Daniel Class 7 - Ch 8 in brief: the Ram and the He-Goat Ch 9: Jeremiah's Prophecy of 70 Years

The Ram

(3) I looked and saw a ram standing between me and the river; he had two horns; the horns were high, with one higher than the other, and the higher sprouting last.

The He-Goat

(5) As I looked on, a he-goat came from the west, passing over the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn on its forehead.

The Actions of the Small Horn on the Head of the He-Goat

(10) It grew as high as the host of heaven and it hurled some stars of the [heavenly] host to the ground and trampled them. (11) It vaunted itself against the very chief of the host; on its account the regular offering was suspended, and His holy place was abandoned. (12) An army was arrayed iniquitously against the regular offering; it hurled truth to the ground and prospered in what it did.

Events will continue for 2300 evenings and mornings =1,150 days = 3.15 solar years

(14) He answered me, “For twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Gabriel's first appearance to Daniel

(15) While I, Daniel, was seeing the vision, and trying to understand it, there appeared before me one who looked like a man/גבר/gever. (16) I heard a human voice from the middle of Ulai calling out, “Gabriel/גבריאל, make that man understand the vision.” (17) He came near to where I was standing, and as he came I was terrified, and fell prostrate. He said to me, “Understand, O man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

(11) This whole land shall be a desolate ruin.
And those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (12) When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their sins—declares GOD—and I will make it a desolation for all time.

(10) For thus said GOD: When Babylon’s seventy years are over, I will take note of you, and I will fulfill to you My promise of favor—to bring you back to this place.

Daniel studies the book of Jeremiah

(1) In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— (2) in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, consulted the books concerning the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD that had come to Jeremiah the prophet, were to be the term of Jerusalem’s desolation—seventy years.

(3) I turned my face to the Lord God, devoting myself to prayer and supplication, in fasting, in sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel's Prayer Part 1 of 3

(4) I prayed to the LORD my God, making confession thus: “O Lord, great and awesome God, who stays faithful to His covenant with those who love Him and keep His commandments! (5) We have sinned; we have gone astray; we have acted wickedly; we have been rebellious and have deviated from Your commandments and Your rules, (6) and have not obeyed Your servants the prophets who spoke in Your name to our kings, our officers, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

(7) With You, O Lord, is the right, and the shame is on us to this very day, on the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all Israel, near and far, in all the lands where You have banished them, for the trespass they committed against You. (8) The shame, O LORD, is on us, on our kings, our officers, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

Daniel's Prayer Part 2 of 3

(9) To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we rebelled against Him, (10) and did not obey the LORD our God by following His teachings that He set before us through His servants the prophets. (11) All Israel has violated Your teaching and gone astray, disobeying You; so the curse and the oath written in the Teaching of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down upon us, for we have sinned against Him. (12) He carried out the threat that He made against us, and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us great misfortune; under the whole heaven there has never been done the like of what was done to Jerusalem.

(13) All that calamity, just as is written in the Teaching of Moses, came upon us, yet we did not supplicate the LORD our God, did not repent of our iniquity or become wise through Your truth. (14) Hence the LORD was intent upon bringing calamity upon us, for the LORD our God is in the right in all that He has done, but we have not obeyed Him.

Daniel's Prayer Part 3 of 3

(15) “Now, O Lord our God—You who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, winning fame for Yourself to this very day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. (16) O Lord, as befits Your abundant benevolence, let Your wrathful fury turn back from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a mockery among all who are around us. (17) “O our God, hear now the prayer of Your servant and his plea, and show Your favor to Your desolate sanctuary, for the Lord’s sake.

(18) Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolation and the city to which Your name is attached. Not because of any merit of ours do we lay our plea before You but because of Your abundant mercies. (19) O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen, and act without delay for Your own sake, O my God; for Your name is attached to Your city and Your people!”

Gabriel appears and begins speaking

(20) While I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and laying my supplication before the LORD my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God— (21) while I was uttering my prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had previously seen in the vision, was sent forth in flight and reached me about the time of the evening offering.

(22) He made me understand by speaking to me and saying, “Daniel, I have just come forth to give you understanding. (23) A word went forth as you began your plea, and I have come to tell it, for you are precious; so mark the word and understand the vision.

Gabriel explains the meaning of '70 years'

(24) “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city until the measure of transgression is filled and that of sin complete, until iniquity is expiated, and eternal righteousness ushered in; and prophetic vision ratified, and the Holy of Holies anointed. (25) You must know and understand: From the issuance of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the [time of the] anointed leader is seven weeks; and for sixty-two weeks it will be rebuilt, square and moat, but in a time of distress.

(26) And after those sixty-two weeks, the anointed one will disappear and vanish. The army of a leader who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but its end will come through a flood. Desolation is decreed until the end of war. (27) During one week he will make a firm covenant with many. For half a week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the meal offering. At the corner [of the altar] will be an appalling abomination until the decreed destruction will be poured down upon the appalling thing.”

(25) You must know and understand: From the issuance of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the [time of the] anointed leader is seven weeks; and for sixty-two weeks it will be rebuilt, square and moat, but in a time of distress.

(27) During one week he will make a firm covenant with many. For half a week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the meal offering. At the corner [of the altar] will be an appalling abomination until the decreed destruction will be poured down upon the appalling thing.”