Sunday, November 10, 2024

Daniel 10: 12-14 “Joining”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

12And he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, because from the first day which you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come in [response to] your words. 13And the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me twenty-one days and behold, Michael, one of the princes of the first ones, came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14And I have come to cause you to understand what will happen to your people in the latter of the days because yet the vision to days.

Another observation I want to think on: As I’ve noted before, and as it is particularly revealed in the book of Daniel, the whole Bible, from cover to cover, is full of angels, and what are they doing? Serving God. How familiar are the angel’s words, “I have come to…” “I have been sent to…” We see this even in our Hebrews 1 passage, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (v.14).

“Sent.” Think about this: Does God need angels? If He wants to, cannot He Himself just speak directly to people? Did He need an angel to carry this message to Daniel? Why send an angel? Why not just go straight to Daniel Himself? If the evil prince of Persia wants to oppose the Lord’s good purposes, does He need angels or even Michael to go and fight him? Remember in Rev. 12:7, where “there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.” Does the infinite, omnipotent God of the universe need anyone to fight Satan and his demons for Him?

Obviously, the Lord doesn’t need anyone to do anything for Him. Yet, how many angels did He create? Remember from Rev. 5:11, “…thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand”? That math of 10,000x10,000 yields one hundred million, yet even that is only an ancient way to express “innumerable.” Truth be known, there are probably literally billions of angels.

If the Lord wants to “minister” and to “serve those who will inherit salvation,” is He not quite able to do it Himself? Yet, He created an innumerable company of angels and tasked them with the job! Think specifically about this angel speaking to Daniel. He appears to Daniel and says, “Your prayer was answered and I am come…the prince of Persia resisted me…Michael helped me…I am come to make you understand…” This one single angel gets to do, at every step, what God could have easily done Himself. Yet he gets to do it.

Is that not quite a wonder? Is it not an amazing grace of our Lord that He would allow this angel to do His work for Him? Remember, this angel is very much like you and me. He is a thinking, caring, real, live person! What a precious privilege it must be for him to be the one selected to go on this mission, to be the one sent to appear to Daniel, to answer his prayer, to deliver amazing prophecies – and that on behalf of the God of the universe! Then remember, he isn’t just one. There are probably billions! Billions – and at this very moment, every single one of them is somewhere in the service of God, doing for Him what He could easily do Himself!

Why would the Lord do this? Realize He gains nothing by it. He is infinite. He doesn’t get tired. He cannot be overloaded. Is there really not only one explanation? Is it not love? Is it not just one more expression of His great big kind heart to create all these angels and then actually let them join Him in His amazing eternal plans, especially in His great Plan of Redemption?

Observing our angel friends, what can you and I learn? Cannot we realize first of all what a privilege and honor it is for us to be allowed to serve God? This angel carries a message to Daniel, so Daniel can be used of God to write it down and bless us! Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, so send I you” (John 20:21). In another place, He told them, “I no longer call you servants…Instead, I have called you friends” (John 15:15). I would suggest there is an undercurrent of thought in our world that serving God is an onerous business, that He is a demanding taskmaster, that it is all about what you have to “give up.”

Observing our angel friends, can we not all say to such thoughts, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” It is an almost inexpressible grace that the King of the Universe would allow you and me to be counted as servants of the Most High God! In our prayers every morning, should we not thank Him that today He will actually allow me to live my life here on earth entirely in His service? In His service, it matters every thought I let cross my mind, every opportunity to show grace and love to others, every opportunity to actually live Jesus in my little corner of this very large, very cold, cruel world? Angels exist to show us grace. It’s then our privilege to do the same for others!

Then, somehow, we all need to think hard about this business of letting others join us. To be honest, even as I type these words, I’m not sure where this is going. It’s just there and I suspect it has profound implications for your life and mine. Memories cross my mind of girls and women saying how their mothers and grandmothers “wouldn’t let me in the kitchen.” Those girls got married and only then had to learn how to cook. I think of older men who were very possessive of their jobs and wouldn’t let younger men help them. Those kind of older men wouldn’t teach younger men how to do what they do, for fear of being “replaced.” Then we’re all keenly aware how it’s always so much easier to “just do it myself.”

However, in thinking and acting like that, are we being like Jesus? Are we being like God? Why did Jesus call twelve disciples? Was He Himself not the God of the universe, the Creator? Did He need them to help Him save the world? Obviously not, yet He drew them in, taught them, sent them, and granted to them the great honor to be His servants, His friends, to join Him in His great work of redemption!

How much do we as parents and grandparents let the kids help us? Of course, sometimes they simply aren’t interested, but what if they are? What if it takes three times as long to do it if we include them? What if it simply won’t be as “nice” if we let their little inexperienced hands do some of the work? What does all of this mean for us when we feel like “it just isn’t worth it”? Do we not need to step back and ask ourselves what really is godliness in those moments? What does it really mean to “be like Jesus?”

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve wandered into a corner of God’s truth I’ve never thought much about before. That usually means I need to just start trying to live it, ask the Lord to help me, then see where it takes me. I guess I should start by inviting you to join me!

Really, the entire created universe is all about God letting others join Him, whether angels or people, or even creation itself – “The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Ps. 19:1). The difference for us and angels is that, back to the last post, it’s our choice. It’s our choice whether we want to be His servants, then it’s our choice if we’ll be like Him and let others join us.

Wow. A lot to think about!

 

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