Daniel 10
The final three chapters in Daniel contain the last vision and interpretation of this prophetic book. In some of the previous visions, the prophet had indicated that he did not understand the visions that he saw or even the explanatory words that he heard. While we learn in chapter twelve that the timing and the outcome of the events referred to here remain mysterious to Daniel, we begin this section with a strong statement that the prophet understood the word and the vision. When we come to difficult apocalyptic sections of the Scriptures, it is not our goal to guess at possible interpretations, as if we cannot be satisfied until we have understood everything. Instead, we want to understand what the Lord has for us to understand, and we want to have peace and trust regarding all of it. Too often we argue about those aspects of a passage that seem beyond our comprehension, and we do not give sufficient attention to the amazing things in a text that are very clear and very important.
Even though there were important things that Daniel understood concerning the final vision of this book, this does not mean that the experience of receiving this revelation was an easy one. Daniel saw an impressive-looking and very frightening angel. Though his friends saw no one, they must have sensed something, since they were overcome with a great trembling and they ran away to hide. Daniel was left alone and he had no strength left in him. The appearance, the voice, the feeling of this angelic messenger was too much to bear. Then the angel touched him, and picked him up, but he was still on his hands and knees trembling.
Despite the sights and sounds associated with this heavenly visitor, the message that he began to speak was very comforting. Daniel was greatly loved by God, and the Lord had heard His request and had set in motion certain events in response to Daniel’s prayer. These are not small points. In the turmoil of world events and the personal challenges of even a calm life, we can take some comfort in the truth of what our status is with God. Through Jesus Christ we are called sons of God and referred to as the beloved of the Lord. We are also told to pray without ceasing and are encouraged in this duty by the fact that we have bold access to God through the mediation of our Savior.
What follows now is not easy for us to wrap our minds around since it speaks of realms of existence that are simply beyond our normal frame of reference. Whatever difficulties we may have in understanding the finer point of what is said here and in the next two chapters, there are certain things that are obvious. God is involved in the affairs of men and nations. This is something that we learned in the events of Daniel’s life recorded in the earliest chapters of the book. There is a strong connection between those memorable and inspiring stories and the apocalyptic visions that we are looking at now. They both teach the absolute sovereignty of God. Furthermore, there seems to be some connection between specific beings in heavenly realms and events among particular people groups and nations here below. It should not surprise us that this would be hard for us to consider. We have a hard time understanding the life of even one soul. How are we to consider the society of angels and then the relationship between the societies of men and that of angels? What we should see is that God is above all of these things and controls them, and it is for this reason that He can send us a sure message about the future.
The final thing we can glean from this passage is that the Lord is able to give us the strength necessary to respect and value the reality of spiritual life. We can go beyond simply being overwhelmed by the facts of heaven. We can be strong and of good courage as it relates to these matters because the Lord is able to strengthen us in our own souls. The affairs of
The events of our own lives would be plenty of trouble for us without hearing about
This reality of soul encouragement is one of the many benefits that our Savior has won for us through His death. It is important to realize that we are supposed to ask for the blessings of the Holy Spirit, rather than simply to presume that we already have them. The Lord, before He took His seat at the Father’s right hand, told us that we should ask Him for help, that our joy might be full. There is probably no reason for us to be entirely and forever incapacitated by things that are beyond us. God is stronger than kings and angels, and He is in us for our greater comfort and for our more fruitful service in His glorious Kingdom.
posted by Pastor Magee @ 6:00 AM
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