What does Daniel 9:2 mean?
The fall of the Babylonian empire suggested to Daniel that the Jewish captivity would end soon and the exiles would be allowed to return home. Therefore, he studied the Old Testament books available at the time. Daniel recognized that what Jeremiah wrote about the end of Jerusalem's desolations was the word of the Lord. Second Peter declares that holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), and 2 Timothy 3:16 says. "All Scripture is breathed out by God."Jeremiah 25:9–14 predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would take Jewish captives to Babylon, where they would remain for seventy years. At the conclusion of seventy years, according to Jeremiah 29:10, the exiles would return to their homeland. Daniel's study of this passage, along with Isaiah 44:26–28, must have convinced him that the exile was nearing its end.
Daniel's response to this realization is to pray for God's merciful restoration of Israel (Daniel 9:3). Afterwards, the angel Gabriel will arrive to clarify what the future holds (Daniel 9:21).