Our mighty God rolls the planets in their orbits around the sun and sunstains with unwearied arms the circuits of stellar space, but it is an infinitely great work for Him to lift up us poor, weak creatures and replenish our sagging spirits.
When we were without stregth, Christ died for us, and now we can do all things through Him who makes us strong. Daniel knew what it was to be strengthened by God's might in his inner man. He had realized the truth of the promise found in Isaiah 40:29..."He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."
Part 1 (Daniel 10: 1-9)
The Holy Spirit who moved Daniel to record his experiences must have wanted to convey to us the value of definiteness, for Daniel invariably began with dates, names, and places (Daniel 10:1). The name "Belteshazzar" accompanied the name "Daniel" as if to give further identity to the man.
This is the very same Daniel who was taken captive as a youth, brought to Nebuchadnezzar's court, and given a pagan name years earlier. he had continued his administrative work until the first year of Cyrus' reign (Daniel 1:21) and now in semi-retirement in the third year of Cyrus (535 B.C.), Daniel could say with the Apostle Paul, "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue until this day, witnessing both small and great" (Acts 26:22).
Daniel had been overcome with grief and gave himself to mourning for three weeks. More than two years had passed since Cyrus had issued the command which permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem. You would think Daniel would have been singing praises... but he wasn't. Why?
I think the sorrows of the prophet derived from his knowledge that only a relatively small number of Jews (49, 897) had returned to the homeland.
The great majority, including princes and priests, had preferred their comfortable homes and positions in Babylon's beauitful environment to the desolation of Palestine and the hardships that awaited them there.
Daniel had heard those who were in Jerusalem had met with the opposition of the Samaritans. Some of the people had fallen into indifference, and others were depressed and discouraged. The feeble remnant had actually ceased their labors on the temple, and these facts were enough to bring Daniel to his knees.
The aged prime minster took no interest in food, wine, or anointing (Daniel 10:3). He could not interrupt his intercession before God long enough to refresh his languishing body.
But gloom was transformed to glory by the appearing of "A certain man clothed in linen" (vs. 5). Debate continues about the identity of the heavenly visitor. But the sevenfold similarity between the description in verses 5, 6 and the description in Revelation 1: 13-16 is rather convincing evidence Daniel was face to face with a Christophany--an appearance of Christ in His preincarnate form.
The linen speaks of Christ's perfect righteousness, His absolutely sinless humanity. The golden girdle is an emblem of His deity and glory. It signifies His permanence, preciousness, and purity. The word "girded" denotes His sovereignty and strength.
His body was like beryl (Daniel 10:6). No one is certain about the meaning of many of the gems of the Bible, but beryl is probably either a yellow topaz or a blue-green stone like the emerald.
If the topaz is meant, it suggests His glory. If the emerald is in view, it intimates His grace. The lightning recalls the dazzling brilliance and suddenness of His arrival. Lightning is the precursor to a storm, and there it may speak of the approaching judgment.
His eyes were like lamps of fire. This depicts His omniscience and severity. Like burning X rays, His eyes can penetrate to the very marrow of the bones. His feet were like the color of brass--another emblem of judgment. The voice like thunder refers to His omnipotence and authority. The dead will hear the voice of omnipotence and rise from their graves.
The reaction of Daniel to the vision corresponds to John's reaction in Revelation 1:17 and to Paul's response in Acts 9:4. Only Daniel actually saw the Lord and heard His words.
His companions probably were dazzled by the light and deafened by the thunderous tones. They fled the scene in terror (Daniel 10:7). Paul's companions had much the same experience on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:7).
Daniel was left alone in the divine presence. He had an experience similar to that of Moses, who was covered with the glory of the Lord upon Mount Sinai. Moses reported "the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire" (Exodus 24:17). The presence of God in His holiness had the same effect upon Daniel that it had upon Isaiah, who sensed his own leprous corruption (Isaiah 6:5).
Like Ezekiel, Daniel collapsed on the ground (Daniel 10:9, Ezekiel 1:28). Nothing but an appearance of Deity can account for Daniel's prostration in Daniel 10: 8,9.
Part 2 Daniel 10: 10-21
For the second time Daniel felt an angelic touch. The Lord of glory is not the subject of verses 10-14; instead, Gabriel--a subordinate and servant of the Lord--ministered to Daniel, helped him to a crouching position, assured him of the divine favor, and encouraged him to get to his feet (vs. 11).
The trembling Daniel listened while Gabriel explained the reason for the delayed answer to his prayer (vs. 12, 13). The angel had begun his journey to earth 21 days earlier when Daniel first abandoned himself to grief and prayer, but the angel was intercepted en route by the prince of Persia, and was able to continue his flight earthward only after the archangel Michael came to his defense and released him from the clutches of the adversary.
Here the veil between the physical and spiritual world is lifted momentarily. Only on rare occasions does the Scripture take us behind the scenes of world events to the invisible world of spirits. Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on the ladder staircase to Heaven (Genesis 28:12). On his return from Haran, Jacob was met by "God's host" --angelic guardians.
Elisha's servant saw the heavenly warriors hovering over the impending battle at Dothan (2 kings 6:17). Jesus gave us a glimpse of the unseen world in Luke 16 where He described the conditions of the wicked and the righteous after their death.
Jesus promised the authorities of the invisible realm would never overthrow the church (Matthew 16:18). He did not correct the devil's boast that he had the power to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8,9).
The Apostle Paul reminded the churches Satan is the prince of the power of the air. The airways above earth seem to be the special theater of his activity. Christ in His ascent through the air and after His resurrection encounterd principalities and powers which He defeated victoriously (Colossians 2:15).
Believers are called upon to wrestle with these principalities and pwoers "in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" (2 Corinthians 10:4)
The writer of Hebrews makes a special point of calling the reader's attention to the fact that Christ passed through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14), as if to suggest the hostile territory through which He must pass. Christ will come into the air rather than to allow the church to traverse the devil's territory alone (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
The Word of God gives us every reason to think demonic intelligences govern world powers behind the scenes. Paul calls them "rulers of the darkness of this world" (Ephesians 6:12)--literally, "World-rulers of this darkness."
Daniel 10 is the first reference to the fact the empires of earth are influenced by satanic personalities in the demon world. Human government is subject to demon manipulation. Satan has assigned certain fallen angels to political activities among the nations so Satan's program can be carried out in an organized and systematic way. The devil is not omnipotent or omnipresent; therefore, he has to depend upon agents who are accountable to him.
We are given to understand also the holy angels act on behalf of the affairs of men and nations. Michael, particularly, is the guardian and protector of Israel. He is responsible for preserving the people through generations of dispersion and persecution. Michael and his angels are engaged in an unremitting war--a war to be climaxed in the tribulation--against the devil and his angels (Revelation 12:7).
Michael engaged in a dispute with the devil over the body of Moses (Jude 9). An angel will lay hold of Satan and cast him into the abyss for 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). Gabriel expected another assault from the tutelary demon prince of Persia on his Heavenward fight. He intimated also the time would come when he would fight with a principality who was responsible to influence the Greek government (Daniel 10:20).
"Tutelary" pertains to the exercise of authority and guardianship. Everything points to the fact that each nation is directed in its evil purposes by mastermind--Satan--who appoints demon princes over the world system. As soon as the Greek empire would come on the scene, it too would be influenced by demon power.
The whole effect of the information and the angelic speech combined to stupefy and strip Daniel of his strength (vs. 15, 16). The identity of the being in verses 16, 17 has not been settled to everyone's satisfaction. At any rate, Gabriel is evidently in view in verses 18, 19 because he touches Daniel and addresses him as the "man greatly beloved" as he did before (vs. 10, 11).
The work of calming, consoling and caring for God's people is certainly the work of angels. Both Jesus and Daniel knew the keeping power of angels (Psalm 91: 11, 12). The angels are chiefly characterized by wisdom and strength.
Their special ministry to the saints is to assure their physical safety and well-being. Angels calm men's fears (Luke 1:30) and stand by their side to strengthen and cheer them on (Acts 27: 23, 24).
Nothing in Daniel 10: 18, 19 is incompatible with what we read elsewhere in Scripture about the duties of angels. The final word of Gabriel to Daniel was that he had come to show DAniel "The which is noted in the scripture of truth" (vs. 21).
The events that will come to pass are already written in the decrees of God and therefore are sure and final. The course of events cannot be altered.
Daniel was thus strengthened to receive the forthcoming details of end-time events--matters which concerned his own people in the latter days (vs. 14). The last two chapters of the book unfold these momentous events.
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