Daniel 9 - His Prayer

Many people want to skip to Gabriel's 70 weeks/sevens prophecy at the end of Daniel 9, and they gloss right over Daniel's prayer. Yet understanding the prayer gives all important context to the proper understanding of the prophecy. After all, Gabriel was sent specifically because of the petition that Daniel was making, at the hour of the evening sacrifice (tamiyd). Knowing the petition is the key to understanding the vision.

What was Daniel asking? Was it to help him understand the end of this world's history as given in the prophecy of Daniel 8, received about 13 years earlier, or was it to help him understand where Daniel and the rest of the captives of Babylon were in their current timeline based on Jeremiah's 70 year prophecy? The prayer makes the answer to this question clear. Only when we apply Gabriel's explanation to the time period for which it was given can we hope to understand the prophecy for what it says.