Two prophecies in the book of Jeremiah pointed the Jews to the time when they would return from exile in Babylon. The first stated that they would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11). The second gripped the heart of the prophet Daniel and caused him to intercede in prayer for his people. Daniel could not have known that his prayer for the prophesied return of his people would result in an even greater promise. The words of the prophecy discovered by Daniel were these: “For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, 12)
But what drove Daniel to his knees was the promise that followed. “Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart; and I will be found by you.” Verse 13 is favoured by those who in prayer search out the deep things of God. But quoting it in isolation removes it from its historical context, and this diminishes the power of the promise. Daniel saw the prophecy as a God-given opportunity. A prophesied return from exile was one thing, but a prophetic promise that prayer could bring it about was another thing again! “Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray to me…”
Did the Spirit of God put the thought into Daniel’s heart that these words were written for him, or was it just that in reading them he was inspired to vow – “I will do that!” Filipinos do things through committees that allocate tasks to specific members, and so are familiar with the words: “You will be the one.” Thereafter the person appointed to the particular task identifies himself or herself with the responsibility by saying, “I will be the one.” Filipinos and Filipinas are known for their diligence and the words “I will be the one” come quickly to the lips of the individual who has been allotted a clearly defined responsibility. In my mind I can see the exiled Daniel poring over Jeremiah’s prophecies and discovering that his people’s exile was to end in seventy years. I can see him reading God’s promise that He would bring it to pass in response to earnest prayer, and I can see him vowing, “I will be the one!”
“In the first year of [the reign of Darius] I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the LORD my God…” (Daniel 9:2-4)
Daniel’s prayer began with a confession in which he identified himself with his people as being sinful and rebellious. His prayer ended with the plea, “Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary, for the LORD’S sake.” (Daniel 9:17) In praying that God would shine His face on the ruined temple at Jerusalem, Daniel was invoking a part of the priestly benediction of Aaron, Israel’s first high priest – “The LORD make His face to shine upon you…” (Numbers 6:24) God’s “face” is His favour. Daniel knew how to claim a promise!
Daniel’s prayer was no urgent call to the LORD for immediate help, but an extended one of abject confession of sin and failure, one that included himself in the sins and shortcomings of his people. The result? The angel Gabriel assured Daniel that his prayer had been heard and revealed that seventy ‘weeks of years’ (70 x 7 = 490 years) would usher in the Messiah and close the Jewish era with the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem. Gabriel’s last word was “desolation”: the very word Jesus would use when prophesying the same event (Matthew 23:38). The prophecy of Jeremiah that became the prayer of Daniel later became the pronouncement of Jesus. Any question as to whether the LORD would have fulfilled the prophecy He gave to Jeremiah if Daniel had not discovered it and claimed it in prayer is irrelevant. “Known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world.” God’s foreknowledge means that there is no ‘Plan B’.
God does not share His foreknowledge with us for good reason: we would leave all prayer about a particular situation to the chosen person. Our lack of foreknowledge requires that we all pray, since there’s a possibility that the person God foreknew may be any one of us! So when you pray for God’s will to be done in a certain matter, bear in mind the possibility that you might well be the one he has chosen to do it. If the Lord says, “You will be the one,” then all His abilities will be placed at your disposal to see that His will is done exactly as required. Let’s look at that great promise again.
“And you shall seek me and you shall find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) This promise followed a prophecy that was fulfilled historically in answer to Daniel’s responsive prayer. It has also been claimed by God’s people ever since in countless situational contexts. It is as promising today as ever – especially to those who with hindsight see that God’s judgments on past sins and shortcomings were those of a loving Father, and who have come to see the bright light of the promise of better things and now vow, “Lord, I will be the one!”