Daniel 9, 6

Under king Darius the Medes conquered Babylon, and Daniel was given honor and authority under this new rule, which is quite extraordinary, since he had already been a counselor, administrator, and friend of king Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel’s rival leaders under Darius conceived a plan to kill him, but God was faithful to protect him, and Daniel never compromised his integrity or service before God in the process.

About this same time Daniel recalled the prophecy of Jeremiah, which said that Israel would be slaves in that land for 70 years, so he begins to pray to God for Him to act on that promise, and bring about the release of Israel. That prayer

in Daniel 9 is incredible, and worthy of much study and emulation. At the end of that prayer the angel Gabriel comes and tells Daniel about the future, giving him another very wide scope of prophetic insight, covering God’s calendar between that time and the end of the age. The last verses of Daniel 9 have been much studied by students of prophecy, which has been called the 70 weeks of Daniel. Those 70 weeks represent 70 weeks of years, or 490 years, with the first 69 of them being fulfilled on the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of Hosanna, and was then killed (cut off). The final week of this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, which will occur in the future during the 7 years we refer to as the great tribulation. During that time the devil will set up the abomination of desolation in the temple in Jerusalem, which Jesus directly refers to in Matthew 24.