Intercession Series

2. Jeremiah was actually much older than Daniel and had been prophesying prior to Daniel’s deportation to Babylon.

3. Jeremiah had prophesied at the end of the divided kingdom of Israel.

4. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem, the kingdom of Israel had been divided into two halves.

5. Prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was prophesying that it would happen.

6. Jeremiah was prophesying the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews refused to believe him.

7. Jeremiah commanded them to submit to the sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar because it was God’s way if punishing them for not keeping God’s commands.

8. The Hebrews therefore thought of Jeremiah as a traitor and was therefore disregarded.

9. Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet because he lamented the fall of Jerusalem and Israel.

10. He actually wrote a book that is called “Lamentations” which means “weepings.”

11. Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem because he was much older and was not one of the young men chosen with Daniel and the others to be deported.

D. Daniel tells us in verse two that he had been reading the Scriptures according to the word of the Lord that was given to Jeremiah the prophet.

1. Daniel said he was reading the part about the desolation of Jerusalem and how it would last seventy years.

2. The passage that Daniel was concerned with was what we call Jeremiah 25:1-14.

E. Let’s look at that passage briefly…

1. First Jeremiah tells us that God gave him this particular prophesy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.

a. Now as Daniel tells his story, it began in the third year of Jehoiakim.

b. So Daniel’s story began within a year of this prophecy of Jeremiah.

c. That’s when Daniel’s first chapter actually took place, but when Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s writing, it was about 67 years later.

d. 67 years after God had given Jeremiah this word, Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s written account of it.

2. In verse 3 Jeremiah tells the people of Judah that he had been prophesying to them for the previous 23 years and they had not listened to him.

3. Jeremiah said in verses 4-6 that there had been many whom God had sent telling them to repent so that God would not harm them.

4. So in verses 7-10, Jeremiah predicts that God is going to use Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish His purposes in destroying Jerusalem and punishing His people for disobedience.

5. About 19 years later Jerusalem was destroyed.

6. Then in verses 11-12, Jeremiah says that the punishment of the people would last 70 years.

7. This is what Daniel had been studying from the Bible.

8. So what did Daniel do when he “understood from the Scriptures, …that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years?

II. Intercession for God’s mercy

Daniel 9:3-19 (NIV), So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame--the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."