Daniel 10: 12-14 “The Battle”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹²And he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, because from the first day which you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come in [response to] your words. ¹³And the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me twenty-one days and behold, Michael, one of the princes of the first ones, came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴And I have come to cause you to understand what will happen to your people in the latter of the days because yet the vision to days.

Just some random thoughts that arise from this passage: So how many angels are there? Interesting that John observed in Rev. 8:11, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand…” Our pastor once read this passage in church and my wife quickly did the math and showed me: 10,000x10,000=100,000,000. One hundred million! Now, my understanding from ancient history is that they used this expression not to be precise, but simply to communicate that the number was innumerable. No matter how you look at it, there are a LOT of angels! That’s certainly encouraging if their job is to help us!

There is another passage in Revelation that might answer the question of “Then how many demons are there?” In 12:4, it says of the great red dragon, “His tail swept a third of stars out of the sky and flung them to earth.” People have long understood this to mean, when Satan fell, one-third of all the angels followed him – and became demons. If that is the case, we could conclude two things: 1) There are a LOT of them too, but 2) There are only half as many of them as there are of good angels. As Elijah told his servant, “More are they that are for us than those who are against us” (II Kings 6:16). So, in fact, we really are in very great danger, but for those who would put their trust in the Lord, He’s provided us with ample protection.

I notice too there in Revelation 12, John tells us, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven” (vv.7,8). In chapter 12, the dragon (Satan) is clearly bent on destroying Israel and through them, the Messiah to come – “he pursued the woman (Israel) who had given birth to the male child (Jesus)” (v.13). No wonder then that we find there Michael (Israel’s heavenly prince) fighting on behalf of the people of Israel.

What is curious about that to me is the idea of “war in heaven” or, even back in our passage, the angel saying that the prince of Persia “resisted me twenty-one days.” What is war in a spiritual world where no one gets killed? From our passage in Daniel, I could argue it is a war of influence – a “war” of both angels and demons somehow trying to direct the decisions particularly of the leaders of Persia. Along with the prince of Persia resisting the angel, he says, “I was detained there with the kings of Persia” (v.13). That can be translated different ways, but it would make perfect sense to me, especially since he calls them “kings,” not “princes,” that he is now talking about the kings over all the various kingdoms which together made up Persia.

As the ancient kings would conquer various nations, they would appoint kings as local rulers, though they all served under the king of Persia himself. So, if it were a war of influence, the “war” would be a matter of whether those kings do good or evil. That would be sort of easy to envision, but then back in Revelation 10, remember John said “There was war in heaven…” I don’t think the idea of simply “influence” would fit there. So, if it’s not influence, then I don’t know what it means and maybe it is simply something we cannot understand.

Regardless, all of that feeds into our understanding of Eph. 6:11,12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God…” Once again, Daniel would help us to look beyond this physical world and see the great spiritual battle that is raging unseen all around us. And not only is it raging around us, it’s all about us! Our world is being swayed left and right, particularly as the leaders, but also each of us as individuals makes minute to minute decisions of what we will believe and what we will do.

On the international scene, case in point right now is the conflict between Israel and Iran. Notably, Iran is ancient Persia – which means that same “prince of Persia,” that demon who 2,500 years ago fought against Daniel’s angel and Michael, is still at it. He hates “the woman” and stirs the evil leaders of the Middle East to constantly try to drive the Jewish people “into the sea.” All of those hate groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, and the nation of Iran itself are being driven by demons. On the other hand, who with eyes to see, hasn’t noticed the Lord’s supernatural protection over Israel? The Iranians shoot their missiles by the hundreds at Israel and almost none of them even make it. In our world, Israel calls it their “iron dome,” some kind of very effective missile defense system, but with eyes of faith, we know the real “iron dome” over Israel is Michael and his angels.

Close to home, we are two days away from a Presidential election which, in my opinion, is massively impacted by that great spiritual battle. I do not doubt that there is an evil “prince of America” whose only goal is to destroy our country and ultimately to kill Christians and to turn this country against Israel. On the other hand, we have our own “Michael,” some mighty archangel who is fighting for us. In my opinion, this will be the final blow – either good or evil will win, and with it, our destiny as a nation will be determined.

Realizing all of this, what are we to do? Back in Ephesians 6, we are to do exactly what Daniel did when praying for his people: “Put on the full armor of God…and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (vv.11-18). Like Daniel, our first concern should be our own spiritual lives. We should realize it is infinitely important that each of us as believers should be sincerely seeking to grow in faith, to live the life of love God calls us to, to live our faith not only at church on Sunday morning, but all day every day at home, at work, and in our community. Then as we would be seeking holiness in our own hearts, we should be lifting up our world and praying for the Lord’s intervention, for the success of the angels who are fighting for us.

I will certainly go vote on Tuesday, but I don’t believe our votes are accurately counted anymore, so, even with my vote, I realize the best thing I can do is pray. I pray a lot these days for two things – for “the peace of Jerusalem” and that the Lord would empower the good prince of America and give him and his angels the victory over the forces of evil, that He might frustrate those who try to manipulate the votes or in any way sway the America people to support evil.

How will it turn out? The Lord already knows. However, He invites us to pray and I believe our prayers here in time actually do sway His activities in eternity. Just like Daniel, we need to keep praying even as the Lord unfolds His great eternal plan. Who knows? Obviously, our world is right now in a seeming free fall of evil, straight towards the Great Tribulation and the Antichrist. However, could He grant a parenthesis of sorts? Could He turn back evil for two or three generations and let my children and grandchildren. and even great grandchildren grow up in the same America we used to be – a nation under God? What a wonderful thing it would be if our prayers strengthened His angels and America was once again “a city on a hill,” which could actually lead the whole world into one last great revival?

I certainly want to pray to that end. Probably by the time you read this, the election and perhaps America itself will be history. If that happens, I will be very disappointed, but we believers can go on, by faith seeing the real battle, the spiritual battle that is behind the events of this world, and we’ll keep on praying and seeking to do our part to support the Lord’s good intentions for the people around us. Even as the angels fight for good all around us, you and I can actually join them by seeking to live holy lives and lifting up it all in our prayers.

No matter what, “the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Daniel 10: 12-14 “Ordered”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹²And he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, because from the first day which you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come in [response to] your words. ¹³And the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me twenty-one days and behold, Michael, one of the princes of the first ones, came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴And I have come to cause you to understand what will happen to your people in the latter of the days because yet the vision to days.

These few verses are filled with food for our faith! Occasionally in the Bible, the Lord draws back the curtain so to speak, to allow us some knowledge of what goes on in heaven and in the spirit world around us. Sooner or later we need to pause and study such passages precisely because the Lord wouldn’t tell us if He didn’t want us to know. Clearly, He does want us to be aware of that spirit world, what goes on, and how it might affect us. These truths are enormously significant to us because they are things we cannot possibly know unless He reveals them. Without them, we would be left like the lost world around us to simply surmise and guess what is going on.

I would suggest we are all actually at least faintly aware that there is, in fact, “something going on.” People talk about karma, imagine their dead relatives stay with them, tell ghost stories, create horror movies, and just generally acknowledge in a thousand different ways, that there is or at least could be a spirit world swirling around us and potentially affecting us for good and/or for evil. For those of us who believe the Bible, we don’t have to guess. Granted we must believe these things almost entirely by faith, but, for us, that is no hindrance. Faith – believing God’s Word – is for us the blood in our veins. It is our life.

However, we are still naturally ignorant of these things until we do read and study them in our Bibles. That is precisely why I have anticipated Daniel chapter 10 for years – longing to look deeply into these things and try to learn all that God would teach me – at least all I can understand at my present level of maturity. I’ve already recorded several observations related to angels, but there is so much more.

This passage begins once again with the angel’s grace, “Do not be afraid, Daniel…” He says in v.13, “I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future…” The angel’s mission is to give Daniel these prophecies. I wonder if, when he says, “Do not be afraid, Daniel,” if that isn’t personal? In other words, probably the Lord didn’t say to the angel, “Go and tell Daniel he’s greatly favored and tell him not to be afraid.” He was sent to relate the prophecies, but, because he is also an intelligent, thinking, caring person, those introductory remarks are actually expressions of his own graciousness.

Just like the Lord, the angel loves Daniel. We can even say he likes him. That moves him to point out that Daniel is greatly loved, then he can’t help but notice how terrified Daniel is, and so seeks to comfort him. Graciousness – one of the great blessings God gave to us created beings – something to share with one another – and that whether it’s people to people or, in this case, from an angel to one of us!

Then we learn a valuable lesson about prayer. “Since the first day you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard.” Daniel kept up these prayers for three whole weeks. Did he then finally “break through” and were his words finally heard? No. “From the first day…” There’s no “breaking through” with God. Jesus already did that for us. The Lord hears every word we pray to Him.

What then about this problem of “unanswered prayer.” There is no such thing. In the case before us, we actually learn why Daniel’s prayers seemed to go “unanswered” for three whole weeks. There was something going on in that unseen spirit world! “The prince of Persia resisted me for twenty-one days…” Evil is very real and, unfortunately, compared to us and even to angels, very powerful. Somehow, there were spiritual issues that had to be overcome before the angel could relate the prophecies to Daniel. At this point, we don’t even have to understand what they were, only that they were very real. In this world, you and I may never know why our prayers seem to go unanswered, but we can rest assured they are heard. There may be issues going on of which we simply are ignorant. That is why Jesus told us, “Men ought always to pray and not give up!” (Luke 18:1).

Then notice two things we see. The angel says to Daniel, “I have come,” and “the prince of Persia resisted me twenty-one days.” Angels, being created beings, live in time and space, just like you and me. The angel was in heaven, now he’s on earth. He had to be “sent” from one place to the other. Angels are not omnipresent like God. They are like us – they can only be in one place at a time, and in order to move from one place to another takes time! Obviously, angels don’t “age” like us, but still note that they live in time. Time passes for them just like us. In Revelation 8:1, John tells us, “There was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” The spirit world lives in time and space just like us.

I find it interesting to observe that God alone is infinite. All of His created universe, both seen and unseen, is made up of finite creatures who, almost by definition, can only be in one place at a time, and live in time. God created time and space for us to live in. He alone is the eternal I AM. Maturity would teach us that all references in the Bible to time and space are for our benefit. All expressions of past, present, and future are God speaking to us in words we can understand, while He Himself dwells above it all. He Himself lives in some kind of eternal present. He knows no past, present, future. He knows all things at the same time.

Even expressions as important as predestination and foreknowledge need to be understood as speaking to us in our language – not His! As we would struggle sometimes to understand God’s doings, maturity would remind us that so much of what we think we know, we interpret as beings who live in time and space, while we’re dealing with matters concerning Him who is infinite. There is no doubt often a point where we need to just “clap our hands over our mouth” and stop “darkening counsel without knowledge” (Job 42:3).

However, back here in our created world, let us note again that angels also live in time and space, just like us. Although our angel was sent to answer Daniel, it took him at least twenty-one days to get there. And why again? He says, “The prince of Persia resisted me.” People have argued for centuries over who is this “prince of Persia.” However, I think this is one of those places where the old rule applies – “If the plain sense makes good sense, why make any other sense?” This prince of Persia is some kind of demon specifically assigned to promote evil and thwart God’s plans for the nation of Persia.

Our angel tells us that, though he was resisted the twenty-one days, he was assisted by another angel named Michael, whom he calls “one of the chief princes.” In the New Testament, Michael is called an archangel (Jude 9). Back in Daniel 10, on ahead in v.21, the angel describes Michael as “your prince.” The “your” is plural, which is then explained in 12:1, where he is described as “the great prince who protects your people.” Michael is an archangel of God, specifically assigned to protect the Jewish people. That’s why to Daniel he is “your (plural) prince.” He’s not Daniel’s personal guardian angel, but the guardian of all the Jewish people.

For me personally, it is no stretch at all to believe the Lord assigns specific angels or archangels to protect all nations. He is a God of order. His name “the Lord of Hosts” is a military name, itself implying order. It would be totally unlike Him to create millions of angels then just leave them wandering around the universe, hoping to do someone good. The very fact that Michael is an archangel and called literally “one of the princes of the first ones,” all supports the idea that the Lord has ordered His angels, assigned each one responsibilities, and even as I type, they are all busily doing their jobs – ultimately seeking good for us people, especially us believers. “Ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.”

That said, it is also no stretch to understand that Satan, being a copy-cat, has done the same with his demons. You can be sure his “hosts” are not nearly as well organized or committed as God’s angels, yet, if God assigns Michael to protect the Jewish people, and from this passage we learn there is an evil “prince of Persia” and another evil “prince of Greece,” then the picture which emerges is that every nation has a demon assigned to do evil and destroy it, while also an angel (or archangel) assigned to promote God’s purposes of good.

That would really explain the verse, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!” (Ps. 33:12). The nations of the world actually have powerful demons assigned to promote evil and destroy them. That means that, without the Lord, we are all sitting ducks! Us frail, blind, powerless humans literally “don’t have a prayer,” except the Lord protects us – and (which we learn from this passage) that He does so through His angels. No doubt, how much power (and success) He grants to His angels depends directly on the spiritual level of each nation. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” and, for all the rest? Toast.

There is much, much more to observe just in these verses and similar references throughout the Bible. However, this morning, I’d better stop and come back to this subject again tomorrow, Lord willing.