Daniel 9:12
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
God confirmed His words of judgment spoken against His people and their rulers by bringing upon Jerusalem a great and unequaled calamity under heaven because of Israel's sin and disobedience to His commands through the prophets. It belongs to Daniel's prayer in which he set his face to seek God with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, afflicting his soul in tears with humiliation, contrition and deep sorrow over the desolation of Jerusalem, confessing both his own sin and the sin of his people as one greatly beloved pleading for those he loved. That prayer was not in vain but was heard, with ministering angels sent to give him the communication from God in vision. It stands in the prophecy that fixed the time of Christ's first coming and foretold the death of the Messiah, on whose authority the announcement was proclaimed at the end of the seventy weeks that the time was fulfilled, though the disciples mistook the event through popular errors about the kingdom and suffered disappointment as Advent believers afterward did with the 2300 days. It gives the pattern of confession, repentance and earnest seeking that God's people are urged to follow now in humbling themselves before Him, for He is ready to hear the contrite who seek Him with all their heart as Daniel did, pardoning their sins, keeping them in His commandments, guarding them by angels and preparing them for the Lord's coming.
Daniel's Confessing Prayer
The verse acknowledges that God carried out and confirmed the words of judgment He had spoken against His people and their rulers, bringing upon Jerusalem a great evil and calamity without equal under the whole heaven. That desolation and exile came because of Israel's sin and disobedience to His commands given through the prophets. In confessing this guilt Daniel pleaded for restoration, asking God to act from mercy and not because of any righteousness in the people.
The verse belongs to Daniel's prayer in which he set his face to seek the Lord God by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. He fasted and afflicted his soul, praying most earnestly in tears with confession and humiliation. He prayed with humility and contrition, appearing before God as a sinner, and with contrition of soul and deep sorrow as he witnessed the desolation of Jerusalem. That humbling of himself in prayer is described as full, earnest, and complete.
In that prayer Daniel confessed both his own sin and the sin of his people, pleading for the people he loved. Though he was greatly beloved of God, he acknowledged that he and the people had sinned.
His prayer was not in vain and not for naught, for it was heard. Ministering angels came to him to give him in vision the communication from God. Its results show God's willingness to help those who come to Him.
Time Prophecy Fulfilled
Daniel 9 is the prophecy that fixed the time of Christ's first coming. At the close of the seventy weeks, on the authority of that prophecy, the announcement was proclaimed that the appointed time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God was at hand. That same prophecy foretold the death of the Messiah, a part of its testimony the first disciples did not recognize when they preached that the time was fulfilled. They clung to popular errors about the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks and mistook the event foretold. Yet in delivering that time message they fulfilled the will of God, and through misapprehension of their message they suffered disappointment, even as Advent believers afterward did in connection with the 2300 days.
Daniel 9 holds the key for ascertaining the commencement and termination of the 2300 days, because Daniel 8 and Daniel 9 stand in unmistakable connection.
Pattern for Today
Daniel 9:12 belongs to the prayer of confession, repentance, and earnest seeking of God that God's people are urged to offer now after Daniel's example. It is the pattern for assembling together to confess sins, repent before God, examine personal experience, humble the heart before Him, seek His keeping power, and continue in prayer until He manifests Himself with power. That continuing, humbling, intercessory prayer for self and for Israel is held out as the way to seek God now.
That prayer is needed because of self-confidence and presumption, failure to heed the light sent and the testimonies of His Spirit, departure from His expressed commands and working contrary to messages long given about the different features of the work. It is needed because of selfish gathering of facilities to a few favored places and neglect of the needs of the people in the large cities and in the Southern field, and when those who claim to believe the truth practise the truth this neglect will not continue.
God is ready to hear the prayer of a contrite person, for He heard Daniel and will hear present prayers offered as Daniel offered his. Those who seek Him with all their heart and pray in faith, relying upon Him, trusting Him, approaching Him as Daniel did, praying without ceasing and keeping the soul in communion with Him, may receive His answer and see His salvation. To those who ask Him in this way He gives wisdom and increased ability, showing His willingness to help all who come to Him.
Those who pray as Daniel prayed feel their need to pray and confess sins as one greatly beloved, faithful and true, and in confessing their sins they find pardon. That prayer brings safety in keeping the commandments of God and living wholly for His glory, with keen wakefulness to the enemy's malignant devices instead of sleep. It places the praying ones in their lot and place under the protection of God's angels and guarded by heavenly intelligences as ministering spirits to heirs of salvation, so making them ready for the last great controversy and prepared for the Lord's coming.
Daniel, a man greatly beloved, shows in humbling his heart before God and confessing sins what it means to humble oneself before God. His course gives one who has been reproved for walking in false paths the pattern for confessing sins, making a change, and being spoken peace to by God. The verse teaches that same humility before God in Babylon, humbling oneself and giving God the glory due to His name. With that humility goes keeping a clear line of separation between God's commandment-keeping people and those who have no respect for His law.
What Daniel saw in vision would be is being opened by the judgments of God witnessed in San Francisco and many places as a standing warning, belonging to his setting his face to seek the Lord God by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes and making confession for the great evil brought in confirmation of God's words spoken against His people and their judges. Those judgments open that vision to the people in Oakland, for the great things to take place are before the living who shall see to the end of these judgments.