Daniel Ten ... A Background Study  

 
Daniel 10 begins by describing a very troubling vision that was given to Daniel. Daniel records that the vision took place during the third year when Cyrus was king of Persia. *The vision would have taken place in 535 or 534 BC. Daniel wrote that the place where he saw the vision was on the bank of the Tigris River. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers run through modern Iraq and empty into the Persian Gulf.

Verse 1 states that it was a vision of great conflict and testifies to the fact that the vision will indeed come to pass. *We are not told how the vision was delivered to Daniel, but it was presumably through a personal confrontation with an angel, since all other prophetic visions given to Daniel were delivered in that way. Scripture frequently says that having a personal encounter with an angel is a traumatic experience. It is not unusual for some fear or mental anguish to go along with it.

The vision was so upsetting to Daniel that he did not eat any tasty food, drink any wine, or use any ointment for three weeks. It is apparent that he undertook a form of a fast as a result of what he had seen in the vision. Fasting was a common expression of mourning at that time. It could be mourning over sin, but not necessarily. It could also have to do with the death of a loved one. It was also used for unusually close communion with God. Perhaps Daniel saw the need to fast as he pondered the meaning of the vision and discussed its meaning with God.

In verses 4 through 6, Daniel says that he saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold. The body of that man was like beryl, which implies that it had a luminous quality. The man's face also shone like lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet were like polished bronze, and the sound of his voice was like a tumult. The sound of a tumult would probably be similar to the crashing of large waves in the ocean or the sound of a large crowd yelling, such as at a football or basketball game. We can see that Daniel had difficulty describing the man. Daniel needed to compare the man’s features with rather spectacular things. This figure was apparently very different from anyone else he had ever seen. The only person that can fit such a description is Jesus in his resurrected and glorified state. The description here is not all that different from John's description of someone like "a son of man" in Revelation 1:12-16. Both men reacted the same way to the visions they saw. Daniel said that he feel into a deep sleep on his face (verse 9), and John wrote that he fell at his feet as though dead (Revelation 1:17). Both of these things mean that they were so distressed by what they saw that they lost consciousness and passed out.

Verse 7 mentions that Daniel was the only one who saw this vision. There were other men present with Daniel when he had the vision, but none of the other men saw it. For some reason, even though they did not see the vision, a great dread came upon them and they fled. Verse 8 says that Daniel was alone when he saw the vision. His strength failed, and he lost all color from his face. Scripture makes no mention of this happening to him when he was in the lions' den, but the vision was apparently enough to have such an effect.

We are not told whether the men accompanying Daniel were Jews or Babylonians. If they were unbelievers, that could have been the reason that Daniel alone saw the vision. Perhaps the vision was more than the other men could have handled. Maybe God, by His own choice, wanted to deliver the message specifically through Daniel, and so He allowed only Daniel to see it. We are not told the reason that the other men did not see the vision. The best we can do is speculate.

Verse 10 says that a hand reached out and touched Daniel and set him trembling on his hands and knees. We can infer that is it an angel who comforted Daniel, because the one speaking says that he was sent to Daniel. The figure also says that Daniel's words had been heard since the first day that he set his heart on understanding these things—namely these visions—and humbled himself before his God. The phrase "before your God" doesn't seem to fit if it were God Himself speaking here.

In verse 13, the angel told Daniel that he had been attempting to come to Daniel in answer to his prayers, but the angel was detained by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for twenty-one days. That is the amount of time that had passed since Daniel had set himself to understanding these things, so the response to his prayers was immediate, even if his receiving of the answer was delayed. *The powers of evil apparently have the capacity to bring about hindrances and delays, even of the delivery of the answers to believers from God. This could very well be one of the reasons Jesus urged us to be persistent in prayer (Luke 18:1-8).

Daniel's response to all this was to fall face down on the ground, and he was left speechless. Daniel didn't have any strength left, and he told the angel so. The angel then touched him again and strengthened him. *Daniel’s response parallels the awe of young Isaiah in 740 BC, after seeing a vision of God's throne. Isaiah could only exclaim, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 6:5).

The angel addressed Daniel as one who is evidently highly esteemed by God. Daniel was told not to be afraid and to take courage. This was enough to bring Daniel to the point of being ready to hear what the angel had been sent to tell him.

The angel said that he was returning to fight against the prince of Persia. This does not necessarily refer to the human king of Persia, but apparently someone in the supernatural realm who is in opposition to God. He also said that the prince of Greece is about to come, meaning that the Persian empire is about to fall.

The angel tells Daniel that there is no one who stands firmly with him except the archangel Michael. The discussion of fighting with the prince of Persia appears to refer to fighting taking place in the supernatural realm, as the idea of a human king detaining an angel seems to defy reason.