Daniel 10:1-11:1
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] Daniel 10-12 is Daniel’s final vision and serves as a conclusion to his book. It gives more detail on the oppression of God’s people as revealed in earlier visions.
In Daniel 10, Daniel sees a vision of a heavenly messenger.
In Daniel 11, the heavenly messenger reveals to Daniel future conflicts between kings of the north and south.
In the first part of Daniel 12, God promises judgment and reward.
In the second part of Daniel 12, God commands Daniel to seal up the vision for a future time.
This section is the culmination of all Daniel’s vision chapters 7-12.
[INTER] Why should you care about it?
Well, we should care because this is God’s Word.
And we should care because this is God’s Word to God’s people today just as much as it was God’s Word to His people back in Daniel’s day.
In his commentary on Daniel, Iain Duguid said, “Daniel 10-12 helps us to understand that life is hard, why its hard, and that we’re not alone in our struggles.”
[PROP] We should care about these chapters because in them we see the concern we should have for God’s people, the sufficiency of God’s power to care for His people, and the comfort God provides to His people.
[TS] Let’s notice a couple PARTS of this tenth chapter…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Part #1: Daniel’s Concern (Daniel 10:1-3)
Part #1: Daniel’s Concern (Daniel 10:1-3)
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision. 2 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.
[EXP] Verse 1 serves as a heading for this last section of Daniel.
We are reminded that Babylon is no more. The Medo-Persian empire, with King Cyrus at the helm, has ruled for three years.
King Cyrus of Persia is like also King Darius of Media.
This is the Cyrus foretold by Isaiah and Jeremiah; the Cyrus who would allow God’s people to return to the Promised Land.
Isaiah had said…
28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’ ”
Jeremiah had said…
10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus made a decree (Ezra 1:1-4), and the first group of Jewish exiles returned to the Promised Land, but they faced sever opposition and by the time of King Cyrus’s third year, the work of rebuilding Jerusalem and its temple had stopped.
This is likely why Daniel had been mourning for three entire weeks (Dan. 10:2).
At this time, Daniel was about 80-85 years old. Perhaps he felt to ‘advanced in age’ to relocate to the Promised Land when others started going back. Instead, he continued to serve in the government of Medo-Persia as he had in the government of Babylon. However, Daniel’s heart was still very much at home, and Daniel was very concerned that his people had been opposed and the work had stopped.
If we recall Daniel 9, we can understand why Daniel was so upset. In Daniel 9, he had asked God to restore His people to Jerusalem in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s words. God told Daniel that that year of jubilee—that year of liberation and restoration— would soon arrive, and it did in the first year of King Cyrus’s reign!
But God also told Daniel that God’s people would experience hardships even while they lived in the Promised Land and worshipped in the temple.
And then God said that the city and the temple would one day fall again.
That day came many years after Daniel in 70 AD, after the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, but Daniel may have feared that that destruction had already begun even before reconstruction really got going.
Daniel's grief over the situation was so deep that he stopped taking food and stopped using ointments or lotions.
In other words, for three weeks he stopped eating and he stopped practicing good hygiene.
[ILLUS] When people grieve, they often lose the desire to eat or take care of themselves in general.
When I did the graveside service for Mr. George Massengale, his son, Don, couldn’t stand up when he tried to get out of the car. He swung his legs out of the car and went to stand like normal but had no strength in his legs.
It turns out that Don had no strength because he hadn’t eaten in a day or two.
When people grieve they often stop eating and stop taking care of themselves in general.
[APP] I know that we’ve all been through grief before, but have we ever been so grieved to see God’s purposes accomplished as Daniel is here?
We are often concerned about ourselves and about those that we love, but when’s the last time we’ve been concerned about God’s people and God’s glory like Daniel is here?
Daniel is grieving, fasting, and praying because he wants to see God’s people back in God’s land for God’s glory in fulfillment of God’s Word. That’s what he prayed in Daniel 9:17-19.
When’s the last time we’ve been concerned about the purposes of God to that degree?
How do we get concerned about the purposes of God to that degree? How do we become burdened for the people of God and the glory of God like Daniel was?
First, we have to understand God’s people.
First, we have to understand God’s people.
Daniel knew who God’s people were, and we have to know who God’s people are. Not everyone who exists belongs to God’s people. Only those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ belong to the people of God.
We might be concerned about people all over the world because every person is created in the image of God, but we must be most concerned for God’s people, our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
When we hear stories of our brothers and sisters in Christ suffering or being persecuted, we must be burdened for them as Daniel was burdened for God’s people in his day.
Second, we have to understand God’s Word.
Second, we have to understand God’s Word.
Daniel knew what God’s Word through Jeremiah said about God’s people returning to Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple, and he knew the word that God had sent to him through the angel, Gabriel, in Daniel 9. Daniel was asking God to fulfill His Word, or at least to help him understand how the suffering of God’s people was in keeping with His Word.
When we hear stories about our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, do we understand Gods’ Word concerning them? Does the weight of God’s Word weight down our hearts with concern for them?
Consider Revelation 6:9-10…
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
This passage ought to burden us for our persecuted and especially our martyred brothers and sisters in Christ!
It ought to weigh on us until we take it to the Lord in prayer, and ask, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging (their) blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Finally, we have to understand God’s glory.
Finally, we have to understand God’s glory.
Ultimately God does what He does when He does for His own glory. Daniel knew that. That’s why in Daniel 9 He prayed that God would glorify Himself by restoring His people to the Promised Land as He had promised.
When we are burdened for God’s people according to God’s Word, we must also understand that God will fulfill His Word when it glorifies Him most.
All God’s people who really know God to be God will say, “Let the Lord be glorified.”
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
Although we become burdened and we pray intensely, God is still in charge of the timetable.
Ultimately He does what He does when He does for His own glory, and we should say, “Let the Lord be glorified.”
[TS] That’s Daniel’s Concern. Look at Daniel’s vision in vv. 4-9…
Part #2: Daniel’s Vision (Daniel 10:4-9)
Part #2: Daniel’s Vision (Daniel 10:4-9)
4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult. 7 Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. 9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.
[EXP] In this vision, Daniel sees a heavenly figure. He tells us when he see it—on the 24th day of the first month. He tells where he sees it—on the bank of the Tigris River. And he tells what he sees in it—a certain man dressed in linen.
There are some who think that this heavenly figure is a preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus, and at first glance that seems convincing.
This clothing, body, voice, and effect of this heavenly figure all remind us of Christ Jesus especially in Revelation 1:12-15 as Jesus walks among the churches…
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
But on second thought, it’s hard to accept that this heavenly figure is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus because this heavenly figure will tell Daniel later in the chapter…
12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
This heavenly figure had been delayed by ‘the prince of the kingdom of Persia’ and was only able to come to Daniel when the archangel Michael came to help him.
I have a hard time believing that Jesus would’ve been delayed or would’ve needed Michael’s help, so I don’t think this heavenly figure is Jesus…
…but he was presented to Daniel with features that were meant to remind Daniel of God’s greatness.
We want to notice specifically the linen and the lightning.
Linen garments were worn by the priests. The high priest, in particular, wore linen garments when he went into the holy place (Ex. 28:42; Lev. 6:10; 16:4). These linen garments would’ve reminded Daniel of the temple sacrifices and the Day of Atonement—the day on which the high priest atoned for the sins of the people of God through sacrifice.
Lightning suggests power and glory in general but often accompanies the coming of the Lord (cf. Ezek. 1:13-14; Rev. 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18). This was especially the case at Mt. Sinai when God made His covenant with His people.
16 So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.
The descendents of Abraham met with God at Mt. Sinai and made their covenant with Him, but (as Daniel pointed out in his prayer in the previous chapter) although God was perfectly faithful to this covenant, God’s people broke it time and time again.
In the linen of this heavenly figure God was reminding Daniel that He is the God of forgiveness.
In the lightning God was reminding Daniel that He is the God of faithfulness.
As Sinclair Ferguson writes, “Daniel was rightly concerned for the prospects of God’s kingdom and mourned deeply over the sins and shortcomings of the people. His God, however, remained the same. He had not changed. The God of the past—of the covenant at Sinai and the sacrifices at Jerusalem—was still all-sufficient to meet the needs of His people. By reminding Daniel of the past, God was giving him encouragement to trust His adequacy for a future that looked increasingly bleak.”
As Daniel marveled at the majestic awesomeness of this heavenly figure, he had to begin to believe that God had all things under control.
[ILLUS] In 2 Kings 6 the king of Syria sent a great army with chariots and horses to capture the prophet Elisha. They surrounded the city he was in (Dothan) and Elisha’s servant became worried…
15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
But Elisha knew that God’s army was mightier than Syria’s army, so he said…
16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Though we can’t always see it, God has everything under control.
Just as Elisha’s servant was reminded of that when he saw the horses and chariots of fire all around, so Daniel was reminded of that when he saw this heavenly figure standing on the bank of the Tigris.
[APP] God is in control. Because He never changes, that can never change. Though things look bleak, God’s got it. He is and always will be the faithful, forgiving, rescuing God.
That’s what He communicated to Daniel in this vision, and that what He communicates to the world in His Son Jesus Christ.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]