“O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act, and do not put it off, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
Daniel's prayer was becoming more fervent. His pleading increased, ‘hear, forgive, listen, act, do not put off'. His desperation is apparent. He would not take no for an answer, for he was deeply concerned for God's reputation. The Lord must act for His own name's sake, for the vindication of His name by restoring the city and the people which were called by His name.
Gabriel Appears With The Promise That God Will Fully Bring About His Purposes, But It Will Not Be Within Seventy Years But Within Seventy ‘Sevens'.
At this point deliverance for Israel was already in motion. In this first year of Cyrus the edict would be proclaimed which allowed Israel to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple (Ezra 1). The same would happen to many other nations. It was Cyrus' policy. Indeed he restored many gods to their homelands from which Nabonidus had removed them, and in Israel's case commanded that the temple vessels, stolen by Nebuchadnezzar, should be restored to them.
But while man was concerned for the city and the temple, God's concern was for greater things. His vision far exceeded that of Daniel. The city and temple were secondary, indeed would eventually be put out of the way. What mattered was the final fulfilment of history in the establishing of the Rule of God in righteousness. And graciously He recognised that that was indeed the end that Daniel really intended without fully understanding it. He would grant him the greater blessing.