Daniel 10:1-4
Do you ever find yourself puzzling over the mysterious circumstances in these desperate times? Claims and counterclaims add to the confusion. Some try to provoke hysteria, but all agree that we are living in historic times.
How can we make sense of it all? What is this all leading to? The prophet, Daniel, would have raised these same kinds of questions. And as a wonderful guide for us today, he showed us where to go for answers. Daniel was seeking God desperately. You too could set your heart to seek God desperately, and you could get answers.
The year was 536 B.C., and this man, whose name means “God is my judge,” had spent sixty-nine (69) years in a foreign land, far away from his homeland. Taken as a captive in his early teens (in 605 B.C.), he was probably more than eighty-five (85) years of age when he wrote these words. But as you can see, this old man did not retire; he did not relax, and he did not relinquish his responsibility. He did not turn away for a simple reason: he had a cause to live for.
“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long [a great war]: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. (Daniel 10:1)
When Daniel prayed, God gave him a vision of the long and arduous conflict ahead for his people. And by God’s grace, he was given the ability to understand that challenge.
Do you have a cause to live for? Is there a challenge that gets you up in the morning and sharpens your thinking throughout the day? If not, aren’t you bored with trying to entertain yourself? Isn’t it miserable to go to sleep and get up and go through the day with no real cause to live for? Yet there is a cause, and the cause of Christ is a great cause to live for. Now you may say, “But I have been given no great vision like Daniel!” To that we would respond that you hold in your hand God’s great Book of vision – from Genesis to Revelation. The fact is that you have more of a vision – more of a mission in God’s Great Commission – than Daniel did. And you have an even better understanding of “the great war,” the arduous spiritual challenge that is before you. But to understand it, you must pray. And you could set your heart to seek God desperately.
On more than one occasion, I have stood by the bedside of suffering saints. And they have all asked me some form of this question: “Why hasn’t the Lord taken me home?” “What good am I doing anyone down here?” And I have had the joy of reminding them of their great privilege with the words, “You can pray!” Even aging saints – perhaps we could say: “especially aging saints” – are like the Special Forces in this arduous conflict. You and I could learn to seek God desperately and enter into spiritual warfare.
A Tale of Two Kings
For a moment, compare the responses of two kings: Hezekiah and Josiah. Both kings were told of the Babylonian invasion that would decimate their country. And though they were both good kings, they had two very different responses to this news about their country. Hezekiah knew how to fight spiritual battles; he knew how to seek God desperately. When he received threatening news from the Assyrians, he took their letter to the temple, spread it out before the Lord and prayed (2 Kings 19:8-35). And God answered that prayer by destroying the Assyrians in the field before the sun rose again. Many of us here read the news of the day. We hear the subtle (and not so subtle) threats against God’s people. Could we not follow the pattern of Hezekiah? Could we not spread these threats before the Lord and pray? Why worry when you can worship and pray?
But one chapter later in 2 Kings 20, Isaiah the prophet told King Hezekiah what would happen to his sons at the hands of the Babylonians (2 Kings 20:17-19). And mighty Hezekiah, the prayer warrior said, “Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days?”! This is such a disappointing response. Instead of crying out to God, and teaching his sons to cry out to God, he basically said, “Well, as long as there is peace in my day, ok.” If you know how to pray today, are you willing to look the younger generation in the eye and say, “Oh well, as long as there is peace in my day!”? What a tragedy that would be.
But then stop to consider good King Josiah (640-609 B.C.) who received the same news about the coming invasion from the Babylonians (2 Kings 22:13-20). He also was assured that this invasion would not occur in his lifetime. But King Josiah did everything in his power to call his people to repentance. According to 2 Kings 23 he helped his people celebrate the greatest Passover celebration since the time of the Judges! (2 Kings 23:21-23). And undoubtedly a young man named Daniel was present at that Passover.
Helping the Next Generation
Now those of us who have years behind us, and at least some level of spiritual maturity, have to face this question: How will we help the next generation? You can see the storm clouds on the horizon. You can see what the enemies of God intend to do to your children and grandchildren. Isn’t it time to be like King Josiah and do everything in your power to help the next generation repent and seek after the Lord? If you have seen God answer prayer, as King Hezekiah did, then why sit back and say, “Oh well, as long as I get to live a happy life. Too bad for you?” May God help us to be like King Josiah, and like the aging prophet Daniel and cry out to the Lord in these days! These men were seeking God desperately; we could do the same. You and I could set our hearts to seek God in these desperate times.
In the last message from Daniel 9:24-27[i], we marveled at the events described in those few verses. As if in one fell swoop, they encompassed the first coming of Christ, the activities of the Antichrist, and “the consummation” – the Second Coming of Christ. We learned that we could trust God’s timing. By the time Daniel wrote chapter 10, the children of Israel had returned to the land under Ezra. In fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy, they had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-11). Daniel is not listed among those who returned to the land in Ezra 2. In Jerusalem, the Israelites laid the foundation for the temple and immediately faced resistance from the people of the land (Ezra 3:10-4:7). Those people wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes and Daniel was certainly aware of the plight of his people. So Daniel began to seek God desperately.
Set Your Heart to Understand and Chasten Yourself before God
Verse 2 tells us how Daniel began to seek the Lord with a sense of desperation. His people were in trouble. They needed God’s help. Nearly eight hundred miles away from his people, Daniel knew that he could pray and God would answer. Later, when the angel described Daniel’s approach, he said, “you set your heart to understand and to chasten yourself before God” (Daniel 10:12). Notice his approach in verses 2-4:
In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel [the Tigris]” (Daniel 10:2-4)
- When Did Daniel Set His Heart to Seek God Desperately?
Here is an interesting aspect of these events in Daniel’s life: they occurred over the Passover season. It is likely that Daniel set his heart seek the Lord desperately and specifically because of that holiday season. As one author noted, “Passover was the time of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and this may have turned Daniel’s thoughts toward the present deliverance and “exodus” of the Israelites from Babylon.[ii] Daniel began to pray and to fast on the third day of the first month (21 days before the 24th of the month). The Passover would have been on the 14th of the month, followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, lasting 7 days.
Why did Daniel choose the Passover holiday to seek God desperately? We may never know until we get to heaven. But Daniel undoubtedly remembered the stories of the Exodus – the greatest demonstration of God’s power in the Old Testament. He undoubtedly remembered the Passover celebrated by King Josiah – perhaps the most remarkable demonstration of obedience the young Daniel had ever seen. But in our day, we have even more reasons than Daniel to seek God desperately.
We know the power of God’s Passover Lamb. Remember that day when John the Baptist turned to see Jesus and exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)? This is the Lamb, sent forth by God the Father. From the foundation of the world, there are those whose names are “written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain” (Revelation 13:8). In Acts chapter 8, Philip proclaimed the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch with the words of Isaiah 53:7 “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth …” (Acts 8:32). And when the eunuch asked about the identity of the lamb, Philip “opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (Acts 8:35) And in answer to that gospel witness, the eunuch testified, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God!” (Acts 8:37).
Do you know the power of God’s Passover Lamb? Have you run to the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world? Have you cried out to Him with confession of your sins and turned to Him? Can you testify today, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God!”? Then my friend, you already know what it is to seek God desperately. You had to seek him desperately to be saved from your sins. And now you know God’s secret ways: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Acts 8:32).
Do you see it? You have more reasons to pray than Daniel had. You know the Lamb of God who was killed because of your evil cravings and your evil conduct. You know the Lamb who rose again from the dead so that you could walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
When the aging Daniel began to seek God desperately, he apparently gave careful thought as to when he would do so. Why not develop a personal plan for when you will devote yourself to a season of prayer? Perhaps you could plan a special 21 day period in which you would follow Daniel’s lead. Among your urgent prayer requests might be Daniel 9:13, “our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.”
- How Did Daniel Set His Heart to Seek God Desperately?
In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Mourning: The desperate condition of his people caused Daniel to seek God desperately. He was very much aware of their condition; he mourned for three full weeks. The word “mourned” in the original carries the idea of “mourning continually.” This is the same word used in Nehemiah 1:4 when that man of God mourned over the state of his people and the city of Jerusalem. Those who grapple with the sins of their nation and the plight of their people are brought to the place of mourning. But remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4). We could be like Hezekiah and use the news of the day to earnestly pray. We could be like Daniel and seek God desperately.
Setting Aside Creature Comforts: Daniel was seeking God desperately. He wanted no distractions. He set aside the dainty foods of the king’s table. He didn’t spend a lot of time soothing his body with oils. He just wanted answers. And he was determined to hear an answer from the Lord. He did not follow his heart, he guided his heart (Proverbs 23:19). Contemplating the Scripture, noting the wide gap between the promises of God and the plight of his people, Daniel sought God desperately.
How could you and I set our hearts to follow Daniel’s example? Consider these statements of personal commitment that would help you to be like Daniel:
I will humbly set my heart to understand God’s truth by praying earnestly. I will not be distracted; I will not be disheartened nor dissuaded. I am determined to devote myself to drive forward, even through discomfort as I ask the Lord for discernment. I will not act in disbelief, nor will I be disabled. I will not be discouraged from using the mighty weapon of prayer. May God help me.
When we come to Daniel 10:12, we will see God’s amazing answer to Daniel’s prayer. The angel said, “from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” This key passage shows us that Daniel was involved in spiritual warfare as he prayed, and the same is true for us today.
What are we learning? You and I could seek God desperately, just as Daniel did. Dare to be like Daniel in your own generation.
Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio 45840 www.cbcfindlay.org
[i] Christ and Antichrist, part 2, Calvary Baptist Church, February 6, 2021, accessed at https://www.cbcfindlay.org/christ-and-antichrist-part-2/
[ii] Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, vol. 18, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 279.