And whilst I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God;
Daniel is at the end of a long prayer over the ruin of Jerusalem. This verse is his own summary of the moment God broke in. It tells us three things at once: what he confessed, who he prayed for, and how far his words had got before the answer came.
The verse begins with "my sin" before it reaches the sin of the nation. That order is striking in a man whose enemies could find no fault in him at all.
Daniel's enemies say, "We shall not find anything against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." Yet this same Daniel says, "I was confessing my sin" (Dan. 6:5; 9:20). Man saw nothing to condemn. Daniel knew God's eye saw much. And, like the honest man that he was, he records with his own hand that he had sins to confess to God.
He then joins his sin to "the sin of my people Israel." He had not caused the ruin he was mourning. Still he refused to stand apart from it. Commentators apply this to how believers should treat the failures of God's people in any age.
In the spirit of love, of patience, and of humiliation, we have always to take the place of those who have sinned. See Daniel. Daniel himself was righteous, yet he confesses the people's sin as his own, saying, "O Lord... we have sinned, and have committed iniquity... to us belongs confusion of face." The remnant should confess the sin and evil of those who have sinned. They had no share in the sin, but they must share its consequences, suffering in all the affliction with true sympathy and fellowship.
Notice what he pleads for: the holy hill in Jerusalem, where the temple stood. Not his release, not his safety, not even first of all the comfort of his people.
Notice that the self-forgetting prophet asks nothing at all for himself. He prays only for others. And even when he prays for them, he thinks not so much of their own blessing, or their relief from oppression, or even their return to the land. God's honour is uppermost in his thoughts. He speaks of the city as "your city," "your holy mountain," "your sanctuary that is desolate," and only then of "the people that is called by your name." Summing up his exercises, he ends with, "presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God."
The next verse dates the moment by the evening oblation — the evening sacrifice at the temple. But that temple lay in rubble.
The evening oblation was the perpetual burnt offering. God appointed it to be presented morning and evening, without a break. The temple had been destroyed, so no one could offer it any longer. But Daniel stood before God in the value of that offering. That is, he identified himself in spirit with all its sweet fragrance, as what made him acceptable and made his prayers effective. So it is with our prayers now, when by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit we rest completely on what Christ is, and on all the value of His sacrifice, before God.
Daniel says "while I was speaking" — and then says it a second time in the next verse, as if he cannot get over it.
He repeats twice, "while I was speaking"; he had not finished before Gabriel appeared and cut it short by delivering the prophecy that follows.
Daniel's words were not simply his own.
Daniel was in the secret of God's mind, and God delighted in His servant's prayers. Every word of them went up before Him like sweet incense. In truth, they were His own desires, which He had planted in His servant's heart.
What Daniel prayed about shapes what he is told. His burden was Israel and Jerusalem, so we must read the famous answer that follows the same way.
Notice, all his thoughts are about Israel and about Jerusalem. The prophecy is not about Christianity, but about Israel. There is no understanding it, unless we hold this fast... Then, in verse 24, the prophecy begins. It has to do with Daniel's people — "upon your people." It speaks of a special period, marked out in connection with Israel's full deliverance.
- Confession starts at home. A man no one could accuse still says "my sin" — because God's eye sees what human eyes miss.
- Confession widens. From "my sin" he moves to "the sin of my people," taking the place of the guilty without having shared the guilt.
- Confession empties self. He asks nothing for himself; his one plea is for the holy hill, and God's honour is what drives it.
- Confession rests on sacrifice. The temple lies in ruins, yet Daniel prays in the value of the evening burnt offering. That, not his own goodness, is his acceptance.
- Confession is answered mid-sentence. Gabriel arrives before the prayer ends, and the answer stays on the subject Daniel raised: his people and his city.
whilst I was yet speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
Daniel is still confessing the ruin of Jerusalem when the answer arrives. Three things stand out: who came, how fast he came, and at what hour.
The answer was on its way before Daniel finished. One writer sees here how short the distance is between a praying heart and God:
Heaven is not far away, for there is no space and no distance with God. When Daniel began his confession and humbling of himself, the Lord called Gabriel and told him what to say to the praying prophet. Then God sent Gabriel flying swiftly across that measureless space. Before Daniel ever reached the "Amen," the messenger stood in front of him and stopped his prayer. What blessed assurance! The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His Name, God in the highest heaven hears our voices.
Daniel names his visitor, and calls him a man — the same messenger he had already met in an earlier vision:
God sent this angel to Daniel to explain the vision he had seen of the ram and the goat, and to make known to him the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. Daniel calls him "the man Gabriel," and one who had "the appearance of a man." Dan. 8:15; Dan. 9:21. God also sent him to Mary the mother of Jesus, and to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, to foretell the birth of their sons. To Zacharias he said, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God." Luke 1:19, 26.
The temple lay in ruins, so no lamb was burning on any altar. Yet the hour still meant everything to Daniel:
Gabriel arrived and "touched" Daniel at the time of the evening offering. That evening offering was the burnt offering that never stopped — God had appointed it to be presented morning and evening without a break. The temple had been destroyed, so no one could offer it any more. But Daniel stood before God on the strength of it. In spirit he made all its sweet fragrance his own, as the ground of his acceptance and of the power of his prayers. It is the same with our prayers now, when by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit we rest fully and completely on what Christ is, and on all the value of His sacrifice, before God.
Another writer names what that offering pointed to:
Turning to God in prayer and confession, Daniel receives light and understanding in the mind of God. It matters that the answer comes at the time of the evening offering. That timing shows that God answers his prayer on the ground of the burnt offering, which speaks to God of the value of the sacrifice of Christ.
One writer fixes the hour, and what was happening at the altar in Jerusalem at that moment:
It was 3 p.m., and the evening lamb was going onto the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, with its grain offering and drink offering. All of them spoke to God of Christ, whose death at Calvary took place at that hour (Ex. 29:41; Matt. 27:46). It was the hour of divine blessing: compare Ezra 9:5; Dan. 9:21.
Gabriel came to explain, and to tell Daniel how heaven regarded him:
God sent Gabriel, His angelic messenger, "to fly swiftly", with an answer that would give Daniel "skill and understanding" about events that lay ahead. With it came the assurance that in God's view he was a man "greatly beloved". What other believer was ever allowed to hear himself described like that? The Lord's words were, "whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matt. 23:12). Here we have an illustration of this. Daniel had humbled himself to an unusual degree, and so God lets him know that he is greatly beloved in Heaven. What an exaltation! If he had not been truly humbled, such an assurance might have puffed him up to his ruin.
What Daniel prayed about shapes what he is told, and the prophecy that follows keeps to that subject:
Observe, all his thoughts are about Israel and about Jerusalem. The prophecy is not about Christianity, but about Israel. There is no understanding it, unless we hold this fast. … Then, in verse 24, the prophecy begins. It has to do with Daniel's people — "your people." It speaks of a special period marked out in connection with Israel's full deliverance.
- Answered mid-sentence — Gabriel arrived before the "Amen." With God there is no distance for prayer to cross.
- Answered through sacrifice — Daniel's acceptance rested on the evening burnt offering, which speaks of the value of Christ's sacrifice.
- Answered at Calvary's hour — at 3 p.m. the lamb went on the altar and Christ died. Scripture marks it as the hour of blessing.
- Answered by a named servant — "the man Gabriel," who stands in God's presence. He later announced the births of John and of Jesus.
- Answered with understanding and love — God gives the humbled man skill to grasp what is coming, and tells him he is greatly beloved.
And he informed [me], and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to make thee skilful of understanding.
Gabriel came to Daniel while he was still praying, and he came with a stated errand: to make Daniel able to understand. Two questions follow: why did a praying man still need his understanding opened, and who does God trust with such light?
This was not Gabriel's only errand. The same messenger appears at other turning points in Scripture.
This is the angel sent to Daniel to explain the vision he had seen of the ram and the goat. He also came to reveal to him the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. Daniel calls him "the man Gabriel," and one who had "the appearance of a man." He was also sent to Mary the mother of Jesus. And he was sent to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, to foretell the birth of their sons. To Zacharias he said, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God."
Gabriel did not simply hand over facts. His commission reached Daniel's mind itself.
Gabriel's commission was to open Daniel's understanding, so that he could receive what God had to say. As he puts it, he came "to make you skilful of understanding." It was not enough for Daniel to receive revelations. He needed his understanding opened, so that he could profit by them. Later the Lord opened the Scriptures to the disciples. He also opened their understanding, so that they could understand the Scriptures. We too need the opened understanding as well as the opened Scriptures. The Apostle says the same to Timothy as he opens up the truth to him: "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
That capacity had to come first, because of the size of what was coming next — the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
Gabriel came, first of all, to give Daniel "skill and understanding" (v. 22)... The revelation he was about to receive would need divine intelligence to grasp. That is what God first gave to His servant, through Gabriel.
Gabriel arrived while Daniel was still praying. The timing is part of the message.
The prayer was not ended. Heaven is not far away, for there is no space and no distance with God. When Daniel began his confession and humbling of himself, the Lord called Gabriel and told him what to say to the praying prophet. Then God sent Gabriel flying at speed through that measureless space. Before Daniel ever reached the "Amen," the messenger stood before him and stopped his prayer. What blessed assurance! The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His Name, God hears our voices in the highest heaven.
Gabriel came at the hour of the evening sacrifice — an hour that no longer existed in practice, since the temple lay in ruins.
Gabriel arrived and "touched" Daniel at the time of the evening offering. That evening offering was the burnt offering that never ceased — God appointed it to be presented every morning and every evening. Since the temple had been destroyed, no one could offer it any more. But Daniel stood before God in the value of it. That is, in spirit he made all its sweet fragrance his own, and this was what made him accepted. It is the same with our prayers now, when by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit we rest completely on what Christ is, and on all the value of His sacrifice, before God.
The understanding in this verse came to a man who had first turned his attention away from everything else.
The Holy Scriptures are full of examples of men of God receiving spiritual light during moments of meditation. Led by the Spirit, they fixed their minds on the things of God and shut out the affairs of earth... Daniel did the same. He was ready to turn away from everything else on earth and set his "face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications." Gabriel then "informed," or enlightened, him, and gave him "skill and understanding" in the truth about God's future dealings with His people, as bound up with the Messiah.
Commentators draw a general rule from this.
It is always true that the nearer we are to the Lord, the more fully He can open out His mind to us.
- Errand. Gabriel came to give capacity, not just information. He came to make Daniel "skilful of understanding," so that Daniel could profit from what God was about to reveal.
- Cause. The light came to a man who turned away from everything else on earth to seek God in prayer.
- Speed. God gave the command at the start of the prayer; the messenger arrived before Daniel said "Amen."
- Ground. The answer came at the hour of the evening burnt offering. Daniel could no longer make that offering, yet he stood before God in its value.
- Nearness. The closer we are to the Lord, the more He can open His mind to us — we need the opened understanding as much as the opened Scriptures.