The Brilliance of The Lord

I was left alone, looking at this great vision. No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale,^[d] and I was powerless. Daniel 10:8

What was it that caused a great fear in Daniel? Daniel saw the brilliance of the Lord; the radiant glory of Christ! As Daniel gazed at a man who stood along the bank of the river of Tigris, there Daniel knew the fear of God.

“I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz^[b] around his waist. ⁶ His body was like topaz,^[c] his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.” Daniel 10:5-6

Daniel was in the presence of absolute power and absolute truth absolute authority! His bones and muscles gave way, the presence of the almighty Lord was powerful enough to draw out all strength that was left in Daniel. The holiness of God was present, but why was Daniel terrified? Not that he simply saw the brilliance of the Lord, but that His holiness reflected back what is unholy and impure. Let us consider other men who have had an encountering moment with the Lord. Isaiah was considered a godly man, upright before the Lord. But even when he too encounters the Lord, Isaiah cries out for mercy.

Then I said:

Woe is me for I am ruined^[c]
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of Hosts Isaiah 6:5

For the same reason Daniel is paralysed by the presence of the almighty Lord, Isaiah see’s the reflection of his own sin from the radiance of the Lord’s holiness. Consider Paul who fell to the ground before the Lord in a vision of light on the road to Damascus.

Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” he said. Acts 9:4-5

The Lord’s presence causes even the most prideful of men to fall to their knees. Consider how Saul knew the Torah and was so confident in his memorisation of the Old Testament scriptures. And yet, even he the Pharisee of Pharisees loses strength before the almighty God. Consider Joshua who undoubtedly had confidence in the Lord and in his men; charging into battle, unleashing justice upon wicked nations.

¹³ When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?” ¹⁴ “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.” Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship and asked Him, “What does my Lord want to say to His servant?” ¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Even Joshua is caused to fall with his face to the ground. This is the fear of God, and I’ve no doubt that even though each of these men may not have seen the same vision as Daniel, their reactions are all the same. They all fall to the ground; their knees are weakened in the presence of the holiness of the Lord. We ought to know this fear, this reverence that these men had for the Lord in His presence. If we understand our Lord is sovereign over all things, than that should cause us to fall to our knees as well! Vision or no vision, we ought to know the fear of the Lord. I’ve no doubt that it will be made known to us; we must pray to know the fear of the Lord. As each of these men were touched by God in some measure, He takes compassion on them and grants understanding and wisdom of His presence. What radically changed people we would be, if we truly knew the fear of the Lord!