THE EUPHRATES RIVER FINALLY DRIED UP BUT NOW SOMETHING HAS EMERGED
March 2023
The Euphrates River
is a major international waterway that divides
Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
For over ten thousand years, this river has provided
the majority of the region's water,
but it has recently begun to dry up due to the
terrifyingly bizarre
conditions that have brought about the drought.
However,
the drying up of the Euphrates
is not unexpected because it was foretold in a horrific prophecy
that
appears to be coming to a head
Scientists have made a horrifying discovery in the
Euphrates River.
As a result of what was found beneath the riverbed once it had dried,
the entire globe was rocked.
Euphrates River Is Drying Up And Crisis Looms,
Just As
The Bible Warned
A government report warned
that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers could run dry
In the Bible,
it’s said when the Euphrates river runs dry
then
immense things are on the horizon,
perhaps even the
foretelling of the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ and the rapture.
Revelation 16:12 reads:
"The sixth
angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,
and its water was dried up
to prepare the way for the
kings from the East."
Well,
not to sound dramatic or anything,
but it looks like that
time is nigh.
Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates carves through present-day Syria and Iraq before emptying into the Persian Gulf. For thousands of years,
the twin rivers
have allowed farming communities and grand cities
to flourish
in Mesopotamia, which is considered the
cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations.
However, for several decades, it’s become increasingly apparent that the
Tigris–Euphrates river system is
drying out.
A government report in 2021 warned that the
rivers could run dry by 2040 due to declining water levels and
droughts
driven by climate change.
NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites collected images of this area in 2013 and found that the Tigris and Euphrates river basins had lost 144 cubic kilometers (34 cubic miles) of freshwater since 2003.
"GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total
water storage
in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India," said Jay Famiglietti, principal investigator of the study and a hydrologist and professor at UC Irvine in a statement.
"The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and
the region does
not coordinate its water management
because of
different interpretations of international
laws,"
explained Famiglietti.
The strain is already starting to show,
but a total collapse of the river system
would spell disaster for the region.
Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
rely on the Tigris-Euphrates for water
As the rivers start to struggle,
international disputes over access to water are
already heating up.
These arguments have also prevented governments from
effectively reaching any
solution to the problem.
Parched for water,
these countries could also be facing a looming public health crisis.
A recent report published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) investigated how a myriad of health emergencies are building in Iraq because people are
struggling to get their hands on clean water.
“Diarrhoea, chicken pox, measles, typhoid fever, and cholera are currently spreading across Iraq because of the water crisis, and the government no longer provides vaccines to its citizens,” Naseer Baqar, climate activist and field coordinator at Tigris River Protectors Association in Iraq, told the BMJ.
Although the Bible's predictions of the Euphrates’
fate "should be taken with a bucket of salt" perhaps it's
forecasting of monumental change
wasn’t far wrong.
The Vision of Glory
INTRODUCTION
Of the four great revelations recorded in the
book of Daniel,
the last stretches from Daniel 10 through 12. Chapter 10
introduces the vision,
chapter 11 gives the prophecy, and chapter 12 adds an epilogue.
Those chapters deal with the same time period as the prophecy
of Daniel 8: from
Daniel's day to the second coming of Christ.
However Daniel 10-12 gives greater detail about the
tribulation than any other prophecy.
A. Daniel's Prayer
Daniel 9 records that Daniel had been reading Jeremiah's prophecies and was aware he had prophesied
the captivity of Judah would last
seventy years.
Daniel realized that those seventy years were nearly over.
He therefore began to pray and fast.
He confessed his sin and that of his people and asked
God to fulfill His promise
in allowing the
Jewish people to return to their land.
God's answer to Daniel's prayer came in the
form of a tremendous prophetic revelation
given in the first year of Cyrus,
king of the Medo-Persian Empire.
In that year Cyrus issued a decree allowing the
Jewish people to return home
(Ezra 1:1-4).
Thus Daniel's prayer was answered in the
same year he prayed.
B. Daniel's Disappointment
Daniel 10 opens "in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia" (v. 1).
That's two years after Daniel received the revelation given in
Daniel 9.
During that time he experienced terrible discouragement:
most of the Jewish people
had
not returned to their homeland.
They were comfortable, paganized, prosperous,
and enmeshed in
Babylonian society.
As a result
few cared
about the Promised Land,
rebuilding Jerusalem,
or
restoring the Temple.
Of the hundreds of thousands of Jewish people who were in Babylon,
a few did return--but only 42,600 (Ezra 2:64).
Daniel's dream was that after
seventy years of captivity
all the Jewish captives would return.
He wanted the worship of God reestablished,
along with
the nation itself.
But because so few returned to the land,
those goals
weren't being accomplished.
C. Daniel's Situation
Two years prior to the vision in Daniel 10 Daniel
retired from being one of the prime ministers of the
Persian Empire.
He had also served in that capacity
under the Babylonians.
He was about eighty-five years old when
he left office in the first year of Cyrus.
I believe Daniel didn't
return to Judea
because of his disappointment that
so few returned to the Promised Land.
I think he felt responsible
to motivate the people to shake off their
sinful complacency
and return to their country.
D. Daniel's Revelation
Though Daniel would surely have loved to
return to his homeland,
his burden for his people and the crisis of
his disappointment
led him to do what he always did in such situations:
pray.
God's answer came with another revelation:
"In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was
revealed unto Daniel . . .
and the thing was true, but the time appointed
was long; and he understood the thing, and had
understanding of the vision"
(Dan. 10:1).
"The time appointed was long"
is better translated. "one of great conflict"
The obscurity of the words tsavah gadol
in the
Hebrew text accounts for
the difference.
They can also be rendered "a great warfare" or "a great army"
(whether of men or angels).
Since Daniel 10-12 speaks of great conflict among armies--from holy angels and demons in space,
to
conflict between Russia and Israel on earth--
the
context points toward the reading of the New American Standard Bible.
LESSON
I. THE MOURNING OF DANIEL (vv. 2-3)
"In those days I, Daniel,
was mourning three full weeks.
I ate no pleasant bread, neither came
flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all,
till three whole weeks were fulfilled. "
A. The Time of Mourning
Daniel began the account of his vision with the words "I, Daniel,"
a phrase he used five times to emphasize the
testimony is his.
He tells us he mourned for three weeks of days
(the Hebrew text specifies that to distinguish them from the weeks of years in Daniel 9).
His mourning took place in the third year of Cyrus (v. 1)
and ended with an angelic visitation on the
twenty-fourth day of the first month
(the month of Nisan; v. 4).
Since he had been mourning for three weeks, he must
have started on the third of Nisan.
The Passover always falls on the fourteenth of Nisan,
so that means
during the festive celebrations of Passover
and the feast of Unleavened Bread
(the week following Passover)
Daniel mourned, prayed, and fasted.
Yet for that whole period heaven remained silent.
B. The Extent of Mourning
During his mourning Daniel "ate no pleasant bread. "
The Hebrew words mean "bread" or "food of delight. "
He didn't eat fancy foods, which was one way of
fasting--abstinence from certain foods while eating only what was
necessary to stay alive.
Beyond that "neither came flesh nor wine in [his] mouth"
(v. 3).
That means he didn't eat normal foods either.
Daniel also refrained from using skin oils during that time.
It was customary to ~
anoint one's self with oil for protection
from the sun,
to keep the skin soft, and to add fragrance to the body.
Those privations were a significant undertaking for an eighty-five-year-old man.
C. The Reason for Mourning
At first it may seem strange that Daniel mourned. Only two years
previously Cyrus issued a decree
allowing the -Jewish people- to
-return- to their homeland,
and 42,600 had returned. Yet as we touched on before,
that was the problem:
though all could return, only a small fraction did.
In his selflessness Daniel longed for all his people to
return to their land.
II. THE MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE GLORY (vv. 4-6)
"In the four and twentieth day of the first month,
as I was by the side of the great river,
which is Hiddekel, then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a
certain man clothed in linen,
whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; his body also was like the beryl, and his
face like the appearance of lightening,
and his eyes like lamps of fire,
and his arms and his feet in color like to polished bronze, and
the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. "
Daniel's attitude and spirit
were of the kind God responds to.
A. The Place
"Hiddekel" is the Hebrew name for the Tigris River.
It is derived from idigla, the ancient
Babylonian name for the Tigris.
There were two great rivers in ancient Mesopotamia:
the Euphrates,
on which the city of Babylon was built,
and the Tigris,
located sixty miles east of Babylon.
We don't know why Daniel was at the Tigris--he may
have been on official business or he
may have gone to encourage a group of Jewish people
to return to their homeland.
B. The Person
1. His specific identity
"Behold" in verse 5 expresses the amazement and shock Daniel
experienced when confronted by his heavenly visitor.
Some think it may have been Gabriel, Michael, or another angel of equal rank. I believe it was a
preincarnate appearance
of the
Second Person of the Trinity--the
Lord
Jesus Christ
(often referred to as a Christophany).
a) Determined from elsewhere in Scripture
The description of Daniel's visitor is paralleled in
Revelation 1:13-15,
where John describes one like the Son of man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girded
about the breasts with a golden girdle.
His head and his hair were
white like wool, as white as snow; (lamb)
and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet like fine bronze,
as if they burned in a furnace; and
his voice like the sound of
many waters. "
That description is almost identical to Daniel's
(except Daniel says nothing of his visitor's hair).
John's visitor identified Himself
as
the "Alpha and Omega" (Rev. 1:8)
--the
Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 17-18).
John saw Christ in His post-resurrection glory,
Daniel in His preincarnate glory.
Jesus Christ was not created when He was born-
-He existed eternally.
b) Determined from His clothing
(1) His garment
Fine white linen was the garment of priests (Ex. 28:39-43) and heavenly visitors
such as the angels that appeared
at Jesus' tomb
(Mark 16:5). It is associated with the representatives of God
and seems to
symbolize God's foremost attribute:
His holiness.
(2) His belt
The waist of Daniel's visitor was "girded with fine gold of Uphaz" (
Dan. 10:5).
While we don't know what Uphaz signifies, Daniel's description
indicates a
belt
overlaid with fine gold.
As a valuable, pure, and beautiful
metal gold here perhaps symbolizes
the sovereignty of God.
(3) His body
The body of the preincarnate Christ "was like the beryl" (
v. 6) -
-a transparent, flashing jewel called a chrysolite in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament). Some think it refers to the topaz.
As a flashing transparent jewel I think it
symbolizes God's glory.
(4) His face
His face was "like the appearance of lightening" (v. 6).
In Revelation 1:16 John described Christ's face as being like the sun.
That brilliant light brings to mind
His omnipotence.
(5) His eyes
The eyes of Christ were "like lamps of fire" (v. 6). Lamps search out and throw light on what they are aimed, exposing things as they really are. That pictures God's omniscience.
(6) His arms and feet
They were "in color like to polished bronze" (v. 6). Bronze, commonly used of armaments at the time, hints of the judgment and wrath of God.
(7) His voice
His voice was "like the voice of a multitude" (v. 6).
Revelation 1:15 describes it as
"the sound of many waters. "
Daniel saw the
Almighty revealed in a vision representing
of His holiness, sovereignty, glory,
omnipotence, omniscience, and judgment.
2. His extensive authority
Since
Christ is the Commander-in Chief
of the
angelic army and has all authority
(Matt. 28:18) ,
it was fitting that He appear to Daniel at this time.
Daniel was about to receive a prophecy concerning
angelic warfare
that would stretch from his own time to the
battle described in Revelation 12,
in which Michael and the holy angels
defeat the demonic forces.
This vision must have been a source of great hope
for the aged prophet.
His heart had been heavy but
God Himself appeared to him.
III. THE REACTION OF THE VISION (vv. 7-9)
A. Of Those with Daniel (v. 7)
"I, Daniel, alone saw the vision;
for the men that were with me saw not the vision,
but a great quaking fell upon them, so that
they fled to hide themselves. "
When heaven invades earth it always leaves
man in awe.
Though those with Daniel
saw no vision they knew
something was happening and began to shake.
They fled to hide from the presence of God
because it was more than they could bear-
-a natural response of sinful man, as seen many times in Scripture.
1. Compared to Job
When a good man like Job
saw God he was forced to declare,
"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,
but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and
repent in dust and ashes"
(Job 42:5-6).
2. Compared to Isaiah
Isaiah was a godly man, yet when he saw God he said,
"Woe is me!
For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips,
and
I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips;
for mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts"
(Isa. 6:5).
3. Compared to Peter
When Peter
saw the
power of Jesus displayed
he responded,
"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man,
O Lord"
(Luke 5:8).
4. Compared to mankind in the tribulation
When mankind realizes the great day of God's wrath during the
tribulation, they will cry out
"to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb"
(Rev. 6:16).
The unholy are devastated in the presence of absolute holiness.
B. Of Daniel Himself (vv. 8-9)
"I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 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. "
Daniel was left alone and experienced
severe distress--he too wasn't able to handle
much of God's presence.
That his "comeliness was turned . . . into corruption" (v. 8)
means he lost his strength and acquired the
death-like pallor of one in absolute panic.
On top of that
he "heard the voice of [God's] words" (v. 9).
That caused him to faint.
He was shattered by the muffled
roar of the voice of
-God's Son-
-completely mastered by the
awe of His presence.
Christ then departed and Daniel
saw Him no more.
IV. THE MESSENGER FROM HEAVEN (vv. 10-13)
"Behold, an hand touched me, which set me
upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man
greatly beloved,
understand the words I speak to thee,
and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent.
And when he had spoken this word unto me,
I stood trembling.
He said unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from
the first day that thou didst
set thine heart to understand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God,
thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia
withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo,
Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me;
and I remained there with the kings of Persia. "
A. He Revived Daniel
Almost immediately an
angel in the form of a man helped Daniel,
who was eighty-five years old and weakened by fasting.
The angel enabled him to rise shakily
to his hands and knees.
Are You Awed in the Presence of God?
Daniel's reaction to the presence of God
ought to cause us to examine our own attitude
towards His presence.
Are we awed in His presence?
I find myself
rushing in and out of God's presence
with no thought for
His majesty
When I come to worship Him, too often it seems when
I ought to be drained of strength because of
overwhelming thoughts of God,
my thoughts are
instead focused on the world
or some project completely unrelated to God.
How about
YOU?
B. He Reassured Daniel
God doesn't make personal appearances to everyone. But
Daniel was "greatly beloved. "
He was a special man, like others named in the Bible:
David was called]
"a man after [God's] own heart"
(1 Sam. 13:14) ,
Abraham was called God's friend
(Isa. 41:8) ,
the apostle John was
the disciple whom Jesus loved"
(John 21:7) ,
and Mary was "highly favored" by God (Luke 1:28).
Those who especially delight in God and obey Him become greatly beloved by Him.
The angel may have told Daniel he was beloved by God to
relieve his fear--he wasn't going to be judged
but blessed.
C. He Was Temporarily Hindered from Seeing Daniel
Daniel had set his heart
on understanding why his people had not returned
to the land so he fasted and prayed for a
lengthy period of time
(vv. 2-3). God's messenger first reassured Daniel not to fear.
He wasn't to think God didn't care about his prayers because of the
twenty-one days it took to
send an answer!
In reality,
from the first day Daniel mourned he was heard,
but delivery of God's answer was
delayed.
The angel explained that he--a holy angel from God's presence--had been detained by the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" (v. 13).
The ruling kingdom at that time was Persia, but the prince
spoken of
here was not a man: he was a demon.
His position
was to influence the events in Persia
so
God's plans for the future of Israel
would be hindered.
Therefore he must have been evil.
He must have been an
angelic being
to be able to fight the
archangel Michael (v. 13) ,
and his relationship with Persia was of
an ongoing nature since the angel
speaking to Daniel would be
fighting him again (v. 20).
The Demons and World Power
Satan has a sophisticated world organization: an
unseen network
of demons influencing the events of human history.
Just as there was a demon assigned to Persia (v. 13) , there was another assigned to Greece (v. 20). Psalm 96:5 says,
"All the gods of the nations are idols," and demons are
behind the false gods people worship
(1 Cor. 10:20).
Throughout world history demons have been active
behind the scenes
in an attempt to thwart
God's plans
God sent Michael--a super-angel--
to release
His messenger from conflict.
Michael is mentioned three times in Daniel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1) and two times in the New Testament (Jude 9; Rev. 12:7).
He is called "the archangel" (Jude 9) which means
"first angel. "
The name Michael means "one who is of God. "
In Revelation 12:7 he appears
with a host of angels during the
Great Tribulation to destroy all
demonic forces and win the
final battle.
After his struggle with the prince of Persia Daniel's angelic messenger remained "with the kings of Persia" (Dan. 10:13).
He remained as an influence for God with the kings of Persia.
That indicates God has
assigned
holy angels to nations
to carry out His purposes.
In this continual warfare
I often wonder what's happening behind the scenes
in our own nation.
VI. THE PURPOSE OF THE VISION (vv. 14-21)
A. To Prepare Daniel to Receive Extensive Revelation (vv. 14-20a)
"I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy
people in the latter days;
for yet the vision is for many days.
And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said unto him who stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
For how can the servant of this, my lord, talk with this, my lord?
For as for me, straightway there remained
no strength in me,
neither is there breath left in me.
Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and
he strengthened me, and said, O man
greatly beloved, fear not.
Peace be unto thee;
be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me,
I was strengthened, and said,
Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
Then said he, Knowest thou why I come unto thee?"
According to Daniel 10:14 the angel came to give
Daniel a vision that would cover a lengthy time span.
Specifically, it goes from the time of Daniel to the
reign of the Antichrist in the tribulation.
That caused Daniel to lose his strength and voice and fall to the
ground for a second time (Dan. 10:15).
Such was the effect of so
grand a revelation.
In response to Daniel's physical collapse another
angel appeared and touched Daniel's lips,
which enabled him to speak (v. 16).
Daniel told his angelic messenger that he didn't
think he would be able to receive a revelation
in his weakened condition
(v. 17) , so
another angel came and miraculously strengthened him
(v. 18). Daniel then willingly received the revelation (v. 19).
Daniel needed to be strengthened--he had stood before
the living God.
He may have been the most godly man living
at that time,
but was devastated
when
personally confronted by God.
We can expect even worse when
we face God unless we are
protected
by the blood of Jesus Christ
through faith in Him.
Once Daniel had been
strengthened the angelic messenger
asked,
"Knowest thou why I come unto thee?"
(v. 20) --a question that implies Daniel
didn't realize the extent of revelation
he was to receive.
Daniel had spent twenty-one days asking about the immediate future of his people, but was
going to receive a revelation of their future to
the end of the age!
Plumb the Depths!
Daniel prayed for an answer to an immediate dilemma but was given an answer that went
far beyond his current focus.
He was shown that demons and holy angels carry on warfare, and experienced the majestic presence of the uncreated Christ--the commander of the angelic hosts. Daniel's summation that the revelation was one of great conflict was accurate (Dan. 10:1, NASB).
Sometimes Christians
forget the great works and
eternal truths
of God and focus on
petty things.
While God wants us to focus on His kingdom,
we too often focus on the mundane
(cf. Matt. 6:33).
Some Christians never seriously study
their Bibles.
They become caught up in churchianity--
which isn't Christianity
at all.
We need to be committed to plumbing
the
depths of God's Word.
Then, like Daniel,
we'll receive more than we
ask for.
B. To Reassure Daniel of the Truth of Revelation (vv. 20b-21)
"Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come. But I will show thee that
which is noted in the Scripture of truth;
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but
Michael, your prince. "
After
delivering his message
to Daniel
the angel was to return to fighting the prince of Persia
on
Israel's behalf.
God uses angelic conflict to
accomplish His will.
And once that conflict ended the angel would begin fighting the
prince of Greece--the next great world power.
Yet the angel reassured Daniel
that the message he was about to give was
true
and that though only
Michael was with him,
they were sufficient to handle any opposition.
What a comfort!
Michael must be a magnificent being, for he's the
prince of God's people.
CONCLUSION
Daniel 10 is a rich portion of Scripture. It gives us insight into God's holiness, majesty, and glory; the preincarnate Christ; and the reality of angelic warfare. Before us are laid open the heart and life of a man without equal: Daniel, the man of prayer. We see that the core of intercessory prayer is a broken and selfless heart, and that the first response to any crisis ought to be prayer. We also see the condescension of God in willingly revealing His truth to man. We see the grace of God in taking a weak and frail man and with a touch making him speak as a prophet. That ought to give us all great comfort. God can use any of us. He is able to take our greatest weaknesses and lift us from uselessness to strength. What a glorious blessing!
THE EUPHRATES RIVER FINALLY DRIED UP BUT NOW SOMETHING HAS EMERGED
March 2023
The Euphrates River
is a major international waterway that divides
Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
For over ten thousand years, this river has provided
the majority of the region's water,
but it has recently begun to dry up due to the
terrifyingly bizarre
conditions that have brought about the drought.
However,
the drying up of the Euphrates
is not unexpected because it was foretold in a horrific prophecy
that
appears to be coming to a head
Scientists have made a horrifying discovery in the
Euphrates River.
As a result of what was found beneath the riverbed once it had dried,
the entire globe was rocked.
Euphrates River Is Drying Up And Crisis Looms,
Just As
The Bible Warned
A government report warned
that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers could run dry
In the Bible,
it’s said when the Euphrates river runs dry
then
immense things are on the horizon,
perhaps even the
foretelling of the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ and the rapture.
Revelation 16:12 reads:
"The sixth
angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,
and its water was dried up
to prepare the way for the
kings from the East."
Well,
not to sound dramatic or anything,
but it looks like that
time is nigh.
Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates carves through present-day Syria and Iraq before emptying into the Persian Gulf. For thousands of years,
the twin rivers
have allowed farming communities and grand cities
to flourish
in Mesopotamia, which is considered the
cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations.
However, for several decades, it’s become increasingly apparent that the
Tigris–Euphrates river system is
drying out.
A government report in 2021 warned that the
rivers could run dry by 2040 due to declining water levels and
droughts
driven by climate change.
NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites collected images of this area in 2013 and found that the Tigris and Euphrates river basins had lost 144 cubic kilometers (34 cubic miles) of freshwater since 2003.
"GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total
water storage
in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India," said Jay Famiglietti, principal investigator of the study and a hydrologist and professor at UC Irvine in a statement.
"The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and
the region does
not coordinate its water management
because of
different interpretations of international
laws,"
explained Famiglietti.
The strain is already starting to show,
but a total collapse of the river system
would spell disaster for the region.
Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
rely on the Tigris-Euphrates for water
As the rivers start to struggle,
international disputes over access to water are
already heating up.
These arguments have also prevented governments from
effectively reaching any
solution to the problem.
Parched for water,
these countries could also be facing a looming public health crisis.
A recent report published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) investigated how a myriad of health emergencies are building in Iraq because people are
struggling to get their hands on clean water.
“Diarrhoea, chicken pox, measles, typhoid fever, and cholera are currently spreading across Iraq because of the water crisis, and the government no longer provides vaccines to its citizens,” Naseer Baqar, climate activist and field coordinator at Tigris River Protectors Association in Iraq, told the BMJ.
Although the Bible's predictions of the Euphrates’
fate "should be taken with a bucket of salt" perhaps it's
forecasting of monumental change
wasn’t far wrong.
The Vision of Glory
INTRODUCTION
Of the four great revelations recorded in the
book of Daniel,
the last stretches from Daniel 10 through 12. Chapter 10
introduces the vision,
chapter 11 gives the prophecy, and chapter 12 adds an epilogue.
Those chapters deal with the same time period as the prophecy
of Daniel 8: from
Daniel's day to the second coming of Christ.
However Daniel 10-12 gives greater detail about the
tribulation than any other prophecy.
A. Daniel's Prayer
Daniel 9 records that Daniel had been reading Jeremiah's prophecies and was aware he had prophesied
the captivity of Judah would last
seventy years.
Daniel realized that those seventy years were nearly over.
He therefore began to pray and fast.
He confessed his sin and that of his people and asked
God to fulfill His promise
in allowing the
Jewish people to return to their land.
God's answer to Daniel's prayer came in the
form of a tremendous prophetic revelation
given in the first year of Cyrus,
king of the Medo-Persian Empire.
In that year Cyrus issued a decree allowing the
Jewish people to return home
(Ezra 1:1-4).
Thus Daniel's prayer was answered in the
same year he prayed.
B. Daniel's Disappointment
Daniel 10 opens "in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia" (v. 1).
That's two years after Daniel received the revelation given in
Daniel 9.
During that time he experienced terrible discouragement:
most of the Jewish people
had
not returned to their homeland.
They were comfortable, paganized, prosperous,
and enmeshed in
Babylonian society.
As a result
few cared
about the Promised Land,
rebuilding Jerusalem,
or
restoring the Temple.
Of the hundreds of thousands of Jewish people who were in Babylon,
a few did return--but only 42,600 (Ezra 2:64).
Daniel's dream was that after
seventy years of captivity
all the Jewish captives would return.
He wanted the worship of God reestablished,
along with
the nation itself.
But because so few returned to the land,
those goals
weren't being accomplished.
C. Daniel's Situation
Two years prior to the vision in Daniel 10 Daniel
retired from being one of the prime ministers of the
Persian Empire.
He had also served in that capacity
under the Babylonians.
He was about eighty-five years old when
he left office in the first year of Cyrus.
I believe Daniel didn't
return to Judea
because of his disappointment that
so few returned to the Promised Land.
I think he felt responsible
to motivate the people to shake off their
sinful complacency
and return to their country.
D. Daniel's Revelation
Though Daniel would surely have loved to
return to his homeland,
his burden for his people and the crisis of
his disappointment
led him to do what he always did in such situations:
pray.
God's answer came with another revelation:
"In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was
revealed unto Daniel . . .
and the thing was true, but the time appointed
was long; and he understood the thing, and had
understanding of the vision"
(Dan. 10:1).
"The time appointed was long"
is better translated. "one of great conflict"
The obscurity of the words tsavah gadol
in the
Hebrew text accounts for
the difference.
They can also be rendered "a great warfare" or "a great army"
(whether of men or angels).
Since Daniel 10-12 speaks of great conflict among armies--from holy angels and demons in space,
to
conflict between Russia and Israel on earth--
the
context points toward the reading of the New American Standard Bible.
LESSON
I. THE MOURNING OF DANIEL (vv. 2-3)
"In those days I, Daniel,
was mourning three full weeks.
I ate no pleasant bread, neither came
flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all,
till three whole weeks were fulfilled. "
A. The Time of Mourning
Daniel began the account of his vision with the words "I, Daniel,"
a phrase he used five times to emphasize the
testimony is his.
He tells us he mourned for three weeks of days
(the Hebrew text specifies that to distinguish them from the weeks of years in Daniel 9).
His mourning took place in the third year of Cyrus (v. 1)
and ended with an angelic visitation on the
twenty-fourth day of the first month
(the month of Nisan; v. 4).
Since he had been mourning for three weeks, he must
have started on the third of Nisan.
The Passover always falls on the fourteenth of Nisan,
so that means
during the festive celebrations of Passover
and the feast of Unleavened Bread
(the week following Passover)
Daniel mourned, prayed, and fasted.
Yet for that whole period heaven remained silent.
B. The Extent of Mourning
During his mourning Daniel "ate no pleasant bread. "
The Hebrew words mean "bread" or "food of delight. "
He didn't eat fancy foods, which was one way of
fasting--abstinence from certain foods while eating only what was
necessary to stay alive.
Beyond that "neither came flesh nor wine in [his] mouth"
(v. 3).
That means he didn't eat normal foods either.
Daniel also refrained from using skin oils during that time.
It was customary to ~
anoint one's self with oil for protection
from the sun,
to keep the skin soft, and to add fragrance to the body.
Those privations were a significant undertaking for an eighty-five-year-old man.
C. The Reason for Mourning
At first it may seem strange that Daniel mourned. Only two years
previously Cyrus issued a decree
allowing the -Jewish people- to
-return- to their homeland,
and 42,600 had returned. Yet as we touched on before,
that was the problem:
though all could return, only a small fraction did.
In his selflessness Daniel longed for all his people to
return to their land.
II. THE MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE GLORY (vv. 4-6)
"In the four and twentieth day of the first month,
as I was by the side of the great river,
which is Hiddekel, then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a
certain man clothed in linen,
whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; his body also was like the beryl, and his
face like the appearance of lightening,
and his eyes like lamps of fire,
and his arms and his feet in color like to polished bronze, and
the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. "
Daniel's attitude and spirit
were of the kind God responds to.
A. The Place
"Hiddekel" is the Hebrew name for the Tigris River.
It is derived from idigla, the ancient
Babylonian name for the Tigris.
There were two great rivers in ancient Mesopotamia:
the Euphrates,
on which the city of Babylon was built,
and the Tigris,
located sixty miles east of Babylon.
We don't know why Daniel was at the Tigris--he may
have been on official business or he
may have gone to encourage a group of Jewish people
to return to their homeland.
B. The Person
1. His specific identity
"Behold" in verse 5 expresses the amazement and shock Daniel
experienced when confronted by his heavenly visitor.
Some think it may have been Gabriel, Michael, or another angel of equal rank. I believe it was a
preincarnate appearance
of the
Second Person of the Trinity--the
Lord
Jesus Christ
(often referred to as a Christophany).
a) Determined from elsewhere in Scripture
The description of Daniel's visitor is paralleled in
Revelation 1:13-15,
where John describes one like the Son of man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girded
about the breasts with a golden girdle.
His head and his hair were
white like wool, as white as snow; (lamb)
and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet like fine bronze,
as if they burned in a furnace; and
his voice like the sound of
many waters. "
That description is almost identical to Daniel's
(except Daniel says nothing of his visitor's hair).
John's visitor identified Himself
as
the "Alpha and Omega" (Rev. 1:8)
--the
Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 17-18).
John saw Christ in His post-resurrection glory,
Daniel in His preincarnate glory.
Jesus Christ was not created when He was born-
-He existed eternally.
b) Determined from His clothing
(1) His garment
Fine white linen was the garment of priests (Ex. 28:39-43) and heavenly visitors
such as the angels that appeared
at Jesus' tomb
(Mark 16:5). It is associated with the representatives of God
and seems to
symbolize God's foremost attribute:
His holiness.
(2) His belt
The waist of Daniel's visitor was "girded with fine gold of Uphaz" (
Dan. 10:5).
While we don't know what Uphaz signifies, Daniel's description
indicates a
belt
overlaid with fine gold.
As a valuable, pure, and beautiful
metal gold here perhaps symbolizes
the sovereignty of God.
(3) His body
The body of the preincarnate Christ "was like the beryl" (
v. 6) -
-a transparent, flashing jewel called a chrysolite in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament). Some think it refers to the topaz.
As a flashing transparent jewel I think it
symbolizes God's glory.
(4) His face
His face was "like the appearance of lightening" (v. 6).
In Revelation 1:16 John described Christ's face as being like the sun.
That brilliant light brings to mind
His omnipotence.
(5) His eyes
The eyes of Christ were "like lamps of fire" (v. 6). Lamps search out and throw light on what they are aimed, exposing things as they really are. That pictures God's omniscience.
(6) His arms and feet
They were "in color like to polished bronze" (v. 6). Bronze, commonly used of armaments at the time, hints of the judgment and wrath of God.
(7) His voice
His voice was "like the voice of a multitude" (v. 6).
Revelation 1:15 describes it as
"the sound of many waters. "
Daniel saw the
Almighty revealed in a vision representing
of His holiness, sovereignty, glory,
omnipotence, omniscience, and judgment.
2. His extensive authority
Since
Christ is the Commander-in Chief
of the
angelic army and has all authority
(Matt. 28:18) ,
it was fitting that He appear to Daniel at this time.
Daniel was about to receive a prophecy concerning
angelic warfare
that would stretch from his own time to the
battle described in Revelation 12,
in which Michael and the holy angels
defeat the demonic forces.
This vision must have been a source of great hope
for the aged prophet.
His heart had been heavy but
God Himself appeared to him.
III. THE REACTION OF THE VISION (vv. 7-9)
A. Of Those with Daniel (v. 7)
"I, Daniel, alone saw the vision;
for the men that were with me saw not the vision,
but a great quaking fell upon them, so that
they fled to hide themselves. "
When heaven invades earth it always leaves
man in awe.
Though those with Daniel
saw no vision they knew
something was happening and began to shake.
They fled to hide from the presence of God
because it was more than they could bear-
-a natural response of sinful man, as seen many times in Scripture.
1. Compared to Job
When a good man like Job
saw God he was forced to declare,
"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,
but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and
repent in dust and ashes"
(Job 42:5-6).
2. Compared to Isaiah
Isaiah was a godly man, yet when he saw God he said,
"Woe is me!
For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips,
and
I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips;
for mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts"
(Isa. 6:5).
3. Compared to Peter
When Peter
saw the
power of Jesus displayed
he responded,
"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man,
O Lord"
(Luke 5:8).
4. Compared to mankind in the tribulation
When mankind realizes the great day of God's wrath during the
tribulation, they will cry out
"to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb"
(Rev. 6:16).
The unholy are devastated in the presence of absolute holiness.
B. Of Daniel Himself (vv. 8-9)
"I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 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. "
Daniel was left alone and experienced
severe distress--he too wasn't able to handle
much of God's presence.
That his "comeliness was turned . . . into corruption" (v. 8)
means he lost his strength and acquired the
death-like pallor of one in absolute panic.
On top of that
he "heard the voice of [God's] words" (v. 9).
That caused him to faint.
He was shattered by the muffled
roar of the voice of
-God's Son-
-completely mastered by the
awe of His presence.
Christ then departed and Daniel
saw Him no more.
IV. THE MESSENGER FROM HEAVEN (vv. 10-13)
"Behold, an hand touched me, which set me
upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man
greatly beloved,
understand the words I speak to thee,
and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent.
And when he had spoken this word unto me,
I stood trembling.
He said unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from
the first day that thou didst
set thine heart to understand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God,
thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia
withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo,
Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me;
and I remained there with the kings of Persia. "
A. He Revived Daniel
Almost immediately an
angel in the form of a man helped Daniel,
who was eighty-five years old and weakened by fasting.
The angel enabled him to rise shakily
to his hands and knees.
Are You Awed in the Presence of God?
Daniel's reaction to the presence of God
ought to cause us to examine our own attitude
towards His presence.
Are we awed in His presence?
I find myself
rushing in and out of God's presence
with no thought for
His majesty
When I come to worship Him, too often it seems when
I ought to be drained of strength because of
overwhelming thoughts of God,
my thoughts are
instead focused on the world
or some project completely unrelated to God.
How about
YOU?
B. He Reassured Daniel
God doesn't make personal appearances to everyone. But
Daniel was "greatly beloved. "
He was a special man, like others named in the Bible:
David was called]
"a man after [God's] own heart"
(1 Sam. 13:14) ,
Abraham was called God's friend
(Isa. 41:8) ,
the apostle John was
the disciple whom Jesus loved"
(John 21:7) ,
and Mary was "highly favored" by God (Luke 1:28).
Those who especially delight in God and obey Him become greatly beloved by Him.
The angel may have told Daniel he was beloved by God to
relieve his fear--he wasn't going to be judged
but blessed.
C. He Was Temporarily Hindered from Seeing Daniel
Daniel had set his heart
on understanding why his people had not returned
to the land so he fasted and prayed for a
lengthy period of time
(vv. 2-3). God's messenger first reassured Daniel not to fear.
He wasn't to think God didn't care about his prayers because of the
twenty-one days it took to
send an answer!
In reality,
from the first day Daniel mourned he was heard,
but delivery of God's answer was
delayed.
The angel explained that he--a holy angel from God's presence--had been detained by the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" (v. 13).
The ruling kingdom at that time was Persia, but the prince
spoken of
here was not a man: he was a demon.
His position
was to influence the events in Persia
so
God's plans for the future of Israel
would be hindered.
Therefore he must have been evil.
He must have been an
angelic being
to be able to fight the
archangel Michael (v. 13) ,
and his relationship with Persia was of
an ongoing nature since the angel
speaking to Daniel would be
fighting him again (v. 20).
The Demons and World Power
Satan has a sophisticated world organization: an
unseen network
of demons influencing the events of human history.
Just as there was a demon assigned to Persia (v. 13) , there was another assigned to Greece (v. 20). Psalm 96:5 says,
"All the gods of the nations are idols," and demons are
behind the false gods people worship
(1 Cor. 10:20).
Throughout world history demons have been active
behind the scenes
in an attempt to thwart
God's plans
God sent Michael--a super-angel--
to release
His messenger from conflict.
Michael is mentioned three times in Daniel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1) and two times in the New Testament (Jude 9; Rev. 12:7).
He is called "the archangel" (Jude 9) which means
"first angel. "
The name Michael means "one who is of God. "
In Revelation 12:7 he appears
with a host of angels during the
Great Tribulation to destroy all
demonic forces and win the
final battle.
After his struggle with the prince of Persia Daniel's angelic messenger remained "with the kings of Persia" (Dan. 10:13).
He remained as an influence for God with the kings of Persia.
That indicates God has
assigned
holy angels to nations
to carry out His purposes.
In this continual warfare
I often wonder what's happening behind the scenes
in our own nation.
VI. THE PURPOSE OF THE VISION (vv. 14-21)
A. To Prepare Daniel to Receive Extensive Revelation (vv. 14-20a)
"I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy
people in the latter days;
for yet the vision is for many days.
And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said unto him who stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
For how can the servant of this, my lord, talk with this, my lord?
For as for me, straightway there remained
no strength in me,
neither is there breath left in me.
Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and
he strengthened me, and said, O man
greatly beloved, fear not.
Peace be unto thee;
be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me,
I was strengthened, and said,
Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
Then said he, Knowest thou why I come unto thee?"
According to Daniel 10:14 the angel came to give
Daniel a vision that would cover a lengthy time span.
Specifically, it goes from the time of Daniel to the
reign of the Antichrist in the tribulation.
That caused Daniel to lose his strength and voice and fall to the
ground for a second time (Dan. 10:15).
Such was the effect of so
grand a revelation.
In response to Daniel's physical collapse another
angel appeared and touched Daniel's lips,
which enabled him to speak (v. 16).
Daniel told his angelic messenger that he didn't
think he would be able to receive a revelation
in his weakened condition
(v. 17) , so
another angel came and miraculously strengthened him
(v. 18). Daniel then willingly received the revelation (v. 19).
Daniel needed to be strengthened--he had stood before
the living God.
He may have been the most godly man living
at that time,
but was devastated
when
personally confronted by God.
We can expect even worse when
we face God unless we are
protected
by the blood of Jesus Christ
through faith in Him.
Once Daniel had been
strengthened the angelic messenger
asked,
"Knowest thou why I come unto thee?"
(v. 20) --a question that implies Daniel
didn't realize the extent of revelation
he was to receive.
Daniel had spent twenty-one days asking about the immediate future of his people, but was
going to receive a revelation of their future to
the end of the age!
Plumb the Depths!
Daniel prayed for an answer to an immediate dilemma but was given an answer that went
far beyond his current focus.
He was shown that demons and holy angels carry on warfare, and experienced the majestic presence of the uncreated Christ--the commander of the angelic hosts. Daniel's summation that the revelation was one of great conflict was accurate (Dan. 10:1, NASB).
Sometimes Christians
forget the great works and
eternal truths
of God and focus on
petty things.
While God wants us to focus on His kingdom,
we too often focus on the mundane
(cf. Matt. 6:33).
Some Christians never seriously study
their Bibles.
They become caught up in churchianity--
which isn't Christianity
at all.
We need to be committed to plumbing
the
depths of God's Word.
Then, like Daniel,
we'll receive more than we
ask for.
B. To Reassure Daniel of the Truth of Revelation (vv. 20b-21)
"Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come. But I will show thee that
which is noted in the Scripture of truth;
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but
Michael, your prince. "
After
delivering his message
to Daniel
the angel was to return to fighting the prince of Persia
on
Israel's behalf.
God uses angelic conflict to
accomplish His will.
And once that conflict ended the angel would begin fighting the
prince of Greece--the next great world power.
Yet the angel reassured Daniel
that the message he was about to give was
true
and that though only
Michael was with him,
they were sufficient to handle any opposition.
What a comfort!
Michael must be a magnificent being, for he's the
prince of God's people.
CONCLUSION
Daniel 10 is a rich portion of Scripture. It gives us insight into God's holiness, majesty, and glory; the preincarnate Christ; and the reality of angelic warfare. Before us are laid open the heart and life of a man without equal: Daniel, the man of prayer. We see that the core of intercessory prayer is a broken and selfless heart, and that the first response to any crisis ought to be prayer. We also see the condescension of God in willingly revealing His truth to man. We see the grace of God in taking a weak and frail man and with a touch making him speak as a prophet. That ought to give us all great comfort. God can use any of us. He is able to take our greatest weaknesses and lift us from uselessness to strength. What a glorious blessing!
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