20230723

I was powerless

Daniel 10:1-9 (JDV)

Daniel 10:1 In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The message was true and was about a great conflict. He understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.
Daniel 10:2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.
Daniel 10:3 I didn’t eat any rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over.
Daniel 10:4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,
Daniel 10:5 I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist.
Daniel 10:6 His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.
Daniel 10:7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision. The men who were with me did not see it, but a great terror fell on them, and they ran and hid.
Daniel 10:8 I was left alone, looking at this great vision. No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
Daniel 10:9 I heard the words he said, and when I heard them I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

I was powerless

Barnes writes “It is certain that such visions as those which appeared to Daniel and John would have this effect; and, though we are not to expect that they will now be vouchsafed to men, no one can doubt that there may be such views of God, and heaven, and eternal realities presented to the eye of faith and hope; such joy in the evidence of pardoned sin; such a change from a sense of condemnation to the peace resulting from forgiveness, that the powers of the body may be prostrated, and sink from exhaustion. Indeed, it is not much of the revelation of the divine character that in our present state we can bear” (421).

God’s character is like an active volcano. It is easier to study it from a great distance because getting closer can be dangerous. Oh, but we need to get closer. We need the power of his presence, even if it renders us powerless.

Barnes Albert. Notes Critical Illustrative and Practical on the Book of Daniel with an Introductory Dissertation. Leavitt & Allen 1861.