In today’s Reflections, we enter Daniel chapter 9, one of the Bible’s most challenging prophetic passages, including Daniel’s famous vision of the “seventy weeks.” Before receiving that vision, however, Daniel begins with confession, reminding us that honest prayer includes naming our failures and receiving God’s grace. As we consider the difficult prophecy that follows, we are reminded that Daniel is not primarily giving us a countdown clock for the end of the world. Rather, it assures God’s people that suffering and evil have limits, God sees the pain of his people, and God remains sovereign over history. We may not know exactly when God will make all things right, but we can trust that God will. Our calling is not to predict the future but to live faithfully today—to love God, love our neighbors, serve others, and follow Jesus wherever he leads.
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Good morning. It’s good to be with you on this Tuesday morning. I hope you’re doing great today as we continue together in our time in Daniel.
Today we’re looking at Daniel 9.
And this is one of those chapters that contributes to Daniel’s reputation as kind of the “Revelation of the Old Testament.” Today is one of those chapters that really lives into that reputation.
In fact, it’s complicated enough that I’m changing Bibles today.
I’m still reading from the NRSV, but I’m reading from probably my favorite study Bible: my Wesley Study Bible.
I really like this study Bible. In fact, if you’re looking for a good study Bible, I would recommend the Wesley Study Bible. The reason I like it is that the notes come from a Wesleyan perspective.
Every study Bible is going to approach Scripture from some theological perspective. A lot of modern study Bibles have notes that lean more Calvinistic, and that’s not always the theology I share.
So I really appreciate the Wesleyan perspective in these notes because they reflect a lot of the things I believe and find helpful.
And I thought those notes would be particularly helpful as we unpack Daniel’s famous—and sometimes very confusing—passage about the seventy weeks.
So let’s look at Daniel 9.
Daniel begins by reading the writings of the prophet Jeremiah and realizing that the period of Jerusalem’s desolation was supposed to last seventy years.
And Daniel responds by turning to God in prayer.
And this is a beautiful prayer of confession.
Daniel says:
“O Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love to those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled.”
Daniel confesses the sins of his people.
He says that they have not listened to God. They have not obeyed God’s commands. They have turned away from God.
And then, toward the end of his prayer, Daniel says:
“O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act.”
And then Gabriel comes to Daniel and begins to explain what is going to happen.
Gabriel tells him about seventy weeks that have been decreed for his people and his holy city.
And then we get all of this language about seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, an anointed one being cut off, a ruler who will come, sacrifices being stopped, and an abomination that desolates.
And this is where things get complicated.
So let me start with something that I think is important.
Daniel begins this whole conversation with prayer.
Before we get to the prophecy, we get confession.
Daniel says, “Lord, we have sinned.”
And I think that’s an important place for us to begin our own prayer lives.
Confession matters.
The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Now, our confession doesn’t cause God to forgive us.
Our confession isn’t some transaction where we say, “God, I’ll admit what I did wrong, and then you have to forgive me.”
That would turn our relationship with God into a negotiation.
That’s not how grace works.
God’s forgiveness is an expression of God’s grace.
But confession allows us to name our sin, to hand it over to God, and to receive and experience the forgiveness that God offers.
So I think confession should always have a place in our prayer lives.
Give the Holy Spirit room to convict you.
Give the Holy Spirit room to show you where you have fallen short.
And then confess those things to God and receive the word of forgiveness.
But what I really want to talk about today is the seventy weeks.
I taught a class one time about the second coming, and somebody asked me, “What did John Wesley believe about the second coming?”
And my answer was:
It’s going to happen.
That was about as far as Wesley went with trying to create a detailed timeline!
And I think that’s helpful when we approach Daniel 9.
If you Google “Daniel’s seventy weeks,” you are going to find thousands of videos, websites, charts, and theories explaining exactly what every number means.
You’ll find all kinds of timelines.
You’ll find theories about the Antichrist.
You’ll find theories about the end of the world.
You’ll find calculations attempting to determine exactly when Christ will return.
And some of those interpretations are incredibly elaborate.
But the notes in my Wesley Study Bible make a point that I think is really important: these numbers should not be treated as a calendar for determining the end of the age or calculating the date of Christ’s return.
Instead, they function as a way of talking about the period of persecution and suffering that God’s people will experience—and as a promise of the ultimate downfall of the persecutor.
And I think that is a much more helpful way to approach apocalyptic literature.
Now, I want to be careful here.
The fact that an interpretation is old doesn’t automatically make it right. The church can and should continue to study Scripture, reform itself, and correct its understanding when necessary.
But we should also recognize that some of the very specific end-times systems that are incredibly popular in our culture today are relatively modern developments.
The particular fascination with turning Daniel’s seventy weeks into a detailed countdown to the end of the world is not something that has characterized Christian interpretation throughout most of church history.
So I think we can miss the point when we become more interested in figuring out the timeline than in hearing what Daniel is actually trying to tell us.
And what is Daniel telling us?
I think he’s telling us something incredibly important:
God is not absent.
God is not blind to the suffering of his people.
God is not unaware of their pain.
God is not unaware of their loss.
God is not unaware of injustice.
And God is not unaware of the apparent power of wickedness.
There are seasons when evil seems to have the run of the place.
There are moments when righteousness seems to be at a deficit.
There are times when we look around and wonder, “God, where are you?”
Daniel says:
God sees.
God knows.
And God is still at work.
The seventy weeks aren’t primarily giving us a countdown clock so that we can pull out our calculators and figure out when everything is going to happen.
They are reminding us that suffering has a limit.
Evil has a limit.
The power of those who oppose God has a limit.
And ultimately, God will make things right.
Now, we don’t know exactly when that will happen.
It might be today.
It might be tomorrow.
It might be many years from now.
It is God’s time.
But God is not absent from history.
God is not blind to our suffering.
God is not blind to our hurts.
And God will ultimately make all things right.
I know that’s probably not nearly as exciting as some of the YouTube videos you can watch.
I’m sorry!
I know there are some really impressive charts out there.
But I think this is actually a better way to read Daniel.
Because the purpose of Scripture isn’t ultimately to help us predict the future.
It’s to help us live faithfully in the present.
And that’s what matters.
I don’t want to spend my life trying to figure out exactly when Jesus is coming back.
I want to spend my life living as though Jesus could come back today.
I want to live today as a follower of Jesus.
I want to love God today.
I want to love my neighbor today.
I want to serve today.
I want to forgive today.
I want to care for people today.
I want to live every day as though Christ has already called me to follow him—because he has.
So when you find yourself in a season where evil seems powerful, remember Daniel.
When you find yourself in a season where you don’t understand what God is doing, remember Daniel.
When you find yourself wondering whether God sees what you’re going through, remember Daniel.
God sees.
God knows.
God is present.
And God is not finished.
The story is going somewhere.
God has a purpose.
And in God’s time, God will make all things right.
So don’t spend all of your energy trying to figure out the date.
Spend your energy being faithful today.
Live today for Jesus.
Follow Jesus today.
Love people today.
Serve people today.
And trust God with tomorrow.
Because whenever that day comes, God will be ready.
And until then, so should we.
So thanks for being with me today. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and we’ll see you tomorrow as we continue our journey through Daniel.
Have a great day.