Daniel 9 consists of two parts: Daniel’s prayer and the vision that he received while still praying. The prayer and vision form a unit:
Through Jeremiah, God promised to restore Jerusalem after 70 years.
Babylon fell in the year before Daniel prayed (539 BC; cf. Dan 9:1). Babylon’s reign of 70 years (Jer 25:9, 11) has come to an end.
In response, Daniel prayed to God to fulfill His promise to restore Israel.
Through the 70-week prophecy, God answered Daniel’s prayer and assured him that He will fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy. The prophecy promised what Daniel prayed for.
As discussed, even more persuasive evidence for the unity of Daniel 9 is the fact that God’s covenant with Israel is the thread that unites prayer and prophecy:
The exile to Babylon was the penalty for unfaithfulness prescribed by the covenant. The duration of the exile, 70 years, was also determined by the covenant. In the covenant, the exile would be one year for every Sabbath year not observed.
Daniel’s prayer was Israel’s confession of guilt, as required by the covenant for covenant renewal.
Through the prophecy, God promised to renew the covenant.
Other Articles
Daniel 9
🔗 Summary of the articles below
🔗 Daniel 9 Explained, Verse-by-Verse
🔗 Introduction to Daniel 9
🔗 The 70 weeks renewed God’s covenant with Israel.
🔗 What was the Decree to Restore Jerusalem?
🔗 When did the 490 end?
🔗 Are the events described chronologically?
🔗 Who makes what covenant during the last seven years?
🔗 What is the Abomination of Desolation in 9:27?
🔗 When will the goals in 9:24 be fulfilled?
🔗 When did Daniel 9 say the Messiah would come?
🔗 Does Daniel 9 describe the same crisis as Daniel 7?
🔗 Was the vision the answer to Daniel’s prayer?
🔗 Where are the 70 years of Babylonian captivity in history?
🔗 The Book of Nehemiah – Valuable context for Daniel
🔗 Dispensational Interpretation – An Evaluation
🔗 Other Anomalies in the Dispensational Interpretation
🔗 Historical-Critical Interpretation of Daniel 9
🔗 The Symbolical Interpretation of Daniel 9
Other Core Articles
🔗 The Mark of the Beast
🔗 All articles on this Site
🔗 Daniel’s Little Horn Identified
🔗 Daniel 9 – Verse-by-Verse
🔗 Daniel 9 – Four Alternative Interpretations
🔗 The Dragon of Revelation 13
🔗 The Beast of Revelation
🔗 The Trinity Doctrine
🔗 The True Origin of the Trinity Doctrine
🔗 The Sabbath was part of the Arian Controversy.
🔗 Christ’s Return
Other Article Series
🔗 The Antichrist in Daniel
🔗 The 490 years of Daniel 9
🔗 Book of Revelation
🔗 Christology – Who is Jesus?
🔗 Why does evil exist?
🔗 Death, Eternal Life, and Eternal Torment
For general theology, I recommend Graham Maxwell.