Daniel 10:20,21 “Seeing”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²⁰And he [the angel] said, “Do you know to what I have come to you? And now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia and I [am] going and Behold! the Prince of Greece [is] one coming, ²¹but I will tell to you what is written in the book of Truth and not one strengthens himself with me on these [things] except Michael your (pl.) prince.

So we come to the last couple verses of Daniel 10. I suppose I always say this, but I’m sad to have to leave this wonderful chapter. Somehow it’s like my heart wants to just crawl inside what I’ve learned and then hide there ‘til Jesus comes! The Lord’s truth is so calming and comforting, while the world outside is so chaotic and frightening. However, He then reminds me that is exactly the world where He wants me to live the truth I’ve learned! So I am always loathe to move on, but I know I must. (Heavy sigh).

Fortunately, I have these two last verses to nurse on at least for a few more glorious minutes. As usual, though it’s only two verses, they are packed with truths and I’ll have to restrain myself. The first thought I want to record is that I’ve always found the angel’s question curious. He asks Daniel, “Do you know why I have come to you?” then, seemingly not waiting for an answer, he tells him he has to return to fight the prince of Persia. This all seems odd. He’s already told Daniel why he’s there and, in fact, it is very specifically in answer to exactly what Daniel has been praying about for three weeks. Then it seems strange that he doesn’t wait for any answer from Daniel, or even reiterate himself why he’s there. All just seems odd.

Perhaps I should just accept that it’s “odd.” Remember this is 2,500 years ago in a culture on the other side of the world and not only do those people not talk like us, they don’t even think like us. We shouldn’t be surprised, especially when the Bible is recording dialogue, if what they say and how they say it doesn’t always make sense to us. I’ve read many suggestions of how to understand the question, but the one I like best is that the angel is realizing just how rattled and disoriented Daniel may be.

Although he says to the angel, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength,” remember just a few seconds ago, he was on his face trembling in terror and saying, “I can barely breathe!” Perhaps the angel is asking the question rhetorically, mainly to get them both back on the whole point of their meeting, and also to give Daniel a chance to “gather himself up” and clear his head? The fact that the text pushed immediately on to “Soon I will return…,” that doesn’t mean the angel didn’t pause. If I let myself feel the ethos of what’s happening, that is exactly what I suspect happened – that he did pause until Daniel could come to his senses and nod “Yes” in return. That explanation would be consistent with the angel’s kindness and graciousness to poor Daniel.

Just to inject once again, if I’m correct, it reminds me how much you and I need to learn from angels. I’m sorry to realize how insensitive I’ve been most of my life. It is easy to be so caught up in what I’m thinking, what I’m doing, what I’m wanting, it doesn’t even occur to me to ask how others around me are doing. This angel is keenly aware of how Daniel is being affected by it all. He’s paying attention to Daniel! How I wish I did a better job of that! I think it all goes back to how this angel sees Daniel. He thinks he’s precious.

The angels in Daniel have taught me to sincerely try to see other people as precious. It’s one thing to say I’ll try to love people. I feel it is another step deeper to say, “Lord, help me to see them as precious – all of them, everyone I meet. They’re precious to You. They’re precious to angels. Let them be precious to me!” These are new thoughts to me, but I do find, on those rare occasions I remember to apply this, it is much easier to be sensitive. When something is “precious,” we all just naturally handle it with far greater care – like we should with people.

Then notice what we learn, that this angel is very busy “behind the scenes.” He was very specifically sent to answer Daniel’s prayer. He was delayed for three weeks fighting the demonic prince of Persia. As soon as he leaves Daniel, he’ll go back to that battle. Then it won’t be long and he’ll be fighting another demon, the prince of Greece. Let us all again note, we don’t “see” any of this. As we look at history, we can learn all about the rise and fall of the Persian empire. We can read about Cyrus’s decree. We can read about the battles between Greece and Persia, until Alexander came along and actually conquered Persia and took over the rule of nearly all we call the “civilized world.”

However, was that really all that was happening? Daniel would teach you and me a very loud “No!” No it is not. In fact, there is a massive cosmic battle going on in the spirit world, whether we “see” it or not. It was going on then and it is still going on today. As I’ve said before, by faith you and I can “see” that battle. By faith we can fully realize the events of this world are not just people making decisions. There are extremely powerful forces – both angelic and demonic – constantly battling and vying for influence over people’s minds.

The current battle between Russia and Ukraine isn’t just between Putin and Zelensky. The strife in the Middle East isn’t just between Iran’s terrorist ogres and the people of Israel. The battle between good and evil here in America isn’t just a conflict between Democrats and Republicans. As much as it may look like it is, you and I, by faith, can realize the battle is far, far greater. If we do, I believe it will even change our prayers.

There is more to note here, but this has been long enough, so I’d better stop for now. Whether it’s “seeing” the needs of other people or “seeing” the cosmic battle around us, we all need to heed Jesus’ advice and “buy from Him salve for our eyes, that we might see!”