1In the year of the third to
Cyrus the king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was called [by]
his name Belteshazzar, and the word [was] true and a great conflict/burden, and
he understood the word, and understanding [was given] to him in the vision. 2In
the days of those, I, Daniel, was mourning three sevens of days. 3Bread
of desires I did not eat and meat and wine did not come to my mouth and
anointing I did not anoint [myself] until were full the three sevens of days.
These verses are actually the beginning of a revelation which runs to the end of this book – including chapters 10, 11, and 12. I can’t help but notice that how these chapters read is very similar to the book of Revelation. Daniel presents to us a prophecy of world history – of the actual events yet to occur in this world, yet revealing also to us the vast spiritual battle raging behind those seemingly purely human matters – much like the book of Revelation. Looking ahead, it seems like this chapter is the prologue to Daniel’s vision which is related in chapter 11, then chapter 12 forms, as it were, an epilogue to it. There must be some significance to the fact this is the last vision of Daniel – his last chance to write down inspired Scripture and minister to not only his generation of Jews, but also the Babylonians and Persians around him – and to us!
If our understanding of secular history is correct, this “3rd year of Cyrus” would have been around 536 BC. Cyrus had conquered Babylon in 539 BC and that same year had issued the proclamation that the Jews could return to their home and rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-4). It is now some 2-3 years later.
Daniel is still in Babylon. Some commentators question why he is still there if Cyrus had decreed that the Jews could return. I have noted before that, in all likelihood, he is well into his 80’s by now and would have been physically unable to make the 4-month journey (Ezra 7:9) around the Fertile Crescent back to Jerusalem. It is also possible that, because he was at this time serving as Prime Minister of Babylon (6:3), he would have chosen to stay in Babylon either because he wasn’t allowed to leave (Neh. 1:6), or because (and especially at his age) he was convinced he could do more good for the Jewish people by remaining at the court, than if he were to leave.
In any case, he is still in Babylon – and he still knows enough grief to keep hard at prayer! We will learn later in this chapter that the people of Israel have an angel named Michael specifically assigned to watch over them and fight for them in the spiritual world. What we see here (and have all through the book) is that, here on earth, they also have someone watching and praying for them – our Daniel! It makes me want to say, what a blessing for any people to have someone like Daniel high up in their government hard at prayer for their good!
Then I realize that mantle falls on you and me! Jeremiah had urged the people to “pray for the city in which you live” (Jer. 29:7). Right now, it would seem to most of us there is no good news about our country. Everywhere we look there seems to be corruption and seemingly unrestrained wickedness and, unless something changes soon, I fear there will be no turning back. What to do? Be Daniels. Head to prayer. One wonders how long prayer has upheld America? How long would our nation have lasted if it weren’t for people praying? Perhaps that is the key to the proverb, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” – such a nation would contain a lot of pray-ers! Daniel has never stopped praying for his Jewish people and, at this point, he could easily be 90 years old. May you and I never stop praying for our nation, even if we have to follow it down to the very gates of hell!
While we’re thinking about that, let us all not forget the same applies to individuals and families. Most of us who are older might often wonder why the Lord leaves us here. Compared to when we were younger, it seems as if there is very little good we can do in this world, then all our aches and pains more and more make us long for the day when we will be allowed to leave this world and be with Jesus. So why does He leave us here?
I believe our very elderly Daniel is teaching us perhaps the most important reason – to be prayer warriors. Most of us probably have no idea how much of the blessings we’ve enjoyed in life (perhaps even our very salvation) was wrought through the prayers of our godly grandparents and even great-grandparents. Now it’s our turn. Israel had their Daniel. May you and I be our families’ Daniels – watching and praying as long as there is breath in our lungs and a shred of presence in our brains! They NEED us. And let us take up that mantle proudly, even if we find we can do nothing else!
While I’m on the subject, that reminds me of something else I’ve observed lately. There are people and families I pray regularly for and I wonder if anyone else in the whole world is praying for them? There are people who, as far as I know, have no Christian presence in their lives besides me. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Lord does have someone else (I Kings 19:18), but what if He doesn’t? What if that person you pray for has no one else lifting up their name and praying down the very angels of heaven to guard them and help them? I especially pray for the young people I know. What an awful world this can be. There is a roaring lion seeking to devour them and, too often with our young people, we sadly watch it happen right before our eyes. May that never be because you or I failed to pray for them!
We can’t pray for everyone in the entire human race, but the Lord has given each of us a nation, families, and friends. While we seek to do all we can to be a blessing to all those around us, may we be encouraged by our Daniel’s example. Let us be lifting up those people’s names to heaven and may we never despise the enormous blessing our prayers may be – even if much of that blessing we’ll never know until we’re in heaven ourselves!
Then let us also realize that many of those prayers may be answered only long after we’ve departed this world. You and I may well die while our family members and friends are still a “work in progress.” The Lord does His great saving work in peoples’ lives according to His schedule, not ours – but may our schedules always include much heartfelt intercessory prayer.
Pray on, my Daniel-friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment