Daniel 10:2














I was left alone, and saw this great vision (ver. 8). It is well to begin by clearing up the context. We have now only one more prophecy in Daniel. This occupies the eleventh chapter. The tenth contains a prologue to the prophecy; the twelfth, an epilogue. In Daniel 10:1 the character of the prophecy is indicated:

1. Its subject-matter is afflictive. "The conflict is great. It covers a time of great calamities (see the Hebrew).

2. The prophecy was to be unusually intelligible. And he understood the word, and understanding was there to him in the vision." Some haze of mystery there might be, but not the thick darkness which had enrobed preceding revelations.

3. It would certainly be true. "A word was revealed to Daniel... and true the word." The prophecy of ch. 11. is the most minute of Scripture; and hence men have been tempted to disbelieve in it as prophecy, and to regard it as prophecy written after the event, lien might have disregarded it before fulfilment; hence Daniel gives this assurance. We now here concern ourselves with Daniel's vision of the Christ.

I. THE SCENE OF THE VISION On the Tigris. The first migration to Jerusalem had taken place. Daniel's advanced age made it, perhaps, impossible that he should have joined in it. He may have been on the Tigris:

1. Either on an embassage.

2. Or retired from all official life.

II. THE TIME OF THE VISION.

1. Two years after the first migration back from captivity (ver. 1).

2. A time of sorrow. Mourning was usually for seven days: Daniel mourned for three times seven. Fasting, etc. Why? Realize the circumstances. The temple was indeed rising; but neighbouring peoples were exerting all their influence with the Persian king to frustrate the work. Therefore anxiety and fear. Daniel's affliction would be in proportion as success seemed certain. Good men grieve over slow progress of the Divine kingdom, and the fierceness of the opposition.

3. Time of the Passover. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month came the vision. We infer that Daniel had consecrated the first three weeks of the new year to devotion. This included the Passover week - a time of unusual solemnity - when he would be in earnest sympathy with his nation.

III. THE VISION. That this was none other than the vision of Christ the Lord appears:

1. From the after-developments of the scene.

2. From a comparison with the vision of Christ in the Apocalypse. (Revelation 1.)

Compare the two descriptions of clothing - the girdle, the countenance, the eyes, the feet, the voice. Daniel adds, "His body also was like the beryl." John adds, "His head and his hairs were white," etc. In drawing out the description into detail, note: the clothing was of the finest, purest - the garb of priests, prophets, saints, and angels; the uncovered portions of the body shone with gemlike splendour; all the symbols suggest light-splendour; the girdle of fine gold; the arms and feet "like the eye of polished brass," the part that catches the blaze of sunlight and throws it back; the face as lightning, and the eyes as fire; the voice majestic. All this may be spiritually expanded.

IV. THE EFFECT OF THE VISION.

1. On the companions of the seer. (Ver. 7.) Compare effect on Paul's companions on the way to Damascus, of the vision of the same Christ.

2. On the seer. (Vers. 8, 9.) He swooned; but the mighty voice came rolling into his ear, as the roar of ocean breaks into the caves upon the shore. Here we have a picture of the inability of man to stand before the unveiled revelations of God (comp. Revelation 1:17).

V. THE RESTORING OF CHRIST THE LORD. Christ:

1. Sets man erect in the presence of Divine revelations. (Ver. 11.) No need of cringing. We ourselves are made. in the image of God, and have affinity with the Divine.

2. He does so gradually. Daniel was first flat on his face; then on all fours; then half-raised and trembling; and finally stood upright on his feet. In this, see how man is gradually led up to all the light which God has to give. In heaven the unveiling may be gradual (vers. 9, 10, 11).

3. Sympathetically. "Behold, a hand touched me" (vers. 10, 16-19).

4. Assures man that his devout aspirations are recognized beyond the sky. Daniel's was the attitude of a devout truth-seeker. He "had set his heart to understand," and "to chasten himself before his God." We should have more uniformity of Scripture interpretation, were the interpreter always of this spirit.

5. And of the sure answer to his prayers. (Ver. 12.) As soon as prayer was offered, it was heard, and secret agencies were evoked for its answer; but there were many obstacles to be overcome. The later part of the chapter shows this. So may it ever be, before our prayers can be answered, long lines and combinations of secondary causes may have to he set in operation, and formidable hostilities subdued. Patience in waiting for, as well as faith in expecting, the answer, are both necessary in the matter of prayer. - R.

O Man greatly beloved.
Daniel is the servant of God seen in the haunts of the wicked world. No place is essentially unfit for the child of God. It is not of necessity in seclusion from the world that the saintly character is formed; holiness may exist, and the most perfect man be brought out in haunts which are peculiarly the dwellings of Satan. But there are certain safeguards and tendencies which are necessary to such a position. All the circumstances connected with Daniel's position, character, and writings, tend to give him an important and prominent position in the history of the Church of God. He is a highly interesting type of the position which the servant of God may lawfully occupy in the midst of scenes of dazzling temptation. We must simply go out of the world, if we are to avoid its temptations and allurements. Daniel's safeguards concerned his food. He prepared himself by thoroughly mastering the learning of the people amongst whom he sojourned. He preserved most rigidly his habits of attention to the hours of devotion ordered by the Jewish church. He entered the world with a resolute determination to speak the truth before God conscientiously. With these four weapons every one who enters or lives in the world must war against it and protect himself.

(E. Munro.)

I. THE NAME GIVEN TO DANIEL. "Greatly beloved." Compare John 21-20. We too are each of us the objects of God's love. (Ephesians 2:4, 5).

II. THE PEACE WISHED UNTO DANIEL. It is that which St. Paul speaks about. (Romans 5:1; Romans 4:25) If you don't feel that you have the peace, trust God, and he will give you consciousness of it.

III. THE THREEFOLD CHARGE. Fear not. Why should you fear? Your Sins are washed away. Christ's righteousness is yours. Be strong. In thy testimony before men. In faith, giving glory to God. Believe, Faith is to be exercised in temporal matters.

(J. Duncan Craig, D.D.)

The weakest babes in grace are as truly loved as those who have come to the fulness of the stature of men in Christ Jesus. There are delicious spots where the sun's light seems to rest most constantly, yet the sun of God's love shines on all the field which he hath chosen. The goodly land owned the superior excellency of its Carmel and Sharon; yet from Dan to Beersheba, every acre was blessed of the Lord. Every heir of heaven is purchased with the same blood, written in the same roll of life, called by the same Spirit, preserved by the same divine power, and is ripened under the same spiritual influences for the eternal glory: surely then every believer is "beloved," and "greatly beloved" too. Great love has been shown in the salvation of each one of us, and in our preservation to this day.

I. The text glitters with A CHOICE TITLE. Daniel is said to be a "man greatly beloved," or as some read it, "a man of desires" — a desirable man towards God, whom God desired to commune with, in whose society the Lord delighted. He was a "man greatly beloved." Now the great love of God to Daniel is very conspicuously seen in his character. I shall not describe his character as the reason why God loved him, far from it, but I shall mention his character as being the effect of God's great love to him. God loved him greatly, and therefore he made him this and that. The first token of the Lord's great love to Daniel which we shall consider was this, God gave him early piety. No one can ever over-estimate the great privilege of being brought to God in childhood or youth. If it were only to be saved from the injury which a course of sin brings upon the mind, if it.were only to escape from the regrets for the past which will arise even when the conscience is in after days purged from sin, if it were only to have saved those precious hours of the early morning of life and to have used them in the Master's cause, if it were only for those three reasons, and they are but part of a great cluster, they are something for which eternally to bless the Special love of God. "O man, greatly beloved, when thou wast a child the Lord delighted in thee." But, secondly, the great love of God to Daniel appeared in his early and thorough nonconformity to the world. Everything was done that could be done to make the young Hebrew forget the God of his fathers. His very name was changed as well as those of the three right worthy companions of his captivity. Everywhere around them they saw idolatry, lust, and crime. There was nothing when they went abroad or when they stayed at home but what would suggest to them the abominations of the heathen. It is always safest if you are at war with a deadly enemy to have a very high wall between you and him. There will be no fault in its being too high if he aims at destroying you. Any division which we establish between us and sin, will never be too broad or too deep. Gentle manners are a fit robe for firm principles. We read, therefore, that Daniel "requested of the prince of the eunuchs, that he might not defile himself." If you are not at the outset thorough for God, I fear you never will be. Christians ought to grow in grace, but I am sorry to say that with many of them they go from weakness to weakness, and all I fear because there is not a sound beginning. Every builder will tell you the necessity of having the foundation laid well. Daniel was a man greatly beloved, because even early he was distinguished for his nonconformity to the world. In after life we find another sweet result of God's love, in his courageous trust in God. He was a man greatly beloved to be such a lion as he was in the midst of all his foes. Coupled with this as another evidence of God's love to him, was his wonderful endurance of prosperity. A further instance of God's great love to him comes out in his firmness under trial. Let me add, that here we ought not to forget that God's grace and love shone conspicuously in making Daniel a man of such continuous devotion. Every day witnessed his constant regularity in prayer. I think that I have shown you that the outward signs of God's love to Daniel were such as many of us have enjoyed in a measure and may enjoy still more, for there are some here who were saved in youth, some who early began to be decided for God, some who have been brave for Christ, and have not denied the faith, who have sustained prosperity, and have endured trial too, and who have by grace been taught to plead with God. Perhaps they will not recognize themselves, but we may be able to recognize them, and call them men greatly beloved. In one word, there was one crowning token of God's love to Daniel, and that is the perfect consistency of his life all through. It is a special mark of a man greatly beloved, when he is consistent from the beginning to the end through the grace of God.

II. I must hasten in the second place, to notice that Daniel became the subject of a COMMON INFIRMITY. He was full of fear on one occasion, and therefore, an angel said to him, "Fear not." I am glad of this, because it teaches us that even the best of men may be subject to very great fears. He was nothing in himself, and owed all his greatness to the grace of God. Those fears on the part of Daniel were not the result of personal trial just then, they came to him indeed, when he had been highly honoured by revelations from God; but his fears sprang from a sight of his Lord, and from a sense of his own unworthiness. You may be a man greatly beloved, and, therefore you may have a clearer sight of the Lord Jesus than other men have; and for that very reason you may feel a greater shame and confusion of face whenever you think of yourself. Recollect how Daniel says concerning himself, "There remained no strength in me, my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength." O if the Lord ever favours you with much love, and with nearness of access to himself, you must expect the other side of it — that is to say, you must feel your own nothingness, baseness, unworthiness — feel as if you were unfit to do anything for God's people, unit even to bear Christ's name, and yet all the while you may be a man greatly beloved, and may be eminently blessed. Perhaps, too, Daniel's great fears had been awakened by the disclosures that had been made to him of the history of the nations, and especially of his own people. He had a peculiar anxiety for his own people. Did you ever get into that state, and begin to look upon the world, and upon the country, and upon the church, and then fall into a fit of trembling? I do assure you it is wonderfully easy to put on the garb of Jeremy, the weeping prophet. Yes, Daniel had seen the history of the world for a long period to come, therefore he was full of fear. And are you full of fear too? Well, it is a part of the lot of men whom God greatly loves that they should bear the troubles of the times. I think too that Daniel's sorrow was occasioned partly by the repetition of those words to him: "The vision is true, but the time appointed is long." It seemed to come over and over to Daniel. "The time is long." I do not know any trouble that presses more heavily on my heart than that. It seems to be a dreadful long while since God has wrought a miracle — such a while since the church has had any great thing done in the midst of her. And if any here have been favoured to be beloved of God, I am sure this will weigh upon them, "How long, Lord, how long? Why tarriest thou?"

III. The CONSOLATIONS which the angel brought to Daniel, and which, in proportion as we are greatly beloved and the subject of like fears, he brings to us. He said to him first, "Peace be unto thee." So he says to every one of the beloved here, — "Peace be unto thee. Why art thou fretting, worrying, tossed up and down in thy mind? Peace be unto thee." Let peace be thine first, because thou art "greatly beloved." Whatever is happening or not happening, thou art greatly beloved. So, be still, be calm, thou art beloved of heaven. And next, fear not, peace be unto thee, God is still ruling — he ruled the world before thou wast born, and accomplished all his will; he will rule it when thou art dead, and fulfil his own decrees. Why dost thou worry thyself? What use can thy fretting serve ? And whereas thou art disturbed about the length of time, — with what dost thou measure? With thine own age of seventy years, or with days and weeks — dost thou measure so ? Hast thou ever seen the measuring line of the Eternal, and dost thou know, that if this world were to last through millions of millions of years, yet it would be but a speck between the two eternities that should precede and follow? God's life is not made up of tickings of the clock! He can wait, he can wait. Then he adds "be strong," as if these fears of Daniel made him weak, and as if it was important that he should be strong. Now, if there is any importance in us at all, and there is not much, certainly anything that we can do in our present place will require of us all our strength. And since our fears decidedly weaken us for all practical purposes they should be shaken off. Hence the angel says twice, "Be strong, yea, be strong;" and, beloved, we ought to be strong in faith, for God deserves it. Fall before the Lord in earnest prayer, and ask him to take away thy fretfulness,and make thee, as thou art greatly beloved, to be strong.

( C. H. Spurgeon)

I. DANIEL'S PECULIAR SITUATION.

1. Exposed to great temptations.

2. Deprived of religious privileges.

3. Exposed to great sufferings for conscience sake.

II. DANIEL'S EXALTED PIETY. Piety will ensure divine, if it does not receive human, approbation. How was Daniel's piety seen?

1. In his conscientious regard to the exercise of devotion. The man who is much with God in secret is likely to be an eminent witness for God in public. Principles produced and strengthened at a throne of grace give stability and firmness of character, that no external opposition can destroy.

2. In his unbending firmness. Decision of character is a great Christian excellence.

3. An unblemished reputation. What lamentable blots disfigure — we might almost say — disgrace the portraits of many, whose moral features are delineated by the faithful pencil of Divine revelation. But no prominent defects in Daniel's character require the aid of the veil of charity. See Daniel 6:4.

III. HIS DISTINGUISHED HONOUR. His piety was no barrier to his preferment.

1. He was the special object of the divine care. As to his body, and as to his soul.

2. Daniel was an eminent witness for God.

3. He was remarkably useful; and

4. He was favoured with extraordinary revelations from the great Head of the Church.

(J. R. Cooper.)

People
Belteshazzar, Cyrus, Daniel, Javan, Michael
Places
Greece, Persia, Tigris River, Uphaz
Topics
Daniel, Entire, Full, Grief, Mourned, Mourning, Myself, Weeks
Outline
1. Daniel, having humbled himself, sees a vision.
10. Being troubled with fear, he is comforted by the angel.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Daniel 10:1-2

     8431   fasting, reasons

Daniel 10:1-3

     4544   wine

Daniel 10:2-3

     8653   importunity, to God

Library
November 15. "Oh, Man of Desires" (Margin) (Dan. x. 11).
"Oh, man of desires" (margin) (Dan. x. 11). This was the divine character given to Daniel of old. It is translated in our version, "O man, greatly beloved." But it literally means "O man of desires!" This is a necessary element in all spiritual forces. It is one of the secrets of effectual prayer, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them." The element of strong desire gives momentum to our purposes and prayers. Indifference is an unwholesome condition; indolence and
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Daniel's Band
"O Daniel, a man greatly beloved."--Daniel 10:11. It did not do Daniel any harm to know that he was greatly beloved of God; or else he would not have received that information from heaven. Some people are always afraid that, if Christian people obtain full assurance, and receive a sweet sense of divine love, they will grow proud, and be carried away with conceit. Do not you have any such fear for other people, and especially do not be afraid of it for yourselves. I know of no greater blessing that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Elucidations.
I. (Greater licence, p. 104.) In this treatise, which is designed to justify the extremes of Montanistic fasts, Tertullian's genius often surprises us by his ingenuity. This is one of the instances where the forensic orator comes out, trying to outflank and turn the position of an antagonist who has gained an advantage. The fallacy is obvious. Kaye cites, in comparison, a passage [1125] from "The Apparel of Women," and another [1126] from "The Exhortation to Chastity." He remarks, "Were we required
Tertullian—On Fasting. In Opposition to the Psychics

Youthful Confessors
'But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink; for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Difference Between Union and Rapture. What Rapture Is. The Blessing it is to the Soul. The Effects of It.
1. I wish I could explain, with the help of God, wherein union differs from rapture, or from transport, or from flight of the spirit, as they speak, or from a trance, which are all one. [1] I mean, that all these are only different names for that one and the same thing, which is also called ecstasy. [2] It is more excellent than union, the fruits of it are much greater, and its other operations more manifold; for union is uniform in the beginning, the middle, and the end, and is so also interiorly.
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is,
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

A Sight of the Crowned Christ
(Revelation, Chapter i.) "Since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit's vision, Looking at the Crucified." "The Lord Christ passed my humble cot: I knew him, yet I knew him not; But as I oft had done before, I hurried through my narrow door To touch His garment's hem. "He drew me to a place apart From curious crowd and noisy mart; And as I sat there at His feet I caught the thrill of His heart-beat Beyond His garment's hem. "Rare was the bread He broke
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Departed Saints Fellow Servants with those yet on Earth.
"I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." That the saints do not remain insensible, while their bodies are in the dull, but become angels, * see and serve God and bear his messages, and minister to the heirs of salvation, hath been argued from several considerations, in the preceding discourse; but we chiefly depend on revelation. The text and several other scriptures, we conceive to be our purpose, and sufficient to establish our theory, and that the same is illustrated and confirmed
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

The Doctrine of Satan.
I. HIS EXISTENCE AND PERSONALITY. 1. EXISTENCE. 2. PERSONALITY. II. HIS PLACE AND POWER. 1. A MIGHTY ANGEL. 2. PRINCE OF POWER OF THE AIR. 3. GOD OF THIS WORLD. 4. HEAD OF KINGDOM OF DARKNESS. 5. SOVEREIGN OVER DEATH. III. HIS CHARACTER. 1. ADVERSARY. 2. DIABOLOS. 3. WICKED ONE. 4. TEMPTER. IV. OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS SATAN. 1. LIMITED POWER OF SATAN. 2. RESIST HIM. V. HIS DESTINY. 1. A CONQUERED ENEMY. 2. UNDER ETERNAL CURSE. VI. DEMONS. THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN. Throughout the Scriptures Satan is set
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Of a Private Fast.
That we may rightly perform a private fast, four things are to be observed:--First, The author; Secondly, The time and occasion; Thirdly, The manner; Fourthly, The ends of private fasting. 1. Of the Author. The first that ordained fasting was God himself in paradise; and it was the first law that God made, in commanding Adam to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit. God would not pronounce nor write his law without fasting (Lev. xxiii), and in his law commands all his people to fast. So does our
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

A Treatise of the Fear of God;
SHOWING WHAT IT IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT WHICH IS NOT SO. ALSO, WHENCE IT COMES; WHO HAS IT; WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS; AND WHAT THE PRIVILEGES OF THOSE THAT HAVE IT IN THEIR HEARTS. London: Printed for N. Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, over against the Stocks market: 1679. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "a fountain of life"--the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source from whence it emanates. Upon a principle
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Jesus' Feet Anointed in the House of a Pharisee.
(Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 36-50. ^c 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. [We learn from verse 40 that the Pharisee's name was Simon. Because the feast at Bethany was given in the house of Simon the leper, and because Jesus was anointed there also, some have been led to think that Luke is here describing this supper. See Matt. xxvi. 6-13; Mark xiv. 3-9; John xii. 1-8. But Simon the leper was not Simon the Pharisee. The name Simon was one of the most common among the Jewish
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Calls Four Fishermen to Follow Him.
(Sea of Galilee, Near Capernaum.) ^A Matt. IV. 18-22; ^B Mark I. 16-20; ^C Luke V. 1-11. ^a 18 And walking ^b 16 And passing along by the sea of Galilee [This lake is a pear-shaped body of water, about twelve and a half miles long and about seven miles across at its widest place. It is 682 feet below sea level; its waters are fresh, clear and abounding in fish, and it is surrounded by hills and mountains, which rise from 600 to 1,000 feet above it. Its greatest depth is about 165 feet], he [Jesus]
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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