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Their
prophets and priests were men of the word - their own “word.”
After reading Jeremiah, Daniel started praying and confessing the
sins of his people.
Why Seventy
Years? Seventy years of discipline is a long time. Have
you ever wondered why your discipline went on for so long? You knew
that you had done wrong. You knew that you had sinned and disobeyed
God. You sensed the punishment was related to your sin because the
Holy Spirit gave you that sense, but the length of the pain and the
amount of the suffering seemed to be too long and too hard. It did
not seem fair.
The Israelites probably had some of
the same thoughts. Why was it so long? Part of the answer is found
in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21.
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And
those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon;
and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule
of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by
the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths.
All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy
years were complete. (NASB) 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 |
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, They had been ignoring the Sabbatical Year during which the land
was not to be farmed according to Leviticus 25:4-5; 26:27-46. God
had told the Israelites to farm the land for six years and then to
let the land rest in the seventh year. They did not do this and had
farmed the land every year for 490 years. That means they violated
the Sabbatical Rests for seventy years (one every seven years). Consequently,
God would allow the land to rest by sending them into captivity for
an equal period of time.
Daniel’s
Attitude. Daniel responds by praying to God. This was not
a formality or something he did to impress God. Daniel was serious
and God knew it because God knows our thoughts and heart's attitudes
(Ezekiel 11:5).
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And
I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, “Alas,
O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and
loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled,
even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances.”
(NASB) Dan. 9:4-5 |
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