Daniel 9:24-27 is the most precious portion in the entire book of Daniel. The seventy weeks mentioned in these verses are the key to understanding the prophecies of the Bible. In this message we will consider the vision of the seventy weeks.
The year of this vision was the first year of Darius (about 538 B.C.), son of Ahasuerus (Ezra 4:6; Esth. 1:1-2), a Median descendant (Dan. 9:1-2a).
The cause of the vision is described in 9:2b. "I, Daniel, understood by means of the Scriptures the number of the years, which came as the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet, for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, that is, seventy years." The word of Jehovah to Jeremiah is found in Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10-14.
In Daniel 9:3-23 we see the way to obtain this vision—Daniel's desperate seeking of the Lord God in prayer and supplications with fasting.
In his prayer Daniel confessed his own sins and the sins of the kings, the chief men, and the fathers of Israel, and of all the people of Israel (vv. 3-15, 20a).
In his prayer Daniel also supplicated for the holy city of Jerusalem, the holy mountain of God, and the holy people of God (vv. 16-17, 19b, 20b). This means that he supplicated for all the interests of God on the earth, not for his own interest.