Forgive Us Our Sins

Fourteen years have passed since God gave Daniel the vision of Daniel 7:2-8. In that vision Babylon was characterized by a lion, and the Medes and Persians were charactered by a bear. Prior to that vision, in Daniel 2:36-45, God gave to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar a dream in which he was the head of gold on a statue, followed by the Medes and Persians, characterized by being a statue’s chest of silver. In Daniel 8:1-4, two years after Daniel’s first dream, God gave to Daniel another vision of the night confirming to him that the Medes and Persians would conquer Babylon. In Daniel 9:1, it has happened. Darius the Mede is reigning over the world.

Daniel testifies that he has read the Words of God published by Jeremiah. He believes Jeremiah’s prophecy shall be fulfilled. In 70 years the exiles shall return to the Promised Land.

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the Word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:1-2

We do well too, to believe the words that God gave to His prophets. In Acts 26:19, 27, the Apostle Paul told a king that he was not disobedient to a heavenly vision. He asked the king, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” Daniel 9:3

Prayer is a great response to God’s Word. In Daniel 6:10, we learned that Daniel knelt down on his knees three times per day to pray and give thanks to God. This was his custom since his early days. Extreme trials including enemies ready to destroy you tend to drive a person to his or her knees, but for Daniel, it was his lifestyle since his early days. He has put on the garments of repentance, smeared ashes on himself and is confessing his sins and the sins of his people before God.

I wish all my prayers and all the prayers of God’s people were as earnest as Daniel’s. A soldier taking incoming fire in a foxhole does not worry about how his prayer sounds to those around him. He cries out to God to save his life. In a sense, all our lives are under fire from the enemy. We should pray earnestly to the Lord.

King David cried out to the Lord. In Psalm 3:4, he cried to the Lord with his voice and God heard him from His holy hill. After really laying out his need for intervention to God, he testified in verses 5-6, “I lay down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.”

“And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, ‘O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.’” Daniel 9:4-7

Daniel’s recognition of the greatness and goodness of God contrasted with the wickedness and rebellion of His people. If we seldom consider sin as an issue or hear it preached about in our gatherings, we are off track. The reason God sent His Son was to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Acknowledging, confessing and receiving God’s forgiveness of sin is what we need.

1 John 1:8-9, 2:2 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus told a parable to describe the difference between a man who trusts in himself and a man who trusts in the Lord. The man who trusted in himself told God all his good deeds and despised “sinners.” The man who trusted in God, acknowledged his shortcomings and said to God, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” Jesus said that the second man “went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

When Daniel fasted and prayed, he was not doing it to impress himself or others. He was doing it because God granted him the gift of grief for his sins and grief for the sins of his people.

“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His Words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:8-12

Kings, princes and fathers need to be shamed-faced because of sins against God. We have all failed in some way or another in our roles as leaders, protectors and providers. Without grief, repentance and God’s forgiveness nothing changes for the better.

The curses written in the Law of Moses came upon Israel due to their sins. These curses are described in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and in Leviticus 26:14-39. These curses form the basis for the seven seal, seven bowl, and seven trumpet judgments of Revelation 6:1-16:21. The curses are waves of judgments with pauses between the waves to give the people opportunity to repent and turn to God.

“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us; for the Lord, our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a Name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!” Daniel 9:13-15

The Lord did amazing miracles to bring Israel out from Egypt. God has done even greater miracles in these last days to open His heavenly kingdom to all people... to whosoever will believe in His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, God’s Son, healed blind eyes, restored lame legs to mobility and made deaf ears to hear again. He died on a cross for the sins of Adam’s race and resurrected from the dead. No other founder of a religion did what Jesus did for us.

This Good News has been proclaimed all over the earth. There are many churches in many places. The Bible is widely available. What have we done with this good news?

Revelation 16:9 says, “Men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the Name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.” This is the kind of attitude that Daniel grieved about. No matter what God did, people, like the Pharoah of Egypt, refused to repent and give God glory.

What would happen if more of us fasted and grieved for lost souls? Walter Brueggemann wrote, “Without grief there is no newness.” I believe there would be newness. We must be converted to God before we can help others be converted to Him.

David wrote in Psalm 126:5-6, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation... observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!”

“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your Name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your Name.” Daniel 9:16-19

Daniel prayed, “According to all YOUR righteousness...” “We do not present our supplications before You because of OUR righteous deeds, but because of YOUR great mercies.” “Do not delay for YOUR own sake.” We need God’s forgiveness. We need God’s mercies to change.

We pray in the Name of Jesus because we trust in His righteousness not our own. Jesus said in John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

“Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, ‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore, consider the matter, and understand the vision.” Daniel 9:20-23

God gave Daniel revelation into His Word after he repented and sought God’s forgiveness. In fact, God sent Gabriel to Daniel to assure him that he was greatly beloved of God and to help him understand the vision that he had received.

“70 weeks (sevens) 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.’ Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the 62 weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” Daniel 9:25-27

According to several commentaries and in this case below according to Verse By Verse Commentary.com, “The seventy sevens will begin with the ‘command’ (decree) to ‘restore and build Jerusalem.’ The Scripture records four decrees to rebuild Jerusalem by the Persians: 1) Cyrus’ decreed to rebuild the temple in 538 BC; 2) Darius I confirms the decree of Cyrus in 520 BC; 3) Artaxerxes Longimanus’ decree in 458 BC; and 4) Artaxerxes Longimanus’ decree authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in 445 BC. [1]

Gabriel introduces Daniel to two consecutive time periods. First, seven sevens (49 years) and then sixty-two sevens (434 years) – ‘There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.’ The ‘street’ and ‘wall’ will be built in ‘troublesome times.’ This occurred in the days of Nehemiah when the streets were covered with debris and the wall broken down.

The ‘seven weeks and sixty-two weeks’ is 483 years. There will be 483 years until the ‘Messiah the Prince’ is ‘cut off.’ Jesus died on the cross 483 years later. 483 years brings us to the death of Christ.

This prophecy of seventy sevens does not end with the First Advent of Christ, but with the Second Advent and the establishing of the Millennial kingdom. Thus, Daniel divides the 490 years into three sections: 7 sevens (49 years) = the rebuilding of Jerusalem allowed by Artaxerxes. 62 sevens (434 years) = this is the period from the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem to the first coming of Christ. One seven (7 years) = this is the seven years of tribulation spoke of in the Book of Revelation.” [2]

In Jeremiah 1:12, God said to His prophet, “You have seen well: for I will hasten My Word to perform it.” God ensures that His Word comes to pass in due season. The Apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:13, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Until then, “Please O Lord, Heavenly Father, please grant us the grace to be humble before You, to be apt to confess our sins and repent of them, and to lift up Your Son Jesus Christ for all people to see Him. Thank You Father for giving Your Son for our salvation, and for us giving us Your Holy Spirit to help us know You and do Your will. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”


[1] 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 5:13; 6:1-12; 7:11-26; Nehemiah 2:1-8
[2] versebyversecommentary.com/2002/04/25/daniel-925