the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 5 of 5
Daniel 9:1-14
This beautiful chapter shows us Daniel making use of the two resources which are always at our disposal: the Word and prayer. This time he is not instructed by a vision, but by searching the Scriptures. They teach him:1. that Israel’s deliverance is near (v. 2; read Jeremiah 29:10 . . .);2. for what motive the hand of God has struck down and scattered his people and on what conditions restoration can take place (v. 2; read Leviticus 26:40 . . .);3. the right attitude, so that God may hear and forgive (read 1 Kings 8:47 . . .).Turning towards Jerusalem, Daniel takes up word for word the expressions uttered by Solomon, "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly . . ." (vv. 5, 15; Daniel 6:10). Not only is Daniel presented to us as beyond reproach, but also as one who suffered, during a lifetime of exile, the consequences of the sins of others. But note! He nevertheless confesses the iniquity as being his own; he experiences the grief and humiliation before God that result from it; he takes on himself the transgressions of his people. This is what Christ has done perfectly. Devoid of all sin, He has taken up our sins and has confessed them as if they were His, enduring alone in our stead the chastisement we had deserved (Psalms 40:12).
