Praying for Israel
I know Christians who struggle to pray because of their understanding of the sovereignty of God. They question: “If God already knows my needs before I ask, and if He’s going to do what He’s going to do, then why do I need to pray, much less persist in prayer?”
Our prayers matter precisely because God is sovereign and He has decreed that He operates in the world in response to the prayers of His people. Daniel, who with His finite mind, struggled to understand the workings of an infinite God, was persuaded, as we should be, that God moves in the world through His praying people.
Sometime after the Medo-Persian empire conquered the Babylonians in the first year of the reign of Darius, Daniel had been reading Jeremiah 25:11-13. From Jeremiah, he learned that the prophesy of the 70-year exile of the Israelites, who were carried into Babylon in 605 BC, was coming to completion. This revelation moved Daniel to pray to God with great reverence, to confess the sins of his people and to petition God to bring them back home to Jerusalem. After Daniel was moved on earth by the word of God to pray, things began to move swiftly in heaven.
“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, 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” (Daniel 9:20-21).
Daniel had not even concluded his prayer before it set in motion the Angel Gabriel to assist Daniel with the burden of his heart. Twice Daniel mentioned that it was while he was still speaking that Gabriel came to him in swift flight. "Swift flight" seems to indicate the immediacy by which Daniel’s prayer was being answered.
Daniel was moved to pray by the revelation he received from abiding in the word of God. The scriptures moved him to pray and his scripture saturated prayers moved heaven to respond. It’s been said, “the prayer that gets to heaven starts in heaven.” Or as Adrian Rogers also said, “Prayer is the Holy Spirit finding a desire in the heart of the Father, putting that desire into our hearts and then sending it back to heaven in the power of the cross.”
Although it’s vital that we share our hearts with God as we pray, it is primary and essential that we allow Him to share His heart with us. Like Daniel, this happens as we pray, first and foremost, from His word. Daniel was moved by the word of God to pray and in turn his prayers moved heaven.
In addition to abiding in the word of God, men and women of prayer align with the will of God. After the angel came to Gabriel in answer to Daniel’s prayer to restore his people to their land, we read: “He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 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” (Daniel 9:22-23).
How was Daniel’s prayer for restoration to the land answered? It’s important to note that the angel did not come to Daniel to transport the people of God back to Jerusalem. Rather, he came to make Daniel understand what God was up to and to give him greater insight into God’s redemptive plans.
Remember that Daniel began to pray when he learned from Jeremiah that the prophesied 70 years of desolation upon Jerusalem, because of the sin of the people of God, was drawing near. The people of God would be allowed to return to Jerusalem and restore the worship of God in the temple. But as we will see from Gabriel’s revelation, what the people of God needed most was not to return to their homeland. Rather, they needed an answer to the sin problem that led them to be carried away into exile in the first place.
Daniel is going to be shown that God has a redemptive plan that will not only deal with their physical exile after 70 years, but with their spiritual exile after 70 weeks of years, which adds up to 490 years. “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy” (Daniel 9:24 NKJV).
Before we unpack this prophesy, it’s important to note that it’s one of the most important prophesies found in the entire Old Testament. It is one of the most important not because all commentators agree on all the details of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (they don’t) or because it reveals who the coming anti-Christ will be or the date of the Lord’s return. It’s one of the most important prophesies because it pointed to the coming of the Messiah, who would solve man’s greatest problem by putting an end to sin and bring in everlasting righteousness. And as Gabriel explains in verse 24, this redemptive plan will be accomplished in seventy weeks.
In the language of the Old Testament, a week refers to a unit of seven and not necessarily a week consisting of 7 days. Like for example, in Genesis 29:27, Laban tells Jacob to complete the week which in context clearly speaks to serving seven years for Rachel. Likewise, the seventy weeks in which the Messiah will atone for sin and bring in everlasting righteousness, most commentators agree, refers to seventy weeks of years (70 x 7) which adds up to 490 years.
In view of the fact that the book of Revelation and Jesus himself refers to the abomination and desolation of Daniel 70th week as yet future, why hasn’t it all been fulfilled if the prophetic seventy week time clock began at the decree in Ezra around 458 BC? The answer to this is that after the Messiah was cut off after the 69th week, there was a pause in the prophetic time clock that in verse 23 was determined for the people of God. I found J.D. Greer's summary of this final week very helpful and concise:
Keep in mind that Gabriel revealed this seventy week prophecy to Daniel while he was confessing sin and praying for the people of God under judgement to return to Jerusalem. And in answer to Daniel’s prayer, Gabriel not only reveals that a decree will be made that will allow the people of God to return from physical exile to Jerusalem, but that God was going to deal with their spiritual exile due to sin, which would continue to plague them for many years to come.
How many of you know, God answers prayer? But far too often we seek God for what we think will serve our earthly interests, rather than seeking first the interests of the kingdom of God which will make a lasting difference in our lives. We want God to change our outward circumstances into what we think will make us happier. But God wants to first change us on the inside which will bring a joy and contentment in our lives that is not contingent upon outward circumstances.
“When people talk about Daniel’s seventy weeks, or especially the seventieth week, they rarely talk about the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah. Yet we have no doubt that this is the main point of the vision. We want dates and details, all the while God wants us to focus on His mission to [seek and save lost sinners].
What are issues in your life that might be distracting you from the big picture? What are ways you can identify sin as the root cause of those problems? Now ask yourself, what does Jesus’ ministry, [which began] 2,000 years ago, have to do with my problems today? Maybe you’ve been seeking the wrong kinds of solutions for your problems. Take time to repent of your sin, and praise Jesus for being the solution.” -Ryan Boys
Although Daniel received great vision from God, He never fully understood all things. But one thing was clear to Daniel: God gives the privilege of working with Him in the administration of His kingdom to His redeemed people who, like Daniel, are men and women of effectual prayer. Men and women of effectual prayer abide in the word of God, and align with the will of God in order to advance the redemptive work of Christ to the glory of His name.
The current war in Israel is a reminder to us that the redemptive plans of God are unfolding. The regathering of the Jewish people in Israel and the reestablishment of the nation in 1948 was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. But let us not lose sight of the fact that although the Jewish people are back in their land, most do not know Christ as Savior and Lord. As Ezekiel 20:41-44 prophesied, God’s ultimate desire and plan is for the nation to manifest His holiness, which will not happen until Israel turns to Christ (Romans 11:26; Deut. 30:6; Rev. 7-19).
In the meantime, let us pray knowing as Daniel knew, that God, who answers prayers, overrules in the affairs on man. This is not a time for Christians to panic, but with great hope to labor in prayer and in the spreading of the gospel. Let’s pray in this time of war for peace in Israel, but more importantly for Israel to know peace with God through the reconciling and atoning work of Jesus on the cross. Let us pray for people on both sides of the war (Jews and Muslims), and people of all nations to be awakened to the hope and love of Jesus (Romans 10:1; Ezekiel 11:19).
As the old hymn beautifully declares:
May we be found faithful,
Pastor Marco
Our prayers matter precisely because God is sovereign and He has decreed that He operates in the world in response to the prayers of His people. Daniel, who with His finite mind, struggled to understand the workings of an infinite God, was persuaded, as we should be, that God moves in the world through His praying people.
Sometime after the Medo-Persian empire conquered the Babylonians in the first year of the reign of Darius, Daniel had been reading Jeremiah 25:11-13. From Jeremiah, he learned that the prophesy of the 70-year exile of the Israelites, who were carried into Babylon in 605 BC, was coming to completion. This revelation moved Daniel to pray to God with great reverence, to confess the sins of his people and to petition God to bring them back home to Jerusalem. After Daniel was moved on earth by the word of God to pray, things began to move swiftly in heaven.
“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, 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” (Daniel 9:20-21).
Daniel had not even concluded his prayer before it set in motion the Angel Gabriel to assist Daniel with the burden of his heart. Twice Daniel mentioned that it was while he was still speaking that Gabriel came to him in swift flight. "Swift flight" seems to indicate the immediacy by which Daniel’s prayer was being answered.
Daniel was moved to pray by the revelation he received from abiding in the word of God. The scriptures moved him to pray and his scripture saturated prayers moved heaven to respond. It’s been said, “the prayer that gets to heaven starts in heaven.” Or as Adrian Rogers also said, “Prayer is the Holy Spirit finding a desire in the heart of the Father, putting that desire into our hearts and then sending it back to heaven in the power of the cross.”
Although it’s vital that we share our hearts with God as we pray, it is primary and essential that we allow Him to share His heart with us. Like Daniel, this happens as we pray, first and foremost, from His word. Daniel was moved by the word of God to pray and in turn his prayers moved heaven.
In addition to abiding in the word of God, men and women of prayer align with the will of God. After the angel came to Gabriel in answer to Daniel’s prayer to restore his people to their land, we read: “He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 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” (Daniel 9:22-23).
How was Daniel’s prayer for restoration to the land answered? It’s important to note that the angel did not come to Daniel to transport the people of God back to Jerusalem. Rather, he came to make Daniel understand what God was up to and to give him greater insight into God’s redemptive plans.
Remember that Daniel began to pray when he learned from Jeremiah that the prophesied 70 years of desolation upon Jerusalem, because of the sin of the people of God, was drawing near. The people of God would be allowed to return to Jerusalem and restore the worship of God in the temple. But as we will see from Gabriel’s revelation, what the people of God needed most was not to return to their homeland. Rather, they needed an answer to the sin problem that led them to be carried away into exile in the first place.
Daniel is going to be shown that God has a redemptive plan that will not only deal with their physical exile after 70 years, but with their spiritual exile after 70 weeks of years, which adds up to 490 years. “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy” (Daniel 9:24 NKJV).
Before we unpack this prophesy, it’s important to note that it’s one of the most important prophesies found in the entire Old Testament. It is one of the most important not because all commentators agree on all the details of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (they don’t) or because it reveals who the coming anti-Christ will be or the date of the Lord’s return. It’s one of the most important prophesies because it pointed to the coming of the Messiah, who would solve man’s greatest problem by putting an end to sin and bring in everlasting righteousness. And as Gabriel explains in verse 24, this redemptive plan will be accomplished in seventy weeks.
In the language of the Old Testament, a week refers to a unit of seven and not necessarily a week consisting of 7 days. Like for example, in Genesis 29:27, Laban tells Jacob to complete the week which in context clearly speaks to serving seven years for Rachel. Likewise, the seventy weeks in which the Messiah will atone for sin and bring in everlasting righteousness, most commentators agree, refers to seventy weeks of years (70 x 7) which adds up to 490 years.
In view of the fact that the book of Revelation and Jesus himself refers to the abomination and desolation of Daniel 70th week as yet future, why hasn’t it all been fulfilled if the prophetic seventy week time clock began at the decree in Ezra around 458 BC? The answer to this is that after the Messiah was cut off after the 69th week, there was a pause in the prophetic time clock that in verse 23 was determined for the people of God. I found J.D. Greer's summary of this final week very helpful and concise:
“Now, there’s two ways you could interpret this. One is that this last week of years are not literal years: That week represents the final chapter of human history, which we are in now, that has just stretched out for a long time.
The second way to interpret this, and I believe the correct way, is that after the Messiah was cut off, the timeline was paused, and we are now in a parenthetical period called “the church age,” where God has shifted the focus of His activity away from the nation of Israel to the church, which is comprised mostly of Gentiles (or non-Jews). But at the end of time, when the Antichrist officially makes his debut, the focus will re-shift to Israel, and [man will] enter into that last seventieth week, a 7 year period we call “the Tribulation.” The Tribulation of the book of Revelation is about Daniel’s seventieth week.
Here’s why I strongly prefer that second interpretation:
● First, the first 69 weeks were literal. It was roughly 483 years to when Jesus died. So why switch the last 7 and make them an elastic metaphor?
● Second, as I noted, the book of Revelation is all about this 70th week and Revelation strongly implies this is something in the future and not something we’re living in now. There are a few commentators that try to argue we are living in the midst of Revelation now, but I just don’t find their reasoning that compelling. I could be wrong, but it just doesn’t seem to me to be written that way.
● Third, vs. 24 says that “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city...” For Daniel, “your people” would be the Jews and “your city” would be Jerusalem. These seventy weeks focus on ISRAEL. Well, right now, as I’ve said, the focus of God’s work is in the church, which is mostly made up of Gentiles (or, non-Jews). In fact, Paul says in Romans 9–11 that God has temporarily set aside his focus on Israel to build the church among the Gentiles, but one day in the future, Paul says, God will resume his focus on Israel and when he does, more people will get saved than in any previous chapter in human history. It’s gonna be awesome. But the point is, Daniel says these seventy weeks are about Israel. We live in an ellipses right now. And there’s another really terrible week coming.”
Keep in mind that Gabriel revealed this seventy week prophecy to Daniel while he was confessing sin and praying for the people of God under judgement to return to Jerusalem. And in answer to Daniel’s prayer, Gabriel not only reveals that a decree will be made that will allow the people of God to return from physical exile to Jerusalem, but that God was going to deal with their spiritual exile due to sin, which would continue to plague them for many years to come.
How many of you know, God answers prayer? But far too often we seek God for what we think will serve our earthly interests, rather than seeking first the interests of the kingdom of God which will make a lasting difference in our lives. We want God to change our outward circumstances into what we think will make us happier. But God wants to first change us on the inside which will bring a joy and contentment in our lives that is not contingent upon outward circumstances.
“When people talk about Daniel’s seventy weeks, or especially the seventieth week, they rarely talk about the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah. Yet we have no doubt that this is the main point of the vision. We want dates and details, all the while God wants us to focus on His mission to [seek and save lost sinners].
What are issues in your life that might be distracting you from the big picture? What are ways you can identify sin as the root cause of those problems? Now ask yourself, what does Jesus’ ministry, [which began] 2,000 years ago, have to do with my problems today? Maybe you’ve been seeking the wrong kinds of solutions for your problems. Take time to repent of your sin, and praise Jesus for being the solution.” -Ryan Boys
Although Daniel received great vision from God, He never fully understood all things. But one thing was clear to Daniel: God gives the privilege of working with Him in the administration of His kingdom to His redeemed people who, like Daniel, are men and women of effectual prayer. Men and women of effectual prayer abide in the word of God, and align with the will of God in order to advance the redemptive work of Christ to the glory of His name.
The current war in Israel is a reminder to us that the redemptive plans of God are unfolding. The regathering of the Jewish people in Israel and the reestablishment of the nation in 1948 was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. But let us not lose sight of the fact that although the Jewish people are back in their land, most do not know Christ as Savior and Lord. As Ezekiel 20:41-44 prophesied, God’s ultimate desire and plan is for the nation to manifest His holiness, which will not happen until Israel turns to Christ (Romans 11:26; Deut. 30:6; Rev. 7-19).
In the meantime, let us pray knowing as Daniel knew, that God, who answers prayers, overrules in the affairs on man. This is not a time for Christians to panic, but with great hope to labor in prayer and in the spreading of the gospel. Let’s pray in this time of war for peace in Israel, but more importantly for Israel to know peace with God through the reconciling and atoning work of Jesus on the cross. Let us pray for people on both sides of the war (Jews and Muslims), and people of all nations to be awakened to the hope and love of Jesus (Romans 10:1; Ezekiel 11:19).
As the old hymn beautifully declares:
It may be at morn, when the day is awaking,
When sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking,
That Jesus will come in the fullness of glory,
To receive from the world "His own."
O Lord Jesus, how long, how long
Ere we shout the glad song,
Christ returneth!
Hallelujah! hallelujah!
Amen, Hallelujah! Amen
May we be found faithful,
Pastor Marco