Jeremiah’s prophetic word concerning the Babylonian captivity
Jeremiah 29:10 (NKJV) “For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.”
The Fall of Jerusalem
2 Chronicles 36: 15 – 20 (NKJV) “15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”
King of the Chaldeans is also the king of Babylon – Babylonians same as Chaldeans
Thus the Babylonian captivity (The land’s Sabbaths) begun
The end of Babylonian Rule – revealed by Daniel
Daniel 5: 26 – 28 (NKJV) “26 This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Daniel 5: 30-31 (NKJV) “30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.”
Daniel’s Prayer for the People
Daniel 9: 1- 2 (NKJV) “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
As we mentioned in our previous article (Repentance for a nation – The Prayer of Daniel) we know that Daniel began to pray when he understood by the books the number of years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah. We showed the link between Daniel’s prayer and the model of repentance that was laid out by Solomon at the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6 and 7, however, we contend there is more to the prayer and its timing.
Cyrus the King Of Persia (God’s Instrument)
Isaiah 44:28 (NKJV) “Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’
Isaiah 45:1 (NKJV) “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:”
All of this was written almost 150-200 years before Cyrus conquered Babylon (539 B.C.).
The Proclamation of Cyrus
2 Chronicles 36: 15 – 20 (NKJV)“22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!”
End of The Babylonian Captivity
Ezra 1 : 1-4 (NKJV) “1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
The Captives Who Returned to Jerusalem
Ezra 2:1 (NKJV) “2 Now[a] these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.”
More than just a prayer of repentance
Could Daniel’s prayer also be a prayer that contended for the stirring up of Cyrus’ heart to fulfill the assignment upon his life concerning the breaking of the captivity and the people of Israel being returned back to their nation? If it so then, just receiving a prophetic word or knowing a prophetic word is not the end of it all. We must contend in prayer concerning that prophetic word. Praying after receiving a prophetic word is actually a necessary response to that word which has been given.
It is bringing God into remembrance of the promises and the words that He has spoken over us. When Daniel prayed it was more than a just a confession, it was contending not only with the word spoken by God through the prophet Jeremiah, but also that word which was declared by the prophet Isaiah concerning Cyrus. Daniel was also reminding God of the word that He spoke to Solomon at the dedication of the temple – “2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by my name…..”
This was a convergence of several prophetic words. Mixed with prayer, heaven moved and brought it all to pass
It is our prayer that this will encourage you to continue contending for the prophetic words that were declared over you.
