Lesson 10, February 29-March 6
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Daniel 9; Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10; 2 Kings 19:15-19; Matthew 5:16; James 5:16.
Memory Text: “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 9:19
Daniel 9 contains one of the great prayers of the Bible. In crucial moments of his life, Daniel resorts to prayer in order to cope with the challenges that lie before him. When Daniel and his colleagues were about to be killed because of the mysterious dream of a pagan king, the prophet approaches God in prayer (Daniel 2). And when a royal decree forbids petitions to any God but to the king, Daniel continued to offer his daily prayers toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6). Thus, as we consider the prayer in Daniel 9, let us remember that the vision of the 2,300 evenings and mornings in Daniel 8 greatly impacts the prophet. Although the overall contours of that prophecy were explained, Daniel cannot make sense of the time period conveyed by the dialogue between the two heavenly beings: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14). It is only now, in chapter 9, that more light is given to the prophet, and this time, too, it is in response to earnest prayer.
