The nature of encountering the Living God (Sermon 11)

Date 03 02 02 Text Daniel 10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We have looked at Daniel 1-9 and how Daniel the man of God served under three kings – Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius. In the final three chapters of the book we learn of a vision that Daniel had in his later eighties. It occurred, we are told in verse 1 of Chapter 10 in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia. It was at that time that a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Daniel refers to himself in the third person. By using the name Belteshazzar he affirms that he is the same person taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar all those years before. Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. The vision itself is unfolded in Chapters 11 and 12. Here in Chapter 10 we have the circumstances surrounding the vision. These details are full of interest and instruction for us and so before looking at the vision another time I want us to concentrate this morning just on what we read by way of introduction in Chapter 10. There are several lessons for us to learn.

1. Recognise the usefulness of humiliation and prayer in drawing near to God

The whole episode begins, Daniel tells us, when he decided to spend an extended period of time (three weeks) in humiliation and prayer. He tells us (2) that at that time (ie the third year of Cyrus) he mourned. This period of mourning lasted for three weeks. We know that he was praying because it refers in verse 12 to how he set his mind to gain understanding and to humble himself before God. He is told your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

What prompted this period of mourning? Given the time at which it occurred it is most likely that it was in response to what was happening in Jerusalem. Daniel had left Jerusalem over 70 years before but he knew that was still where the Temple was and the visible presence of God. Three times every day he opened his windows in that direction and prayed. At the beginning of his reign Cyrus had decreed that the Jews were free to return to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild the Temple. Daniel had clearly decided to remain in exile. There is no question where his heart was but no doubt in light of his age and the conviction that he was of more use away from home he had decided to remain in exile. Others had gone back but they had met with opposition from the Samaritans (we read of this in Ezra). It was probably these things that led to Daniel’s mourning.

Throughout the three week period he expressed his mourning in three particular ways (3)

1. I ate no choice food. 2. No meat or wine touched my lips. 3. And I used no lotions at all.

So this was a period not of total fasting but of avoiding the usual delicacies and luxuries of life, a period of denying himself. We are entering the period referred to by some as Lent. During this 40 day period churchgoers who follow the church calendar are encouraged to give up some luxury such as alcohol or chocolate as part of the lead up to Easter. I must confess I’ve always tended to feel it rather pointless but on reflection there is no reason why such an exercise should not be worthwhile. In fact, the period in which Daniel’s exercises took place includes the Feast of Passover. (His special period must have begun near the beginning of the Jewish New Year at the time when the Passover Lambs are chosen). Of course, we are in the New Testament era now and we must beware of imposing Old Testament ways onto New Testament teaching. However, at certain times surely it is right that we respond to our situation and that of others with prayer – not just regular daily prayer but periods of particularly seeking God’s face. We will find that a period with no TV or no newspaper or not spending on ourselves or something similar may help us. Paul speaks of married couples spending time apart to give themselves to prayer – although he warns that this must not last too long or the Devil may take advantage. We need not only regular daily periods of prayer but special seasons too.

2. Understand the overwhelming nature of meeting with the Lord

Daniel had begun to pray near the beginning of the first month of the year. He did not get an answer to his prayer, however, until three days after the feast of unleavened bread which follows Passover. In verse 4 he says on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as he was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, an answer came to his prayer. God sent to him a heavenly messenger. Daniel tells us (5, 6) I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold round his waist. His body was like chrysolite, (topaz?) his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. Many assume this is an angel but it is just as likely that this is the Son of God himself. See Revelation 1:13-15. Such descriptions are designed to impress on us the glory and majesty of the Lord Jesus. He is pure and perfect, majestic and powerful, glorious and impressive beyond degree.

Now Daniel was a prophet and he received special revelations from God. We do not expect to receive such revelations today. The Bible is complete and we do not need such revelations anyway. However, we all need to meet with the Living God and that happens when we encounter his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in his Word, in the Bible. Some people suppose this is a light thing. They come in prayer to Jesus in a rather laid back way and say what ever comes into their heads. It is to be feared that many who claim encounters with the Lord are in fact fooling themselves. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and it is clear here that Daniel’s encounter had a real impact on him. He did not start chattering away about how wonderful it had been. No this was a frightening and in some ways debilitating experience. This is in harmony with all the other encounters with God that we read of in Scripture. We need to realise that this is what meeting with God is like. It is no picnic. Note the sort of things we can expect.

1. Expect to be afraid. In verse 7 we read I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. The natural reaction is to run. That is one reason why we are so few here this morning. People find that drawing near to God can be a rather frightening thing. The men with Daniel did not actually see anything but they sensed that something strange, something beyond them, was happening and they were understandably afraid. Does a sense of fear come upon you at times when you think about God? The easiest thing is to run and hide. Rather, we need to stand firm like Daniel and wait and see what the Lord will bring about for us. Putting off the encounter is foolish in fact. A day is coming when we must all meet God. Even then people will try to run and hide. They’ll even call out to the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb of God but nothing will avail. We will all have to stand before God.

2. Expect to feel weak and faint. Daniel goes on (8, 9) So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. So although Daniel remains standing, he is alone. He has no strength. His face is ashen. It turns a whiter shade of pale. He feels absolutely helpless. This is merely at the sight of this great vision. When the Lord actually speaks, it is too much for Daniel entirely and he faints; he falls into a deep sleep, his face to the ground. Now we may not physically faint when we come to God but a sense of inadequacy and frailty, a sense of weakness and helplessness ought to be present. We are ‘frail children of dust and feeble as frail’.

3. Expect to tremble. At this point, says Daniel, (10) a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. The Lord speaks to Daniel and says Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you. Daniel says and when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. So at last he is on his feet – but even then he is trembling. He is physically shaking. Again, we may not necessarily physically shake but we ought to tremble inwardly when we are in the presence of God. Just think of his power and greatness – of how easily he could destroy us in a moment.

>> In verses 12-14 God speaks to Daniel and he is reassured and encouraged. We will look at those words of comfort and others in a moment but first notice that even after that, in verses 15-17, Daniel is still struggling. There are still clear signs that this encounter is one that shakes him to his core. It is a reminder to us of what an encounter with God is really like. <<

4. Expect to be dumbstruck. 15 While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face towards the ground and was speechless. In his astonishment, Daniel found he could say nothing to God. He stood with his eyes on the ground, unable to speak. Here is another mark of truly being in the presence of God – we are initially dumbstruck. At first we no longer speak. We put our hands over our lips and are silent. When God speaks, no-one else does. If an experience merely sets you chattering away it is probably not a meeting with God but some other sort of excitement.

5. Expect to be in anguish. The silence does not last indefinitely. 16 Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I am helpless. Here Daniel explains how utterly desperate he is in this situation. We are not saying that every encounter with God will be this extreme but this is the general tendency of meetings between God and his sinful creatures.

6. Expect to be overwhelmed. 17 How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe. This is even stronger. Daniel is so overwhelmed that he can hardly breathe. He is hyperventilating. Daniel is the servant and God is the all powerful master. What an overwhelming thought.

Now once we think about this, it is obvious. This is an encounter with the Living God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. What else would you expect? And yet so often this is forgotten. We expect easy and painless encounters with the Lord that do not move us or give us a sense of unease and weakness, that are underwhelming rather than overwhelming. We think of fitting in five minutes with God in the midst of our busy schedules. This is unrealistic. There is more to be said but we must grasp this first – both as a warning not to be discouraged and as a marker against spurious claims to have met with God that do not lead to a sense of weakness, trembling, anguish and exhaustion.

3. Understand the great comforts God gives to those who meet with him

Now all this is rather difficult but let’s concentrate now on verses 12-14 and 18-20. In both sections the Lord speaks words full of comfort to Daniel. They ought to comfort and encourage us too if we are feeling any reluctance about drawing near to God. Verse 12 begins Then he continued, Do not be afraid, Daniel. I have said in the past that there are 365 Do not be afraids, etc in the Bible. Somebody challenged me about that at once and so I checked for myself. I could actually find only 140. That’s still a very large number and suggests that we often need to be told not to be afraid. Here specific things are said by way of encouragement.

1. God will hear you as soon as you start to pray. In the rest of verse 12 Daniel is told Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come in response to them. One thing that discourages us from prayer is the thought that God’s not listening. We sometimes feel as though we’re just talking to the ceiling. One of the reasons we feel like this is that usually there is no immediate answer. Daniel had begun to pray three weeks before and as afar as he could see there had been no response. Everything had gone on just as before. However, here God reassures him that from the moment he began to pray his words were heard. Of course, this is still a matter of faith but there are encouragements in Scripture. Jesus assures us his Father knows our needs even before we ask.

2. God will respond to your prayers though there may be delays. Verse 13 is fascinating. It gives just a little glimpse behind the scenes and give us some idea of one reason why answers to prayer are, in our terms, delayed. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. There are two extremes to avoid with such a verse. The reference to the prince of the Persian kingdom is obviously not to some earthly leader. There is a reference here to the spiritual realm of powers and principalities. Now on the one hand it is no good trying to build up a whole doctrine of territorial spirits or national guardian angels on the basis of such little information. However, it would be equally wrong to ignore the verse. And so we can say that there is a spiritual realm and that there is a spiritual warfare going on between the forces of good and the forces of evil. We can further say that answers to our prayers are affected by what transpires in that spiritual realm. Answers can be delayed by the malice of evil powers. However, the forces of good work together and co-operate to bring about answers to prayers.

Perhaps further we can say that evil spirits take on particular tasks. The one here ruled over the Persian Kingdom, leading it, in this case, to work against the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the forces of good are well organised and ready to help each other. Together they are able to overcome evil forces. Only two angels are named in Scripture – Gabriel and Michael. Some have suggested that Michael is none other than Christ but we are told here he is one of the chief princes. We often refer to him as the archangel, the chief angel. All this suggests an ordered army doing God’s good will with alacrity. Such things are revealed to encourage us. There may be delays but God hears and answers prayer. He responds.

3. God will explain to you what you need to know. Now the main reason this vision comes to Daniel is to explain to him what is going to happen to God’s people in the future. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come. There were certain things that Daniel and others needed to know. Here they are explained. This is how God works. He explains things. He tells us what we need to know. And so though the trembling and fainting, etc, come into an encounter with God what matters is what he says - the explanation. That is why in our meetings the sermon has such a prominent place. God seeks intelligent worship, worship in truth as well as in spirit.

4. God will give you the strength you need to go on. Verse 18 is very encouraging Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. Before he began his explanation the Lord touched Daniel and that gave him fresh strength. This is one of the paradoxes of meeting with God. It brings us very low, it empties us. How weak we feel. Nevertheless, it gives fresh vigour too as we meet with the only one who can give us strength to go on. Remember that.

5. God will encourage you and help you in every way. He goes on (19) Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed … Peace! Be strong now; be strong. Daniel says When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength. Here is the response of faith. It is not that Daniel simply had this vision which he could handle with ease. No, he fainted, he fell. It looked hopeless at times but God raised him up and he strengthened him and spoke peace to him. This is what a real meeting with the Lord is like. That is why although there is always a certain reluctance on our part to come to God because the flesh is weak, there also ought to be great confidence that the Lord will strengthen us and help us and speak to us, if we seek him.

6. God will reveal to you the truth. The chapter ends (20, 21) So he said, Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. This leads us then into what we call Chapter 11 where the vision is given. We will look at that another time. The point here is that it is the Book of Truth that is going to be revealed. This is here it is all leading. As we have already noted true worship of God is in spirit and in truth. Here is reality. It is not some form of escapism. It is the truth.