In the book of Daniel, Daniel said, “And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision” in chapter eight and verse seventeen of his book Daniel said about Gabriel, “he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face” where we read,
So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face:
but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
The verse reads, “So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face:” Daniel began with the words, “so he came near where I stood” or “therefore, then and on this account he, Gabriel, approached the place that I, Daniel, was standing, erected and fixed in place”: “and when he came” which means “and at the time and moment he, Gabriel, approached”, “I was afraid” or “I, Daniel, existed as startled, terrified and fearful”, “and fell upon my face” which means “and dropped down on his face to the ground and prostrated himself”. Daniel shared how he was terrified when Gabriel approached him, and he prostrated himself before him.
The verse continues, “but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.” Daniel added the words, “but he said unto me” or “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover he, Gabriel, uttered, declared and proclaimed to me, Daniel”, “understand” which means “discern, consider, be instructed and know”, “O son of man” or “O offspring and progeny belonging to a male human being”: “for at the time of the end” which means “because, since and on account that at the period and season belonging to the completion of definite time” “shall be the vision” or “will exist the mental imagery and appearance”. Daniel shared how Gabriel instructed him to know that the “vision” he received was for the end times.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how Gabriel approached him, and Daniel immediately prostrated himself before him. While he was on his “face”, Gabriel encouraged him to know that the mental imagery he saw was for the completion of time. In other words, it was for the future. We shall learn more about what Gabriel said to Daniel in our next few verses, but for now let us be mindful that God gave Gabriel this mission to Daniel, and Daniel wrote it down so we would know it as well. God wants us to “understand” that He is in control of all the workings and acts of men, and because He knew we would never be able to live eternally with Him on account of the sin in our lives, He sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raised Him from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us the “understanding” of His Holy Spirit that all things and “times” are seen and accountable to Him.
Next time Daniel says, “as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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