Gabri’el’s Intervention
9: 20-23
Gabri’el’s Intervention DIG: Where had Dani’el seen Gabri’el before? How did he appear to Dani’el? Why had the angel come to him a second time? What did Dani’el need to be corrected about? What was impressive about Dani’el praying about the time of the evening sacrifice? Why was Gabri’el exhausted?
REFLECT: How would you rate your prayer life? If the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, what can you do to improve it? What prayer do you need answered immediately? What do you need insight? Have you ever tried to do a puzzle with missing pieces? That’s what Dani’el was attempting to do.
Gabri’el came to correct Dani’el’s misunderstanding regarding the establishment of God’s Kingdom.
Dani’el’s prayer (to see link click Cx – Dani’el’s Prayer) was answered in a remarkable fashion. Very often, we pray and wonder whether anyone was listening, or whether our prayer simply bounced off the ceiling. In this case, though, ADONAI sent an angel to address Dani’el’s concerns while he was still praying! We shall look in detail at the answer Dani’el received below. However, in general terms, we can say that Dani’el’s prayer received both an immediate and an ultimate answer. God’s immediate answer was to raise up Cyrus, the Persian king (see Ag – Cyrus and Darius), who issued the decree allowing the Jews to return to their home. But that was only a partial fulfillment of YHVH’s plans. The problem of Isra’el’s rebellious heart that caused the exile in the first place would not be dealt with by merely bringing them back to the Land. That would require a greater demonstration of God’s greatness and grace, which would only be accomplished by the coming of Yeshua.295
Since Dani’el did not recognize his misunderstanding of the chronology of prophetic events, he didn’t realize that he needed to be enlightened further. But God did. So Gabri’el was sent to give Dani’el the proper prophetic understanding. Dani’el was in the middle of confessing his sins and the sins of his people Isra’el, thinking that this confession would prevail in the Messianic Kingdom. Dani’el would have kept on praying had he not been interrupted. While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Isra’el and making my request to ADONAI my God for his holy hill, Jerusalem – while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision. He came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice (9:20-21).296 The Hebrew term for in swift flight, mu’aph, comes from the root yaeph, meaning to be weary or to be faint. This term appears twice in verse 21, once as a verb (mu’aph) and once as a noun (bi’aph). So, the most literal rendering would be weary of weariness. However, a more understandable reading is being very tired. It seems to me that Gabri’el had to fight his way through satanic opposition to get to Dani’el in a big hurry, and he was exhausted from the battle.297
He had lived in Babylon for some seventy years, but Dani’el was still using Torah time. His body was in Babylon, but his heart was in Jerusalem. Had the Temple been standing and the priests still officiating, this would have been the ninth hour, when the lamb was offered as a burnt offering (see the commentary on Leviticus Ai – The Burnt Offering: Accepted by God). It was one of the three times during the day when Dani’el set aside time to offer prayer to ADONAI (Dani’el 6:10 and Psalm 55:17). This was also the time when Ezra prayed for YHVH to forgive the sins of the Jewish remnant that had returned to the Land (Ezra 9:5). There is a sense in which prayer is seen by God as a spiritual sacrifice to Him (Psalm 141:1-2).298
Gabri’el is an angel, but he appeared to Dani’el in the form of a man. Dani’el had met Gabri’el before after seeing the vision of the ram and the goat (see Ck – The Ram and the Male Goat), and Dani’el explained its meaning to him (see Cl – Living in the Valley of Darkness). Now, the angel had come to explain to Dani’el what YHVH had planned for the Temple, Jerusalem, and the Jewish people.
Then Gabri’el revealed the purpose of his arrival: He instructed me and said to me, “Dani’el, I have now come to give you insight and understanding” (9:22). Gabri’el came to correct the prophet’s misunderstanding regarding the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom after seventy years of captivity, and to reveal the true timing of the Kingdom to him. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you. Gabri’el had arrived even before Dani’el had finished praying! The angel had been sent because Dani’el was highly esteemed, an assurance that he was indeed favored by YHVH. Therefore, consider the word (Hebrew: davar, meaning speech or message, however another translation would be command in the sense of a decree) and understand the vision (9:23). As will be demonstrated shortly (see Da – The Seventy-Sevens), that vision was actually both a decree of YHVH (9:24a) and a message of that which would transpire during that period of time (9:24b-27).299
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