Troublesome Topic: Daniel Needed Encouragement

Lesson 3 of 13

Daniel 9:20

Translation

While I was speaking and intervening and throwing my sin

and the sin of my people ISRAEL, and falling down

[to present]

my supplication before YHVH my ELOHIM for the holy hill

of my ELOHIM,

Paraphrase

While I was conversing with God and interceding for my people by confessing my sins and the sins of my people, THOSE WHO REFUSE TO LET GO OF GOD, and while I lay face down on the floor in order to present my request for Jerusalem, God’s holy hill, before THE ETERNAL AND PERSONAL GOD who is THE CREATOR AND RULER OVER ALL THINGS,

Daniel 9:21

Translation

while I was yet speaking in prayer, GABRIEL,

the man whom I had seen in the previous vision, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice, while I was extremely weary.

Paraphrase

yes, while I was still conversing with God in prayer, THE MIGHT OF GOD, personified as the man whom I had seen in the previous vision, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice, when I was in a state of extreme weariness.

Daniel 9:22

Translation

He spoke with me and caused me to understand, and said, DANIEL, I have now come out to give you discernment and understanding.

Paraphrase

He spoke to me so as to help me understand what was going to happen. He said, GOD IS MY JUDGE, I have left the place where I am stationed and have come to you in order to impart insight and understanding to you.

Daniel 9:23

Translation

From the beginning of your supplication, the word

went out and I have come to tell it to you,

for you are desirable [to God]. Therefore, understand the word [that was spoken], and perceive the vision:

Paraphrase

As soon as you began your request, the command was sent out to me to come to you, and I have finally arrived to tell you God’s response, for God finds pleasure in you. Therefore, I want you to understand the course of action that was set in place by

God’s spoken word which must be fulfilled; I want you to grasp the meaning of the following vision:

Daniel had become concerned because he knew their captivity was drawing to an end but there was a lack of repentance among his people. He feared that the time of their captivity might be extended due to their lack of repentance. His prayer for God’s mercy immediately precedes this vision in which God shows Daniel that deliverance and salvation will come through the person of the expected Messiah. However, Daniel and his people need to have patience and endure hardships along the way. They will need to look at the big picture of things in order to see God’s salvation at work. As God’s people wait for the Messiah to come and effect true change, there will be more trials and hardships, one of which will stand out from the rest. But the purpose of this vision is to tell Daniel two things:

1. even though God’s people are not always able to see His hand at work, God is still working,

2. the presence of attacks on God’s people that are extraordinary in their level of evil actually proves that God is working behind the scenes, for when God increases His activity, Satan also increases his activity and tries to use fear to intimidate God’s people into doing nothing.

The next lesson is: God Placed Israel at the Center of the Ancient World

Footnotes

1: "throwing my sin"

The Hebrew text says “throwing my sin …” without telling whether he was throwing it down or up. But the fact that it was sin, rather than praise or thanksgiving, tell us that he was “throwing it down or casting it aside.” “Throwing [down]” your sin means to “confess” your sin, to repudiate it, to say, “I don’t want to hold on to that stuff any longer.”

The root word underlying this word simply meant to thrust out the hand quickly. If the hand had something in it, and if thrusting it out sent that object flying, it would produce the idea of “throwing” something.

This same word can be used of throwing something a different direction, for it was used of sending God praise and thanks. One could call that throwing something up, but for Americans, “throwing up” means something totally different.

2

In order to “throw down” (confess) his sins, he “fell down” or “threw himself down” on the floor as a sign of humility and contrition. Two different words are used, but the action involved is quite similar.

3: “[to present]”

In my opinion a verb is missing here. Usually the combination of the participle “falling down,” which indicates one’s position, (i.e. being prostrate or face down before God which demonstrates humility) and the noun “supplication/request” is translated as “presenting one’s requests” before God. However, I wanted you to see that the only verb used here means “to fall down, to prostrate one’s self.” What you do with your requests once you are in the right position is left for the reader to assume.

4: “holy hill”

This is a reference to Jerusalem. Daniel was praying for Jerusalem and the fulfillment of the restoration God had spoken about regarding Jerusalem.

5

The name “Gabriel” means “man of God,” but also denotes strength, hence, “the mighty and valiant warrior.” Preferably, “mighty man of God” or even “mighty warrior of God” or simply “THE MIGHT OF GOD” which happens to be personified in an angel.

6: “extremely weary”

There are two possible words this phrase could come from. One is from a root meaning “to cover,” and can be rendered, “to obscure, to cover with wings, to flee, to fly, to shine forth, to be weary or faint.” The other word means “to be weary, to be worn out,” and possibly “to fly.” Thus there appears to be some overlap between these two words although their root meanings point different directions. Therefore, it either means that the angel was “caused to fly to him swiftly,” or that Daniel had been “caused to become extremely worn out.” I think that the latter fits the context best. He had been involved in intense prayer for an unknown length of time and had become weary in the process. This a verb form shows intensity and it is followed by another form of the same word, which also means “weary.” When Hebrew used two words from the same root back-to-back, it was a form of emphasis. He was totally worn out. It may be that Daniel, like Jacob, would not stop until he heard a response from God on this matter.

7

This word is used twice in this verse and means “word,” or in verb form “to speak.” In this case it seems to imply a command. God’s “word” to the angel (presumably “Go, explain this to Daniel”) was understood as a command that must be obeyed. Likewise, God had spoken the “word” of explanation as well (about future events), and it too would absolutely come to pass as God had spoken it.

8

Was there a delay? It appears that there was. Daniel 9:3 indicates that Daniel pleaded with God “through prayer, supplications, fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” Fasting implies that he was involved in this for days. The angel started out right away but did not get there till considerable time later. This may be an indication that the angel was delayed in his arrival which would imply some type of conflict between the angel and demons.

9

This appears to be a reference to the vision that the angel will now share with him, or it means that the angel came to him as part of that vision. At any rate, it does not refer to a vision he has already had previous to this time.