Daniel 10:15

And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. I SET MY FACE TOWARD THE GROUND - in humble reverence, the proper attitude for those receiving an immediate revelation from God (, Lot, seeing the two angels, "bowed himself with his face toward the ground"). AND I BECAME DUMB - with overwhelming awe....

Daniel again signifies by these words that he was so inspired by reverence for the angel as to be unable to stand. This tends to recommend the prophecy to our notice, — to shew us how the holy Prophet was not only instructed by the angel, but to confirm what he will afterwards record in the 11th chapter, and free it from all doubt. Lastly, he enables us to confide in the angel’s words, which were not uttered in an ordinary way, but were so obviously divine as to cast Daniel headlong upon the earth. In my judgment those expounders of the phrase, _he became dumb, _are in error when they refer it to his repenting of his prophetic office, through supposing his prayers to have been disregarded. This is much too forced, because the Prophet expresses nothing more than his seizure by fear, causing both his feet and his tongue to refuse their usual duties. Thus he was apparently carried beyond hi...

10-21 Whenever we enter into communion with God, it becomes us to have a due sense of the infinite distance between us and the holy God. How shall we, that are dust and ashes, speak to the Lord of glory? Nothing is more likely, nothing more effectual to revive the drooping spirits of the saints, than to be assured of God's love to them. From the very first day we begin to look toward God in a way of duty, he is ready to meet us in the way of mercy. Thus ready is God to hear prayer. When the angel had told the prophet of the things to come, he was to return, and oppose the decrees of the Persian kings against the Jews. The angels are employed as God's ministering servants, Hebrews 1:14. Though much was done against the Jews by the kings of Persia, God permitting it, much more mischief would have been done if God had not prevented it. He would now more fully show what were God's purposes,...

Verse 15. _I SET MY FACE TOWARD THE GROUND_] He was standing upright, Daniel 10:11, and he now bent his body in reverence, and looked down upon the ground. _AND BECAME DUMB._] Found himself unable to speak....

AND WHEN HE HAD SPOKEN SUCH WORDS ... - Daniel was naturally overcome by the communication which had been made to him. The manner in which the prayer was answered seems to have been entirely different from what he had expected. The presence of a heavenly being; the majesty of his appearance; the assurance that he gave that he had come to answer his prayer; and the fact that he had important revelations to make respecting the future, overcame him, and he laid his face upon the ground in silence. Is there any one of us who would not be awed into profound silence if a heavenly messenger should stand before us to disclose what was to occur to us, to our families, to our friends, to our country, in far-distant years?...

EXPOSITION DANIEL 10:1 THE ANGELS OF THE NATIONS. The three chapters (10, 11; and 12.) form a section apart from the rest of Daniel. One marked peculiarity is the long and very old interpolation which occupies nearly the whole of Daniel 11:1. Not improbably something has dropped out, and. not a few things have been modified in consequence of this interpolation. DANIEL 10:1 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 t

AND WHEN HE HAD SPOKEN SUCH WORDS UNTO ME,.... As before related, concerning the contest between him and the prince of Persia; and especially concerning what would befall the people of the Jews in the latter day: I SET MY FACE TOWARD THE GROUND; not being able to look up; his eyes were fixed upon the earth like one confounded and thunderstruck, filled with amazement and wonder: AND I BECAME DUMB; not able to speak a word, as is the case of persons sometimes in surprise, or through excess of any of the passions: this arose either from the majesty of the angel; or rather from the nature and importance of the things he said; or from a consciousness of his own impurity, and so of his unworthiness to converse with so exalted a creature, and to be favoured with such secrets. The Arabic version is, "and I supplicated"; very wrongly....

CHAPTER 10 THE PREPARATION FOR THE FINAL PROPHECY This chapter contains the preface to the final great prophecies as found in the last two Chapter s of this book. The certain man who appeared unto Daniel at the banks of the river Hiddekel (Tigris) was the Lord. Compare with Revelation 1:1, where John, the beloved disciple, beheld Him in a vision of glory. Daniel's vision is a pre-incarnation vision of the same One whom John beheld after His resurrection and in His glorified humanity. The delayed answer by the angelic messenger is explained by the power of darkness. A powerful demon-prince, a satanic agency, having control over Persia, so that he claimed the title the prince of Persia, kept back the answer. Then the prophet was strengthened....

DANIEL 10. INTRODUCTION TO THE FINAL VISION. The last three Chapter s of Daniel form a unity and describe the final vision. Daniel 10 is introductory. A shining being appears to Daniel near the great river and tells him that he has been sent in answer to his prayers. The guardian angel of Persia had tried to intercept him, but Michael the protector of Israel had come to his assistance. DANIEL 10:1. THIRD YEAR OF CYRUS: 535 B.C, the latest date in the Book. Daniel 10:4. the great river: elsewhere (_cf. Genesis 15:18_) the Euphrates is described in this way, and as the Hiddekel, _i.e._ the Tigris, was 50 miles from Babylon, Charles thinks the name of the river is an interpolation....

DUMB. Compare Psalms 139:2; Psalms 139:9....