Commentary - Daniel 9:20-23

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but pivotal section, we see the immediate and glorious answer to Daniel's profound prayer of confession. Having identified himself completely with the sins of his people, Daniel is not left to wonder if his prayer was heard. Heaven responds with haste. The angel Gabriel, a high-ranking messenger, is dispatched to bring Daniel understanding concerning the future of his people, Israel. This is not just about a timeline for the end of the exile; it is about the centerpiece of all history, the coming of the Messiah. The passage demonstrates a foundational principle of the Christian life: earnest, biblically-grounded prayer, rooted in humble confession, is precisely the kind of prayer God delights to answer. He does not just answer, He sends His best to deliver the news, and the news is far better than what was asked.

This interaction is a crucial hinge in the book of Daniel. It connects Daniel's personal piety and his deep concern for God's people to the grand sweep of redemptive history. The answer Gabriel brings in the subsequent verses, the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks, will lay the Christological foundation for the rest of the Bible. What we see here is the prelude, the divine assurance that God has a plan, that He is in control, and that He reveals His purposes to those who diligently seek Him.

Outline

Context In Daniel

This passage comes immediately after one of the most moving prayers in all of Scripture. Daniel, having understood from the writings of Jeremiah that the seventy-year exile was nearing its end, does not sit back and wait. He throws himself into intercession. His prayer is not one of demanding, but of deep confession. He aligns himself with the covenant unfaithfulness of his people, acknowledging God's justice in their punishment. He appeals not to Israel's merit, but to God's great mercy and for the sake of God's own name and His holy city.

It is this posture of humility that provides the immediate backdrop for Gabriel's arrival. The answer is not just information; it is a response to a particular kind of prayer. God is not simply revealing a timetable to satisfy prophetic curiosity. He is responding to a broken and contrite heart that is pleading for the restoration of God's glory among His people. The answer, therefore, must be understood as God's ultimate plan to restore that glory, not through a restored temple of stone, but through the person and work of His Son.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,

Now while I was speaking and praying, Daniel is in the very act of prayer. This is not a recollection of a prayer from last week. The answer arrives while the words are still on his lips, a powerful illustration of God's attentiveness. He hears us in real time. This is prayer as a genuine conversation, not just words launched into the void. God is a living God, and He interacts with His people as they are before Him.

and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, Notice the order and the unity. Daniel, a man of profound righteousness, begins with his own sin. He doesn't stand apart from his people as a detached observer, pointing fingers. He identifies with them completely. This is the pattern for all true intercession. We cannot pray for revival in our nation or reformation in the church if we are not first willing to say "we have sinned." This is not a matter of personal guilt for every specific transgression of the nation, but rather a corporate identification. Daniel understood that he was part of a covenant people, and he owned their history. This is what it means to be part of a body. When one part suffers, all suffer; when one part sins, the whole is affected.

and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, Daniel's prayer is specific. He is concerned for "the holy mountain," for Jerusalem, for the place where God had set His name. This is not a selfish prayer for personal comfort. His desire is for the glory of God to be restored and made manifest in the world. He wants God's reputation to be vindicated. This is the highest form of prayer, to be more concerned with God's honor than with our own needs. And of course, it is in seeking God's glory first that all our other needs are met.

21 and while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, touched me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.

and while I was still speaking in prayer, The text emphasizes the immediacy again. The connection between the prayer and the answer could not be tighter. This should be a tremendous encouragement to the saints. Our prayers are not filed away in some celestial bureaucracy to be reviewed at a later date. The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, and it avails much right away.

then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, The messenger is identified. This is Gabriel, the same angel who stands in the presence of God, and who would later be sent to announce the births of both John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Himself. He appears as a man, which is typical of angelic appearances in Scripture. They are not chubby babies with wings, but mighty warriors and messengers who appear in a form that does not immediately incinerate the recipient of the message. Daniel recognizes him from a previous vision (Daniel 8:16), which lends authority and continuity to God's revelation.

touched me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. Daniel is physically spent. This kind of intense, heartfelt prayer is exhausting work. It is spiritual wrestling. The physical touch from Gabriel is one of strengthening and reassurance. It grounds the supernatural encounter in the physical world. The timing is also significant. The "evening offering" was a set time of prayer and sacrifice in the temple liturgy. Though the temple was in ruins and the sacrifices had ceased, Daniel, in exile, still oriented his life by God's prescribed patterns of worship. He was faithful in the small things, in the routines of piety, even when the grand institutions were gone. And God honored that faithfulness.

22 Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.

Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, Gabriel's purpose is not just to deliver a sealed envelope. His mission is to ensure Daniel understands. The word here implies instruction, causing him to discern. God doesn't just want to give us information; He wants to give us wisdom. He wants us to see how the pieces fit together in His grand plan. Revelation is not for the proud who want to accumulate esoteric knowledge, but for the humble who need to understand God's ways in order to live faithfully.

O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. Gabriel states his purpose plainly. He is here to illuminate Daniel's mind. The prayer was for God's mercy and the restoration of Jerusalem. The answer is insight into how God will accomplish that, and in a way that far exceeds Daniel's request. Daniel was praying about the end of a seventy-year exile; Gabriel has come to talk about a plan that spans centuries and culminates in the arrival of the Messiah. God's answers are always bigger than our prayers.

23 At the beginning of your supplications the word was issued, so I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so understand the message and gain understanding in what has appeared.

At the beginning of your supplications the word was issued, This is a staggering statement. The command for Gabriel to go was given the moment Daniel began to pray. The answer was not formulated after God heard the whole prayer and weighed its merits. The answer was released at the first syllable of confession. This shows us that the prayer itself was an answer to God's prompting. God moved Daniel to pray the prayer that He intended to answer all along. This is the beautiful mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility working in perfect harmony.

so I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; Here is the heart of it. Why was Daniel's prayer so effective? Because Daniel was a man "highly esteemed," or as some translations put it, "greatly loved." This is not about Daniel earning favor through his own righteousness. It is a statement of God's sovereign grace and delight in His servant. Daniel was beloved by God. His life of consistent, rugged faithfulness, his refusal to compromise in Babylon, his devotion to the Word and prayer, all of this was pleasing to God. God loves His children, and He delights in them. And He delights to answer their prayers.

so understand the message and gain understanding in what has appeared. The command is repeated. Pay attention. Engage your mind. This is not a message to be received passively. Daniel is called to apply himself to the vision. True biblical faith is not a leap in the dark; it is a reasoned trust based on the clear revelation of God. God gives us His Word and His Spirit so that we might understand, and so that, by understanding, we might live lives of wisdom and obedience to His glory.

Application

The pattern for the church today is laid out plainly here. We live in a world that is, in many ways, a Babylon. The holy things are desecrated, and the people of God often feel weary and exiled. What is our response to be? It is to be the response of Daniel.

First, we must be people of the Book. Daniel's prayer was prompted by his reading of Jeremiah. Our prayers must be shaped and fueled by Scripture. If we do not know what God has promised, we will not know how to pray. Second, our prayers must be steeped in confession. We must recognize our own sin and the sins of our people, identifying with the church's failures and not standing aloof. We must own our corporate covenant responsibility. We must ask God to have mercy, for His own name's sake.

And when we pray this way, we should expect an answer. God is not distant. He hears, and He acts. He sends His messengers, in our day, primarily through the preaching of the Word, to give us insight and understanding. He assures us that we who are in Christ are also "highly esteemed," not because of our merit, but because we are united to His beloved Son. The message to us is the same: understand the message. Understand the gospel. Understand that God's plan is unfolding, that Christ has come, that He has conquered, and that His kingdom is advancing and will fill the whole earth. Therefore, take heart, be faithful in your time and place, and know that your prayers for the glory of God's name will be answered.