Daniel had prayed for three weeks for light in
certain matters that the angel Gabriel had begun to unfold to him. When
at last the angel came, overpowering the prophet with the glory of his
presence, it was with a statement, first, of the reason for the delay in
responding to his prayer. The angel said:
"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. Now I am come to
make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days."
Dan. 10:12-14.
Messengers of Deliverance
The story of deliverance wrought by angels is too long to tell. One need
only think of the angels' taking slow-moving Lot by the arms and setting
him out of Sodom (Genesis 19); of the angel finding Elijah under a bush
in the desert, and first baking a cake for the hungry man before
speaking the word to his discouraged heart (1 Kings 19); of Elisha
praying that the young man's eyes might be opened to see that there were
more angels with them round about than all the Syrians encamped against
them:
"The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
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