How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave. – Lamentations 1:1
2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. – Daniel 9:2-3
3 Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. – Zechariah 8:3-5
Deuteronomic Theology
On this side of heaven, we will never know the blessings we have experienced as a result of the prayers of others. I recognize that every good and perfect gift comes from God, but I also recognize that He uses the prayers of His faithful children in carrying out His sovereign will. Jeremiah’s description of Jerusalem as a lonely desolate city would not give way to Zechariah’s description of Jerusalem as a faithful city filled with old and young alike without the bridge of Daniel’s prayer. If I may word it this way, the reality of the children playing in the streets of Jerusalem would be birthed by Daniel’s Deuteronomic theology.
After God entered into a relationship with the nation of Israel, He entered into a covenant with them. After mercifully delivering Israel from Egyptian bondage, God gives them the law. Through the law, God spelled out for Israel His expectations from them in their relationship. God has showered them with His grace, He requires of them obedience. In Deuteronomy 27 & 28 we see the promised blessings and curses for obedience or disobedience to the laws. One of which was too familiar to Daniel and his contemporaries, “And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known” (Deuteronomy 28:64). In Deuteronomy chapter 30, heaven and earth were called to witness the covenant relationship. In keeping with the importance of the covenant relationship, the tablets were placed in the ark of the covenant. Every seven years the law was to be taken out of the ark and read to the people so that their allegiance to God their King would be reaffirmed. Unfortunately, disobedience ensued. Israel displayed more rebellion than reaffirmation.
Return to the Lord
Daniel understood the connection between Israel’s sin and exile. He also understood the relationship between deliverance and repentance. His familiarity with Deuteronomy was evident.
“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. – Deuteronomy 30:1-5
Going Home
Daniel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, whose writings prompted Daniel’s prayer, had this to say:
10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” – Jeremiah 29:10-14
Daniel’s Children
The book of Daniel mentions nothing about Daniel’s family life. No mention is made of a wife or children. It appears from his firm faith that he most likely had godly parents who were faithful in training him when he was young in spiritual matters. Regardless, I like to think of the young children playing in the streets of Jerusalem under the watchful eye of the elderly as Daniel’s children. The carefree joy of their games in the streets of God’s city is a direct result of Daniel’s fervent prayer before the face of God. I am not implying that Daniel was the only one seeking God with all his heart, but rather using him as the representative of those who called upon the Lord, but whose names history does not record.
Is it possible that one of the elderly people with a staff sitting in the streets of Jerusalem would be Daniel? I don’t know. If so, try to imagine the joy in his heart to witness such a seen after all that he was denied. Yet I get the impression Daniel would never complain. The grace and mercy of God can be experienced at any age and in any place. Makes one thankful for the bridge of prayer. As the exiles return to Jerusalem and once again fill her streets, we have a visual reminder of the blessings that are experienced as a result of the prayers of others. Prayers God promises to answer when we seek Him with all our heart. Daniel’s children are a reminder that God is always faithful to His covenant.