Read Daniel 9:5-13. What is significant about the fact that Daniel keeps on saying that “we” have done wrong, thereby including himself in the sins that ultimately have brought such calamity to the nation?

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Daniel’s prayer is just one among other significant intercessory prayers contained in the Bible. Such prayers touch God’s heart, staving off judgment and bringing deliverance from enemies instead. When God is ready to destroy the entire Jewish nation, the intercession of Moses stays His hand (Exod. 32:7-14, Num. 14:10-25). Even when severe drought is about to consume the land, God answers Elijah’s prayer and pours out rain to revive the land (1 Kings chapter 18).

As we pray for family members, friends, and other people or situations, God hears our prayers and can intervene. Sometimes it may take longer for a prayer to be answered, but we can rest assured that God never forgets the needs of His children (see James 5:16).

In this case, Daniel plays the role of an intercessor, or mediator, between God and the people. From his study of the Scriptures, the prophet realizes how sinful the people have become as they transgress God’s law and refuse to hear God’s warnings. Thus, recognizing their desperate spiritual condition, Daniel prays for healing and forgiveness. But the prophet also identifies with his people. In some aspects Daniel illustrates the role of Christ as our intercessor (John chapter 17). However, there is a radical difference: Christ is “without sin” (Heb. 4:15) and therefore has no need to confess personal sin or to offer sacrifices for personal forgiveness (Heb. 7:26-27). But He identifies Himself in a unique way with sinners: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21, NIV).

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Key Thought: Daniel 9 gives light to the vision in Daniel 8 and the time when Messiah would show up and confirm the starting point of the 2300 days.
March 7, 2020

1. Have a volunteer read Daniel 9:1-11.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What book or books was Daniel referring to that he understood by prophecy?
   (Note: Jeremiah 25:11,12 29:10 tells us the period of Israel’s captivity would be seventy years.)
3. Personal Application: What are some attitudes that may hinder our prayer life for others and ourselves? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, all my sins were forgiven. I don’t focus on my specific sins anymore. I focus on Jesus and my salvation. I just praise God, not focus on my sins.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Daniel 9:5-13.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What basis does Daniel make his plea for mercy?
3. Personal Application: Are you currently offering intercessory prayer on behalf of someone? Are there those that need your intercessory prayer? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Most people when they prayer just repeat some words each time and for general forgiveness. But Daniel was specific in naming his and his people’s sins. How detailed should we be in detailed consideration of our sins when we confess and pray?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Daniel 9:24-27.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What specific things were supposed to be accomplished in the seventy-week prophecy?
3. Personal Application: How patient are you in waiting for God to answer your prayers? Could you wait two years for God to answer you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What difference does it make whether we understand the 2300 days or the seventy-week prophecies? They really aren’t relevant to our day and age. It’s just another part of the history of the Bible.” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Daniel 9:24=-27

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. How do we know the date of the anointing of the Most Holy? Is it referring to a person or a place?
   (Note: Ezra 7:7-12 tells us that the 7th year of Artaxerxes was the decree.That was 457 BC. Luke 3:1 tells us the 15th year of Tiberius was the baptism and anointing of Jesus. 27 AD. That is exactly 483 years or 69 weeks. It refers to a place – the temple in heaven. But when the earthly temple was anointed, so were the priests.)
3. Personal Application: What gives us hope like Daniel – a slave and eunuch in Babylon and Medio-Persia – who trusted God in all circumstances? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Read Daniel 9:3-19. On what basis does Daniel make his plea for mercy?

We should especially note a few points in this prayer.

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First, nowhere in Daniel’s prayer is he asking for any kind of explanation for the calamities that happened to the Jewish people. He knows the reason. Indeed, the bulk of the prayer consists of Daniel himself recounting the reason: “We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets” (Dan. 9:10, NKJV). The last time we left Daniel having a need to understand something was at the end of Daniel chapter 8, when he says he does not understand the vision of the 2,300 evenings and mornings (see Dan. 8:27).

The second point is that this prayer is an appeal to God’s grace, to God’s willingness to forgive His people even though they have sinned and done evil. In one sense, we see here a powerful illustration of the gospel, of sinful people who have no merit of their own, nevertheless seeking grace that they don’t deserve and for forgiveness that they haven’t earned. Is this not an example of where each one of us is, individually, before God?

Read Daniel 9:18-19. What other reason does Daniel give for the Lord to answer his prayer?

Another aspect of Daniel’s prayer deserves mention: the appeal to the honor of God’s name. That is, the prayer is not motivated by Daniel’s personal convenience or that of his people, but for God’s own sake (Dan. 9:17-19). In other words, the petition must be granted because God’s name will be honored.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Read Daniel 9:1-2. Daniel says that he “understood by books” the prophecy he is studying so carefully. What book or books of the Bible does he mean?

As we look into this prayer, it becomes clear that it arises from an in-depth study of God’s previous revelation to Moses and the prophets. Having learned from Jeremiah’s scroll that his period of captivity will last seventy years (see Jer. 25:11-12; Jer. 29:10), Daniel understands the importance of the historical moment in which he is living.

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Let us bear in mind that Daniel offers this prayer in 539 B.C., the year that the Persian Empire replaces Babylon. So almost seventy years have elapsed since Nebuchadnezzar has conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Therefore, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, God’s people will soon return to their homeland. Trusting the Word of God, Daniel knows that something momentous is about to happen to his people and that, just as God promises in His Word, the exile in Babylon shall soon end and the Jews will return to their home.

From his study of the Scriptures available to him, Daniel also realizes how serious the sins of his people are. Because they have broken the covenant, they have severed their relationship with God; the inevitable consequence is, therefore, the exile (Lev. 26:14-45). Thus, it is the study of God’s revelation that provides Daniel with an understanding of the times and that gives him a sense of urgency to plead with God on behalf of the people.

As we approach the last days of earth’s history, we need more than ever to study and live according to God’s Word. Only Scripture can provide us with an authoritative explanation of the world we live in. After all, Scripture tells the story of the great controversy between good and evil, and thus reveals that human history will close with the obliteration of evil and the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom. The more we study the Scriptures, the better we can understand the contemporary situation of the world and our place in it, as well as our reasons for hope amid a world that offers none.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Daniel 9:1-27; Jer. 25:11-12; Jer. 29:10; 2 Kings 19:15-19; Matt. 5:16; James 5:16.

Memory Text: “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Daniel 9:19, NKJV).

Daniel 9 contains one of the great prayers of the Bible. In crucial moments of his life, Daniel resorts to prayer in order to cope with the challenges that lie before him. When Daniel and his colleagues were about to be killed because of the mysterious dream of a pagan king, the prophet approaches God in prayer (Daniel chapter 2). And when a royal decree forbids petitions to any God but to the king, Daniel continued to offer his daily prayers toward Jerusalem (Daniel chapter 6). Thus, as we consider the prayer in Daniel chapter 9, let us remember that the vision of the 2,300 evenings and mornings in Daniel chapter 8 greatly impacts the prophet. Although the overall contours of that prophecy were explained, Daniel cannot make sense of the time period conveyed by the dialogue between the two heavenly beings: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Dan. 8:14). It is only now, in chapter 9, that more light is given to the prophet, and this time, too, it is in response to earnest prayer.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 7.

Sunday–>

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