Daniel-Sigh--Seven More Years

By Mary Vee
Daniel 9

From Daniel's Journal

Photo Courtesy

My name is Daniel. I am a prophet of God and a prisoner in the land of Babylon with many other Jews.

I recently received the words given by God to the prophet Jeremiah. The message said we would be in captivity a total of seventy years. We had seven more to go.

I suppose I should have been happy that we had served sixty three years and only had seven more to go. But, I must admit, I wanted to go home. I wanted to go back to the home where I lived as a boy.

My heart ached for the other Jews living as captives here in Babylon. Seven years can seem so long.

I bowed by my prayer window and said this prayer on the behalf of all the Jews living here in captivity:

"O great and awesome God, You are the one who keeps Your covenant of love with all who love You and obey Your commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled. We have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets who speak in your name to our kings, princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

"Lord You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame because of our unfaithfulness to You. You, O Lord are merciful and forgiving even though we have rebelled against You. We have not obeyed You or kept the laws You gave us through Your servants and prophets. We have all sinned and turned away, refusing to obey You.

"The curses written in the Law of Moses have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. You have done what You said You would do. Still we have not searched for Your favor by turning away from our sins and giving attention to Your truth. You have been righteous in bringing this disaster on us because we did not obey You.

"O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous ways, turn away Your anger from us. Please hear my words, I am Your servant. Look at the empty sanctuary and city that bears Your Name. We are not asking because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. 

"O Lord, please listen! Please forgive. O Lord, please hear and act. Do not delay. Your city and Your people bear Your Name. Forgive us."

While I was still speaking to the Almighty God and praying to Him, Gabriel, the man I had seen before, appeared before me. It took me by surprise.

Come back next time to see what happened.

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1. How many years had the people of Judah been captives in Babylon?
2. How many more years did the people have to serve as captives?
3. How did Daniel know?
4. What did Daniel do for the people of Judah?
5. Who suddenly appeared before Daniel while he was praying?

The Captivity Begins

By Mary Vee
II Kings, 15, I Chronicles 5

From the Journals of a Captive Man

Photo Courtesy

I was working in my field.

We had no warning. 

I lived on the east side of the Jordan and am from the tribe of Reuben. 

I looked up at the horizon and saw a vast army marching toward my land. It didn't take long for me to figure out the army came from Assyria because of their weapons, chariots, and number. 

Pekah, our king of Israel, said he would protect us, but he has failed. All three tribes, the Gadites, half tribe of Manessah, and Reubenites, living on the east side of the Jordan were at risk to be taken captive.

Our brave warriors could not stand up to the power of the Assyrians. This is our own fault. We have not worshipped God as we should. Rather we all worshipped the gods from the people who lived near us. God warned us with the prophets, but we didn't listen.

My children and wife cried when the soldiers captured us and tied us to a rope. We had to march away from our home and leave everything behind. Our feet hurt and there was a chill in the night air, but still the soldiers made us march.

The army took us and our brothers from our land in Reuben, Gad, and Manessah to their Assyrian towns. We were assigned to live and be slaves in either Halah, Habor, or the river Gorzon.

I don't know if we will ever be able to go home.

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1. What three groups of Israelites were taken in this first captivity?
2. What army captured them?
3. Why did God allow them to be captured?
4. Where did they take the Israelites?
5. How long will they be in captivity?