Page 262 - Daniel

swift flight,” and arrived at the time of the evening sacrifice. The
Hebrew for “came … In swift flight” is difficult. The thought is that God
directed Gabriel to go immediately to Daniel at the beginning of his
petition.

It is a touching observation that Gabriel arrived at the time of the
evening sacrifice. There had been no evening sacrifice for half a century
since the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C.; but in Daniel’s youth, he

had seen the smoke rise from the temple into the afternoon sky with its
reminder that God accepts a sinful people on the basis of a sacrifice
offered on their behalf. This sacrifice usually began about 3 P.M., and
consisted of a perfect yearling lamb offered as a whole burnt offering
accompanied by meal and drink offerings. All of this typified the future

sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross as the spotless Lamb of God (Heb.
9:14). As the evening sacrifice was also a stated time for prayer, Daniel
was encouraged to pray. Just as God in a sense met the spiritual need of
His people at the time of the sacrifice, so Gabriel was sent by God to
meet Daniel’s special need at this time and to remind him of God’s
mercy.

Gabriel stated that the purpose of his coming was to give Daniel
“insight and understanding” (v. 22). Daniel’s prayer was not specifically
directed to his own need of understanding God’s dealings with Israel, but
this was the underlying assumption of his entire prayer. God wanted to

assure Daniel of His unswerving purpose to fulfill all His commitments to
Israel, including their ultimate restoration. The commandment to Gabriel
to go apparently came from God Himself, although conceivably he might
have been sent by Michael the Archangel. Because of the magnitude of
the revelation that follows, however, it is better to ascribe it to God

Himself. Gabriel had come to show Daniel what was necessary to
understand the entire matter of Israel’s program, and specifically, to
consider the vision of the seventy weeks described in the verses that
follow. Gabriel also spoke of Daniel’s special relationship to the Lord as
one who was “greatly loved.” In many spiritual and moral characteristics
Daniel was like the apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved (John
13:23). The long preamble of twenty-three verses leading up to the great

revelation of the seventy weeks is, in itself, a testimony to the
importance of this revelation. The stage is now set for Gabriel to reveal