KNOWN OF GOD
Daniel 9: 20-23 (to “beloved”)
Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, said “if any one love God, he is known of him”, 1 Cor 8: 3. God knows those who love Him, who consider for Him; He has a special interest and has confidence in such persons. So we have these three men, Abraham, Aaron and Daniel, (no doubt there are more) whom God knew and whom He could trust. Surely we all would like to be men whom God could trust. Abraham believed God and obeyed. When the call of God came he “went out, not knowing where he was going”, Heb 11: 8. He was a man of faith, and here we find that God will not hide from Abraham what He was doing. God found a confidant in Abraham. What a wonderful thing that is! God is looking for such persons today. It may be that they are comparatively few. Think of the great number of believers there are in the world today; we need to think about and to pray for all our fellow believers, but it may be there are comparatively few whom God can trust and who could be initiated into God’s present mind. “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” God is looking for persons He can confide in, make His mind known to. It requires faith and obedience on our part. There was a consistency with Abraham. “For I know him”, God says. God knew Abraham and could trust him. “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him”; that is, he could trust Abraham to pass on the testimony to the next generation unimpaired. That would be an exercise, especially with those of us who are older. Abraham was at a good age here, and he was thinking of what was committed to him as we have to think of what is committed to us: what has come down to us by the faithfulness of those who have gone before us in the testimony. Is the truth going to be passed on to the next generation without any impairment? That is what God could trust Abraham with. He knew him: “I know him”, I know he will do this. There will be no impairment of the testimony as far as Abraham is concerned. It will be passed on to the next generation in its fulness. That is a word for all of us who are older, I am sure, because there is always a tendency for a gradual deterioration to take place. “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice”. We would like to be assured that these features will be passed on, for they will only be passed on if we ourselves exemplify these very features: “keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice”. That would be a responsibility on every one of us. We need to desire that God would know us and trust us that such may be the case, not only in what we say but also in what we are, our conduct, as Abraham in his conduct exemplified the truth, the testimony, at that time, and would pass it on to those who would follow him. We look for the Lord to come very soon; nevertheless we have to think of the testimony continuing if the Lord is pleased t at the testimony should continue.
So with Aaron, Jehovah says regarding him; “I know that he can speak well”. There was the need for one to strengthen Moses who felt his weakness, but he went too far in feeling his weakness. Jehovah called him to do something and he felt how weak he was, how unsuitable he was, and no doubt it would be good if we all felt our weakness. It is not good to feel we are able for anything, but Moses felt that he was not the one to be called for the responsibility that God was putting upon him. He went too far, the length to which Moses went protesting how unsuitable he was amounted to unbelief, for God knew what He could make of him; yet in consideration for him He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well”. Moses thought he could not speak well enough, but God knew one who could speak well. No doubt Aaron was a man of prayer and God heard him speaking. How important it is that we should be men of prayer, men of dependence. Aaron the Levite thy brother must have known what dependence upon God was. He appears suddenly on the scene here but he no doubt had had a history with God in his 83 years. God says “I know that he can speak well”. No doubt He had heard him consistently speak in prayer. How much the feature of prayer is needed at the present time! It says “Persevere in prayer (Col 4: 1), and pray unceasingly”, 1 Thess 5: 17. Expressing our dependence to God pleases Him; He takes account of it and He appreciates it as he does with Aaron here. “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also behold, he goeth out to meet thee; and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart”. Then it says of Aaron: “he went and met him on the mountain of God and kissed him, v 27. His heart responded to Moses, it is the brotherly covenant, the brotherly relation, two working together. How important that is, Moses and Aaron working together, two brothers working together; in fact, in this case, the one being the complement of the other. This is important if we are to be trustworthy. They were regarded as trustworthy by God. He kissed him. That is the relationship between these two brothers who are right. They represented one thing. How important that is! Moses and Aaron are often spoken of as together; two persons able to work together in view of what God had in mind.
So with Daniel, he was not only known but he was greatly beloved, greatly beloved in heaven. Why was he beloved? Because he was exercised to represent the state that God was looking for at the moment. In chapter 9 he “understood by the books that the number of the years, whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, the prophet, for the accomplishment of the desolations of Jerusalem, was seventy years”, v 2. He was intelligent as to what Jehovah was doing. He was exercised to represent the secret, humble state that what God had in mind should be accomplished. Then in verse 3: “I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes; and I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made my confession, and said, Alas Lord! the great and terrible God”. He takes this place of repentance and supplication and humility. How much we need that at the present time! God is pleased with this condition. I remember a word given in this area on Isaiah 57: 15; “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones”. Daniel takes a low place here. It would become us at the present time to take a very low place. We ought to be the humblest believers in Christendom.
Then we find in the portion read that he was strengthened: “And whilst I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God; whilst I was yet speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me ... And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to make thee skilful of understanding”. Daniel was exercised to be in the current of what God was doing at that particular moment, therefore he received great light. The book of Daniel is full of instruction as to what God will do after the church is taken. It was all opened up to him because of the suited state of humility. He is spoken of as one greatly beloved.
We need on the one hand to be with God, entrusted by Him to maintain the testimony un-impaired. We need to be in prayer and work together as Moses and Aaron worked together. And we need to be suitably humbled because of the ruin of things publicly and also the way in which we have contributed to the ruin. Such persons are known of God, appreciated by Him, and are trusted by Him, and loved by Him. May it be the portion of each one of us!
PLAINFIELD
24th April 1984
_____________________