The Companion of the Way
by
H.C. Hewlett
1962
Moody Press
Chicago, Illinois
~ Out of print and in the public domain ~
The Light Of Evening - Daniel
(Daniel 10)
I. THE SETTING -- THE
UNBLEMISHED YEARS
The story of Daniel is given to us in Scripture
in a series of character studies exquisitely drawn. These begin with a youth
standing with three companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, at the
crossroads of life, and making choice of the path of the will of God
irrespective of earthly loss (chap. 1). The next three scenes show us the
interpreter of dreams and of hard sentences standing before the monarchs of
Babylon (chaps. 2, 4-5). Whether as a young man before Nebuchadnezzar, unfolding
to him "what shall be in the latter
days," or in the vigor of settled manhood, telling him of that which will
humble his pride, or as an old man pronouncing Belshazzar's doom, Daniel
exemplifies the words of the psalmist that "the
secret of the LORD is with them that fear him" (Psa. 25:14).
The
closing glimpses of Daniel remind us that the righteous "bring forth fruit in old age" (Psa. 92:14). In
his early years, he will have no compromise with idolatry; in the ripeness of
age he fears not to kneel and make his prayer to the living God alone. In the
royal palace Darius the king spends a miserable and sleepless night; in the
lion's den Daniel the Hebrew is at rest in the protecting care of God (Chap. 6).
Again, he appears as the intercessor, who with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes
confesses the sins of his people, seeks the mercies of God for them, and is
answered "about the time of the evening
oblation" with the visit of Gabriel and the greeting, "Thou art greatly beloved" (chap. 9). Finally,
his yearnings for his people are rewarded by the vision which crowns his days,
wherein his eyes beheld the glory of the Lord.
Daniel, like Joseph, the
earlier revealer of secrets, exhibited a blameless life. Like him, also, he knew
the desolation of being torn in youth from the ties of home and of being a
prisoner in a strange land. Both men stood scatheless in temptation and attained
to high office in a foreign court. They knew the testing of hatred and the
subtler testing of high honor, but neither could be reproached with any sin.
Nothing was able to turn them from the stedfastness of their ways or rob them of
their insight into the purposes of God for the ultimate blessing of their
people. Thus they came to the end of the journey, full of days, and full of
honor.
As the sun of his life began to set, a greater Sun rose before
Daniel's sight. Throughout the events that crowded his memory there had been
manifested the power and faithfulness of God. He had walked alone and yet not alone. Behind the varied
scenes of his path the Lord had stood, leading His servant on from strength to
strength and ever appreciating the constancy and fidelity of his testimony. As
the Lord had promised in Isaiah's day, so He was to Daniel. "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant
of the house of Israel, . . . even to your old age I am he; and... even I will
carry, and will deliver you" (Isa. 46:3-4). Far from failing His aged
servant, He drew even closer to him, till His presence was revealed in
surpassing splendor. He had given to Daniel many unfoldings of things to come,
but to the last of these He added that which excelled them all, the unveiling of
His own majesty.
II. THE REVELATION --
SURPASSING GLORY
"In the third
year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was
called Belteshazzar; . . . 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" (Dan.
10:1-3). Daniel had lived till the decree of Cyrus had enabled Zerubbabel and
his company to return from Babylon to Jerusalem. God had kept His word by the
mouth of Jeremiah; He had stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to make the necessary
decree and had stirred the returning exiles to lay the foundation of His house
at Jerusalem. But Daniel had been shown that beyond the commandment for the
rebuilding of the city there would be troublous times, that Messiah the Prince
would come and be cut off, and that the utmost desolation would befall the city.
His exercise concerning Israel deepened till he spent three whole weeks in
mourning and fasting. He saw the path of sorrow that lay ahead of Israel, and
for their sakes he chastened himself before God.
"And in the four and twentieth day of the first month,
as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; then I lifted up
mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins
were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his
face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms
and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like
the voice of a multitude" (Dan. 10:4-6). In its details the vision bears
close likeness to that given to John in Patmos. The golden girdle, the radiant
face, the blazing eyes, the feet like unto gleaming brass, and the voice of
incomparable fullness tell of the same glorious person in both scenes. In either
case, the sight presented was one of surpassing
grandeur. That the Lord's presentation of Himself to Daniel in appearance
as a man, though in excelling brightness, should remind so much of that to John
after His ascension and glorification in actual manhood, shows the underlying
unity of all His unveilings of Himself. While some of His appearings in the Old
Testament anticipated the lowly grace of the days of His flesh, the appearance
vouchsafed to Daniel pointed forward to His revelation to earth in the glory of
His kingdom.
The linen garment, in accordance with the frequent usage of
Scripture, indicated the purity of all His ways. He is "the Holy One and the Just" (Acts 3:14). The
girt loins proclaimed His ministry as the mighty One, the omnipotent Toiler,
whose activities are beautiful with the excellence of Deity, even as the girdle
with its fine gold. The body like to the beryl, with its amber light, the face
with its intense brilliance, and the eyes as lamps of fire, all told of One who
is the brightness of God's glory. "God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5); and that pure light
streams forth unchanged and undiminished in the person of the Son. In the
presence of that light nothing is hidden; from the gaze of those all-seeing eyes
nothing can be concealed. "O LORD," said
the psalmist, "thou hast searched me, and known
me . . . If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be
light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as
the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee" (Psa. 139:1,
11-12). Deep as was the perplexity of Daniel as he considered his people's
welfare, all their way was understood by the Lord. No bewilderment lay upon that
omniscient mind. The end was sure. In spite of Israel's failure, their conflict
would end in peace, and the night of sorrow, in cloudless day.
"And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that
were with me saw not the vision: but a great quaking fell upon them, so that
they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great
vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me
into corruption, and I retained no strength" (Dan. 10:7-8). Upon the
prophet's companions there came such a sense of fear that they trembled and
fled. God was in the place, though they knew it not. There had been a day when
"the earth shook . . . at the presence of
God"; how much more should puny men tremble in such a circumstance? But
to Daniel the presence was revealed, and he sank to the ground in utter
weakness. All his strength was gone. Nothing was left of the personal vigour,
the nobility of manhood, which had characterized him. There was only the
corruption, the ruin of our poor race.
"Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard
the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face
toward the ground" (Dan. 10:9). So overpowered was he by the vision, and
by the voice of the Lord, that he lay prostrate, unable to act and unable to
think until strength was ministered to him by the touch of an angel's hand. That
voice was more than mortal frame could bear, and Daniel lay insensible on the
ground. Nor yet could he know the bliss of eternity and exult in the voice like
the voice of a multitude -- the voice of Him in whose majestic utterance would
be blended the countless expressions of His heart toward each of His
redeemed.
III. THE BLESSING -- THE
BELOVED
The love with which the Lord looked on His servant by the
river Hiddekel was not less than that with which He would look on him in the
better country -- the hungry. So the angel was sent to rouse him from his sleep,
and to speak of that true love. To his aroused consciousness there came the
words of tender greeting, "Daniel, a man greatly
beloved." Such was the mind of heaven; such was the Lord's appraisal of His aged servant. All
his path had been watched with unremitting care, all his exercise had been
valued with unerring wisdom, and all his years had been compassed with unceasing
love. Dear to the Lord was that long life of purity and honor, of witness and
devotion. Some time before, in the first year of Darius, Daniel had been saluted
as the "greatly beloved" (Dan. 9:23), but
now his life must be crowned by this token of divine approval.
Roused by
this greeting, Daniel stood trembling, to be told that from the first day of his
mourning his words had been heard. They had been words which drew forth the
succor of Heaven's throne, and the messenger had been sent to him to answer his
heart's longing. When Daniel spoke to the angel of the effect of the vision upon
him, he was further strengthened, and the message was repeated and amplified.
"O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto
thee, be strong, yea, be strong" (Dan. 10:19). As in the case of John in
Patmos, the sight of the glory was followed by the words of comfort, "fear not." There was no cloud between the Lord
and His faithful servant. For long years they had walked together, and the
vision, so overwhelming in itself, was granted, not because of shortcoming on
Daniel's part, but because the unseen Friend of the way would give full answer to the desire of Daniel's heart
for the welfare of his people. The purposes of God would not fail. The ministry
of intercession is in the current of the mind of God, and the prophet's
unselfish prayer for the sinful nation brought the approval manifested in the
vision. With such an almighty One overruling in the affairs of men, nought would
hinder the fulfillment of every promise concerning Israel.
Once more the
"man clothed in linen" is before us in
this scene by Hiddekel. "And I heard the man
clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his
right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever
that it shall be for a time, times and an half; and when he shall have
accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be
finished" (Dan. 12:7). The portrait of the Lord in this passage is
paralleled by that in Revelation 10, when He appears as a mighty angel, yet in
such majesty as only the occupant of the heavenly throne could bear. In both
passages is declared His solemn oath that to all the sorrow of those dread days
of Jacob's trouble there shall be an end. Dark will be the night, but the coming
in glory of the King of Israel, the King of Kings, the King in His beauty, will
bring the longed-for day.
Daniel's prayer was answered, his work was
done, and his path was complete. The record ceases, but without mention of the
withdrawing of the presence. Daniel is last seen in the wonder of its
revelation. Long since he has left the scenes of his toil, and now he is at home
with the Lord. Soon, not in mortal weakness, but robed in the dignity and power
of the resurrection body, he shall walk with the Lord and rejoice evermore in
communion face to face. The experience vouchsafed to him in his last years shall
be his perpetual portion. Forever beloved, he shall gaze without fear on that
transcendent face, and listen to the music of that excelling voice.
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