Daniel 10

Bible study with Dr. Chuck Missler

A GLIMPSE OF THE DARK SIDE

Daniel 10 is a prelude to Daniel 11-12. It vividly brings the spiritual warfare to the forefront.

"Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see" (2 Kings 6:8-22)
This is a great story that I recommend us to all go and read it. However, for the sake of brevity, I'll summarize it below:

There was great tension between Israel and Syria. Israel had been so successful against Syria's attacks that Syria's king (king of Aram) believed there had to be a spy. He thus called his officers together and asked them, "Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" (2 Kings 6:11)

The Syrians eventually discovered that it was Elisha (prophet of Israel) who had been advising the king of Israel what to do. King of Aram thus commanded his army to capture Elisha during the night.

When Elisha's servant got up in the morning, he was freaked out by the surrounding enemies. And all Elisha said to him was, "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16)

Naturally, the servant was still freaked out (as I would be as well). Hence, Elisha prayed to God to open his servant's eyes. And once God opened his eyes, the servant saw "the hills full of horses and chariots of fire" (2 Kings 6:17).

Smartly, after this event, the Syrians stopped attacking Israel.

This is exactly what Paul was talking about: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (fallen angels), against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

And in Daniel 10, we get another glimpse of the spiritual warfare.


DANIEL PRAYS AND FASTS HARD FOR UNDERSTANDING OF THE VISION HE HAS RECEIVED (Daniel 10:1-9)

Daniel is retired (Daniel 10:1)
Daniel's career extended to the first year of Cyrus. In Daniel 10, Daniel has been out of the public life for three years. 

Why was Daniel still in Persia and had not gone back to Israel? Probably because of his age.

Daniel fasts for 3 weeks (Daniel 10:1-3)
There are several types of fasts. To gain understanding of the vision, Daniel chose a very stringent fast: no choice food (such as bread), no meat, no wine, no lotions (Daniel 10:3).

Fasting is a teaching in its own right, so I will not go into it here. However, I do want to stress that fasting is not something we just go and do without thought. The main reason to fast is to be closer to God, to leave behind cravings of the flesh so that the spirit can focus on connecting with God. The relationship with God has to be very strong, founded on deeply rooted faith. Why? Because when we fast, especially the rigorous type of fasting that Daniel did, we are completely depending on God to provide -- not just spiritually but also physically. If our faith is not strong enough to see us through, we will fail, and the fast will only cause physical damage.

Jesus said multiple times, "Your faith has healed you." What does that mean? When our faith in God is complete, we do not doubt. We start to understand why there is no if in God's plan. We KNOW God does His Will. We KNOW He heals. We KNOW He provides. There is no if. For the rigorous fasts, unless we approach God with such a strong confidence in our faith, then that little bit of doubt will destroy the fast and break the connection between God and us.

Daniel's faithful fast helps the angelic messenger through the spiritual warfare (Daniel 10:4-9)
On the 21st day of Daniel's fast, an angelic being appears. 

Some say this angel was Gabriel. However, since Gabriel had already appeared previously, Daniel would have said so if it was him (as opposed to describing the angel). 

Others say this could be the appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ. The idioms Daniel used to describe the angel does fits. However, the angel spoke about needing help from Michael in the warfare. Christ does not need help. 

The actual identity of the angel is not critical, becuase it does not take away or add to the message of this passage. Dr. Missler doesn't think it's Gabriel or Christ. It could very well just be another angel on an errand. The key here is that the angel was sent to deliver a message to Daniel but was delayed because he got caught up in the spiritual warfare. If it wasn't for Michael's help, if it wasn't for Daniel's prayers, the angel would not have been able to make it.

Daniel is the only one who sees the vision (Daniel 10:7)
After seeing the vision, Daniel felt very unholy and inadequate thereafter.

We see a similar situation with Paul on the road to Damascus. Those with Paul heard something but could not understand--Only Paul could. With Daniel here, Daniel was the only person who could experience the message that the angel presented, whereas his companions only felt the earth quake and split (and therefore fled fearfully).

The content of this vision is detailed from Daniel 10-12, so I won't dwell on it here.

Daniel falls into a deep sleep (Daniel 10:9)
Deep sleep occurred in two other places: Genesis 2 and Genesis 15. In both instances, God gave man a great gift.

Daniel is a Beloved prophet of the Old Testament. The status of a "beloved" is greater than a "friend." God's gift to him was an apocalyptic vision detailed in Daniel 11-12.

Similarly, John, the Beloved prophet of the New Testament, was given the apocalyptic vision detailed in the entire book of Revelation.

Abraham was a "friend" of God. And to Abraham, God told him His plans (Genesis 18).

Similarly, the disciples were Jesus' "friends," and to them, Jesus said, "Henceforth, I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you" (John 15:15).


THE ANGEL FIGHTS THROUGH SATAN'S FORCES TO REACH DANIEL (Daniel 10:10-21)

The angel is dispatched since the FIRST day of Daniel's prayer (Daniel 10:12)
Since the FIRST DAY that Daniel started his fast, this angel was already dispatched to give Daniel the message--What then held the angel up for 21 days? 

"But the prince of Persian kingdom resisted me for 21 days" (Daniel 10:13)
The POWER behind the king of Persia (the supernatural prince) delayed the angel for 21 days -- Who is this power? Satan (Revelation).

Satan tried and continues to try to prevent God's messengers from reaching His people. Here, we see Satan's forces at work here to prevent this angel from delivering his message to Daniel.

Fortunately, Michael came to the angel's assistance (Daniel 10:13).

The title of Michael is also "prince." In Greek, the word can also be translated as the head/ruler of a pack. The use of the title "prince" here therefore gives us the context that we're talking about arch angels. There are only 3 arch angels revealed in the Bible: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. This is the main reason why "prince of Persia" is understood as the power behind Persia, aka Lucifer.

Both in the Old and New Testament, Gabriel is always on the errand of announcement, the messianic announcer. Michael, on the other hand, always shows up as a warrior for Israel, fighting the war for Israel.

And so, the angel was delayed until Michael came to help.

Daniel is a phenomenal man of God (Daniel 10:12)
I am completely blown away at the amount of faith Daniel shows us here.

The angel said, "Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them" (Daniel 10:12).

This statement speaks loads about Daniel's faith! 

This passage has also taught me the following:

1. This reaffirms my earlier comment about the kind of heart is necessary for a fasting prayer. Daniel set his mind to gain understanding and humbled himself before God. And immediately, Daniel's prayers were heard, and the angel was dispatched to respond.

2. We don't really know why there is a delay in our prayers. Sometimes, it could just be that the timing isn't right, and we simply have to wait. Other times, it could be because the messenger was delayed due to satanic forces. But none of that mattered to Daniel. He simply set his mind to gain understanding and approached God humbly. How set was Daniel's mind? So set that he never stopped praying. So set that he was ready to fast as long as necessary to gain that understanding--Daniel had received such a grand vision, he knew God would provide and faithfully fasted for guidance. What would have happened had Daniel stopped fasting?


THE PROPHECY OF THE LATTER DAYS HAVE TO DO WITH ISRAEL

"Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future" (Genesis 10:14)

End day prophecy has to do with THE PEOPLE OF DANIEL, aka Israelites, not the Church.


SENSE OF INADEQUACY IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD (Genesis 10:16-17)

There is often an overwhelming sense of inadequacy felt by those who receive God's visions. We see this from Moses, Isaiah (Isaiah 6), and Daniel.

There is certainly an intimacy that we have with God, but somehow, many of us have allowed that intimacy to blind us from recognizing the amazing glory and sovereignty of God! 


THE ANGEL RETURNS TO THE FIGHT (Daniel 10:20-21)

Michael and this angel fight for the Israelites
So far, we understand that Daniel fasted for 21 days. On day 21, an angel showed up, explained his delay, and proceeded to give Daniel a message (which will be discussed in Daniel 11-12). Afterwards, the angel was due to return to the fight against the Prince of Persia, who will be succeeded by Prince of Greece (Daniel 10:20). This event (Greece overcoming Persia) does not take place until 200 years later!

This passage opens our eyes to the super powers that are behind each of these major empires. One of Satan's "senior officers" was in charge of Persia, and another was in control of Greece.

This angel went back to fight the power behind Persia and knew that when he's defeated that power, another power for Greece will come in its place.

We also see that this angel and Michael were placed to protect God's people, Israel (Daniel 10:21)!

Satan is the prince of this world
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he showed Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor" and said to Jesus, "All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me" (Mathew 4:8-9).

And Jesus responded, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only" (Matthew 4:10)

Several key observations can be made from this conversation:

1. Satan's temptation wouldn't be much of a temptation if what Satan had to offer was not true. And indeed, when Satan tricked Adam and Eve to fall away from God, Satan won over the title deed to Earth. This is why Satan's claim is legitimate.

2. We further know Satan's claim is legitimate because Jesus never challenged Satan's claim!

But what is Satan offering here, really? A path around the Cross.

Satan quotes from the Bible (Matthew 4:6), so obviously he has some idea of what's going on. He knows Jesus is the king of kings and knows what Jesus has to achieve on Earth. And with this temptation, Satan is basically telling Jesus, Just worship me, and it's all over--All the kingdoms will be given to Jesus.

Clearly, we see how Satan manipulates. He stretches the Truth just enough so that things appear to be far better than they seem. But Jesus did not die on the Cross just to rule over the Earth. He died on the Cross to redeem us, to cleanse us of our sins so that we can be restored in God. Jesus knew there was no circumventing the Cross, no matter how difficult a mission that was.

If you knew you had to endure brutal suffering and shame to protect your loved ones, and someone offers you an easier way out, would you accept it? I do not think we will ever really have an answer to that question -- at least not no the same level as it was for Jesus. We would all like to think we would be brave enough, but honestly, we just don't know -- and I don't want to ever have to be in that position to know.



ANGELS

Angels are active agents, ministers, and servants of the almighty God

They are created beings, who were created by Jesus. Satan, an angel (albeit a fallen one), was also created by Jesus. That is, there is no way Satan is an equal of Jesus. Jesus is the creator. Satan is the created. They are not brothers.

They saw the world being created (Job) 

They have bodies (1 Corinthians 15; Luke 20) -- This distinguishes them from demons (who have no bodies and thus seeks embodiment). Homosexuals of Genesis 18-19 were trying to get at the angels that were under the protection of Abraham. If the angels didn't have bodies, the men of Sodom and Gomorrah wouldn't have cared.

They can materialize (Demons can't) -- They can take people by their hands. They can engage in combat.

They have the desire to learn (and are thus not like God, who knows everything) (1 Peter)

They have special assignments. They show up, usually in pairs; for example, at the birth of Christ, at Christ's temptation, at the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17), at the resurrection, at the ascension.

They have many ranks and styles.

Angels' bodies are not limited to 3 dimensions
There is a special Greek word for "body" that is used only twice in the Bible:

1. 2 Corinthians 5:2
According to Paul, the body that angels have is what we aspire to for our resurrected bodies.

2. 1 John 3:2 -- "We shall see him as he is"
We will no longer see just a representation of Jesus. We will see ALL of Him. It is difficult to imagine anything more than 3D (because we are 3D and have no real concept of a 4D+ world), so it's easier to imagine a 2D person looking at a 3D person. Simply put, there will be aspects of a 3D person that the 2D person will never see or understand.

Imagine looking at a picture of a person versus seeing the person face-to-face. Until we are in our resurrected bodies, we will never be able to enjoy the dimensions that Jesus enjoys. And so, when the disciples saw Jesus, it was like looking at a photograph of a person, a 2D presentation of a 3D person. However, once we are in our resurrected bodies, we can see Jesus in His full form, very much like a face-to-face meeting between two people.

People have entertained angels unawares
Lot did. Abraham did (Genesis 18-19).  


THE BIBLE SPEAKS ABOUT THE POWER BEHIND THE WORLDLY LEADER


EXAMPLE 1: How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12)
Isaiah 14 starts out addressing the king of Babylon. However, as the passage continues, we start to sense that it cannot just be talking about the king of Babylon -- For example, the king of Babylon did not fall from Heavn. Instead, this passage is also addressing the power behind the king of Babylon, Satan.

Listen to the 5 famous "I will's" of Satan:
"For you have said it in your heart, I WILL ascent into heaven, I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God: I WILL sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14)

This is Satan's pride, that caused him to fall from Heaven. It is the same pride that will get him tossed into the Lake of Fire.

"Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isaiah 14:15).

EXAMPLE 2: You were in Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 28:13)
In Ezekiel 28:1-19, the passage is addressing the king of Tyre. Again, it starts out speaking specifically to the king of Tyre at the time (Ezekiel 28:1-10), but then, it shifts to discussing the power behind Tyre, Satan (Ezekiel 28:11-19). The king of Tyre was not perfect or beautiful. He certainly was never in the Garden of Eden! The Garden no longer existed during his reign!

Satan walked around in Eden, was perfectly beautiful, clothed in light, and was the epitome of wisdom. Because of his perfection, Satan was ordained as a guardian cherub. 

Cherubs are the "super angels" (for the lack of a better term). Four of them are very visible around the throne of God (Ezekiel 1:10; Isaiah 6).

A cherub was placed in charge to guard the way to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24). Why was Adam and Eve refused the Tree of Life? Because they would be immortals in their sinful state and be denied forever of salvation! Was a cherub necessary to prevent Adam and Eve access to the Tree of Life? No, a normal angel would have been more than enough. The cherub was necessary to guard against another cherub: Satan. Satan was found perfect UNTIL iniquity was found in him.

"You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you" (Ezekiel 28:15). 

Satan was CREATED. Never lose sight of that.

AFTERTHOUGHTS 
Could it be possible that we no longer get visions because we don't faithfully fast anymore? Would Daniel have gotten these visions if he had stopped his faithful fasting after 20 days? 

Satan is behind the power of Persia. Is there a power/prince behind the US? Of the United Nations, who is aggressively promoting pagan ideas and is extremely anti-semitic? Of the European Union? This is dancing dangerously close to conspiracy theories, and that's not where I want to go with these questions. My point is to think about the world from God's perspective. Politics is man's game. It is but a tiny, tiny part of the spiritual warfare.

What are we to do?

Put on the whole Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20)
As Christians, we often see non-Christians who mock and defy God as our adversaries. Delve a bit deeper into Jesus' teaching, and we learn that we are to love them and show them the Way.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (fallen angels), against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

Paul speaks about enemies in "high places," which are heavenly places. Our enemies are not humans -- God wants everyone of us saved, and Jesus sent us out to preach the Gospel to the ends of the Earth so that all have the chance to be saved. 

Our enemies are Satan and his gang. They are NOT flesh and blood--not presidents or congressmen or senators or the media or whatever. Our enemies are the powers that run behind the scenes.

Satan currently runs the world. And so, we are already on enemy territory as we speak! So, be equipped with the FULL armor of God. Check for chinks and fix it. An armor is useless if it is not maintained and kept in tip-top shape.

Armor of God:
1. Belt of Truth
2. Breastplate of Righteousness
3. Feet shod with the Gospel of Peace
4. Shield of Faith
5. Helmet of Salvation
6. Sword of the Word of God
7. Prayer

Paul told us to put on the WHOLE Armor of God. Not just one or two pieces of the armor but the ENTIRE armor.

I won't go into details about each piece of the equipment (see links below if you're interested in the details), but I highly recommend doing a detailed study of each piece of the equipment. Roman guards were one of the most formidable military past and present, and Paul used the equipment used by the Roman guards as parallel examples for the Armor of God.

Most of the equipment is defensive: Truth, Righteousness, Gospel, Faith, and Salvation. When we understand the Word of God, we will be able to defend against false teachers and Satan's deceptive tricks.

We do have two powerful offensive weapons: The Word of God (sharper than any two-edged sword -- Hebrews 4:12) and prayers. Think of the Word of God as a close-range weapon and prayers as long-range weapon (like arrows). This is why we study the Word and pray. We study the Word to keep it sharp -- so that when the enemies attack, we are ready and can distinguish from God's will versus the enemy's deceptions. We pray, not just for ourselves but also for our brothers/sisters who are also in this war. We may be far away, but God is never far away from any one of us. When we pray for others, we're sending help their way. We can pray to have God weaken the enemies for us or to strengthen ourselves in our walk before the battles hits close and personal.

In order to keep our sword and prayers sharp, our faith has to be strong. We can now begin to see how integral every piece of the armor is to keeping us strong in the Lord. 

Paul told us to never give Satan a foothold (Ephesians 4:27).

How does this translate to the Armor of God? Chinks in the armor. If any one piece of the equipment is not in shape, Satan will expose it and attack us from those weak points. And so, while we are to put on the WHOLE Armor of God, before we put it on, we must take extreme care to ensure that our armor is in great shape. Study the Word and check our heart daily. Do not ever offer Satan an ounce of opportunity.

Here are my previous posts about the Armor of God:
http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/01/spiritual-warfare-and-armor-of-god.html
http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2009/12/091231-armor-of-god.html