DANIEL 9:3-19
3 I turned to Adonai, God, to seek an answer, pleading with him in prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to ADONAI my God and made this confession: "Please, Adonai, great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot! 5 We have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled and turned away from your mitzvot and rulings. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors and to all the people of the land. 7 "To you, Adonai, belongs righteousness; but to us today belongs shame - to us, the men of Y'hudah, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and all Isra'el, including those nearby and those far away, throughout all the countries where you have driven them; because they broke faith with you. 8 Yes, ADONAI, shame falls on us, our kings, our leaders and our ancestors; because we sinned against you. 9 It is for Adonai our God to show compassion and forgiveness, because we rebelled against him. 10 We didn't listen to the voice of ADONAI our God, so that we could live by his laws, which he presented to us through his servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Isra'el flouted your Torah and turned away, unwilling to listen to your voice. Therefore the curse and oath written in the Torah of Moshe the servant of God was poured out on us, because we sinned against him. 12 He carried out the threats he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us disaster so great that under all of heaven, nothing has been done like what has been done to Yerushalayim. 13 As written in the Torah of Moshe, this whole disaster came upon us. Yet we did not appease ADONAI our God by renouncing our wrongdoing and discerning your truth. 14 So ADONAI watched for the right moment to bring this disaster upon us, for ADONAI our God was just in everything he did, yet we didn't listen when he spoke. 15 "Now, Adonai our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, thereby winning renown for yourself, as is the case today - we sinned, we acted wickedly. 16 Adonai, in keeping with all your justice, please allow your anger and fury to be turned away from your city Yerushalayim, your holy mountain; because it is due to our sins and the wrongdoings of our ancestors that Yerushalayim and your people have become objects of scorn among everyone around us. 17 Therefore, our God, listen to the prayer and pleadings of your servant; and cause your face to shine on your desolated sanctuary, for your own sake. 18 My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes and see how desolated we are, as well as the city which bears your name. For we plead with you not because of our own righteousness, but because of your compassion. 19 Adonai, hear! Adonai, forgive! Adonai, pay attention, and don't delay action - for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people bear your name!"
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It is interesting to see how in this prayer Daniel intercedes on behalf of his people, confessing that they have forsaken His mitzvot and as a result God has brought upon them the disasters and the defeats and captivities which He said would occur if they neglected His ways. He acknowledges that they have not listened to Adonai, God speaking through His servants and prophets to all the people of the land, including the kings and princes as well as ordinary people.
In verse 7 he says that righteousness belong to Adonai, God and yet all Isra'el flouted His Torah and turned away, unwilling to even listen to His voice. In verse 14 Daniel reinforces that God is a God of Justice and again confesses that His people would not listen to Him. He then asks God to turn away His anger and fury from Yerushalayim, His holy mountain.
As followers of God we are called to intercede on behalf of the sins of our land and to pray for the peace of Yerushalayim, just as the example given to us by Daniel in this prayer.
In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we read "if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land." What greater need has there ever been for such intercessory prayer than in our modern world? In the same way as God's people were delivered from captivity and resettled in their land, the walls and temple subsequently being rebuilt and the law being re-established, so when we pray now God will return and resettle His people in His land, set captives free individually from sin through the sacrifice of His Son and bring healing to our broken communities, societies and nations. May we all be called to prayer, confession and repentance, that God's purposes may be fulfilled to His glory.
This article was first written for the Messianic Faith and Public Policy Group on Facebook.
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