Daniel 8-9
Seventy Sevens

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Psalm 104:1-35 Blessing Our Creator

O Lord, My God, You Are Very Great

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
 O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2  covering yourself with light as with a garment,
 stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
 he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
 his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,
 so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
 the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
 at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
 to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
 so that they might not again cover the earth.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
 they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
 the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
 they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
 the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
 and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15  and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
 and bread to strengthen man's heart.

16 The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
 the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
 the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
 the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;
 the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
 when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
 seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
 and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
 and to his labor until the evening.

24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
 In wisdom have you made them all;
 the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
 which teems with creatures innumerable,
 living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
 and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

27 These all look to you,
 to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
 when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
 when you take away their breath, they die
 and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
 and you renew the face of the ground.

31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
 may the LORD rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
 who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
 I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
 for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
 and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!

Application

The things we think about (meditations), and rejoice/sing about, should be sweet in God's sight.

Prayer

Blessed Creator, I praise You for Your wonderful creation and provision. I want to live so You can rejoice over me. Amen.

Proverbs 24:5-9 The Wisdom of Wise Guidance

5 A wise man is full of strength,
 and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
6 for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
 and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool;
 in the gate he does not open his mouth.

8 Whoever plans to do evil
 will be called a schemer.
9 The devising of folly is sin,
 and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

Application

Seeking wise counsel is smart and yields success. Foolishly doing what your unsanctified instincts tell you is stupid and yields sin.

Prayer

God keep me from the folly of not humbly seeking wise counsel. Amen.

Daniel 8-9 Seventy Sevens

These chapters contain two of the most specific prophecies of the future of God's people. The first of the ram and goat, references the powers following the Babylonian empire, and introduce a prefigure of the Antichrist. The second details the timetable for God's plan to redeem His people, the Messiah, the Antichrist, and events of the Tribulation. Chapter 9 lets us listen into one of Daniels great prayers, in which he intercedes for his people. Don't miss the main point in the midst of the details.

Daniel 8 Ram and Goat

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat
1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal.
3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
5 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power.
8 Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
9 Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10 It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. 11 It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”
14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”
Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision
15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”
17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”
18 And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up. 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.
20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. 22 As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power.
23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.
26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”
27 And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

Application

God rules over kings and kingdoms and uses them to judge His people who are not loyal to him; but He will then judge the wickedness of those He uses.

Prayer

God, thanks for reminding me that You raise and destroy nations at will, so the most important thing is to be rightly related to You, above any nation. Amen.

Daniel 9 Prayer and Prophecy of Seventy Sevens

Daniel’s Prayer for His People
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast 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 your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
Gabriel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea 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 sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem 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 sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Application

Sin causes separation, but God has a perfect solution and timetable for its implementation, therefore we can trust Him to bring about what's best, when it's best.

Prayer

God, You are never early or late in the fulfillment of Your promises; thanks that I can trust You to work out all the details of my life, just as I can trust You to save and deliver me from sin. Amen.

Digging Deeper

God in a nutshell: God rules over kingdoms and orders them according to His purposes to bless righteousness, and punish wickedness. He justly allows, uses and judges evil in His grand purposes. He has a perfect timetable to bring about deliverance for His people, and nothing takes Him by surprise. He acts for the sake of His righteousness, and name/glory on the behalf of His people.

Us in a nutshell: When we find ourselves separated from God and experiencing discipline, the wisest thing to do is confess our sins, repent (change our mind about it), and cast ourselves upon God's mercy. Since God has a perfect timetable, we can trust Him to bring about what's best, when it's best, and not stress over the things outside our control, but focus on what He wants us to do (which He is perfectly capable of communicating if we're listening).

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