Daniel 10:7 Commentary and Bible Study

The effect of this vision was similar to the effect of what John saw on Patmos. Both men were seeing a vision of the Son of God, the Son of man. In Daniel’s case this was a preincarnate vision, and in John’s case it was the risen Christ that he saw. Both men found the vision utterly overwhelming. This was not because of sensory information only. They were given also an impression of the glory and majesty of the one before them, and they knew that this glory exceeded the ability of mortal man to bear. When Moses asked the Lord to show him his glory, God told him, ‘Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live’ (Exodus 33:20). That remains forever true; God knows the limitations and vulnerabilities of the beings he has made. The saints will see Christ face to face, but only after they have been transformed at his coming. In their mortal form, to see his glory directly is more than the weak mortal frame of man can sustain. That is not because the sight is more than we can understand. The seeing of him in the sense that is spoken of here is a seeing with understanding, and it is the understanding that he cannot bear. As the veil is lifted on this heavenly being, it is too much for Daniel’s mere human nature to see such a being. But God was merciful to both John and Daniel, and therefore the vision of Christ was veiled in some way for them. The vision was only for Daniel; no other witnesses were needed. Those with him, whether friends or enemies, fled; they were not to see it, and would not have wanted to see it because of their fear. Evidently this was not a private vision, but was available to all of them. But it was enough for them that Daniel received the vision, and if they wanted to know it, they could trust him to report it. They fled in instinctive terror, for this was not just a vision of an angel, but of the infinitely more glorious Son of God.Daniel feels his inner being exposed. He says, ‘my comeliness was turned in me into corruption.’ His comeliness or his vigour or splendour was altered and marred or corrupted by the vision. This describes physical changes to his body: he was rendered haggard, as if he aged prematurely. But he says ‘in me’ and so this also seems to describe changes in his inner being. The presence of the preincarnate Christ exposed Daniel’s sinfulness to him, and he knew he was unfit to stand before such a one, and he shrank away. He suddenly saw far more clearly than ever before, his inner corruption. That corruption was not new; it was always there, but now it became so much more obvious by way of comparison. ‘Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground’. The voice produced a similar effect to what he had seen. It carried within it such power and authority and unparalleled glory, that Daniel fell on his face to the ground, prostrate on the ground, unconscious in effect, just hearing the voice of the Lord, and he was in a deep sleep. Nature took refuge from the presence of the glory of the Lord and he swoons.