Scripture Daily

Context No. 1694 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 10:1-6: in context

1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a revelation was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The revelation was true, even a great warfare. He understood the revelation, and had understanding of the vision. 2In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. 3I ate no pleasant bread. No meat or wine came into my mouth. I didn’t anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled. 4In the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel, 5I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man clothed in linen, whose thighs were adorned with pure gold of Uphaz. 6His body also was like beryl, and his face like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes like flaming torches. His arms and his feet were like burnished bronze. The voice of his words was like the voice of a multitude.

In the third year of Cyrus, a true revelation comes to Daniel, concerning a great conflict. But before the vision, there is a season of seeking. For three full weeks Daniel mourns; he eats no rich food, no meat or wine passes his lips, he does not anoint himself, until the three weeks are complete. Then, standing by the great river, he lifts his eyes and sees a man clothed in linen, his body like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, a vision of overwhelming glory.

Before Daniel received the revelation, he sought it, and sought it with perseverance. For three whole weeks he mourned and fasted and denied himself, giving up rich food and comfort, pressing on in his seeking of God even though no answer came for the whole three weeks. He did not seek once and quit when heaven was silent; he continued, day after day, for twenty-one days, in mourning and prayer. And when the answer finally came, the heavenly messenger would reveal that Daniel's words had been heard from the very first day, and that the delay had been caused by unseen conflict, not by any reluctance on God's part. The seeking, in other words, was heard from the start, though the answer was long in coming. There is instruction here for our own seasons of seeking God through a silence. Sometimes we pray, we seek, we press in, and for a long while nothing seems to come; the heavens are quiet, and we are tempted to conclude that God has not heard, and to give up. Daniel's three weeks counsel perseverance. He kept seeking through the silence, and the silence did not mean he was unheard; his words were heard from the first day, though the answer took three weeks to arrive. Our seeking through a long silence is not wasted, and the delay is not proof that God has not heard. The counsel is to keep seeking, to persevere in prayer and self-denial as Daniel did, trusting that we are heard from the first day even when the answer is slow, and that in God's time the answer comes.

When I seek God and the answer is slow, the heavens seemingly silent for a long while, am I tempted to conclude I am unheard and give up, or can I persevere as Daniel did through his three weeks, trusting that my seeking is heard from the first day even when the answer is long in coming?

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