Daily Bible Reading–March 2021 God's Word of PrayerNäide

March 23

Introduction

Following up yesterday’s reading about Jeremiah’s prophecy, the angel Gabriel appears to Daniel and explains that the seventy years are really seven times seventy, or 490 years, the time set by God to free the people from sin and evil. The “Awful Horror” (verse 27) probably refers to the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 B.C.

Today’s Scripture Reading 

Daniel 9:20-27

Today’s Key Verse: Daniel 9:20

[Daniel said:] I went on praying, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and pleading with the LORD my God to restore his holy Temple.

Reflect

Reread verse 24. What will happen after 490 years (7 times 70) have passed? What are your thoughts about the vision that is described? The “Awful Horror” probably refers to dishonoring God, whereby a foreign ruler desecrated the Temple by means of using the altar for sacrifices to foreign gods. Are there ways in which God is dishonored today?

Pray

Merciful God, you are able to look deep within my heart. Forgive the wrongs I have done and ways I may have acted that dishonor you. Restore me to a right relationship with you. In your holy name, I pray. Amen.

Prayer Concern

Those seeking forgiveness

Tomorrow’s Reading

Daniel 10:1—11:1: Daniel’s vision by the Tigris River