When I come across text like these seven verses, I have two natural and almost immediate reactions.
1. One is I try and figure out the seventy-weeks. Questions such as, “When did (or will) this happen? What exactly is meant by this phrase, or that phrase?” It is as if a puzzle has been presented that needs solving.
2. Or I skip over it. My skeptical mind wants to avoid what most people would find incredulous—angels and visions and predictions.
Regards the first reaction, many people have sketched out how this prophecy fits history and more. Ronald Wallace in The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Daniel and John Lennox in Against the Flow: The Inspiration of Daniel in a Day of Relativism both do a thorough and accessible job.
For today, I want to press into my skepticism and ask, “What do I expect from God when I pray?”
I believe He hears. I believe He answers. But if I am honest, while I have had times when God has been palpable, I don’t expect Him to answer by sending an angelic messenger.
Perhaps my time of prayer has become too routine.
In verse 20 we read of Daniel pleading with God. He is pouring his heart out. Daniel was not seeking an angel—he was seeking God.
And God answers. His answer is brought by Gabriel. Angels in the bible appear at key moments. The announce births and assist in jail breaks. Here, they deliver not only a prophetic message, they first report that prayer has been heard!
Perhaps, especially in my prayer life, I have made God too small. Jesus certainly taught us to pray intimately. Consider how He taught, “Our Father…”. It is a beautiful prayer. I wonderful if I have tamed it?
The disciples who first prayed with those words also saw Jesus do many miracles of power. In fact their last moment with Jesus was with him visibly ascending into heaven. Today we read in Daniel that he saw the Son of Man.
As I reflect on Daniel, and his prayer life, I am convicted that I am making God too small.
What do you make of this situation for yourself?