5And I lifted up my eyes and I
looked and, behold, a certain man clothed in linen and His thighs wrapped in
the gold of Uphaz. 6And His body [was] like beryl and His face like
an appearance of lightning and His eyes like torches of fire and His arms and
His feet like sight of polished bronze, and the sound of His words like a sound
of a multitude. 7And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, and the
men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell on them
and they fled in hiding themselves. 8And I was left alone and
I saw the vision the great the this and no strength remained in me and my glory
was turned to corruption and I kept no strength. 9And I heard the
sound of His words and as I [was] hearing the sound of His words, and I was one
being dropped into deep sleep upon my face and my face earthward.
For several days, I have been noting the similarities between Daniel and the Apostle John and trying to ascertain if there are in that observation lessons for us to learn. In Revelation, chapter 1, John wrote:
13…and among the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16…His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead…
As I related earlier, I cannot arrive at any other conclusion than that the Person in view is none other than Jesus Himself. As I said, I admit there remains an element of mystery and so say this with all due respect to those who would disagree with me. However, I’m personally convinced this is the case. That being said, both Daniel and John got to see Jesus in this glorified form and then were given astonishing visions into the angelic world and the future of the human race.
There are a number of times in the Bible where the Lord appeared to people in various forms and ways, but no one recorded as clearly what they saw as did Daniel and John. Moses asked the Lord, “Show me Your glory,” and the Lord replied, “There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen” (Ex. 33:18-23).
Isaiah wrote in chapter 6, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up…” (v1). Like Daniel and John that vision had a similar effect on Isaiah in that he cried out, “Woe is me! I am undone! For I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!” (v.5). In that case, he didn’t record exactly what he saw, only that it was overwhelming to him. John says in his 12:41, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.” Perhaps Isaiah did see this same vision, but we are not told specifically what he saw or what form Jesus took in that case.
Ezekiel was also given astonishing visions into the spirit world and even of the glorified Lord. He says, “…high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be His waist up He looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and from there down He looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him…This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of One speaking” (vv,26-28).
Then there was the Mount of Transfiguration where Matthew records that “There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (17:2). Then it says, “When the disciples heard [the voice from heaven], they fell facedown to the ground terrified” (v.6).
For whatever it’s worth, I think
it is also significant to note that these are the visions which were recorded
for us. This is not to say they were the only times the Lord appeared to
various prophets or people. We should all realize much, much, much more happened
and much, much, much more was said and seen than was recorded for us in the Scriptures.
I would love to hear more of all that, but we are told, “These things happened
to them as examples and were written down for our admonition, on whom
the end of the ages has come” (I Cor. 10:11). So, as always, we’ve been told as
much as we need to know, not necessarily everything we’d like to know!
What is important is that we, in fact, take heed to those “admonitions,” and so
much more so as we clearly approach literally, “the end of the ages.”
The similarities in these visions which were recorded and the clear identifications with Jesus only further confirm in my mind that the Person Daniel and John saw was, in fact, Jesus Himself. What I suppose intrigues me is the very detailed similarities between Daniel and John. What the others saw certainly correlates to Daniel and John’s visions, but no one recorded what they saw in as much detail as them or with as many clearly similar details.
It is interesting too to note they were probably both around 90 years old when they saw these visions. Once again, if we can believe ancient timelines Daniel would be something close to 90, assuming he was 15 when drug away to Babylon, followed by 70 years of the Captivity and this is the 3rd year of Cyrus – that would put him at 88. At the point of John’s revelation, he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). It is believed that occurred in about AD 95 or 96. If John was 30 around AD30 (with Jesus), then obviously he too is somewhere around 90+. Ancient timelines are dubious at best, but I’m thinking it is safe to say, in both cases they were quite elderly men.
That brings to mind Psalm 92:14: “[The righteous]…will still bear fruit in old age…” Think about it – here are two old men who are given some of the most important and detailed prophecies in the entire Bible. Where would we be today without John and Daniel’s prophecies? So much of what we know of “the end times,” we only know because of what these two men wrote down. Should not great, important prophecies like these be given to strong, vigorous, young men? Old people should be allowed to sit calmly in their rocking chairs and rest, shouldn’t they? Who would think to give them some monumental task that literally drives them to the ground? Yet here are John and Daniel “still bearing fruit in old age.”
The Lord still had work for these two men to do, even in their advanced age. I’m quite sure the Lord would want you and me to notice this and be encouraged ourselves. The older we get, the more and more we have to accept, “I just can’t do that anymore.” In a world that values strength and speed and “accomplishment,” we feel we’re getting more and more useless. Yet what would the Bible tell us? “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love” (Ps. 147:10,11). “‘It is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord” (Zech. 4:6).
I wonder sometimes, if that isn’t part of the reason why the Lord does let us grow more and more feeble, the longer we live? When we were young, we could hear Him say, “My strength is made perfect in weakness,” (II Cor. 12:9), and we thought we understood it and could take encouragement from it. However, it is a completely different experience reading that and thinking about it, when it seems that is all I have left to offer the Lord – my weakness. Jesus asked His disciples, “What do you have?” and they replied, “Just these five loaves and two fishes.” Then what did He say? “Bring them to Me.” May Daniel and John encourage us all to scrape together what little we have to offer the Lord and “bring it to Him!”
Another observation we could make is that Daniel’s vision of Jesus was before He came to earth, while John’s was after. Yet they are the same vision. They saw the same Jesus. We all know this, but it’s worth pointing out – Jesus didn’t change. He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He only appeared as a helpless baby and as a suffering servant, because He had to in order to be the Savior of the world. Uninformed people would tell you the God of the Old Testament was a vengeful, angry God, while in the New Testament He is a God of grace and love. That is, of course, ludicrous. God didn’t change. Jesus didn’t change. Our God is the eternal “I AM.” The same Jesus who walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace walks with us today in whatever feels like our own ”fiery” trials! We can read Daniel chapter 10 and Revelation 1, and see our same mighty eternal Jesus!
For whatever it’s worth, I would also notice that Daniel and John are serving as “two witnesses.” All the way back in Deut. 19:15, the Lord established for Israel the standard, “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses,” and Jesus Himself refers to that principle in Matt. 18:16, when He said, “…take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” I would suggest that is why Matthew, Mark, and Luke are such similar accounts of the life of Jesus. They are the three witnesses. That done, John was free to write an almost entirely different account of Jesus’ ministry.
Many people, especially Jews, back in John’s day, would have sat in their churches listening to someone read the book of Revelation, being themselves very familiar with the book of Daniel, and when they heard this vision of Jesus, would have noted the similarity. John was then to them the “second” witness. Our God tells us to “do all things decently and in order” (I Cor. 14:40). Interesting that He takes His own advice!
I suspect there is way more to learn from the similarities between these two visions, but, for now, these are the things I have noticed as I studied. If I live long enough, perhaps I’ll come back to this in years to come and see much more, but this will have to do for now. I’m looking forward to diving in to the rest of this chapter to learn all I can from our good friend Daniel!
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