I lifted up my eyes and I looked, and there was a certain man, clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, His face like the appearance of lightning, His eyes like torches of fire, His arms and His feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of His words like the sound of a multitude (Dan. 10:5-6)
In both Daniel 10:4-9 and Revelation 1:13-16 we see a particular vision concerning Christ as the Precious One in His humanity, with many wonderful characteristics.
I read the portion in Daniel 10 many times, but it was not until I read brother Lee’s exposition on it in the life-study that I actually got to appreciate how excellent Christ is. Christ as the centrality and universality of God’s economy is the precious and preeminent One in God’s move.
How excellent is your Christ? How precious is He to you? How valuable is your Christ? We need to open to the Lord and ask Him to unveil us that we may see Christ in His preciousness, His value, His utmost worth, and in His excellency.
Such a vision of Christ will capture us, govern us, and keep us in the central lane of God’s economy, one with Christ. This vision of Christ will also cherish us, nourish us, supply us with life, and encourage us.
When we see the excellency of Christ, we will be exposed, judged, shined on, and we will confess anything impure in us that stands between us and Him.
Dear Lord Jesus, unveil us to see Your preciousness, Your exceeding worth, and Your great value. Lord, You are Precious, Valuable, Complete, and Perfect. We desire No One Else! We appreciate You, we love You, and we want to enjoy You as such a One! Unveil us to see Your preciousness and excellency, and increase our appreciation for what and who You are!
A Vision of the Excellent Christ in Daniel 10
In Daniel 10:4-9 we see that, after Daniel sought after God to see what is the future of the people of Israel, at one point Christ as the Son of Man appeared to him in His excellency. There are so many wonderful characteristics about this Christ, the excellent One, who appeared to Daniel in His preciousness!
When Daniel saw such a One, he was annihilated in his natural strength. Just as we see in the case of Job, it is only the Lord’s appearing that can get through in our natural being.
May the Lord give us such words and prayers that will bring His fresh appearing to us in His preciousness! Here are some of Christ’s wonderful characteristics as seen in this portion in Daniel 10.
Christ is a Priest in His Humanity (Dan. 10:5a; Exo. 28:31-35). He was dressed in a linen robe as a priest, caring for His people in their captivity. He is not a religious person, He doesn’t come to us as “God Almighty”, but He comes to us as a Man in His humanity. God became a man – what an amazing fact! He as a Man is our High Priest, ministering to us and taking care of us in His humanity.
Christ is a King in His Divinity (Dan. 10:5b). He had a girdle of gold around Him, which signifies kingship for ruling over all the peoples. In His humanity Christ is the priest to minister to us, and in His divinity He is the king to rule in us and over us. We need to ask the Lord, Lord, appear to us and let us see You in Your excellency! When we see Him as the King, we will be under His rule and authority.
Christ is precious and dignified (Dan. 10:6a) – for the appreciation of His people, Christ appears to us in His preciousness and dignity (as seen in His body being like beryl). Beryl in Hebrew could refer to a bluish-green or yellow precious stone – Christ in His embodiment is divine (yellow), full of life (green), and heavenly (blue). Christ comes to us in His green life as the Son of Man, and when we touch Him, life flows!
Christ is bright and shining over people (Dan. 10:6b-c). His face has the appearance of lighting, and His eyes are like torches of fire. Christ has all authority on heaven and on earth, and He has an enlightening sight. When we see Him and when He looks at us, His eyes are like torches of fire exposing us, shining on us, and looking into our being.
He often asks us, Why do you love this thing or person more than you love Me? Why are other things first? How long will it be until you let Me touch this or that thing? We need the Lord to shine on us and look at us to expose us, burn away anything He doesn’t like, and replace them with Himself!
Christ is in the gleam of His work and move (Dan. 10:6d) – His arms and His feet are like the gleam of polished bronze. Christ was judged by God and He was tested by man in all His living, and now He is bright, shining, fully approved by God and man! Such a Christ who was judged by God and tested by man now is qualified to judge and test others. Wow, what a Christ!
Christ is strong in His speaking for judging people (Dan. 10:6e) – His words are like the sound of a multitude. Man today is weak in his judging others because he himself is sinful and knows he can be judged. But Christ is strong in His speaking for judging people, and we as God’s people need to take the lead to come under His shining and enlightening today that we may be judged in this age and not in the next!
Christ is Precious, Valuable, Complete, and Perfect
What a Christ! He is precious, valuable, complete, and perfect. He’s the centrality and universality of God’s economy. Such a One needs to become precious to us – even more precious than life itself.
He is so valuable – and we need to bear the testimony that Christ is the One of supreme value to us. He is complete – you can’t add anything, He is fully processed and consummated. Christ is perfect in every sense – fully judged by God and tested by man.
He is the Priest in His humanity taking care of us. He is the King in His divinity ruling over us. He is precious, bright and shining, enlightening and testing, infusing and transfusing.
He is all these aspects and more for our experience. We need to see Christ as such a precious and excellent One, and we need to experience Him in all His wonderful aspects.
Lord, strengthen us into our inner man to see You unhindered and unveiled. We want to experience You in Your humanity and in Your divinity. Lord, cause us to see Your preciousness and Your supreme value until everything else fades away. You are the Perfect and Complete One. Lord, be our person! Lord Jesus, live in us! Make us Your duplication.
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Ron K’s speaking in this message and portions in, Life-study of Daniel (msg. 5), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 1 (entitled, The Rule of the Heavens, the Economy of God, and the Excellent Christ as the Precious and Preeminent One in God’s Move).
- Further reading: life-study of Colossians (msg. 5).
- Hymns on this topic:
# So subjective is my Christ to me! / Real in me, and rich and sweet! / All-inclusive is my Christ to me! / All my needs He fully meets.
# We have seen Christ is reality: / But it’s not sufficient just to see: / He in our experience must be / Everything to us.
# Oh how sweet it is just to know my Christ! / Knowing Him’s the goal of my whole life.
Daniel, a man on the earth, set his heart to understand the future, the destiny, of Israel (Dan. 10:2-3, 12). This he did for twenty-one days….After those twenty-one days, Daniel saw a particular vision in verses 4 through 9. The excellent Christ, the centrality and universality of God’s move on the earth, appeared to Daniel for his appreciation, consolation, encouragement, expectation, and stabilization. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 93)
Lord seeing You & Your vision gives us ‘appreciation, consolation, encouragement, expectation, & stabilization’. You are precious, bright, shining, enlightening, testing, valuable, complete, & perfect. How wonderful You are!
PTL!!!
Dan 10:5-6 I lifted up my eyes & I looked, & there I saw a certain man, clothed in linen, whose lions were girded with the fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, His face like the appearance of lightning, His eyes like torches of fire, His arms & His feet like the gleam of polished bronze, & the sound of His words like the sound of a multitude.
‘Daniel a man on the earth, set his heart to understand the future, the destiny, of Israel (Dan 10:203,12)…for 21 days…(Daniel)saw a particular vision in verses 4-9. The excellent Christ, the centrality & universality of God’s move on the earth…’
Amen
🙂
O what a Christ have I!
Lord, do appear to us today! Before the vision concerning the destiny of Israel was unveiled to Daniel, he was given a vision of the spiritual scene that is behind the physical situation. In this spiritual scene, Christ is preeminent; hence He is revealed first.
Christ appeared to Daniel as (1) a Priest in His humanity among the church today (Rev 1:13) to care for and intercede for His chosen people; (2) girded at His loins with fine gold (Dan 5), signifying His kingship in divinity for the ruling over all the peoples, and being strengthened with the divine strength (golden girdle) for His work of producing the churches today; (3) for our appreciation: appearing in His preciousness and dignity (body like beryl) – His embodiment being divine, full of life, and heavenly; (4)appearing in His brightness (face like lightning) for shining over the people; (5)His enlightening sight (eyes like torches of fire) for searching and judging; (6) appearing in the gleam (arms and feet of polished bronze) of His work and move, signifying that His tested, perfect and bright walk qualifies Him to exercise divine judgement; (7) in His strong speaking (His words like the sound of a multitude) for judging people, signifying the seriousness and solemnity of His speaking.
Such an excellent Christ appeared to Daniel (us) as a man for his (our) appreciation, consolation, encouragement, expectation, and stabilization.
Wow, a portion we often just skip over, and how rich and sweet it is! Thank you for expounding it.
I am facing a dilemma at the moment and I am so happy to be reminded that the earth is under the rule of a heavenly administration….that the heavens rule for us, and Christ is for us.