Daniel, 90, too busy for bread or bath

Daniel is around 90 years old when he gets a vision in Daniel 11.

“Once you get to chapter 11 of Daniel you can read what it says and yet it isn’t all clear yet. The reason it’s not clear is that the Lord hasn't opened it up yet; it isn’t all there yet,” explains Jordan. “He’s not a spring chicken anymore. He’s had a busy life of service for the Lord and for his king and his government.

“When Dan started out in chapter 1, he was between 14-17 years old. He goes through the 70 years captivity and that puts him between 84-87 and then you add another three years here.

“One of the questions you try to understand when you study the Book of Daniel is when Cyrus, king of Persia, took over in Ezra 1, he gave a decree for the people to go back to Jerusalem after the 70 years captivity is over with. Only a very small number--less than 40,000 of them--went back, which was a real heartache, and the question arises sometime, ‘Why didn’t Daniel go back?’

“By the time you get to chapter 10, Daniel is fixing to get another vision—no doubt one of the most critical, if not the most critically vision in his book—and then you understand the reason Daniel doesn’t go back into the holy land in Palestine; it’s because God had further revelations to give him in Babylon. Daniel stays because God has some more things to give him.

“Daniel 10:1 says, ‘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: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.’

“In other words, Daniel got this thing and it was crystal clear to him what it meant.

*****

“In chapter 12:4, Daniel is told to seal the thing. The prophecy here is sealed up. That is, it’s fixed so people can’t get it and clearly understand it until the time of the end.

“Now, the reason you and I can’t put a lot of this prophetic stuff together all the time is because, folks, we don’t live in the times when these things are to be fulfilled.

“As that time comes onto the scene, and the closer you get to it, the more and more people will be able to understand these things, and the people for whom these things are written and intended for over in the prophetic program over in that tribulation period, they’ll be able to get it.

“The wise, chapter 11 says, will understand and God’ll show it to them. So for us, the time element is here.

“Chapter 10:2 says, ‘In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.’ There’s no indication what he’s mourning after, but no doubt it’s the condition of Israel, like in Nehemiah 1 and 2 when he heard about the condition over in Israel and how bad it was and he was real sorry and sad in the 

king’s presence.

“There’s no doubt it’s something like that. In verse 3, he says, ‘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.’

“That verse is funny to me because that means he didn’t eat and he didn’t take a bath for three weeks. I guess that’d be a guarantee he wasn’t married!

*****

“There’s a point to make here. Daniel’s retired and he’s up in years, but you notice his spiritual activities haven’t diminished; they’ve increased. Here’s a fellow on a three-week fast. That’s a long time when you’re 30 years old, much less 90!

“It’s a three-week fast and he’s so engrossed in prayer and seeking the Lord’s face that he doesn’t even attend to personal needs for three weeks. Tremendous spiritual activity this man has.

“Folks, you ought to take example from that. When you retire, you ought not retire from the things of God. When you retire from public employment then you’ve got time to really get out and serve the Lord!

“I’ve told you about Brother Flemings down in Nacomas, Florida, and how, when I first heard him say, ‘I’ve been preaching 65 years,’ I thought, ‘Man, most people are ready to retire and quit when they’re 65 and he’s just going like a house of fire!’

*****

“Verse 4 says, ‘And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel.’ Hiddekel is another name for the Tigris River. The Tiger and the Euphrates is where Babylon was. And you notice he gives you the exact date.

“The critics say the Book of Daniel was written at a very late date and yet they never notice the fact that anybody that puts dates in there like that . . . Daniel dates the month and the year and it’s not a late date; it’s the captivity. It’s not something that took place 50-100 years before Christ. So the people who doubt the dates of Daniel just have to doubt the text.

“The passage goes on, ‘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:
[6] 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.
[7] 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. Then I lifted linen gird fine gold beryl polished.’

“That individual he sees there is different than anybody he’s seen before and that individual he’s seeing is really the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****

“Come over to Revelation 1 and compare the vision John had with the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. You’ll see that the two visions parallel and something’s really interesting here with regard to what Daniel is seeing.

“Daniel is getting a vision and he sees the Lord Jesus Christ, but he sees Him in a very special way. He sees Him like nobody else in the Old Testament ever saw him. He sees Him like John sees Him in Revelation 1.

“Revelation 1:12 says, ‘And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.’ You compare that with Daniel 10 and you’ll see they’re almost identical. 

"In Daniel 10 He’s called ‘a certain man’ and in Revelation He’s called ‘the son of man.’ He’s got a girdle of gold in Revelation too, and Daniel says His face was lit up and had the appearance of lightning. Revelation says His head and hair were ‘white as wool.’ Light makes things white. His eyes were as a flame of fire.

*****

“Why is it significant that what you see in Daniel is a comparison to what John sees? Think for just a minute. Was Daniel the only person who ever saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament? No, other people saw Him. Other people saw Him in a pre-incarnate appearance, if you’re familiar with that.

“You see, what Daniel’s seeing here, if you compare that with what John saw in Revelation; did John see a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in Revelation? He saw the glorified Christ. He saw the post-resurrection appearance of Christ. And what Daniel does here is he sees the transfigured post-resurrection appearance, as it were, of Christ. He sees the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that matches the glory that John sees in the Book of the Revelation. And it tells you something.

“It tells you there’s a connection between what Daniel is fixing to get here, and this information he’s going to get, and where you’re going to go when you go to Revelation. The last vision in the Book of Daniel starts out and it comes from the glorified Son of God in a post-resurrection appearance.

“Daniel had already seen Him crucified. Daniel 9:26 says, ‘And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.’

“And then, in the next chapter and the next vision, he sees Him resurrected. He has this resurrection appearance, that when go through it, it ushers you right into the beginning of the Book of the Revelation that carries you on through to the 70^th week of the Book of Daniel over there in Revelation. What you got there is the sort of connectors that connect together the two books.

*****

“From the beginning of the Book of Daniel, we know God was working on Daniel’s behalf when Daniel probably didn’t even know it. Daniel 1:9 says, [9] Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.”

“Daniel had a life that reflected the genuine nature of the commitment he had made. That’s why purity of life, not the sins of the flesh or the spirit, is so important. You need to have a sweet, gentle, loving, kind, outgoing spirit. Daniel had it and that validated his message. He showed the reality of God at work, so he’d already found some favor; already had some influence.

“There are number of people in the Bible who come to mind like that. Joseph found favor with Pharaoh, we’re told.

“Psalm 106 says, 43] Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
[44] Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
[45] And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
[46] He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

“Isn’t that wonderful how God can do that? God sends Israel out there to be in captivity, but He made the society that held them captive love ’em and pity ’em and be kindly affectioned toward them. Why in the world did He do that? Because of His covenant.

*****

“Proverbs 16:7 says, ‘When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’ When those people walked in the ways of God, even their enemies we’re influenced by it and were at peace with them.

“Paul says almost the same thing in a different way in I Timothy 2: [1] I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
[2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
[3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.’

*****

“Daniel wasn’t some rough, camel-hide-coated prophet over on the backside of the wilderness bellowing out rebuke. He was a man in the king’s palace, taking a stand. He takes a stand and God stands with him.

“I say to you, folks, that any commitment you ever make in the things of the Lord is going to be tested to prove its reality. It’s cheap to say, ‘I’m gonna do this for the Lord.’ The Lord’s gonna find out whether you mean that or not.

“The great saints down through the ages got tested—every one of them—to find out if the commitment was real; to prove the reality of it to themselves. God knows whether it’s real or not. But it's to prove it to you and those around you.

“James said, ‘Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
[4] But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.’

“When I read Daniel 1:13, I say, ‘Man, there’s a man with confidence.’ You know something, folks, compromise results in doubt, but purity--that uncompromising commitment to do what God wants done--always brings confidence.

“When you’re sinning, you’re always looking over your shoulder and wondering if it will work. But when you just stand for the Lord and stand for what He says, you know what will happen? There’s confidence, that boldness to know, ‘Hey, the Lord’s gonna do it.’

*****

“Now watch what happens: ‘So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
[15] And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.’

“There’s a verse in Proverbs that tells you about that. Proverbs 3: 5-7 says, ‘Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.’

“Daniel knew what was going on and God honored him. He knew God would take care of him, and he knew if he just needed to keep a little color in his face and gain 10 pounds, it wouldn’t be any problem for the Lord to put on a pound a day no matter what he was eating.

“Daniel 1 goes on in verse 16, ‘Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.’

“That verse is important. That verse tells me that Melzar, when he put that old porridge in front of him and that glass of cold water, he put the beefsteak and the wine goblet down there too. He took that away and just gave them the other from that point on. Dan and the boys don’t eat the king’s meat.

“Verse 17 says, ‘As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.’

“Proverbs 22:29 says, ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.’ Listen, if you’ll be diligent in the little thing God gave you to do, and thank Him it’s a little thing and you’re not in over your head . . . Daniel and these boys put purity about everything else.

“My dear friend, purity is the main business of the Believer. It’s of first importance. Dan put it first and God gave him influence.

“There’s a verse in Jeremiah 45:5 that means a lot to me. It says, ‘And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.’

*****

“You want to have influence for the Lord? You just be faithful and uncompromising in your commitment to Him. If you’ll be faithful in the little things and be faithful, God will give you influence for Him.

“Verse 20 says, ‘And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.’

“How many days back in verse 12 did He prove them? Ten days. ‘He found them 10 times better than all the musicians and the astrologers in all his realm.’ You got to look at a passage in Psalm 119 with that.

“Psalm 119 says, [97] O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
[98] Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
[99] I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
[100] I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
[101] I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
[102] I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
[103] How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
[104] Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.’

“Ten times greater than the best brains Babylon had to offer! You know how? Sticking with that Book, being true to what God gave them to do.”