March 8, 2010 (Daniel 7-12)

Daniel was given some visions that really disturbed him. Rather than going through all those and the meaning as well as the fulfillment I want to key in on something that I felt was more important. There are several things that struck me. And that is Daniel's devotion and prayer. Daniel identified with his people. All I saw was devotion to God through his life, and yet in his prayer below, as he is spelling out the sins of the people, he says "we", not "they". No matter how devoted to God we are, all of us come short in truly honoring Him as we should, and all of us need God's mercy. He recognized that. And he was asking because of God's mercy and for the sake of His name, and not because of their goodness. I've copied the entire prayer, but highlighted some specific things:

³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.

⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. ⁵ But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. ⁶ We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.
⁷ “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. ⁸ O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. ⁹ But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.
“So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. ¹² You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. ¹³ Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth. ¹⁴ Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.
¹⁵ “O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness. ¹⁶ In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.
¹⁷ “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.
¹⁸ “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.
¹⁹ “O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”

Daniel was serious in his walk with God and his faith was evident. Not only did he fast and pray, he wore rough burlap and sprinkled himself with ashes. I think they did that to show their mourning and repentance. How can we translate that into today's language? I'm stabbing in the dark here, but let's try this.... So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also turned off the TV and logged off of the computer, and sought Him through His word.

So what happened next?

²⁰ I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain. ²¹ As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. ²² He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. ²³ The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision.

God sent an angel to answer him. Why? Because he was very precious to God. Are we 'precious to God' because of our devotion to Him?

Then Daniel has another vision, and this time the vision came while he was with other people. I'll copy the details below.

^{Daniel 10:1} In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship.

² When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. ³ All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

⁴ On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River, ⁵ I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. ⁶ His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.

⁷ Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide. ⁸ So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak. ⁹ Then I heard the man speak, and when I heard the sound of his voice, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground.

¹⁰ Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. ¹¹ And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling.

¹² Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. ¹³ But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

¹⁵ While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. ¹⁶ Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen, my lord, and I am very weak. ¹⁷ How can someone like me, your servant, talk to you, my lord? My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.”

¹⁸ Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning. ¹⁹ “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!”

As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

²⁰ He replied, “Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come. ²¹ Meanwhile, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince. I have been standing beside Michael as his support and defense since the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede.)

I am assuming "the one who looked like a man" was a pre-incarnation of Christ. But I'm not sure since he needed the angel Michael's help. But in the last verse he says that he has been standing beside Michael as his support and defense. So I am assuming it was Christ, and His touch strengthened Daniel. From the very first day that Daniel prayed, He heard and came to answer. But the spiritual battle that rages in the heavenly realms held Him up.

Three times in these verses he was told he was "precious to God".

I read this yesterday, but am just now journaling about it this morning. This will be my "reading" for today. I need to really get my head around this section as I meditate on it today. I'm not sure if I would ever need to read anything else actually. There is so much in these short chapters to ponder.