Daniel 9:21-23 “Prayer”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹and while I [was] one speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, who I had seen in a vision in the former, flying swiftly, one touching me according to the time of the evening sacrifice, ²²and he caused [me] to understand and spoke with me and he said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight of understanding, ²³In the beginning of your request, a word went out, and I have come to declare because you [are] greatly valued, and discern in the matter and cause to understand in the vision.”

One more thought before I dive into Gabriel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks – Isn’t it interesting here to see what goes on when we pray? Oftentimes as we pray, do we not feel, in a sense, like we’re praying to the air? What I mean is that, as we pray, we are for the most part praying in faith. We get to see no visions, hear no voices, and sometimes wonder if our prayers do any good at all. Yet we pray on, simply believing in our God who says He hears our prayers. He told us, “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jer. 33:3). He said, “Ask and you shall receive.” Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray and not give up!” And so we go to Him, pour out our hearts, cry out for answers, beg His help and deliverances, plead for those we love, and do it all to a large extent simply in faith.

What do we see in this passage? Our friend Daniel goes to prayer. He sees a need – in this case the deliverance of the Jewish people. He is a prophet and certainly has at times been allowed to see visions, yet, I would suggest that most of the time he had to pray in simple faith, just like you and me. In other words, I’m sure he had no expectation that his prayer would be answered by the physical appearance of an angel! In his mind, he would pray his prayer, then, like Habakkuk say, “I will stand at my watch; I will look to see what He will say to me” (2:1). In other words, having prayed his prayer, he would simply arise, go back to “the king’s business,” and simply wait in faith to see what the Lord would do – just like you and me.

To an unbeliever, it would all seem like a pointless business – literally “praying to the air,” a silly activity where the only thing accomplished was to make us “feel better.” Yet, what does this passage teach us? What do we learn when the Lord draws back the veil and allows us to see into the spirit world? Far from “praying to the air” or a “pointless business,” what we get to see is that prayer literally “moves heaven and earth!”

There was Gabriel at his position, “Standing in the presence of God.” We learn that “as soon as Daniel began to pray,” an answer was given, and Gabriel was sent to fly swiftly to him. It says he was sent to “Give you insight and understanding.” All of that actually happened, yet the only reason we know it is because we’re told. In other words, all of that could have happened and we would have been completely oblivious to it, except that we are told. In our case today, the usual plan is exactly that, that we don’t get to “see” what is happening in the spirit world. Yet, would we think that not to be the case for us?

On exactly that point, I cannot possibly relate the number of times, as an engineer, I’ve been faced with extremely difficult situations, even ones where no one else can figure out what’s going on or what to do about it. I have prayed and then suddenly the answer just occurs to me! At those times, I am keenly aware that somehow it “wasn’t me,” that, even to me, it is a complete mystery how I saw that. Why should I not believe exactly the same thing happened for me as for Daniel. As soon as I began praying, an answer was given, and the Lord sent an angel to give me “insight and understanding!” My first thought is that I doubt the Lord sent any angel as important as Gabriel to someone like me, but then, what does that matter? The same thing is true for me as for Daniel – prayer moves heaven and earth!

I’m quite sure any real believer reading this can say “Amen” and Amen.” We’ve all seen answers to our prayers and sometimes all of us have had that clear sense that something miraculous just happened. By faith, we should not be surprised. What I mean is, knowing our Bibles, and particularly now thinking of this passage in Daniel, we can and should believe that our prayers are not only heard, but that they serve to mobilize even angels, to call down real help, that there is an entire world responding to those prayers – a spirit world which our eyes cannot see.

We’re of course reminded of Elisha and his servant. When the Syrian army surrounded their house, Elisha told his servant, “’Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (II Kings 6:16-18). Our passage here in Daniel is calling us to “see” the same thing. Not only are we not “praying to the air,” we can believe by faith that our prayers are mobilizing spiritual forces far greater than our minds can even imagine!

Just so it’s said, someone may argue that Daniel is a prophet and a model believer and somehow more worthy than the rest of us to receive such miraculous answers to prayer, but that argument needs to be simply shot down. As noted earlier, although he may be a model believer to the rest of us, he would be the first to remind us he too is a child of Adam, that his heart, like ours, is desperately wicked, and that it is pure grace that has made him who he is. The whole point of Hebrews 4 is that Jesus is our High Priest, and therefore we can come boldly to the Throne of Grace. What does it say in vv. 14-16? “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” It is Jesus who makes us worthy to pray.

So then, let us all pray on! When we have that awful feeling we’re “praying to the air,” let’s say in faith, “Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief!” and pray on. And let us pray believing that we are in fact surrounded by a spirit world we cannot see, that our prayers really do move mountains. Like Jesus said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53).

May Daniel and his friend Gabriel today remind us that in fact “prayer moves heaven and earth!”

 

Daniel 9:21-23 “Learning from an Angel”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹and while I [was] one speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, who I had seen in a vision in the former, flying swiftly, one touching me according to the time of the evening sacrifice, ²²and he caused [me] to understand and spoke with me and he said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight of understanding, ²³In the beginning of your request, a word went out, and I have come to declare because you [are] greatly valued, and discern in the matter and cause to understand in the vision.”

These verses, like the entire Bible, are like a diamond – with seemingly a thousand different sparkling faces. Every way you turn it, it sparkles in a new and beautiful way. So it is with these verses -- so rich in blessings. We even get to hear the words of an angel and I believe we can learn a great deal from him.

The first and biggest blessing is simply grace. These three verses explode with it! What do I mean? To begin with, note that angels themselves are an expression of God’s grace – the fact that He has appointed these spirit beings to minister to us, to guard us, and, in Daniel’s case, even to guide us. We certainly don’t deserve such a kindness, yet that is our God. “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” While Daniel prays and confesses the unworthiness of his people and even himself, God sends an angel to speak directly to him!

For Daniel, how does this encounter with Gabriel begin? He says in v.21, “he touched me.” Is not “touch” something profoundly personal for us humans? How often have we all savored the comfort of a hug or enjoyed a simple pat on the back? When two human beings share any kind of sincere “touch,” I would suggest there’s far more going on than just the physical contact. Would anyone disagree that there is a spiritual contact that occurs? It is one thing to have someone stand at a distance and say, “I love you.” Is it not something far more profound when they step toward us and give us a hug. It is one thing to have one stand at a distance and say, “Good job.” Is it not something far deeper when they add to it that simple pat on the shoulder or back? “Touch” is perhaps one of the most unrecognized blessings we humans can share with one another. Yet, here it is an angel that touches Daniel! The very touch is an expression of grace.

I’m reminded when the leper said to Jesus, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean,” and it says, “Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man,” then said to him, “I am willing, be clean!” (Matt. 8:2,3). Note that Jesus could have just stood at a distance and healed him. Yet He reached out His hand and touched him. What that must have meant to that poor leper! NO ONE touched a leper! How long had it been since this man had felt the comfort of another person’s simple touch? Instead, people “keep their distance” and even ran from his presence – everyone except Jesus, that is. One can only imagine the fellow bounding away, singing Bill & Gloria Gaither’s song, “He Touched Me!”

When Joan had first become a Christian, she was deeply troubled about something and praying. Suddenly, she says, she clearly felt a hand on her shoulder, which she knew immediately was Jesus comforting her. We could now ask whether that might have been an angel sent by Jesus, but then, what does that matter? It was still Jesus and His grace, knowing how badly we humans need touch. What an incredible kindness that Gabriel reached out his hand and touched Daniel!

Then think about it. Here is Gabriel. He is an angel. He stands in the presence of God. He is a pure, sinless, glorified being. Although to us Daniel is a model human being, yet, as he would remind us, he is still one of us – a child of Adam. Apart from grace, he is a man with a heart “desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.” Without Jesus he is ”wretched and naked and poor.” Who knows? Maybe to Gabriel, he even stinks? Yet, in all of Gabriel’s words, there is nothing of judgment or condemnation. Gabriel, no doubt, can clearly see Daniel’s unholiness, yet all he shows him is kindness! Spiritually speaking, we humans are the lepers – sinful, vile, and corrupt – and you would think the angels would be disgusted at us and “keep their distance.” Instead they actually “minister” to us. That is grace straight from the throne of God! His angels would teach us that we are unquestionably the objects of grace!

Think about the ways he is gracious to Daniel. As we’ve said, he actually reaches out and touches him. Then note, he addresses him by his name – Daniel. Way back in chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had thought he could turn the boys into Babylonians if he gave them Babylonian names. He had called him “Belteshazzar,” which meant something to do with the god Bel. Of course that didn’t “stick.” Daniel was and still is Daniel. The Babylonians may still want to re-name him after all these years, but Gabriel will have none of that. He calls him by his name – Daniel. And it’s interesting that, like us, angels have names. Once again, they are not raccoons. They are intelligent, moral beings with names. The first time Daniel met this angel (some 11 years earlier in 8:16), the Lord addressed him as Gabriel. I believe, for both them and us, it is actually an expression of respect to be addressed by our name.

I try, whenever we are eating out, to make it a point to know the server’s name, then use their name whenever we speak with them. I think it is far more personal and respectful to say, “Thank you, Amy,” rather than just “Thank you.” Our servers are not just nameless slaves. They are each one a real person with a real life, and I personally think addressing them by their name is a way of me acknowledging just that. We can even write them a little note on the receipt, like “Amy, you’re a great server!” Again, just a way to communicate respect. As I read Daniel 9:22, that’s exactly what I think Gabriel is communicating by addressing our friend by his proper name – Daniel. By the way, it isn’t just in restaurants that I’m suggesting we should remember this. Anytime someone is “serving” us in any way, I believe we should try to make it a point to know their name and address them with it. It’s just a way of acknowledging they are a real person. I believe that is being gracious and something we can learn from Gabriel.

Then note, Gabriel immediately communicates with Daniel why he is there. He says, “I have now come to give you insight and understanding.” His appearance apparently doesn’t “terrify” Daniel like the first time they met, but still Daniel is a man and it’s no routine sort of thing to be actually, visibly visited by an angel! It has been my observation in life that it is really important to communicate with people for the express reason that if they don’t know, they will always assume the worst. If I’m supposed to be working on someone’s project, but I don’t keep touching base with them, they will assume I have forgotten about them and even grow resentful. They hear nothing, so they assume I’m doing nothing. Just an occasional note, “Here’s where we stand,” assures them I am working on it and prevents any unnecessary resentment.

I’d also insist that applies profoundly to love. You can sit in the corner and think loving thoughts about someone, but if you never tell them, you’ll always leave them wondering. Love that doesn’t get communicated is, in a large sense, useless. People need to know they’re loved, and huge part of that is simply telling them. I’m suggesting Gabriel knows all of this and it is just another expression of his graciousness that he immediately informs Daniel why he’s there. Daniel would have figured it out eventually, but how nice that isn’t necessary. From the very beginning, he knows exactly why Gabriel is there – because Gabriel told him why he was there.

It's no doubt an expression of God’s grace that Gabriel informs him, “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given.”  What a nice little morsel of encouragement! Gabriel didn’t need to tell him that. Why not just, “I have a message for you,” and start into it? It’s nice to know of the kindnesses that others have shown us, even if we don’t need to know it. The whole point of Gabriel being there is to deliver this incredible prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. Yet he would take the time to make sure Daniel knows the Lord’s answer was given “As soon as you began to pray.” We should all try to be aware of the encouraging things we can tell people. They need it. Pretty much all they get from everyone else is negativity, sarcasm, and even put-downs. How much better to hear the positives in this world?

I once knew a fine Christian man who made the statement, “Any time I hear one person say something nice about another person, I make it a point to tell them about it.” As he said that, I thought how gracious that is – to say to someone, “I heard something nice about you the other day. So and so said …” It is not only encouraging, but also is just one little way to promote their relationship! That is just one example of how we can be consciously trying to make sure we tell people even the little tidbits of encouragement which we know about – just like Gabriel.

And, of course, the huge expression of grace in the whole interchange is Gabriel telling him, “You are highly esteemed.” That gets translated many ways: greatly loved, of great value, very precious, etc. As usual in ancient languages, it is a picture word, so it is hard to pin down with a single word in English. In their usual effort to express that word’s picture, the Amplified Bible stretches it out to “for you are highly regarded and greatly beloved.”

This is so much grace, we all need to just park and let it sink in. What has Daniel just been earnestly praying about? His sins and the sin of his people! As we noted above, Daniel, in his prayer, has used just about every Hebrew word there was for sin. It’s as if he can’t think of enough words to confess just how badly they have failed the Lord. And let us be reminded, every word he said was true. Yet, Gabriel comes to him and tells him he is greatly loved, greatly valued, even precious to God.

I wonder if that is part of what the Lord sent him to say? He was definitely sent to relate the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. I can easily imagine Gabriel is saying this entirely of his own accord. In other words, here is Gabriel, and what does he do? He “stands in the presence of God,” And what does he hear there? He might hear the devil accusing Daniel (like he did poor Job), but all he hears and observes from the Lord is great love for Daniel. We’ve all had bosses or teachers who really, really liked someone. Every time that person was around or their name was mentioned, that boss or teacher would smile from ear to ear, their eyes would sparkle, and they had nothing but good to say about them. How easy it would be to say to that person, “You know you are greatly loved, highly esteemed, greatly valued?” I would suggest that might be just what is happening here. No matter, really, since the source of all this grace is the Lord Himself, regardless of who actually expresses it, but it’s also worth considering the grace is coming personally from Gabriel – just like it should from us.

How unbelievably kind is this? As Daniel is overwhelmed by the enormity of he and his people’s sinfulness, to hear that he is “greatly loved”? How like Jesus. “Does no one condemn you? Then neither do I.” “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved by Him.” We are all very aware of our sinfulness and how unworthy we are of God’s love, yet He says it a million times in a million different ways from the front cover of the Bible to the back. In Jesus, He has put away our sins “as far as the east is from the west.” He did that for Daniel and He does it for you and me. That’s why His name is Jesus – “for He shall save His people from their sins.”

The book of Hebrews (4:16) makes it crystal clear that in Jesus you and I can “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” I suppose I speak for us all to say I am constantly and keenly aware of how much I have failed God, how I’ve wasted so much of the life He gave me, and just how unworthy I am to even peek my dirty face into His presence. Yet, the Holy Spirit reminds me of that very verse in Hebrews and so this unworthy, detestable sinner by faith steps into the Lord’s glorious presence and blabbers all his probably silly, childish needs. Greatly valued? Wow. If that isn’t grace, what is?

Gabriel wants Daniel to believe it. No doubt he wants you and me to believe it too. Daniel needed to believe it,,,and so do you and I!  

Lastly, just consider Gabriel’s admonition: “Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.” Note the word “consider” is an active word. All day every day we “hear” a lot of things and they basically just bounce off our eardrums. Gabriel is specifically urging Daniel to apply himself to understanding this message. Of course, Daniel’s determination to understand is exactly why he’s there to begin with – Daniel has been studying Jeremiah and took seriously the Lord’s prophecy the Babylonian Captivity would last only seventy years. However, we and Daniel must be constantly “girding up the loins of our minds” and “giving the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.” Gabriel’s admonition is there to remind us we need to be constantly and deliberately going to God’s Word with the determination to understand. James tells us we need to be “doers of the Word, and not hearers only.”

And so we will study on. We’ll dive into this profound prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, just like Daniel had to, but may we do so taking with us the very lessons we’ve learned from Gabriel and his graciousness. May we be moved to be more like him. He’s like Jesus. He gives us just one more example of what a godly person (or angel) is (or should be) like.

The people around us may never knowingly see an angel, but may they know what grace is because the Lord gave you and me the grace to be gracious! So much to learn – even from angels!

 

Daniel 9:21 “Seeing”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹and while I [was] one speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, who I had seen in a vision in the former, flying swiftly, one touching me according to the time of the evening sacrifice.

Now begins a part of this chapter I have looked forward to studying – Daniel’s interaction with angels. In this case, he is particularly interacting with Gabriel, who had appeared to him back in chapter 8. He will deal a lot with angels now clear to the end of the book. As I noted back in chapter 7, I believe we can learn a great deal from Daniel on exactly this point. What I mean is that, although we normally are not allowed to actually see angels, yet Daniel would teach us that they are all about us and intimately involved in our lives. My point would be that you and I can see them, although it is a seeing of faith. If by faith we believe what we find written in God’s Word, then we do in fact “see” the spiritual world that is swirling all around us. People who do not acknowledge God’s Word may think this world is all there is, but that is not only delusional, it is also eternally consequential.

In one very serious example, I Peter 5:8 informs us that “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” You and I can “see” him by faith, by believing God’s Word and taking it seriously, while the rest of the world blunders on in a literally fatal delusion, completely unaware of an enemy who would not only love to kill them but literally drag them down to hell. It is true. That truth ought to shake the human race to their bones, but it will not without faith. Interestingly, I once had a fellow I worked with sidle over to me and confide, “I was at a friend’s house, and there was a Bible laying open, and I saw a verse that says the devil is like roaming around devouring people. Is that true?” I answered him simply, “Yes” and he was obviously moved by it all.  A year or so later, he had become a saved man. Good for him. He believed God’s Word, took it seriously, and started being wise! That is what I am talking about – that young man “saw” the devil by faith.

Yes, we are living in a world literally swirling in an ocean of spiritual beings usually not visible to the human eye. They are all around us and they are impacting our lives constantly both for good and for evil. To deny their existence or simply to ignore their presence is, again, of eternal consequence. I believe studying Daniel and learning from him, you and I can be much more aware of angels’ existence and their presence and make us wiser as we live, in a sense, in their world. The more we “see” that, the better job we’ll do of remembering the real battle is “not against flesh and blood” but rather against “the spiritual forces of darkness in this world” (Eph. 6:12).  

The book of Hebrews asks, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (1:14). If we step back and think our way through the Bible, we’ll realize we’re told a LOT about angels, that they are VERY involved in people’s affairs. Understanding Job 38:7 to refer to angels, they were there even as the Lord created our universe. The serpent who tempted Adam and Eve was, of course, Satan himself – an angel, and after they sinned the Lord placed cherubim at the gate of Eden “to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24). If you think through your Bible, you’ll realize there are a LOT of references to angels and their impacts on human lives – both for good and for evil. The New Testament opens with the angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, they were there to comfort Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness, He was constantly confronting demons, an angel rolled the stone away, angels were there in the tomb, an angel asked the disciples, “Why do stand here looking up…?”, an angel walked Peter out of prison, and the book of Revelation is literally filled with them.

Here we are in Daniel 9, and Gabriel himself actually appears to Daniel and speaks to him. Note this is the same Gabriel who will some 500 years later speak to Zechariah and to Mary. When Zechariah doubts his announcement of John the Baptist’s birth, he tells him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God!” (Luke 1:19). How it must have impressed Zechariah to realize he was speaking to the very angel Daniel had known! Isn’t it interesting too to realize that Gabriel hadn’t “aged”? Those 500 years had passed and the same Gabriel was still speaking for God. Now, let us all realize that another 2,000 years have passed and he is still Gabriel, he is still serving God, and he is just as real and active in God’s plans as he was back then. He is, at this very moment, present somewhere between heaven and earth, faithfully doing the Lord’s bidding.

Notice too that, in order to get to Daniel, Gabriel had “flown swiftly.” The Hebrew that is translated “flew swiftly” is actually a bit obscure to us. There is quite a lot of scholarly debate about exactly what the words mean, but then all conclude it is “difficult.” I suspect it was simply a Hebrew idiom, a collection of words which actually make no sense at all, yet everyone knew what he meant. It’s like our phrase, someone “kicked the bucket.” Can you imagine someone 2,000 years from now finding that written and trying to figure out what it meant. We all know, but, again, the words themselves make no sense. It’s just an idiom and every language has them.

This is one case where I will appeal to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, where it is clearly stated that he “flew.” Accepting that as true, it is interesting to note that angels are not gods – they, like us, can only be in one place at a time. God is omnipresent, but angels, being finite, created beings themselves are just like us – they can only be in one place at a time and, in order to get somewhere else, they have to travel, and that travel takes time. Gabriel was obviously dispatched by the Lord to answer Daniel’s prayer, yet he didn’t just suddenly mystically teleport from heaven to earth. He had to fly. Obviously, angels can fly very fast, as he will tell Daniel “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given…” (v.23), yet he did have to travel.

If I could belabor this point for a moment, it is interesting to me to note that, in a sense, angels really are our brothers. What I mean is that they are also created beings, and, like us, they are intelligent, morally responsible beings who once had to decide if they’d serve the Lord or not, and, even now, move around, speak, even get curious (I Peter 1:12). They are not raccoons. They are intelligent, thinking, speaking beings. They just live in the spirit world which we normally can’t physically “see.” It is interesting too that Daniel calls him “the man Gabriel.” Back in 8:15, he described him as “one who looked like a man.” Obviously from the book of Ezekiel we know that the cherubim are pretty bizarre looking creatures, but I wonder if it isn’t possible that at least some angels actually do look like people? In other words, maybe Gabriel really does look like a man? It could be that he just appeared that way to speak to Daniel, but then, why would he have to? Why would he have to change form? Just a thought, but won’t it be interesting to get to heaven and not only get to speak to angels, but what if many of them actually look like us?

Then notice too that the first time Gabriel appeared to him, Daniel says, “I was terrified and fell prostrate…” (8:17). This time, he simply says, “Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me…” Daniel recognizes Gabriel. In a sense now, they’re old friends. This is what I mean about realizing they really are our brothers. Once you meet one, you actually know him and have a personal relationship, just like we do with other people. How cool is that?

I suppose this would be good place to inject an observation of mine. I often hear it stated emphatically that all angels in the Bible are men. Zech. 5:9 says, “Then I looked up – and there before me were two women with the wind in their wings!” The most obvious understanding of the verse would be that the two “women” are angels. As usual, there has to be raging debate among “scholars” whether that is the case or not, however, the fact that they debate the issue at all means they can’t conclusively prove the women are not angels. Once again, I would appeal to the old saying, “If the plain sense makes good sense, why make any other sense?” It is true that is the only reference in the Bible which would suggest angels can be women, but, on the other hand, I would observe that the ancient world was without question male-dominated. Perhaps the angels most often appeared as men just as a matter of cultural sensitivity? In other words, in that world, maybe they basically had to appear as men in order to command the respect of their hearers?

I don’t think it is irrelevant to note that God’s final creation in this world was a woman. Like all good artists, I would suggest He saved “the best for last.” After creating an entire universe, He gathered up everything that is beauty and invested it all into this one final creation – a woman. I would add to that the observation that, from the very beginning, the prophecy was that it would be “the Seed of the woman” who would crush the head of the serpent. Without Eve, there would have been no Seth. Without Sarah, there would have been no Isaac, and without Mary, there would have been no Jesus (humanly speaking, of course)! I personally believe that one of the great honors that the Lord placed upon women is that, in a sense, it is inevitably through women that He saves the world! To think all of that, then I think it inappropriate to insist that He would not make angels in the form of women or that He could never allow angels to appear is women. That’s my two cents anyway.

Lastly, I just want to observe that Daniel describes the time of Gabriel’s appearing as “about the time of the evening sacrifice.” Daniel has been in Babylon for something like 70 years. It’s been about 50 years since Nebuchadnezzar completely destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple. Nearly since Daniel’s childhood there has been no evening sacrifice. Yet, here he is, still counting time that way. Isn’t that just like our Daniel? Rock solid. Always doing the right thing at the right time! And he does it whether anyone else around him even cares. Just that little thought moves my heart to say, “Lord, make me like Daniel! That’s who I want to be – a rock, solid man who lives for Your world, not ours!”

Wow. So much to learn. So much to ponder on and try to absorb.

Lord, help Your people all over America and the world to be Daniels. Help us to see by faith the spirit world that is swirling around us and to order our lives accordingly. May we, like Daniel, be found to truly be in this world “servants of the Most High God!” Daniel was. Gabriel always has been and still is. Let us be too!

 

Daniel 9:20 “Daniel, the Man – Yet Again”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²⁰And while I [was] speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request fall to the faces of YHVH my God upon the holy mountain of God…

I want to pause again and simply observe Daniel, the man. Granted, prophetically speaking, this is one of the most profound chapters in the Bible and certainly worthy of very careful study. However, as I have often explained, I believe the Bible is a book of discipleship. Part of the reason any of this is recorded is so that you and I can learn from the people presented. We can learn much from simply observing the life they live, what they thought, how they interacted with God, how they treated each other, and on and on. And that is true whether we’re learning from the blessings of their good choices or the consequences of the bad!

So let us pause again and consider Daniel the man. Here he is at some eighty years old. He’s living in a world of terrific political upheaval as Nebuchadnezzar’s mighty Babylon has been conquered and now he serves under Darius and the Medo-Persian empire. As I’ve observed before, no one likes change, and Daniel, being a man, would be no different than us. Probably the main reason we don’t like change is because we don’t know what it will mean for us, and we naturally fear a future we can’t see. This is just “the first year” of Darius, so no doubt there are a lot of massive sweeping changes swirling all around Daniel and the Babylonian court. What will it all mean for him? He doesn’t know – just like us – and so we all dislike change and the uncertainty it invariably introduces into our lives.

In that chaotic, fearsome world, what does our Daniel do? He pulls out his scrolls and studies the Bible! And what does his study lead him to do? Pray. We could pause there and ask, “So what should we be doing in our chaotic, fearsome world?” Should we not also be studying our Bibles and praying?  Just like Daniel, in spite of all the present fears and threats, what is really going on in our world? Is it not the sweep of our God’s great eternal plans? Yes, nations rise and fall (and companies) and those political upheavals cause immeasurable distress for the poor beleaguered human race, but we believers have the enviable privilege of knowing the great God who is over it all. The more we tune into His world, the less we’ll be troubled by ours. Yes, my world today is filled with very important issues and I must live here and try to be faithful at my job and to my family, but it does me eternal good to constantly remember there is a much larger battle swirling around me – the spiritual battle of God’s great good and all the forces of evil. That evil is (to me) extremely powerful, yet what do they sing in heaven? “Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!”

One has to wonder, in all the world, how many other people even realized that the 70-year captivity of the Jewish people was about to end? Jeremiah had written it down. It was there in the Scriptures for anyone to read. The math was simple. Nebuchadnezzar had first conquered Jerusalem in about 605 BC. Now it is about the year 538 BC., or about 67 years later. Very simple math for anyone who read those Scriptures and took them seriously. 605 – 538 = 67. Simple. However, I would say it is quite safe to propose that, out of all the estimated 200 million people alive at that time, only a very, very small handful of people even realized there was a monumental Divine timeline ticking down.

However, Daniel knew it. And why? Because Daniel took God seriously, took the Scriptures seriously, and thus his mind and his eyes were able to peer through the spiritual veil and see that there is more – far more – going on than the simple rise and fall of nations. All the way back to chapter 2 and Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the statue, Daniel has been keenly aware that, in fact, the Lord Himself is, even at this moment, working out a great eternal plan. The rest of the world is oblivious to it. Daniel can “see” it. Any why? Because Daniel is a man of Bible study and prayer.

We humans live in this material world. We aren’t usually allowed to see the spiritual world of angels and demons and God’s great plans swirling around us. Enter the Word of God and by faith we can “see” that world, just like Daniel. By faith we can understand whatever God has revealed about that great eternal plan which is even today continuing to fall in place. We enjoy the luxury of having the book of Revelation and the other prophecies of the New Testament which we can study and pray over and hopefully then recognize the hand of God in the events we see transpiring in our world. Nothing has changed. Though there may be people studying prophecy, how many, out of a world population of some 8 billion, can see that eternal plan being worked out? Not many. Only those who open their Bibles and pray and take God seriously, doing what we should do.

So here is our Daniel, doing what he should do. Does he know what the next five years will bring? No. Does he know what the next five seconds will bring? No. He’s just doing what he should. Let’s remember again that, like us, Daniel has to live “in the moment.” As verse 20 ends, all he knows is that he is, as he says, “Speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy mountain…” He knows God’s great plan is working out, but he doesn’t know what that will mean for him even in the next five seconds. We know he’s about to be visited by his old friend Gabriel, but he doesn’t.

I find it enormously encouraging to have followed along the life of Daniel and his three friends and to see that they were all simply faithful to be who they should be, to do what they should do, living in their moments, and, although that often landed them in very threatening situations, the Lord has again and again blessed them, stood with them, and proved to the ages that redeemed people can live lives of integrity, even in a world of insane uncertainty.

As for me, I think that is what I will try to do. I’ll study my Bible, pray, and beg the Lord’s grace to live this life well in my own moments, hopefully bolstered by a keen awareness of that great eternal plan swirling around me!

“Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!”