Dan 10:18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.

Daniel 10’s event happened in the third year of king Cyrus of Persia (vs 1). Daniel would have been more than eighty years old by then. He had been mourning for three full weeks, during which he ate no dainty bread, nor flesh, nor wine. While standing on the bank of the river Hiddekel (or Tigris) he saw a vision of a man clothed in fine linen, his loins girded with gold of Uphaz, and his body was like beryl, his face bright like lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet gleamed like polished brass, and his voice was as the sound of a multitude. The description of this person is very similar to that of our Lord in Revelations 1:13-15. Upon seeing the man, Daniel started to get pale and lose his strength (vs 1-8).

But the man, as we understand from Revelations 1:13-15 is Christ Himself, picks Daniel up, stands him on his feet, and tells him to listen, and strengthens him. He says He's going to tell Daniel about the things that will happen to the Jews during the last days. Daniel says he feels unworthy and too weak to be speaking with the man. But this angelic being touches him and sends strength into him again, while telling him to be courageous (vs 9-21).

This one ‘like a man’ touches Daniel and he receives strength (vs 18). The very words of this man imparted strength into Daniel (vs 19). It is a lesson for us: we can be strengthened by the word of the Son of God.

There is power in the word. The Psalmist says: “My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word” (Psalm 119:28). Daniel was in the same heaviness of spirit as the Psalmist. Both found strength in God’s word. As a result, they were made alive: “This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me” (Psalm 119:50).

If you think you are spiritually dead, you need to feed on the word of God to receive strength and be spiritually alive once again. Our Lord says: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63b). Let the word of God be your daily spiritually food: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Daniel has the attitude of a devout truth-seeker. The angelic being said that he "had set his heart to understand," and "to chasten [means to humble] himself before his God" (vs 12). It was a great compliment for any man. The world is not divided by what the word of God says but by what it does not say. If every student of the Bible has the same attitude as Daniel, one which is humble and desire to understand the truth,  they will come to the knowledge of the truth and will not believe a lie: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

I came across this quotation recently: “The only person who has time to study the Bible is the person who takes the time to study the Bible.”

How true it is! Many give the excuse they have no time to study the Bible and that’s because they have not made time for it.

The Bible is loaded with verses of comfort, encouragement, and wisdom. Make it a habit to read and study your Bible in a regular, disciplined way; read it daily. Highlight verses that speak to you; meditate on those words. Memorize some of the passages so you can recall them from memory at a future time. “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.