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!