Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
At Faith Presbyterian Church we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ the King and to exhibit and extend his Kingdom through worship, community, and mission.
Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Daniel 10:1-21; A Man Greatly Loved
Martin Wagner November 17, 2024 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL
Bulletin
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The following message is from Faith Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Join us on Sundays for our 8, 15, and 11 am worship services. For more information, visit us online at faith-pcaorg or download the Faith PCA app. Thank you for tuning in to Faith's podcast ministry.
Speaker 2:The passage today is Daniel 10. The passage today is Daniel 10. In this series in the book of Daniel, we are looking at this through the lens of what does it mean to live as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, in a world that does not share the same values, the same convictions and the same beliefs that we do as followers of Christ? Just a reminder to you the first half of the book of Daniel is a narrative stories we've probably all heard about Daniel and his friends in exile and the last half of the book is apocalyptic. These are prophecies that God gave to Daniel concerning the future. That God gave to Daniel concerning the future, and chapters 10 to 12 make up the final prophecy of Daniel. Chapter 10 that we have today is the introduction, and then chapters 11 and 12 make up the actual prophecy to Daniel. As Jason has reminded us and it can be confusing when we read it these are not intended to confuse us. The goal of the prophecy was not to confuse Daniel, not to confuse us. God is not playing hide and seek with His people. These are words of God. They are meant to strengthen Daniel with what is ahead for him. There are rough days ahead for Daniel, and we will see that in this passage. So let's read our passage today, daniel 10,. Hear God's word to us today.
Speaker 2:In the third year, cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar, and the word was true. And it was a great conflict, and he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. In those days I, daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river that is the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and looked and behold a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Euphaz around his waist, and his body was like beryl and his face like the appearance of lightning and his eyes flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And 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. So 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. Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees and said to me O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, stand upright, for now I have been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up, trembling. Then he said to me fear not, daniel. For the first day you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before God. Your words have been heard and I have come because of your words.
Speaker 2:The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia and 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. When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. And behold one in the likeness of the children of man, touched my lips, and then I opened my mouth and spoke. And I said to him, who stood before me oh, my Lord, by reason of the vision, pains have come upon me and strengthened me. And 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. Let's pray, as none who contends by my side against these, except to Michael, your prince. Let's pray, lord, you tell us that, when we gather together, that you've promised to be in our midst. And, lord, as we look to a passage which is probably unfamiliar to many of us, we believe that this is your word that you have given to us today, and so we pray that, by your spirit, that you would speak, lord, that you would meet with us as we gather in your name. We ask this in Christ's name, amen.
Speaker 2:A few weeks ago I had the privilege of running in a 10k race. I am certainly no threat to win any of those races, but they are kind of a strange enjoyment for me, and I had several friends from this church who decided to join me on the run and I made the mistake of trying to keep up with them for the first few miles of the race. And I am really gassed after about four miles into the race and the fifth mile of this race was essentially a loop, and so as you're entering the loop, you see the people who are exiting the loop and so I make the turn onto the section. I'm really struggling. I know that I'm going to finish the race, but I have no hope of keeping up with the people who are in front of me. And I look at the faces of those who are coming off the loop and they look exhausted and I know I am in trouble. I can tell that tough times are ahead because there is this huge hill in front of me. That is a brutal climb and I knew that as bad as I felt in that moment when I saw their faces, that the worst was yet to come.
Speaker 2:Daniel finds himself in a similar situation in chapter 10. Daniel is in a bad place and it's about to get worse for him. Daniel's life has been one of faithfulness and one of difficulty. He's been at the top and he has been brought low. And here, towards the end of his life. Things are going to get worse and perhaps that's where you are this morning. The bad news in your life won't let up. It seems like it continues to come, whether it is a health diagnosis with no cure or solution, or a broken relationship and you have given up hope that it's ever going to be better, or it's a mental illness or an addiction that has you in its grips and as we enter a holiday season you just think to yourself I'm not sure that I'm up for celebrating this year. That's where Daniel is at the beginning of chapter 10. He is without strength and he is without hope. But we see at the end of the chapter that he's strengthened, that he leaves in strength. So what happens to move Daniel from despair at the beginning to strength at the end? I want to look at that in three parts this morning.
Speaker 2:This chapter in three parts. The first is Daniel's undoing, second is Daniel's visitor and lastly Daniel's strength. So first let's look at Daniel's undoing. We get a picture of Daniel in the first part of chapter 10 that we don't see anywhere else in this book. He is mourning, he is distraught. He's barely eaten a thing for three weeks. He is most certainly not coming to the Thanksgiving service tonight at our church. It says he has not anointed himself, he's not taken a bath, he's not shaved, he's not taken care of his beard in three weeks. He probably smells bad and has let himself go.
Speaker 2:When you read through the book of Daniel, you get the sense that Daniel has a lot of things together in his life, that he's a pretty regimented, disciplined guy, that he was one of the elite views of Israel in chapter 1. It says that he was smart, that he was ten times better than everyone else who was around him. He prayed three times, facing Jerusalem every day. He was in his 80s and the king trusted him enough to let him run an entire empire. This is not a guy who was given to laziness or melancholy or lack of self-care. And even when he received visions earlier in the book it says that he was anxious or he was even sick for a few days, but it says that he bounced back but that he was able to return to the Lord's work. But we see a different side of Daniel in this passage. He is undone.
Speaker 2:The text gives us the date and the year and the month that this happened. It's the third year of Cyrus' reign on the 24th day of the first month. That doesn't mean much to us, I would imagine, but it helps us to get a glimpse of just how bad things were for Daniel when Cyrus and the Persians conquered the Babylonians. Cyrus made a decree that the exiles of Jerusalem could return home, that they could begin to rebuild the temple. You can read about that in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Speaker 2:But isn't it interesting that after 70 years of praying to go home, after 70 years of praying to return to Israel, daniel's still in Babylon? We don't know why he didn't return. He could have returned for two years, but he remains in Babylon. It could be that he was too old to travel, or he wanted the new generation to lead the way in the return. We don't know why, but we know that he's not there and we have every indication that Daniel dies in Babylon. And the month and the day are important as well. What that tells us is that this is the season of Passover. This is a time when the people of God celebrate God's deliverance out of Egypt, the most festive time of the year.
Speaker 2:Hollywood would have written a story with Daniel returning home, a conquering hero. A story with Daniel returning home, a conquering hero celebrating the Passover with his people, rejoicing in God's deliverance of his people from Babylon. He would be a faithful old man living out his last days in Israel. But we don't get a Hollywood ending. This reads something more like tragedy, because this man who, as we've read through Daniel, has been a paragon of strength and integrity and faithfulness, he is simply out of gas.
Speaker 2:In the beginning of this chapter I want you to get a picture in your mind of Daniel. He is a weak, old, weak, old, disheveled man in the fetal position, writhing in pain. Daniel says four times in this passage I have no strength. In verse 9, he falls on his face in a deep sleep. He's knocked out. He's trembling. In verse 15, he's left speechless. In verse 15, daniel is undone and he is standing on the banks of the river. He's standing on the banks of the river with his friends, perhaps wondering is he going to live out the rest of his days in a van down by the river? But in his distress, he lifts up his eyes and he receives a visitor, and that's point two of our sermon. This visitor is described for us in verses 5 to 6. His heavenly being is clothed in linen, with a golden belt, a body like marble, a face that radiated like lightning and fiery torches, and whose words were like a thunderous roar.
Speaker 2:Like a lot of passages we've seen in Daniel, there exists a lot of interpretive challenges when it comes especially to this passage. Who is this visitor? There are lots of options and opinions out there for us, but it's clear that the visitor is one with great strength, with great tenderness towards Daniel and great power, one who is above Daniel, and I think we get hints of who this is as we read through Daniel 10, but I think it's clear when we read Revelation 1. When, in Revelation 1, you have another prophet of the Lord who is in exile you have the apostle John in exile in the Isle of Patmos and he receives a surprise visit from a visitor as well and notice the striking similarities between these visits. I'm going to start reading in Revelation 1, verse 12. It says this.
Speaker 2:Then I turned to see this voice that was speaking to me and on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstands, one like the Son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze refining in a furnace and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. And when I saw him I fell at his feet, though dead, but he laid his right hand on me, saying Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold, I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades. In Revelation, this heavenly visitor, this visitor who is clothed in linen, with a golden sash and fiery eyes and a thunderous voice, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the first and the last, the one who died and who lives forevermore.
Speaker 2:One of the ways that you can know that you are reading Revelation in the way that God intended us to read Revelation is when you look at it and you see things from earlier in the Scriptures. Revelation is like one big commentary on the rest of the Bible. It brings the images and the themes together to show us where the world is headed, and I think that's what we see in this passage. It's hard for me to read Revelation 1 and Daniel 10 next to each other and not come to the conclusion that the visitor in Daniel 10 is the second person of the Trinity, what theologians call a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. And Daniel's response, how he responds, adds to this view. View in verse 9, he hears the sound of his words and at his voice Daniel falls on his face to the ground in a deep sleep. The sound of the voice is like a tsunami that knocks Daniel off his feet and the same way that John.
Speaker 2:In Revelation 1, it said that he fell at Jesus' feet as though he were dead. It's the same reaction that Isaiah had in Isaiah 6. In our call to confession this morning. Woe is me. Who am I? I am a man of unclean lips. It's the same reaction that the disciples had when they were in the boat with Jesus and the storm came upon them and Jesus quieted the storm upon them, and Jesus quieted the storm, and their fear was greater after the storm than it was. In the midst of this, who is this that controls even the wind and the waves? It is when Daniel is at his lowest and at his weakest, that the hand of Jesus reaches out to touch him and picks him up off the ground and sets him on his hands and knees and tells him to stand upright. And he looks at Daniel and says, oh, daniel, man greatly loved. He says, daniel, I love you.
Speaker 2:What I've found really profound this week was thinking about the times in the book of Daniel where the Lord drew near to Daniel. He drew near to him when he was at his lowest and his weakest, not when he's at his best, when he had nothing to offer. God was waiting on him at the end of his rope. When is it that you would think that Daniel would hear I love you? When is it we think he would get an attaboy from God? When he's faithfully defying the king in chapter 1? When he resolutely faces the lion's den? Would he hear affirmation when he speaks the truth to powerful kings? What about when he prays faithfully three times a day or when he faithfully serves on a godless government his entire life? Wouldn't those be the times where we would expect God to look down and say I love you, daniel, thank you for what you are doing for me. But that's not when God shows up doing for me. But that's not when God shows up. There are two places that God shows up in profound ways in the book of Daniel. The first is what we saw last week, when Daniel was confessing his sins and the sins of his people and God shows up and says oh man, greatly loved. And the second is in this passage this morning.
Speaker 2:Our natural instinct is to think that in order for God to tell us that he loves us, that we have to find some way to earn it, that we need to be as brave and as faithful as Daniel is in order to hear those things from God. But this passage is a picture of the gospel for us. Is it that we connect with God in our strength or do we connect with him in our weakness? We can read this passage and see elements of what we're trying to do every week as we gather for worship. We gather and we hear about the character of God, our high and transcendent and holy and righteous God. And as we hear about who God is, we see how we don't measure up, how we have sinned against Him and our faces are turned to the ground.
Speaker 2:But have you noticed that we don't have a time in our service devoted to recounting all of the accomplishments of God's people. There's nothing listed in the bulletin that says recounting the achievements of the accomplishments of God's people. There's nothing listed in the bulletin that says recounting the achievements of the people of God. No, we confess the exact opposite. We confess the ways that we have not done what God requires of us. And every week, as we confess our sins, what are the very next words that we hear? The very next words we hear are an assurance that, in Christ, god looks at us and says oh man, oh woman, oh child, you are greatly loved. We hear God again remind us that we belong to Him and notice in this passage that it takes Daniel a minute. It takes him a while for him to understand what God is saying to him.
Speaker 2:He doesn't get it the first time, it takes a while. There are three different times that Jesus touches Daniel in this passage in verse 10, in verse 15, and in verse 18. The first, in verse 10, jesus draws near and he touches him and he stands him on his feet and he looks, looks at Daniel and he says I love you. I've been kept from being here because of this cosmic battle that I'm in, but I'm here now to tell you that I'm with you and to tell you what's coming in the future. And then, in verse 15, daniel's face is back on the ground and he is mute. He is still without strength, he is still without breath, and Jesus touches him and opens his lips that he might speak. And then, finally, in verse 18, he comes again a final time and he touches Daniel and he strengthens him and he reminds him again that he is loved and he is cared for. Even when Daniel doesn't get it, even when it doesn't sink in, even when Daniel is still terrified, jesus comes and touches him, jesus draws near and he assures him that he is loved. And I'm struck by our Lord's kindness in reminding fearful, weak people like us that we are loved as well, that even when we don't get it, even when we forget that we are loved, even when we act the exact opposite, god does not look down on us and scoffs, but yet he graciously reminds us every time we gather together that we are greatly loved. So so finally, I'm going to look at Daniel's strength. What is it that allows Daniel to say in verse 19, let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me. First, we need to see what it's not. Daniel is not magically transported back to Israel. There is no change in circumstances in his life. Jesus doesn't say to him well, life's actually going to be really easy for you from now on, and easy for the people of God. A change in circumstances is not what happened in this passage, because what we're going to learn in chapters 11 and 12 is that things are about to get a lot worse for God's people. But there's something that went beyond what he was experiencing in the present and what was promised in the future. It was the Lord's presence. God was with him. That is what strengthened him In the midst of his mourning and distress. Daniel was strengthened by the fact that God had come to him. He didn't have to go to God when he couldn't go to God. God is the one who came to him. But it was not just the Lord's presence, but it was the Lord's words that strengthened Daniel. Not just the mere presence and touch, but the very word of God speaking to Daniel. Daniel was strengthened by the fact that the Lord was fighting for him.
Speaker 2:There are a lot of interpretations you might have of verse 13 and verses 20 to 21. We wonder what the battle that is being described here. Who are these princes of Persia and Greece? Who is the chief prince Michael? And I'll be honest with you, the short answer is I don't know.
Speaker 2:But I actually don't think that's the major point of the passage here. I think what we can learn from this. It's clear that Jesus is telling Daniel that there is more going on in the world than he can see, that there is a spiritual reality that lies behind the physical reality that we see, that we can't see everything that's transpiring in the spiritual world behind us. But what we are assured of is that Jesus does that, what we can't see, everything that's transpiring in the spiritual world behind us. But what we are assured of is that Jesus does that what we can't see, he can and he is in control over all of creation, that there's nothing outside of His sight and there's nothing that he will not do for His children, that he will defend us from all of His and our enemies. Jesus reminds Daniel that this life will be full of pain, it will be full of hurt, but he is reminded that he is not alone, that God is with him, that he is fighting for him, that he will not let him go. We say, well, that's great for Daniel.
Speaker 2:I'm glad that Daniel was strengthened in this chapter. But how can I know? How is it that I can be strengthened? How can I draw this same? But how can I know, how is it that I can be strengthened? How can I draw this same strength? You can be assured of that. You can draw that same strength, because the one to whom Daniel was speaking would go even lower than Daniel went in this chapter, because at the cross, jesus would have absolutely no strength remaining in Him. As he hung on the cross, there was no breath remaining in him.
Speaker 2:Daniel's friends all fled to hide themselves, but Jesus was utterly alone at the cross In his time of need. He didn't receive a caring touch, but he was whipped and beaten to the point of death he didn't hear. Oh, man greatly loved, but he was mocked and scorned by those he came to save. Jesus was utterly alone at the cross, not feeling the punishment and weight of his own sins, because he had none but taking upon himself the sins of his people. And in his death he too would be exiled, forsaken by his Father, utterly alone at the cross. We have a Savior who knows what it is to suffer, a Savior who suffered for us in our place. And so are you here this morning and you are zapped of strength. Are you at the end of your rope? And you are wondering does God care? Is God actually listening at all when I pray? I want you to hear from Daniel 10 that in Christ you are one who is greatly loved. Fear not, may the peace of God be with you and be of good courage and strength. Your God is with you, he is for you and he will come again for you.
Speaker 2:Earlier this year, I was at a conference with a group of pastors. Earlier this year I was at a conference with a group of pastors and one of those pastors was on staff at covenant presbyterian in nashville and we were. He was talking to our group about the great tragedy that happened at their church last year when a gunman opened fire on their campus, killing six people. And he was saying that nearly a year after that terrible day that things were still extraordinarily hard at the church, that things didn't seem to be letting up, that there were reminders of what happened all over the building and there were still extraordinarily hard decisions that had to be made and as a church they were dealing with wounds that just will not heal on this side of heaven. And he said that in the first few months that they had guest preachers who would come and who would fill the pulpit he just described just sort of this feeling of just pervasive numbness. He would go to worship and wouldn't hear much. But he said the only thing that he remembered from any of the services in the first few months was one statement made by a pastor who was preaching from Revelation 21.4.
Speaker 2:If you know that part of Revelation, that is the verse at the end where we are told that Jesus is going to return and he is going to make all things right, that God Himself will wipe away every tear and that death will be no more. And then the pastor said if God tells us that he is going to wipe away every tear, then that must mean that we're going to be crying when we get there. For some of us, life is going to be filled with tears until we see Jesus face to face. Until we see Jesus, when he tells us he receives us and he wipes away our tears once and for all. Think about what that will be like for Daniel, thinking about him as an old prophet, a faithful prophet of the Lord, a man greatly loved seeing Jesus face to face with tears in his eyes.
Speaker 2:So to those here who are mourning and who are undone by life, hear Jesus say to you that you are greatly loved. Be reminded that he has given you His Word, he has given you His promise and he has given you Himself. The circumstances of your suffering may not change in this life and there may be plenty of tears for Jesus to wipe away when you see Him face to face, but take heart that in Christ you are dearly loved and you have the promise. We have the promise that God will bring us all the way home. Let's pray, o Lord, take these words and by your Spirit we pray that you would bring deep comfort to those of us who are hurting, that you would draw near and remind us all that we are those who are dearly loved in Christ, and we pray this in Jesus' name Amen.