On location for the divine encounter
This week is on Daniel 10:1-11:
This week's goodness is less of a life or history lesson and more of a piece of bait to entice you into a deeper relationship with God. It's a short glimpse at the life of Daniel, a man of God who lived in velvet captivity under a series of brutal middle-eastern kings. He lived a life of luxury, but more than once, the kings had tried to kill him. If not for his relationship with God, they would have succeeded.
Daniel has already had a few science fiction experiences before this. You can read the book of Daniel to see some of the crazy stuff he lived through. This week's verses are part of his preparation and introduction to another supernatural experience
Daniel had been fasting for three weeks. He didn't skip meals entirely, just luxuries. Old Christians did something like this for Lent. He also skipped lotions, which seems kind of silly from a modern male perspective, but kings' courts have always tended to be a bit on the metro side of things. The point is that it was a something that needed to be squelched for clarity. Fasting isn't to earn a place in God's audience, but to cut down the number of interrupts and distractions. Think of it like turning off the TV when you want to have a conversation with someone important. The less background noise, the more you're going to hear.
So, after a few weeks without his moisturiser and wrinkle-creams, while not having any name brand foods or steak or wine, Daniel is visited by a sudden appearance of a supernatural man. The guy glows, and he has that horror movie voice where he speaks with the voice of thousands. Daniel is terrified, and rightly so! Can you imagine someone like that just suddenly appearing in front of you and talking to you in his reverby voice?
There's more to it than that, from an angelic divine messenger standpoint. There was a holy fear. I don't think we have anything to match that in our world. As if to prove the supernatural aspect of it, even the people around Daniel who didn't see or hear anything were terrified. They were so scared that they ran and hid. Have you ever been that scared as an adult?
Daniel passes out. (You don't just "fall asleep" when someone like that is talking to you.) When the visitor wakes him up, he's still shaking like a leaf. This is a consistent theme amongst people who have had a close relationship with God. When receiving a message from God, they are often terrified, and physically overwhelmed. Whether it's an angelic visitation, or the spirit of God coming on them, the fear is holy and real.
Read these verses again, and imagine yourself as Daniel. You're fasting as much as you can while still being able to do your job, because you know God has something to tell you. You're praying during your lunch hour, like you have been every day for weeks. Then suddenly this glowing supernatural being is standing right in front of you, speaking to you with his horrifying voice! Boo! Your coworkers are running down the hall terrified like someone is shooting. You pass out, wake up, and just start to feel relief that it might have just been a bad dream when you realize that the dude is still there thundering over you!
Still here? The interesting thing is that this sort of experience is still available to us. There are recorded cases of people encountering God in experiences like this in modern times. Do you want it? Daniel stripped his routine down to bare essentials and waited for three weeks with the sort of seclusion that only people who are mourning have. That's a serious expression of intent, if that was his goal!
If you'd like to encounter the supernatural aspect of God's revelation, ask him. And take some time every now and then to put aside distractions and be ready, just in case. Because even if you are like Daniel and know what to expect, it still may be more than you were prepared for.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like 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.
I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 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.
A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “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.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
This week's goodness is less of a life or history lesson and more of a piece of bait to entice you into a deeper relationship with God. It's a short glimpse at the life of Daniel, a man of God who lived in velvet captivity under a series of brutal middle-eastern kings. He lived a life of luxury, but more than once, the kings had tried to kill him. If not for his relationship with God, they would have succeeded.
Daniel has already had a few science fiction experiences before this. You can read the book of Daniel to see some of the crazy stuff he lived through. This week's verses are part of his preparation and introduction to another supernatural experience
Daniel had been fasting for three weeks. He didn't skip meals entirely, just luxuries. Old Christians did something like this for Lent. He also skipped lotions, which seems kind of silly from a modern male perspective, but kings' courts have always tended to be a bit on the metro side of things. The point is that it was a something that needed to be squelched for clarity. Fasting isn't to earn a place in God's audience, but to cut down the number of interrupts and distractions. Think of it like turning off the TV when you want to have a conversation with someone important. The less background noise, the more you're going to hear.
So, after a few weeks without his moisturiser and wrinkle-creams, while not having any name brand foods or steak or wine, Daniel is visited by a sudden appearance of a supernatural man. The guy glows, and he has that horror movie voice where he speaks with the voice of thousands. Daniel is terrified, and rightly so! Can you imagine someone like that just suddenly appearing in front of you and talking to you in his reverby voice?
There's more to it than that, from an angelic divine messenger standpoint. There was a holy fear. I don't think we have anything to match that in our world. As if to prove the supernatural aspect of it, even the people around Daniel who didn't see or hear anything were terrified. They were so scared that they ran and hid. Have you ever been that scared as an adult?
Daniel passes out. (You don't just "fall asleep" when someone like that is talking to you.) When the visitor wakes him up, he's still shaking like a leaf. This is a consistent theme amongst people who have had a close relationship with God. When receiving a message from God, they are often terrified, and physically overwhelmed. Whether it's an angelic visitation, or the spirit of God coming on them, the fear is holy and real.
Read these verses again, and imagine yourself as Daniel. You're fasting as much as you can while still being able to do your job, because you know God has something to tell you. You're praying during your lunch hour, like you have been every day for weeks. Then suddenly this glowing supernatural being is standing right in front of you, speaking to you with his horrifying voice! Boo! Your coworkers are running down the hall terrified like someone is shooting. You pass out, wake up, and just start to feel relief that it might have just been a bad dream when you realize that the dude is still there thundering over you!
Still here? The interesting thing is that this sort of experience is still available to us. There are recorded cases of people encountering God in experiences like this in modern times. Do you want it? Daniel stripped his routine down to bare essentials and waited for three weeks with the sort of seclusion that only people who are mourning have. That's a serious expression of intent, if that was his goal!
If you'd like to encounter the supernatural aspect of God's revelation, ask him. And take some time every now and then to put aside distractions and be ready, just in case. Because even if you are like Daniel and know what to expect, it still may be more than you were prepared for.
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