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 a far greater promise.
The words of the prophecy Daniel discovered 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)
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 search out the deep things of God in prayer. But quoting it in isolation removes it from its historical context, which 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!”
The people of the Philippines are known for their diligence and the words “I will be the one” come quickly to the lips of the person who volunteers for a clearly defined responsibility. Due diligence is prized by Filipinos.
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 that 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)
This was how one of the greatest prophecies in the Old Testament was revealed and applied diligently…and what began to take place later became history. You might not help make world history, but telling someone about Jesus might well help play a part in his or her salvation — His Story making history through you is no small thing.