UNROLL
Early spring morning on the bank of the Tigris: a wide brown river, reed beds and poplars, a few small figures walking far off along the bank under a calm pale sky.

The last vision

Daniel 10

Persia, about 536 BC. Have you ever prayed for weeks and wondered if anyone heard?

21 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1Exiles at courtBabylon, 605 BC: four young men and the king’s food
  2. 2The king’s dreamAbout 603 BC: a statue, a stone, a kingdom forever
  3. 3The fiery furnaceThree men who would not bow
  4. 4The great treeNebuchadnezzar humbled, then praising God
  5. 5The writing on the wall539 BC: Belshazzar’s feast, Babylon’s last night
  6. 6The lions’ denDarius the Mede, and a man who kept praying
  7. 7Four beasts and the Son of ManBelshazzar’s first year: the kingdoms again
  8. 8The ram and the goatMedia and Persia, Greece, and a proud horn
  9. 9Seventy weeksDarius’s first year: Daniel’s prayer and Gabriel’s answer
  10. 10–12The last visionCyrus’s third year: kings, the end, and the risingChapter 10

Daniel’s Vision by the Tigris

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.

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Daniel
Daniel

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.

Daniel
Daniel

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

Daniel

His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

Daniel
On the muddy bank of the Tigris: a dropped bundle and a walking staff lie in trampled mud, while far off a few men in belted tunics run into a thicket of reeds and poplars, seen from behind.

Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.

Daniel
Daniel

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless. I heard the sound of his words, and as I listened, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

Question

Quick question

Look again at 10:7 before you answer.

Who saw the vision by the Tigris?

Daniel

Suddenly, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling.

The angel

“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

The angel
Dusk in an empty Persian throne hall: rows of tall slender columns with double-bull capitals, a plain raised platform with an empty seat, long shadows across the floor; no one there.

However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”

Daniel

While he was speaking these words to me, I set my face toward the ground and became speechless. And suddenly one with the likeness of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I am overcome with anguish, and I have no strength.

Daniel

How can I, your servant, speak with you, my lord? Now I have no strength, nor is any breath left in me.”

Daniel

Again the one with the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me.

The angel

“Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!”

Daniel 10:19

Daniel

As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

The angel
A tied scroll lies on a bare stone ledge in still, bright white light, the river and reeds soft and dim beyond.

“Do you know why I have come to you?” he said. “I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael your prince.

0:21

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

Pray

Lord, You hear from the first day I humble myself before You, even when the answer is long in coming. When I have no strength left, touch me and make me strong. Give me Your peace, because You hold what is written.

You’ve experienced

Daniel 10

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A verse to carry with you

“Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!”

Daniel 10:19

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