“Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (Daniel 10:12).
Chapter Ten of the Book of Daniel, which forms the subject of this chapter, is an introduction to the fourth and last of the Prophet’s visions, recorded in Chapters Eleven and Twelve. It is to this portion of the book that skeptics and rationalists have given the most attention in their endeavors to disprove the genuineness and authenticity of the book.
“So clear and explicit indeed are its predictions [those of the entire book] concerning the Advent of the Messiah, and other important events of times far remote from those in which he [Daniel] lived, that Porphyry, a learned adversary of the Christian faith in the third century — finding that Daniel’s predictions concerning the several empires were so universally acknowledged to be fulfilled that he could not disprove the fact of their accomplishment — alleged against them that they must have been written after the events to which they refer had actually occurred. To him they appeared to be a narration of events that had already taken place, rather than a prediction of things future; such was the striking coincidence between the facts when accomplished and the prophecies which foretold them. But this method of opposing the prophecies, as Jerome [who lived and wrote only a few years after Porphyry’s death] has rightly observed, affords the strongest testimony to their truth; for they were fulfilled with such exactness, that to infidels the Prophet seemed not to have foretold things future, but to have related things past.”¹
Concerning this particular prophecy, especially that portion recorded in Chapter Eleven that relates to the conflicts between the kings of Syria and Egypt, which Porphyry, without giving any proof affirmed must have been written after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (175 BC) — it has been indisputably proved that this prophecy was translated into the Greek language one hundred years before this noted king of Syria, Antiochus, was born; indeed, the same is true of the whole Book of Daniel as we have it today; and “that very translation was in the hands of the Egyptians, who did not cherish any great kindness toward the Jews and their religion; and those prophecies which foretold the successes of Alexander (Daniel 8:5, 11:3) were shown to him by the Jews, in consequence of which he conferred upon them several privileges.”
It is very generally acknowledged that the Hebrew and Chaldee text of Daniel constituted the original from which was translated the Greek or Septuagint version of the Old Testament. In these days of collegiate skepticism it would be well if our learned (?) professors would read such works on the authenticity and genuineness of the Old Testament, particularly the Book of Daniel, as Hengstenberg on The Authenticity of Daniel, or Horne’s Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. All the various objections cited by modern Higher Critics are centuries old, and have been collected and refuted by the above writers and others who lived a century ago — writers who not only excelled in learning, but possessed also that which is always essential to a knowledge of Divine things — humility, reverence, and godliness. It is true that …
“In the Vulgate Latin edition of the Bible, as well as in Theodotion’s Greek version, which was adopted by all the Greek churches in the East in lieu of the incorrect Septuagint translation … there is added in the third chapter of Daniel, between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth verses, the song of the three children, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were cast into the fiery furnace. The version of Theodotion also introduces, at the beginning of this book, the history of Susanna, and at the end, the stories of Bel and the Dragon; and this arrangement is followed by the modern version in use in the Greek Church. But in the Latin Vulgate, both these Apocryphal pieces were separated by Jerome from the canonical book, and were dismissed to its close with an express notice that they were not found by him in the Hebrew, but were translated from Theodotion. In a later age, however, they were improperly made a continuation of Daniel, being numbered chapters 13 and 14; an arrangement which has been followed in all the modern versions from the Vulgate in use among the members of the Romish Church, and sometimes (particularly in the Dublin edition of the Anglo-Romish version of the Bible printed in 1825), with the unjustifiable omission of the cautionary notice of Jerome.
“The narratives of Susanna and of Bel and the Dragon do not exist in the genuine Septuagint version of Daniel, recovered in the middle of the eighteenth century; nor were these Apocryphal additions ever received into the canon of Holy Writ by the Jewish Church. They are not extant in the Hebrew or Chaldee languages, nor is there any evidence that they ever were so extant” (Thomas Horne).
The text as we have it in the King James version is that of the original Hebrew. The date, the third year of Cyrus, given in verse one, is the latest mentioned in the life history of the aged Prophet. In Daniel 1:21, it is stated that he continued unto the first year of Cyrus. It does not say, however, that he died then, but it would lead us to conclude that in the third year of Cyrus, when he had the vision we now consider, he had ceased to be active in the affairs of government. He must have been at this time nearly ninety years old or perhaps older.
The chapter opens with a statement of Daniel himself, that at the time he received the revelation he had been mourning “three full weeks” — that for some cause he had set himself apart to engage in a special season of fasting and prayer. It was evidently his solicitude for his own nation, God’s chosen people, that caused him to thus give himself up wholly to meditative devotions. It was at a season also, the month Nisan, when the returned Jews were celebrating the passover at Jerusalem.
Two years had elapsed since the return under Ezra from Babylon, and from what we learn in the book of that name, many difficulties were being encountered and much opposition experienced by the returned captives in building the temple and establishing the worship of Jehovah there. It was in this month, in the beginning of their history, that they crossed the Jordan, and that many other of the great and noted events of Jewish history occurred. We may well believe that all these things combined specially influenced the venerable Prophet to give himself to devotions, and to pray that he might understand more clearly the matters that up to this time had been hidden in the several visions given to him.
“He does not say whether he had designedly set apart that time to be occupied as a season of fasting, or whether he had, under the influence of deep feeling, continued his fast from day to day until it reached that period. Either supposition will accord with the circumstances of the case, and either would have justified such an act at any time, for it would be undoubtedly proper to designate a time of extraordinary devotion, or, under the influence of deep feeling, of domestic troubles, of national affliction, to continue such religious exercises from day to day.”
The meaning of the words in verse three, “I ate no pleasant bread,” evidently is that during this period he abstained from all those things that he commonly indulged in that would promote his personal comfort. Such a course of life would be expressive of sorrow and grief. It is a common thing of nature to so act when the mind is overwhelmed with grief or sorrow, especially concerning things pertaining to God’s work. Herein lies the foundation of godly fasting and prayer.
Daniel tells us that this occurred on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, by the great river Hiddekel, which is now known as the Tigris. It seems to have been a quiet retreat selected by him for special devotions and prayer.
It seems evident, as already noted, that one cause of these special devotions was his desire to understand more fully the Divine purpose concerning things communicated in previous visions — things concerning the people of God, his own beloved nation. This is implied in the words of the revealing angel who appeared to him after the three weeks had expired: “From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard” (verse 12).
It has been truly remarked:
“We will be more likely to receive Divine communications to our souls at the close of seasons of sincere and prolonged devotions than at other times; and that though we may set apart such seasons for different purposes, the Spirit of God may take occasion from them to impart to us clear and elevated views of truth, and of the Divine government. A man is in a better state to obtain such views, and is more likely to obtain them in such circumstances, than he is in others, and he who desires to understand God and His ways should wait upon Him with prolonged devotion.”
Another has thus emphasized Daniel’s persistency in prayer to Jehovah for an understanding of the Divine communications which he had previously received:
“How long he would have continued this fast had he not received the answer to his prayer, we know not; but his course in continuing it for three full weeks shows that, being assured that his request was lawful, he was not a person to cease his supplications till his petition was granted.”
The Heavenly Visitor
Daniel tells us that while beside the great river, while his mind was meditating on the matters previously communicated to him, he lifted his eyes, and was greeted with a vision, or an object that completely overpowered him. Before him stood a being from another world. He speaks of him as a man clothed in linen, and girded with a belt of gold. His body was like the beryl-like in appearance or color to the mineral of that name which is of a bluish green, prismatic light. His face was as the appearance of lightning, utterly dazzling to mortal eyes. His eyes were as lamps of fire, and his arms and feet like in color to polished brass; the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. The Prophet was not alone at the time; but who these were that were with him, whether some of his own countrymen engaged with him in worship, or others, is not recorded. All we know about this is that he was left alone when he saw the vision; the others, though not seeing the vision, were so powerfully affected by some strange supernaturality associated with the occurrence, that they trembled with apprehension and fled to hide themselves.
It is very evident that Daniel perceived that, like others he had seen before, this was a heavenly vision, and in his already weakened condition through his long fast, the effect upon him was to utterly deprive him of strength, and cause him to sink into a state next to death; and whether he desired to flee or not, he was unable to do so, and was compelled to remain and receive the Divine communication. The record states that while he heard the first words of the mighty angel, he had at the time fallen into a kind of swoon — “in a deep sleep,” and was lying with his “face towards the ground.” Nor would he have been able to rise from his prostrate position, had it not been that he was touched by the angel’s strengthening hand, and in an encouraging tone told to arise and stand upright. After he had recovered his strength sufficiently to rise to his feet, he shook with dread, and “stood trembling” at the sound of the heavenly visitor’s voice.
It is not infrequent that we hear some of God’s people express themselves as desiring to have like experiences as the holy Prophets when they saw the visions and heard the words they have recorded for our comfort and hope. One remarks that we do this because …
“ we fail to note through what sufferings of soul and body these revelations have come out through them. We think of the glory of what they saw and heard and felt, but overlook the terrible jarrings of all the framework of their earthly nature which were the price of these revelations. It is a mercy that we may profit by them without the dreadful experiences which attended the giving of them. Think how Moses did ‘fear and quake’; how Jacob at Bethel was thrilled and terrified at the realization of what had occurred to him there; how Isaiah was unmanned and made to cry out as one about to sink into annihilation at the glory he describes; how Paul was blinded, sickened and disabled by Christ’s appearance unto him; how John fell down as dead at the voice and apparition which greeted him at the beginning of the Apocalypse; and through what dreadful horrors and disturbances of body, soul, and spirit these wonders and revelations were vouchsafed through these sublimely- favored men! Daniel would have ceased to live to tell us of this vision had not a heavenly hand revived and strengthened him against the overwhelming terribleness of what he beheld. And rather than envy these singularly-favored men, we should be moved to thank God that He has given to us the full benefit of these marvelous disclosures without having to experience the awfulness which the giving of them wrought in those through whom they came.”
But who was this heavenly visitant? The description Daniel gives of him is almost like that given of the vision of Christ to St. John in the Revelation (Chapter One). It differs from this however in several important features; and these features are such as to show that it was not the Logos in his prehuman existence that the aged Prophet saw. The effect upon Daniel when he beheld the vision is also in some respects like that experienced by St. Paul when the Lord manifested himself to him on the road leading from Jerusalem to Damascus. It is quite evident, however, that this was not the Lord, for in the same connection one, Michael, is represented as occupying a higher station in the heavenly realm than the one here revealed.
Michael is represented as coming to the assistance of this one that Daniel saw. The name Michael signifies, “He who is like God.” In Jude we have Michael spoken of as the archangel. The term archangel signifies “head or chief angel”; and the angel of the vision under consideration speaks of Michael as the first of the chief princes (see marginal reading on verse 13). We sometimes hear of archangels as though there were many; but the Scriptures do not so speak. According to the Scriptures there is but one archangel. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16,
St. Paul states that when Christ shall raise the dead, it will be in connection with the voice of the Archangel. Connecting this utterance with Christ’s own words concerning that event, “the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,” we can but identify Michael with our Lord Jesus Christ himself. In Daniel 12, Michael is called the “great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” It is not probable that such expressions can have reference to any other personage than the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are some features connected with this angel of Chapter Ten that seem to identify him with the one who appeared to Daniel in connection with the visions of Chapters Eight and Nine. In those chapters the name Gabriel is given to the angel. The appearance of Gabriel in those visions, as also the effect produced upon the Prophet in connection with those appearances, seems to identify the one of this vision, with Gabriel. On the occasion of the events of Chapter Eight, Gabriel was instructed to make Daniel understand the vision; and yet at the close of the chapter it is stated that he did not succeed in causing Daniel to understand; and in this chapter the angel says, “Now I have come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days.” It would seem that this was the very information the angel Gabriel had promised to give.
Again we notice that it was Gabriel who was sent to answer the Prophet when he sought by prayer and fasting for God’s mercy upon his nation in their iniq- uity; and it was Gabriel who gave to Daniel the wonderful prediction of the First Advent, recorded in Chapter Nine.
This seems to be the special and divinely appointed work of this mighty angel Gabriel. He appears first to Daniel to announce the return from captivity and to fix the exact date of Messiah’s Advent and also the date when the great sacrifice for sin would be made by Him. It was he who in the Gospel of Luke announced to Zacharias the birth of Christ’s forerunner, John; it was he who appeared to Mary to inform her that she was the favored of all women — that she was to be the mother of the long promised Messiah. Gabriel may be rightly designated the heavenly evangelist, whose mission was to announce the glad tidings of a Savior for the world.
Most naturally we ask, Why the long delay? Why, then, if the angel was sent twenty-one days before to answer his prayer, what hindered him so long in reaching the Prophet? The words, “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days,” are the angel’s reply to these questions. This suggests to our minds how much is taking place unseen to mortal vision in connection with shaping the affairs of the nations of this world in accom- plishing God’s great purposes. In this instance God permits an angel to lift the curtain for a moment, thus enabling us to get a glimpse of what is taking place among the spirits of the power of the air. Indeed, the Scriptures from beginning to end picture the angels as participating, unseen, in behalf of God’s people, as also in the Divine overruling in the affairs of human governments. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation?”
Among the angels there are both good and bad who are occasionally pictured in the Scriptures in conflict with each other. It seems quite evident that in the instance under consideration we have an individual evil angel representing the wicked spirit Satan influencing the ministration of the affairs of the kingdom of Persia, and he, though unseen, was hindering at this time a direct answer to Daniel’s prayer. The Prophet (as well as we) was permitted to get a glimpse of this invisible struggle that was going on between the princes or chiefs of holy and unholy angels. The conflict seems to have been to determine which of these powers was to influence the mind of the worldly monarch, the king of Persia then on the throne, in making an important decision in connection with the affairs of God’s people. How closely associated are these invisible struggles, or conflicts, with the answer of God to the prayers of His people!
We have in this instance an illustration of the effectual working of prayer, among the several recorded in Holy Writ. Daniel, the beloved of heaven, is moved by certain events which are seemingly detrimental to the interests of God’s people, or seemingly hindering the accomplishment of God’s promises, to set himself to pray earnestly about the matter. His prayer is heard by Him who sits on the throne of the universe. A command goes forth from the throne, for Gabriel, who “stands in the presence of God,” to go to Daniel’s relief, to reassure him that God is working in His providence to fulfil His promises. However, the earthly king of Persia is being moved by opposing earthly influences. The evil angel who has charge of Satan’s interests in the Persian government, is oper- ating to thwart God’s purposes. We know that at this very time the Persian king was being influenced against having his own decree carried out. The unseen powers of darkness were using wicked men to prevent the carrying out of the decree. Gabriel is sent to the royal palace.
“All the motives of selfish interest and worldly policy which Satan can play upon, he doubtless uses to the best advantage to influence the king against compliance with God’s will, while Gabriel brings to bear his influence in the other direction. The king struggles between conflicting emotions. He hesi- tates; he delays. Day after day passes away; yet Daniel prays on. The king still refuses to yield to the influence of the angel; three weeks expire, and lo! a mightier than Gabriel takes his place in the palace of the king, and Gabriel appears to Daniel to acquaint him with the progress of the events. From the first, said he, your prayer was heard; but during these three weeks, which you have devoted to prayer and fasting, the [prince of the] kingdom of Persia has resisted my influence and prevented my coming. Such was the effect of prayer. And God has erected no barriers between Himself and His people since Daniel’s time. It is still their privilege to offer up prayer as fervent and effectual as his, and like Jacob to have power with God and prevail.”
(1) Horne’s Introduction to a Critical Study of the Holy Scriptures, Volume II, page 280.