DANIEL 10 - A VISION OF HEAVENLY THINGS
The final three chapters of Daniel are the account of God’s last word to his servant. Chapter 10 gives us the circumstances by which the vision came to Daniel. This final encounter was a traumatic experience for the servant of Jehovah. If you read the biographies of the men and women who have performed great service to the kingdom of God, it often seems the case that when God chooses a person to do some great work for him, the burdens of office, the trials to be faced and difficulties and hardships to be endured, are in proportion to the honour and privilege of serving God. This may be some comfort to us in our much humbler service for the Master.
Daniel tells us that at the time of the vision (2) he was going through a three week period of mourning. It’s fashionable for the evangelical wing of the church to call some of its services "celebrations", but there is an equal need of those of contemplation where we slacken the pace and try to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church, where we repent of our sins of omission and commission. Certainly, it was when Daniel was on the reverse of a "high" that God revealed himself to him.
At this time in the history of Israel, some of the exiles had returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, but were being obstructed by their Samaritan neighbours and heathen opponents. This threw the people into a state of despair and oppression. When the news reached Daniel he too was filled with grief because he knew the real reason for their failure - it was because of the people’s sins. He gave himself to a period of mourning, which he went on to describe as a period of abstinence, "I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions" (3).
In normal times Daniel would have enjoyed the conventional types of eating and drinking and of anointing his skin, but at this time of crisis he felt moved to abstain for a period. It was his way of identifying himself with the spiritual need of his people, of showing his sincerity and humility before God. This is a principle well established in the Old Testament and carried on into the New Testament. Some form of fasting or abstinence, which need not be total, has been described as "an outward expression of sorrow, and separation from ordinary worldly enjoyments, in order to give one’s self to prayer". When Jesus encountered a particularly difficult case of demon oppression which his disciples failed to cope with, he said it could not be achieved "except by prayer and fasting" (Mat 17:21).
The Christian, too, may be called upon from time to time to deprive himself of legitimate enjoyments in order to be prepared in spirit, mind and body to receive a word from the Lord and to engage in his service. Although effective service for the Lord can only be done by the power of the Spirit this does not diminish in any way the effort we have to put in ourselves in prayer and preparation, in understanding the Scriptures. It is often been said that sermon preparation is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration!
It was quite possible that Daniel had been joined by friends in going into a retreat, for the vision came as he "was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris" (4). It was the time of the year when the Jews commemorated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was particularly appropriate for mourning over Israel’s calamities, since these two feasts were annual reminders of the bondage of Egypt and of the way that Jehovah had brought about a marvellous deliverance. There is a lot to be said for a regular review of our spiritual condition, of standing back from what occupies us in our earthly existence, to contemplate the eternal.
What happened that day was more than a mere dream or an ordinary vision. It completely swept Daniel off his feet. It was very much like the experience that Paul had on the Damascus Road when he was suddenly confronted by the risen Christ. The people who were with the prophet did not see the vision but "such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves" (7). Daniel himself was completely drained of strength and as he fell to the ground helpless he passed into a deep sleep. What had he seen to cause such a traumatic experience? The vision was really a heavenly visitation which completely overwhelmed him so that he was hardly able to distinguish between the divine and angelic beings who talked and ministered to him. What is clear is that first of all he saw:
A VISION OF CHRIST IN GLORY The description of the man standing by Daniel immediately calls to mind that of John’s vision of Christ in the opening chapter of Revelation. Here was a man, but no mere human being. Here we have Christ in all his heavenly power and majesty, a figure speaking of awe and terror. He was dressed in a long royal robe with a golden belt. His body glistened, "his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches" (6) symbolising knowledge and judgement, with arms and legs of burnished bronze giving the impression of strength and speed. This dazzling being was not seen by Daniel’s companions, but like on the Damascus Road, they heard the terrific volume of noise as the invisible one spoke. Here was a preincarnate appearance of Jesus, a Theophany.
Jesus in fact encouraged his disciples to believe in his existence before his life on earth. He told them that before Abraham was called into Ur of the Chaldees he was there, and what is more Abraham knew it and rejoiced to see him (John 8:56-58). This tells us that Jesus, although invisible except for a few spectacular appearances, was there in Old Testament times working among the people of God, guiding them, bringing them forgiveness, granting them faith and repentance, just as surely as he did in the Gospel story, and just as he does in the church today. How very true is that text in Hebrews, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever" (13:8).
But God has not left us without a means of knowing him. We do have the Scriptures. They are the means that are chosen by God, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to bring us to a knowledge of himself until we see him face to face in glory. We have a glorious foreshadowing of Christ in the Passover lamb, without spot or blemish, whose blood was sprinkled on the doorpost of the Israelites so that they might be spared from the angel of death. We see Jesus in the typology of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the high priest and the offerings - he shines out through them all as our Great High Priest and as our Mediator with the Father. We see him anticipated in the Psalms as our Shepherd, Priest and King. May the Holy Spirit illuminate the eyes of our mind to see him in all the Scriptures, for he is there.
Visions of this calibre are given to very few and so it is left to us to learn from what took place in these hallowed moments when God revealed himself to mankind. How powerful is our God. We know his mighty power seen in nature, but that is only a faint glimmering of the reality. For a brief moment the Lord withdrew the shield that hid his glory and it left Daniel prostrate. He only has to speak and even a man of God like Daniel swoons. We have little conception of his kingly splendour and blazing holiness. If only we could get a glimpse of his majesty our whole concept of God would change.
The awestruck Daniel was touched by a divine hand, in the same way as John in Patmos was gently reassured. "Do not be afraid, Daniel", he was told. The vision had come to him because he had the right attitude of heart, "You set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God" (12). Daniel’s self-denial and humility, his willingness to learn, were now bearing fruit. An old commentator wrote: "When we pray, heavenly messengers hurry to and fro; angels rise and fall, and begin to penetrate the tensest atmosphere in the service of the highest." This certainly was true for Daniel. The Almighty had seen Daniel’s humble heart inclined towards heaven, and had stooped down to listen and to respond. And what a revelation he was given; it was of:
WAR IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH
The heavenly visitor told Daniel that he had been specially sent in response to his prayer (12). He had an unexpected message. He would have come earlier but he had been resisted by "the prince of the Persian kingdom" and "detained there" (13). Here, for a moment, the veil which hid the unseen world is drawn aside. It is a life and death struggle between the forces of good and evil, and the outcome is not a foregone conclusion as the highest-ranking angel, Michael, had to render assistance. We are given an insight into how both angels and human beings are involved deeply in one and the same conflict. Somehow the warfare between earthly powers and the people of God are reflected in the heavenly realm, and are also being fought out there.
Daniel had turned to prayer because of his perplexity over the tension between the Persian authorities and the Jews and now he is told that the same conflict was being fought between unseen forces representing the hostile spirit of this world and those representing the people of God. Does this sound a fantasy to you? That there is a war in progress involving angelic beings, good and bad, in which we are participating through our prayers, and its outcome the result of our faithfulness or otherwise?
The Old Testament has many references to angels. They are created beings belonging to the heavenly sphere, some of whom have fallen under the power of evil, but those loyal to God are seen as his messengers. They sometimes have the function of guardians of the people of God, and very occasionally are seen in visible form. I read of a Norwegian missionary, Marie Monsen, who served in China in the 1950s. She testified to the intervention of angels when Christians were in great danger. They had taken refuge in the mission compound only to be surrounded by looting soldiers and they were astonished to find that they were left in peace. A few days later the hostile men explained that they were ready to break down the flimsy wall when they noticed tall soldiers with shining faces on a high roof in the compound. Marie Monsen wrote, "The heathen saw them, it was a testimony to them, but they were invisible to us. It came powerfully to me and showed me how little we reckon with "The Lord God, the Lord of Hosts", who sends forth his angels" (Heb 1:14).
The apostle Paul certainly believed in a conflict in the heavenlies. "For our struggle," he wrote to the Ephesians, "is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers of this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (6:12). This poor world of ours is a theatre of war, with human beings spurred on by lords of darkness and spiritual powers of wickedness. We thank God when it seems that one area of conflict dies down, but all too often it bubbles up in another. There does not seem to be any other explanation for the conduct of some nations at the present time.
The vision given to Daniel convinced him that spirit beings were behind events that took place in his day. There is no reason to think that anything has changed, as in fact the angel went on to tell Daniel that the vision also concerned:
THE END OF THE AGE
"I have come to explain to you," said the angel, "what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come" (14). This revelation left Daniel speechless and he confessed to being utterly exhausted in spirit, mind and body. He felt totally out of his depth in the presence of heavenly beings, but again the angel touched him and restored his strength, soothed his fears, and encouraged his confidence as a man of God. How wonderful that we can hear those same words if we are in the position of Daniel, in humility, looking to the Lord, "Do not be afraid. Peace! Be strong now; be strong" (18).
These words of reassurance came to Daniel as a tonic, and he was able to ask the angel to continue with the message for the end time. He referred Daniel again to the "fight against the prince of Persia" and said he had to return to resume the struggle. What he seems to be saying is that the same forces who were against the people of God in Daniel’s day would continue as opponents even to the end of the age. And who are the modern successors of the nation representing "the prince of Persia"? They must surely be the Iranians and the Iraqis - fanatical Muslims and enemies of the State of Israel.
There was another ruler who would arise: "the prince of Greece" (20). He was the evil patron behind the world power of Greece which had yet to emerge, but which had already been identified by Daniel in previous visions. The angelic messenger would expand on this in the final chapters of the book, saying that it had already been established as a certainty because, as he told Daniel, it "is written in the Book of Truth" (21). There can be no greater guarantee of the future coming to pass as foretold than that.
What conclusions can be drawn from this strange vision? The air, the atmosphere surrounding planet Earth, is populated with spirit beings, of which we know very little, and are hardly conscious of them. They are a spiritual power to be reckoned with, and in our own strength we cannot withstand their assaults, but we have a mighty deliverer, the Lord Jesus as our champion and protector. We may depend upon him. He works through his angelic hosts, and yet at the same time the prayers of God’s people play a vital part in the victory gained in heaven, the result of which benefits the people of God here on earth. How wonderful to know that our intercession is a participation in God’s plan and purposes which will come to a glorious climax in the Day of the Lord. May this encourage us, in the words, of Paul to the church at Ephesus, to "pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (6:12).
