Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Daniel

Angelic Ministry

Daniel 10:18 Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me.
Daniel 10:19 And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

Luke 22:43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.

A little background. Daniel was in the midst of a three week fast, seeking the Lord, for he had received a vision, a message from the Lord, a message that he understood and that terrified him. This message brought a period of mourning for Daniel, and in the midst of this mourning, he beheld a vision of One who is reminiscent of the One described in Revelation, with eyes of fire, and His words sounding like the sound of a multitude.

This vision completely knocked Daniel down, with his strength gone, face fully to the ground, as if he was dead. He was undone.

He was before the Lord, and he knew he had no merit before the Master. Yet notice that within the verse we are considering, the One having the appearance of a man touched Daniel and strengthened Daniel.

This isn’t the only time Daniel was strengthened by the touch of this One. It seems a recurrent theme through this trial of Daniel that the One who spoke to him also touched him to enable him to respond.

Daniel 10:10 And behold, a hand touched me ….
Daniel 10:16 And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. …..

This is an incredible story of the enabling power of the Lord’s strengthening of His servant, Daniel. Could Daniel have been strengthened in other ways? Surely, yet there is something about the human touch, the encouragement found in a handshake, a pat on the back, even a hug, when appropriate.

The power of the human touch became very evident with my Mother-in-law decades ago. She was not a huggy lady, often seemingly seeking to avoid any contact. Wifey and I decided to buck the status quo and seek her out when ever we visited. Granted the first time we hugged, it was awkward, but we persevered, and very soon, it seemed she sought the hug. She seemed to find a certain joy that wasn’t evident in her life prior to this. She was a great lady and I miss her so.

A bit of a diversion on the human touch, but it seems the Lord’s touch for Daniel was the ministration he needed to continue in service to the Lord.

For the Master, to have His servants minister to Him in His weakness surely must have been awkward also. For an angel who had been assigned to only praise and worship the King and Creator all his existence and then find himself strengthening the Almighty must surely have been an unexpected assignment. And the humility of the Lord in receiving this strengthening from His own created servant. This is one aspect of how far He lowered Himself for our sakes, and to obey the Father’s will.

Personally, I think Daniel met the preincarnate Christ, receiving Him as an angelic messenger. The Master, in a turn about of circumstances, received strength from an angelic figure, as He pushed forward to the cross. Daniel’s experience is a solemn image of the future Messiah receiving strength, a hint of the tremendous suffering He would enter into for all of us.

---

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible