Darius, son of Ahasuerus, born a Mede, became king over the land
of Babylon. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was meditating on the
Scriptures that gave, according to the Word of God to the prophet Jeremiah, the
number of years that Jerusalem had to lie in ruins, namely, seventy.
Darius became king in 538 BCE, 67 years after Daniel was taken
captive to Babylon. Darius is the king who was tricked into throwing Daniel to
the lions. Through that incident Darius learned to respect our true God—and he
thanked Him for saving Daniel from the mouth of those beasts. Several years before
the lions’ den event Daniel is studying God’s word that was available to him
and he received insight to the meaning of Jeremiah 25:11-12, namely that the seventy years of
desolation in Jerusalem would be ending. This
whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the
king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed
I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, for their
iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting
desolation. (NASB) Daniel also saw
God’s wonderful promise in Jeremiah 29:10, For thus
says the Lord, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit
you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. How
excited Daniel must have been—to think that he would get to go home to his
beloved Jerusalem. But that was not the case—Daniel was an old man, about
eighty at this time and as we look at this book we can see that Daniel never
gets to return to Jerusalem. Daniel’s response was to pray. Daniel was a man of
prayer—and he never gave up praying to the Lord, ritually three times a day. He
was definitely seeking God with his whole heart…as described in Jeremiah
29:12-14, …Then you will call upon Me and
come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me
when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares
the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the
nations and from all the places where I have driven you….
Dear Lord, Thank you
for the hope you gave Daniel. Please give us hope for today—that we may be
encouraged to pray like Daniel.
This post is dedicated to the memory of Shirley Jeske Woody—today
would have been her 64th birthday. She loved the Lord Our God with
all her heart, with all her mind, and with all her soul. One day we will see
her again in heaven—or in the air—until that day, rest in peace sweet sister. For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 1Thessolonians 4:16 (NASB)
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Scripture from The Message, except where noted.
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