MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER 18, 2007 FROM DANIEL 10

CLICK HERE FOR WMA - Audio file of the sermon.

This week, we return to Daniel chapter 10 where we left off last week. You’ll recall that we said chapter 10 is the first part of the last major section of the book of Daniel. The centerpiece of this last section is a long and complex apocalyptic vision of the future of God’s people that God gave to Daniel. That vision takes up 44 verses in chapter 11, making it the longest vision in Daniel. Before receiving this vision, Daniel spends more than three weeks in intense prayer and seeking after God. That is recorded in the three verses we examined last week. In the midst of this time of prayer, but before God gives him this vision of chapter 11, Daniel has an encounter with two supernatural beings that tell him what has been going on in the heavenly or spiritual realm in response to his prayer for understanding into the future of God’s people.

This is one of the more fascinating sections in Daniel. It gives us a unique window into the supernatural, spiritual world which, under God’s sovereign rule, has ultimate influence over what nations are raised up and what nations are brought down in their global influence. This chapter also reinforces the main message of the book. That is, that the controlling influence over the affairs of people and nations are not charismatic leaders or massive military might or material prosperity or a particular political system. The controlling influence over this world, whether in our personal lives or the global geo-political landscape is the God of the Bible. Chapter ten of Daniel allows us to see some of the spiritual means by which he exerts his sovereign influence over the affairs of nations. That is what we will examine more closely Lord willing, next week. This week, we want to focus on that which Daniel gives the most attention in this chapter.

Daniel begins his report of this encounter with these supernatural beings in verse four. He says, “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river ( that is, the Tigris) ⁵I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. ⁷And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. ⁸So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. ⁹Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. ¹⁰And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.

¹¹And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. ¹²Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. ¹³The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, ¹⁴and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come." ¹⁵When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. ¹⁶And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, "O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. ¹⁷How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me." ¹⁸Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. ¹⁹And he said, "O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage." And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me." ²⁰Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.”

The issue that Daniel devotes the most ink to in this section is not the heavenly conflict between these various warrior angels. It is the intimidating, literally breath-taking glory of these supernatural messengers and the powerful, overwhelming impact his encounter with them had on him. The truth from this text I want to bring out this morning is: In our understanding of God’s character, we must give prominence to His transcendent and overwhelming glory. We know (especially in the case of the first supernatural being) that Daniel is not speaking to just any angel. His description of this being is more impressive than the words he used in chapter nine to describe the angel Gabriel. The text doesn’t say specifically that this is a divine Person, but if you look at this messenger and compare the terms Daniel uses to describe him with the words Ezekiel uses to describe his vision of God in chapters one and ten, you will discover that all of Daniel’s words are found in Ezekiel’s description of his vision of God. This leaves us with a mystery because on the one hand, the description is very lofty, but on the other, as we’ll see next week, Lord willing, this being fights against another angel and needed help from Michael the archangel.

The ambiguity here tells us that Daniel’s point is not whether this visitor is God. Whether it is God or not is really not that important or the text would explicitly tell us. We know that ALL glory seen in any creature of any part of creation comes from God. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” The glory of the heavens—the stars in the sky have no innate glory—they are an expression of the glory of God. Likewise, the glory seen in any angelic creature is not native to that angel. God alone possesses all glory and he can display his glory through whomever he chooses. Daniel comes unhinged not by angelic glory, but by God’s glory. Daniel’s meltdown here is all the more remarkable when you consider what he has been through. By God’s grace, this man’s lived a life of almost superhero proportions. When he was thrown into a white hot furnace he seemed at ease. When he was pitched into a den of lions he appeared relaxed and he held his composure perfectly during those times when he was confronted an enraged King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world. All that points to a man who would not easily be thrown into fits of trembling and speechlessness.

Daniel’s encounter with this messenger is certainly what made the biggest impact on him in this chapter. Daniel labors the point of how unglued he became in the presence of these supernatural beings. In verse seven, he relates that the other men with him, having not even seen the angels were still were thrown into a state of “great trembling” before they ran away and hid themselves. In verse eight he says of his own response, “…no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I had no strength.” Translation—“I was as weak as a kitten and as white as a sheet.” When Daniel actually heard the voice of his visitor, he says in verse nine, “I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground.” In other words, he was rendered so comatose; he couldn’t pull his face out of the dirt. In verse ten, his visitor touches him. That enables him, still trembling, to get up on his hands and knees. After the messenger reassures him of God’s great love for him and urges him to stand up, Daniel finally manages to get to his feet, but is still trembling.

Three verses later, after he hears the account of the heavenly prince and his conflict with the Prince of Persia, he says in verse 16, “I turned my face toward the ground and was mute.” So after this messenger’s first brief report, Daniel hangs his head and is literally dumb struck. At that point, this messenger with great gentleness helps Daniel to speak by touching his lips. Daniel’s first words are, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me and I retain no strength. How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.” In response to this angel’s initial report, Daniel’s strength is completely drained. Finally, another messenger appears and touches Daniel and strengthens him by speaking words of encouragement to him.

The amount of ink given to describing the overwhelming impact the glory of God through these messengers have on Daniel should not be lost on us. As this story so clearly displays, the overwhelming glory of God and its profound impact on a godly man like Daniel, reminds us of our need to have a Biblically balanced view of God. No generation of believers and no corner of Christ’s church has a perfectly Biblically balanced view of God. That is—no one has a theological and experiential apprehension of God that incorporates all aspects of his character in perfect Biblical balance. We should all be increasingly growing in an understanding of God that reflects the Biblical record of his manifold attributes. We should all increasingly be able to more clearly apprehend and experience God’s unapproachable holiness as well as his tender care, loving kindness and empathy. We should be expanding in our experience and understanding of God’s transcendence—his otherness—those parts of his character that we will simply not understand. Likewise, we must also increasingly appreciate his immanence—those divine attributes we can more easily relate to such as his fatherhood over his children. As individuals and as a church should actively seek to grow a Biblically balanced understanding and experience of God.

This text in Daniel and countless others like it should act as a corrective to those in Christ’s church whose lives do not reflect the truth that the God of the Bible is overwhelmingly glorious and transcendent. Does our relationship with God—does our worship of God adequately reflect his attributes we see here in Daniel chapter 10? As we have indicated, there are two ends of the Biblical spectrum as it relates to God’s character. On one end, is the otherness of God—that aspect of God’s character that is so unlike us—so holy, so beyond us that our only response is to bow down in awe-struck reverence. On the other end is that aspect of God’s character that is much more accessible to us. This is seen for example in that God calls us his friends. These attributes of God at this end of the spectrum are most clearly seen in many of the stories in the gospels connected with the incarnation of Christ before his resurrection.

Today, many in Christ’s church tend to primarily view God and respond to Him through the lens of Jesus in the gospels--a more accessible and fully human God. Their worship and the way in which they approach God and relate to God tends to be shaped almost exclusively by this pre-resurrection Christ. There is certainly a precious and Biblical understanding of God here. If God is inaccessible, then how do you relate to him? The Bible does teach that God is our Father and we are his friends through Christ. The Psalms speak of joy and shouting and dancing in his presence and that is certainly Biblical. Jesus himself said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father…” The question is not whether those things are Biblical—it’s--does that understanding and experience of God represent a comprehensively Biblical way of relating to God? Daniel chapter ten and scores of other texts would answer that question with a resounding, “no.” This text with its revelation of the glory of God clearly teach us that we must have great reverence toward God at the same time there is great intimacy with him. There is some tension there. Because we don’t like tension, we can easily try to escape it by moving to one end of the spectrum or the other in terms of how we relate to God.

Daniel chapter ten and the glory of God seen there implies an important truth. That is, if your understanding of God is shaped mostly by Jesus and his earthly ministry, then that will give you an imbalanced experience of God. Although Jesus was and is fully human and fully God, we also know that while on earth Jesus did not express the fullness of his divine glory. Paul says in Philippians 2:6-8 that Jesus “…was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, ⁸he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Paul says that Jesus’ earthly ministry manifested the humbled Jesus, the Jesus who made-himself-nothing in comparison to the glory he possessed in heaven. Millard Erickson rightly observes that Jesus’ earthly humanity was something of a straightjacket for him. That means that to have that particular picture of God as the dominant one informing your relationship and fueling your worship of him is Biblically imbalanced.

You’ll recall there was one moment in his earthly ministry when Christ temporarily pulled back the “straightjacket” of his perfect humanity in his transfiguration. Mark records that event beginning in 9:2 and says, “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁶For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.” In this brief moment, God allows just a small expression of the heavenly glory of Christ to be made manifest on earth. The response to this by Jesus’ three closest friends was to become terrified by this one they had spent every day with for perhaps two years. Peter missed it badly and instead of allowing his holy terror to ignite a deeper reverence for Christ, he blurts out this foolish suggestion to commemorate the event which would have wrongly placed Moses and Elijah on equal footing with the Lord of the universe.

We see this same response to the glorified Christ when John the apostle saw him in his vision in Revelation chapter one. Remember, John was Jesus’ most intimate companion while he was on earth—the one to whom Christ had entrusted the care of his mother. John reports that in John 13 he was as leaning against Jesus’ bosom during the Lord’s Supper. These two were close friends. Yet, in Revelation chapter one, when John sees Jesus in his glorified state, his response mirrors Daniel’s in chapter 10. John describes the glorified Messiah in Revelation 1:14. “The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. ¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead...” There is deep reverence coming from this one who had known such intimacy with Christ on earth.

The classic text in this regard is probably Isaiah chapter six when Isaiah sees his vision of God in his glory. Although we frequently comment on the fact that Isaiah becomes unglued in God’s presence, perhaps even more remarkable is the response of the holy angels--these two seraphim who are above the throne of God. The text says, “Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” These sinless angels who themselves were doubtless burning with God’s resplendent glory; perpetually cover their face in the presence of the holy One. There is reverence here from those who are constantly in the presence of God’s holiness. God’s glory doesn’t fade—it is not diminished by familiarity. This is the angel-blinding glory of God’s holiness and the appropriate response is reverence, not relaxation. Hebrews four tells us we are to “with confidence drawn near to the throne of grace.” The word “confidence” in context speaks of an approach to God that, because of what Jesus has done for us in reconciling us to him, emboldens us to trust that he will receive us. He will welcome us into his presence because of what Jesus has done for us.

Being confident before God however is not the same as being casual in our attitude before God. Boldness before God is never nonchalance. Intimacy with God is not laid back superficiality. Our approach to God, our worship of God, our relationship to God should never be marked by casualness. The same apostle who leaned back on the bosom of Jesus also fell at his feet as though dead. Hebrews 10:19 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of the living God…” But only 12 verses later it says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Jesus says in Luke 12:6, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten by God. Why, even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Hear that compassion. But in the verse immediately preceding this one, Jesus says, “but I will warn you whom to fear; fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to case you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” You simply cannot be casual in the presence of the God of Daniel chapter 10 or Revelation 1 or Isaiah six or dozens of other texts that speak of the overwhelming transcendence and glory of God.

We must have a Biblically balanced understanding and experience of God for countless reasons but here is one. That is, we become like the God we worship. Second Corinthians chapter 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” That tells us that as we through Christ in the New Covenant behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image we behold. If we behold an increasingly comprehensive, Biblically balanced image of God, we will grow in holiness and joy. If we behold a distorted, Biblically imbalanced God, we will not grow in grace. We become like what we worship. Daniel 10 reminds us that we must incorporate into our working understanding and experience this God—the God who brings trembling and deep reverence—the God who is not like us.

If we are strong in our understanding of God’s tender compassion, but weak in our view of his holy transcendence, then we may feel great comfort from God, but we will not be nearly as serious about our sin as we should be. If you are not living in the light of the holiness of God, if you are not around people who will encourage you to live in the light of a gloriously holy God, then you will begin to spiritually and morally drift. The Biblically defined, razor-sharp edges of right and wrong will start to grow fuzzy absent the backdrop of God’s holiness. Your zeal and passion to live a holy life will fade without regular exposure to the glory of God seen in places like Daniel chapter 10. Are you here today toying with sin? Are you keeping short accounts with God—quickly repenting of your sin and re-discovering the joy of the Lord? Or, are you playing around with sins that at one time repulsed you?

Have you allowed idols and enslaving sins back into your life that you swore you would never again bow down to? Have you drifted from God? Jesus’ word to you is the same one he spoke to Ephesus in Revelation chapter two. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first…” Maybe it’s because you have forgotten just what kind of God saved you. When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Embrace the gospel. Rediscover the glory of God’s mercy and grace as you come to him, confessing your sins and receiving his cleansing and healing touch through the cross. Just as God’s transcendent glory is overwhelming, so too is the glory of his redeeming grace that cleanses us and restores us to fellowship with him. Allow God to re-acquaint you with the glory of the gospel today as you boldly come into his presence for restoration and renewal in Him. May God give us the grace to embrace all of His attributes for his glory and our joy and holiness.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO NEXT SERMON