Daniel 9:6-10

Daniel 9:6

Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

 

One thing that God does to prevent calamity in his people is to send prophets to warn them that they are going awry and are walking in a rebellious manner.  God not only sent prophets to warn the kings, but He also sent them to the religious leaders and to the people of all the land so they could hear the message for themselves.  When God sent Jeremiah to the people of Judah, instead of heeding his warning, they rejected it and physically abused Jeremiah and threw him in prison.  This was because the people of Judah had become rebellious and idolatrous and thought that because they had a relationship with God, they could escape any kind of punishment for their sins.  The word in the Hebrew for “hearken” carries with it the meaning of “hearing attentively.”  This Judah did not do and paid the price for it.

 

Daniel 9:7

O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

 

Daniel now extols God and prays that righteousness is His alone as a great attribute.  What has happened to Judah was righteous according to the holiness of God.  Daniel states that confusion belongs to the people.  The word in the Hebrew for “confusion” carries with it the meaning of “shame or shame faced.”  The shame of their acts warranted the justice of God to fall upon all inhabitants of Judah.  It did not matter who the person is or what rank they held, they were to suffer the same fate as all the others.  In the last statement in this verse, Daniel speaks about the trespasses of Judah.  The word “trespass” carries with it the meaning of “sin or falsehood.”  The second use of  “trespassed” carries with it the meaning of “covert” which means many of them had tried to sin in secret and believed that they would get away with it.  Isaiah prophesied against that very thing.  Isaiah 29:15 (KJV)   Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? 

 

Daniel 9:8

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

 

The actions of Israel is once again acknowledged by Daniel who states the shame of their sinful rebellion against God belongs to the political rulers of Israel who should have known better than to allow the rebellion to continue until judgment finally came.  The shame was owing to the fact that Judah was completely permeated with sin and all sin is against God.  Jeremiah 33:8 (KJV)   And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.  Sin always brings a sense of guilt and shame.  The fathers are not only those whom they have physically descended from but these were the elders and other leaders in Israel who should have also known better than to allow the sin to continue.

 

Daniel 9:9

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

 

Daniel acknowledges that mercy and forgiveness belong to God, that is, it is two of His strongest attributes but that does not mean that just anyone is entitled to them.  God doles these out to those whom He has written in the Lamb’s book of Life, especially forgiveness.  Forgiveness comes through the Lord Jesus Christ but at this point He is represented by the animal sacrifices.  Daniel basically petitions God for mercy and forgiveness but he never forgets that Judah and Israel are in captivity because they rebelled against God, not just once, but in a continual fashion.

 

Daniel 9:10

Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

 

The law of God was given to Israel by the prophets.  Moses was the one who wrote down the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures and was considered a great prophet.  God not only gave Israel the written law but also sent prophets to them to show how they were living opposite of that law.  Daniel calls them “servants of God” to show that real prophets had come from God to warn them about their pernicious ways.  What the true prophets had told them was like they were hearing the voice of God Himself.

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