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"Daniel Confesses the Sins Of Israel"
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Daniel, who was in the realm of the Chaldeans (Babylonians), realized from the writings of Jeremiah that the 70 years of captivity would be over in 516 B.C..1..In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans: 2..In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Daniel 9:1-2
DANIEL CONFESSES THE SINS OF ISRAEL 3..And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth, and ashes: 4..And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments: 5..We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgements: 6..Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7..O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day: to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8..O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9..To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him; 10..Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Daniel 9:3-10
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SOLOMON'S TEMPLE REBUILT
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In 539 BC, Babylon fell to a coalition of Medes and Persians. The new rulers made it their policy to restore captive nations to their respective homelands. Among those captives were the Jews. Over 42,000 Israelites made the return trip to Jerusalem in 537 B.C while 960,000 remained in Babylon. They returned to Judah with authority to rebuild their temple. Seventeen years later, construction still languished. God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to rebuke the neglect by the returnees.In 520 B.C. Haggai preached "Is it time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruin?" Through Haggai, the Lord asked the Jews how they had fared since their return. "You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put them into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6, ). Haggai said God wanted them to bring wood and rebuild His house.
Judah's political and religious leaders listened. Under their leadership, the remnant of exiles who had returned completed the rebuilding of Solomon's Temple on March 3, 516 B.C. After they completed the Temple they celebrated the Passover. The seventy years of captivity had finally come to an end.
"And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar which was in the sixth year of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. And the children of the captivity kept the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month." Ezra 6:15.16.19
The delay in rebuilding was due to the fact that there were only a few thousand workers compared to Solomon's 153,000 workers. The rebuilt Temple was inferior to Solomon's original Temple and the older men who had seen the original Temple wept at the sight, while the younger men who had not seen the original rejoiced.
"But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." Ezra 3:12-13
But it wasn't much to look at. "Is it not in your sight as nothing?" the Lord asked them. Well, they should not think that way. God's Spirit was with them. And a day was coming when the Lord would shake Heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land. "I will fill this house with splendor," God promised. "The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former," said the Lord. "From this day on, I will bless you," he promised.
The temple was rebuilt yet again by Herod the Great, who restored it in stone and covered it with gold. It was this temple that Jesus the Messiah visited in his life, A generation after Christ's death and resurrection, Herod's temple was cast down by the Romans. Haggai also prophesied that all the nations would bring their treasures to the temple. That event has not been fulfilled. It awaits yet another temple when Jesus the Messiah returns to rule the earth.
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