jewish exiles to the land of Israel (Jeremiah 29:10). Daniel further understood from Jeremiah and Ezekiel that the promised restoration depended on national repentance (Jeremiah 29:10-14; Ezekiel 14:6; 18:30—32). Therefore, Daniel sought to personally intercede for Israel through a prayer of penitence that focused on the restoration program for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

Daniel 9:1-19 ‘Daniel’s Prayer’: “In the first year of Persian rule (539/8 BC), Darius, son of Xerxes (Heb. Ahasuerus) and a Mede by descent, became the governor of Babylon (v. 1). Daniel is drawn to meditate on the prophecy of Jeremiah, who was one of the prophets predicting the era of restoration, consisting of covenant renewal, restoration of the people to the land, and the continuous service of the priesthood in the temple (chaps. 30—34). Jeremiah had also predicted that the Babylonian kingdom was to last seventy years (Jer. 25:11-12) and that subsequently Jerusalem would be restored. Daniel longs for the era of restoration, for the establishment of the kingdom of God and of the messianic kingdom. To this end he fasts and prays for the restoration of his people to the land.
“Daniel’s prayer consists of confession and petition. In the confession he identifies with the history of his people, with their sin and punishment. The prayer of confession consists of a repetition of four themes: Israel’s rebellious attitude to the Law and the Prophets, Yahweh’s righteousness in judgment, the fulfillment of the curses, and the hope in renewal of divine mercy and grace. Daniel begins with an affirmation of God’s mercy, inherent in Israel’s confession of who Yahweh is: ‘Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands’ (v. 4). In contrast Israel has sinned against their covenant God: ‘We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws’ (v. 5). They have rejected the prophets. Therefore the Lord is righteous in his judgment. Yet, the disgrace of Israel is apparent wherever they have been scattered. Their lot has changed by their own doing, but the Lord is still the same. Israel has received the curses of the covenant (Lev. 26:33; Deut. 28:63-67). The Lord has been faithful in judgment, even in bringing about the desolation of Jerusalem. Again Daniel affirms the righteousness of Yahweh.
“Daniel throws himself on the mercy of God as he prays for the restoration of Jerusalem, the temple, and God’s presence among his people.”

• Walter A. Elwell, editor, Baker Commentary on the Bible

Daniel 9:2 ‘seventy years’: “Daniel’s study of ‘the Books’ (OT scrolls) focused on the years prophesied for the captivity by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 25:11, 12 and 29:10. Since the end of that period was near, he prayed for God’s next intervention on behalf of Israel. Cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21, where it is indicated that the seventy years of exile were intended to restore the Sabbath rests that Israel had ignored for so many years (cf. Lev. 25:4, 5; 26:34—43).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 9:11 ‘the curse’: “This refers to the judgment that God brought to pass, as promised, for Israel’s disobedience in the land (Lev. 26:21-42; Deut. 28:15-68). This is in contrast to the blessings associated with faith and obedience (Lev. 26:3—20; Deut. 28:1-14). God had given the promise that even in a time of judgment, if Israel would confess their sin, He would bring blessing again (Lev. 26:40-42).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 9:18 ‘salvation – a cry for help’: “If only, when God smiles and says we are saved, we’d salute him, thank him, and live like those who have just received a gift from the commander in chief.
“We seldom do that, though. We prefer to get salvation the old-fashioned way: We earn it. To accept grace is to admit failure, a step we are hesitant to take. We opt to impress God with how good we are rather than confessing how great he is. We dizzy ourselves with doctrine. Burden ourselves with rules. Think that God will smile on our efforts.
“He doesn’t.
“God’s smile is not for the healthy hiker who boasts that he made the journey alone. It is, instead, for the crippled leper who begs God for a back on which to ride.”

• Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm

Daniel 9:23 ‘an immediate answer’: “Daniel’s prayer was answered at once, while he was yet speaking, yes, and at the beginning of his supplication. It is not always so. Like Jeremiah they have cried, ‘You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through’ (Lm 3:44). Thus have true saints continued in patient waiting for months, and there have been instances in which their prayers have even waited years without reply—not because they were not fervent, or because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased him who is a sovereign and who gives according to his own pleasure. If it pleases him to require our patience to exercise itself, will he not do as he wills with his own? Beggars must not be choosers either as to time, place, or form. We must not take delays in prayer for denial—God‘s long-dated bills will be punctually honored; we must not allow Satan to shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. We are dealing with a being whose years are without end, to whom one day is as a thousand years. Far be it from us to count him slack by measuring his doings. By the standard of our little hour. Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers. They are not blown away by the wind; they are treasured in the king’s archives.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Daniel 9:24-26 ‘Seventy weeks … from … until’: “These are weeks of years, whereas weeks of days are described in a different way (10:2, 3). The time spans from Artaxerxes’s decree to rebuild Jerusalem, c. 445 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8), to the Messiah’s kingdom. This panorama includes: (1) seven weeks or forty-nine years, possibly closing Nehemiah’s career in the rebuilding of the ‘street and wall,’ as well as the end of the ministry of Malachi and the close of the OT; (2) sixty-two weeks or 434 more years for a total of 483 years to the First Advent of Messiah. This was fulfilled at the triumphal entry on 9 Nisan, A.D. 30 … The Messiah will be ‘cut off,’ (a common reference to death); and (3) the final seven years or seventieth week of the time of Antichrist (cf. v. 27). Roman people, from whom the Antichrist will come, will ‘destroy the city’ of Jerusalem and its temple in A.D. 70.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 9:27 ‘Then’: “This is surely the end of the age, the Second Advent judgment, because the bringing in of righteousness did not occur seven years after the death of the Messiah, nor did the destruction of Jerusalem fit the seven-year period (occurring thirty-seven years later). This is the future seven-year period which ends with sin’s final judgment and Christ’s reign of righteousness; i.e., the return of Christ and the establishment of His rule. These seven years constitute the seventieth week of Daniel. he shall confirm. He is the last-mentioned prince (v. 26), leader of the Roman sphere (cf. chs. 2; 7), the Antichrist who comes in the latter days. The time is in the future Tribulation period of ‘one week,’ i.e., the final seven years of verse 24. He confirms (lit., causes to prevail) a seven-year covenant, his own pact with Israel, that will actually turn out to be for a shorter time. The leader in this covenant is the ‘little horn’ of 7:7, 8, 20, 21, 24-26, and the evil leader found in NT prophecy (Mark 13:14; 2 Thess. 2:3-10; Rev. 13:1-10). That he is in the future, even after Christ’s First Advent, is shown by: (1) Matthew 24:15; (2) the time references that match (7:25; Rev. 11:2, 3; 12:14; 13:5); and (3) the end extending to the Second Advent, matching the duration elsewhere mentioned in Daniel (2:35, 45; 7:15ff.; 12:1-3) and Revelation 11:2; 12:14; 13:5. middle of the week.  This is the halfway point of the seventieth week of years, i.e., seven years leading to Christ’s Second Coming. The Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel (v. 27a), which has resumed its ancient sacrificial system. Three and one-half years of Tribulation remain, agreeing with the time in other Scriptures (7:25; Rev. 11:2, 3; 12:14; 13:5, called ‘Great Tribulation,’ cf. Matt. 24:21) as a period when God’s wrath intensifies. abominations . . . one who makes desolate. The Antichrist will cause abomination against Jewish religion. This violation will desolate or ruin what Jews regard as sacred, namely their holy temple and the honoring of God’s presence there (cf. 1 Kin. 9:3; 2 Thess. 2:4). Jesus refers directly to this text in His Olivet discourse (Matt. 24:15). … the consummation. God permits this tribulation during the Antichrist’s persecutions and then ultimately triumphs by judging the sin and sinners in Israel (12:7) and in the world (cf. Jer. 25:31). This includes the Antichrist (11:45; Rev. 19:20), and all who deserve judgment (9:24; Matt. 13:41-43).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 9 ‘Summary’: “In the midst of this prophecy, in chapter 9, Daniel pours his heart out to God in prayer. The answer to his prayer, in the last section of the chapter, is one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible: the prophecy of the seventy weeks. This is the timetable of prophecy concerning the nation of Israel. It gives us a principle that has been called ‘the Great Parenthesis’—the scriptural interpretation proposing that God has interrupted His program for Israel and has inserted this present age in which we live between the first coming and the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
“This indeterminate period, which has now spanned some 2,000 years, comes between the sixty-ninth week of years and the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. The seventieth week, a week of seven years is yet to be fulfilled for Israel. As you read of this, you will see that this is what the book of Revelation and other prophetic passages call ‘the great tribulation,’ the time of Jacob’s trouble. It lies ahead. It has been broken off from the other sixty-nine weeks and is yet to be fulfilled.”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring through the Bible

Daniel 10:1-3 ‘Message of Encouragement’: “In the third year of Cyrus (536 B.C.) Daniel is standing by the bank of the Tigris, when suddenly he receives the revelation of a long period of suffering and persecution. He is so struck by the vision that he fasts and mourns for three weeks!”

• Walter A. Elwell, editor, Baker Commentary on the Bible

Daniel 10:4-6 ‘from the Tigris to the Isle of Patmos’: “As the chapter opens, Daniel has gathered some of his friends together beside the Tigris River for a prayer meeting. He wants to seek God’s will as he prepares to stir up his people to return to Israel. As they pray, something amazing happens: … (10:4-6)
“Who is this amazing figure? We are reminded of the experience John the Apostle had on the isle of Patmos at the beginning of the book of Revelation:
“… and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance (Rev. 1:13-16).
“For both Daniel by the Tigris River and John on the island of Patmos a curtain had dropped—the curtain that separated them from the invisible spiritual kingdom with its unseen warfare. Daniel and John were able to actually see the One to whom they had been praying moments before. That Person was there all the time. He had not suddenly appeared. But He was invisible until the curtain dropped and their eyes were opened. I believe that it is unquestionably the Lord Jesus Christ who is revealed in both Daniel 10 and Revelation 1.”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring through the Bible

Daniel 10:6 ‘His body … like beryl’: “The messenger whom Daniel sees in a vision (vv. 1, 7) was distinct from the angel Michael, from whom he needed assistance (v. 13). The description of such glory has led some to see him as Christ in a preincarnate appearance (cf. Josh. 5:13-15; 6:2; Judg. 6:11-23). He is described almost identically to Christ (Rev. 1:13, 14) and Daniel’s reaction is similar to ]ohn’s (Rev. 1:17).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 10:11 ‘early tried – loved and trusted’: “Because Daniel was greatly beloved of God, he was early tried and enabled to stand. While he was yet a youth, he was carried into Babylon, and there he refused to eat the king’s meat or to drink the king’s wine. He put it to the test whether, if he fed on common food, he would not be healthier and better than if he defiled himself with the king’s meat (Dn 1:8-16). Daniel was early tested; and because he was a man greatly beloved of God, he stood the test. He would not yield even in a small point to what was evil. Stand firm, even about so small a thing as what we eat and drink or something that looks less important than that. We must say, ‘l cannot sin against God l must stand fast, even in the smallest matter in keeping the law of the Lord my God.’”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Daniel 10:12-14 ‘the mystery of prayer’: “The prophet Daniel is being prepared to learn something remarkable from the man dressed in linen—a lesson in the mystery of prayer. …
“A second being now appears, an angel sent to help Daniel, described only as ‘one who looked like a man.’ He touches Daniel and helps him to his feet. The New Testament tells us that angels are ‘ministering spirits sent forth to serve those who will inherit salvation’ (Heb. 1:14). They are at God’s beck and call, aiding His people and carrying out His will on Earth.
“I once heard the story of a soldier in the Vietnam War whose life was saved when an enemy bullet was stopped by a copy of the New Testament and Psalms he carried in his pocket. The bullet passed right through the four gospels, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation, stopping at Psalm 91—the passage that promises:
“You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day…
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways (Ps. 91.-5, 11).
“That was no accident. That was an angel. The invisible ministry of angels occurs continually, though we are unaware of their activity in our lives.”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring through the Bible

Daniel 10:13 ‘prince of … Persia’: “The three-week delay was due to an evil angel opposing Gabriel in heavenly warfare (cf. Rev. 16:12-14). This angel was specially anointed with Persian power in an effort to thwart the work of God. This tells us that Satan engages in heavenly warfare to influence generations and nations against God and His people (cf. Eph. 6:10ff.). Michael. This is the chief angel of heaven (cf. 10:21; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7). Michael intervened to assure that the Jews would be free to return to their land.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 10:21 ‘Scripture of Truth’: “God’s plan of certain and true designs for men and nations, which He can reveal according to His discretion (11:2; Is. 46:9-11). except Michael. The angel with Michael intended to handle the demons of Persia and Greece. This actually forms the heavenly basis for the unfolding of earth’s history in 11:2-35.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Daniel 10 ‘reflection’: “When we meet God we also have a sense of weakness. I don’t think you will ever be strong until you know how utterly weak you are. And you will never know how utterly weak you are until you have stood in the presence of that great plenitude of strength, that great fullness of infinite power that we call God. When for an awful, happy, terrible, wonderful moment the eyes of our hearts have gazed upon the transcendent God, high and lifted up with His train filling the temple, then we will know how weak we are. …
“I‘ve been preaching since I was nineteen years old and now I’m sixty-three. And yet, after all these years of preaching, I come into the pulpit shaking inside—not because I fear the people, but because I fear God. It’s the fear and trembling of knowing that I stand to speak of God and if I don’t speak rightly about God, what a terrible error it will be. If I speak evilly of God, what a frightful crime! It is only when I speak well of God that I dare sleep at night without asking forgiveness.”

• A. W. Tozer, The Attributes of God II

My Thoughts

Rev. Stedman went on in his commentary to say that as soon as we think what our mouths are about to pray, God’s answer is already being sent in return, as the angel states in Daniel 9.  I do not know about you, but the immediate reply to Daniel’s prayer, at least in part, has been something that I have rarely experienced.  Yes, I have experienced it, but rarely.  Then again, as Rev. Spurgeon reminds us, Daniel was tested early in life and withstood the test.  He and his friends withstood many tests of faith, and they chose to honor, obey, and glorify God.  I cannot claim such a track record.  While all the replies for all our prayers spoken or simply thought may have been sent by messenger immediately, sometimes it seems our messenger, or maybe just my messenger, has taken a wrong turn in Toledo or they are stuck in that often-blamed slow boat from China.

I envy Daniel’s direct line of communication, but at the same time, I realize that in not realizing that direct line that we all have, it shows that we are failing yet another test of faith.  The test that God is by our side, and we fail to not just realize it, but to call upon God’s help in “seeing” Him and knowing that He can help us.  We should not ever think that our answer to prayer is stuck on a slow boat from China.

But maybe the slowness in our prayer responses is not a matter of the method of God’s reply, but in what we are saying in our prayers.  Daniel’s prayer is a prayer of confession.  Yes, he supplicates, but only through intercession for the Jewish people.  And even then, he repeatedly speaks of how those people of whom Daniel is interceding have failed God at every turn – not condemning “those other people” but confessing as one of those people.

And note that Daniel did his homework first, studying the Scriptures to find the answers before he asked the questions.  That is one mistake we, or maybe it is just me, often make.

It is blatantly obvious to anyone who has fallen before the presence of great power that the humility of Daniel’s prayer, as one interceding for the whole, is consistent with Daniel’s actions through the second half of Daniel 9 and all of Daniel 10, consistent with the attitude in which Daniel had prayed.  He bows his head; he falls prostrate on the ground; he ascends but only to his hands and knees.  Daniel, who seemed to pass all the tests of faith thrown in his direction, is still in fear of God.  He knows of God’s love, but he realizes God’s power and God’s sovereignty.

The selected scholars cover the visions and the meaning of those visions.  Some of this prophecy is obvious to have already occurred, such as the death of Jesus Christ, but that seventieth seven looms in our future as we inch ever closer to that closing parenthesis between Christ’s first coming and His victorious return.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

“1. Daniel’s study of the scriptures drove him to pray a prayer filled with scripture. How could you use scripture in your prayers?
“2. Judging from the content of your recent prayers, what concerns you most these days?
“3. Daniel humbled himself before meeting his God in prayer (v.3). How do you prepare to meet your God? How do you keep from viewing God as a ‘celestial butler’?
“4. What aspects of God move you to pray? Why? Who do you pray for most frequently? What prayer agenda for you and your group does Daniel 9 suggest? Try it.
“1. For Daniel and Jesus, is the emphasis on what the future holds? Or on who holds the future?
“2. For you, what is the gospel in this passage?
“1. Repeatedly Daniel is told he is ‘highly esteemed’ (vv.11,19; see 9:23)? Is it as tough for you to trust such good news from God? How so? Who in your circles needs to hear this good news?
“2. How has God ‘touched’ your life? What new strength and resources can you now embrace due to his first (second or third) touch? Try drawing a picture of God touching your lite.
“3. Daniel finds that messengers from God are friendly (vv.10-19), though at first terrifying and draining (vv.5-9). What does this mean for you? Other Christians?
“4. Daniel’s prayer seems to have been opposed by an evil power. When has this happened to you? How did you persevere?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There are two sets of questions for Daniel 9 and one set for Daniel 10.

Substitute what ever group or you as an individual for any reference to a small group.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.