Limited in Strength? Learn from the Angels
The elderly prophet Daniel confessed to the angel before him that he was utterly spent. He had no strength to receive the vision the angel came to give him in answer to his prayers. He was in pain, overwhelmed, maybe very troubled in his spirit. And he was strengthened. We read of this account in Daniel 10:15-19.
The angel restored Daniel’s strength, encouraging him by reminding him that he was greatly loved. He called upon Daniel not to fear, but trust in the Lord and allow His peace to reign over him once more. He did so and was strengthened, allowing him to receive the vision of the latter days. You can read the article on this HERE.
We find it encouraging that one such as the great prophet Daniel needed encouragement and strengthening. It is also inspiring to realize that even God’s most powerful angels are limited in strength and need help, including both Gabriel (though unnamed here) (Dan. 10:12-13) and Michael (Dan. 11:1). The fact that we come to an end of our strength is not reason for shame, for even the mightiest of God’s angels have limits.
Michael comes to the aid of Gabriel (10:10-14).
While the prophet Daniel was fasting and praying, the angel Gabriel appeared to him in great splendor. He explained to Daniel what was happening in the spiritual realm. A mighty battle was taking place between the fallen angels, led by the demon called the prince of Persia, and God’s angels.
When Gabriel was on his way to deliver to Daniel the vision that the Lord had given in answer to his prayer, he was met by the fallen who opposed him, determined to keep him from delivering the vision. God sent his powerful chief angel Michael to come and fight, allowing Gabriel to get free and meet with Daniel. As we read this, we realize that there is so much that we don’t yet know about the spiritual realm!
One thing we observe from this account is that angels are limited in power, limited in strength too–even the most mighty of God’s angels. There is only One Who is almighty, unchanging, fully autonomous–God Himself.
Gabriel comes to the aid of Michael (10:20-11:1).
After the angel encouraged and strengthened the exhausted Daniel, he gave him more insight into the spiritual realm. Gabriel explained that after he gave Daniel the vision he would return to the battle with the evil fallen prince of Persia. Not only this, but he said that the fallen angel warring for wickedness in Greece would come fight as well. Michael would hold them back until Gabriel’s task was done.
Satan’s fallen have rank and order of command as they strive to influence nations. These have fought against God and His hosts throughout history and will do so to the end.
Another observation that we make is that the angels, both evil and good, support and strengthen their comrades in arms. Gabriel says that he “stood up to confirm and strengthen” Michael in the battles.
Encouragement from the Angels: They Were Strengthened
How and when God uses angels to give aid and strength to us is never explained in Scripture. However, we certainly can draw encouragement from their example in this passage.
Angels, though far superior to us in wisdom and power, are created beings, limited in strength. Angels depend upon the LORD of Hosts even as we do. God has ordained it that angels depend upon one another, encourage and strengthen one another, even as we see Gabriel and Michael doing here.
We are created beings, dependent, limited in resources. Because we are not God, our strength runs out. We need God. We need God’s love and peace to strengthen us and give us courage, even as it did Daniel in this passage. But we also need help from our brothers in arms as we wage war against the world, the flesh and the devil. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ, and they need us. We are not better than angels.
Encouragers like the Angels: Strengthen One Another
In this passage, we see Gabriel and Michael working together to keep the enemy at bay so that God’s will would be accomplished in the heavens, affecting mankind on earth. We, too, must serve God with the realization that we must work together with others of God’s people to accomplish our mission from God. Teamwork and co-dependence are not weaknesses, but strength.
Gabriel strengthened Daniel by reminding him of truth, calling him to renewed faith, as we saw in the last article. God used Gabriel to strengthen and encourage him. We, too, must be instruments of grace in God’s hands to help our brothers and sisters recover their strength when weak. When we are weak, we must humbly allow others to encourage us.
As the Day of which Gabriel prophesied to Daniel grows quickly closer, we are given a command by God along these lines:
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more and you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:24-25).
Forrest and Jennifer McPhail minister in Cambodia, a predominantly Buddhist country. This article first appeared at Rooted Thinking, it is republished by permission.
Photo from deviantart under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license.