We now have before
us the last Chapters
10 - 12 which contain a lengthy
vision which Daniel received as a very old man - in the 3rd year of
the reign of Cyrus the Persian. It is
estimated, that Daniel was now about 86
years old!
PREVIEW OF CHAPTERS 10 -12
1. Chapter 10
constitutes the introduction; it tells us how the vision came about, under what circumstances and
what kind of effect it had on Daniel.
2. Chapter 11
contains the sum and substance of the revelation. Here we find prophecies containing
Persia, Greece and the time of the end. In 11:21
we will meet again with Antiochus Epiphanes (see Chapter 8) - Seleucid king
of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who reigned from 175 to 164 BC. He was responsible
for much suffering among the Jews of his
day. Antiochus Epiphanes is the
type of an anti- Christ who will also
cause havoc in the Christian church. Thankfully we learn that it is decreed that an end will come for his kind at the appointed time (11:27,35).
Thankfully, the influence of the anti -Christ will be limited (11:36, 45). We are greatly encouraged, along with Daniel
and all the saints of history, to learn that evil cannot last forever. In fact,
it is God's principle to break evil when it is at its height. We also learn that
it is God's way to help His people IN the fire.
We learn that even though evil
may win many battles, it will never win the war! It can never ultimately triumph, because God is God. He is the Sovereign God.
3. Chapter 12
contains the epilogue and reveals a glimpse of the future. The church of God
will go through much suffering in the ultimate end days, as indeed it has done
throughout these last days i.e. the time between Jesus ascension and descension.
We also read here of the resurrection
of the believers, which will happen after that time of suffering. There are many things which
Daniel does not understand here, nor is he permitted to understand them. But he
knows this: God will bring His plan to completion.
OUTLINE : DANIEL 10
1.
10:1-3 The year and
effect of the Vision
2.
10:
4-12 An overwhelming Visitor assures Daniel
3.
10:13-14
What’s behind it all : Spiritual
Warfare
4.
10:15-21
Daniel utterly exhausted and strengthened
1. 10:1-3 The year and the effect of the Vision
“In the third year of
Cyrus king of Persia...” (10:1). This would have been
in 537 BC. We know that in the first
year of Cyrus, whose heart was in the Lord’s hands (Prov. 21:1), the Jews were given permission to return to
Jerusalem (see Ezra 1:1ff). That process
lasted for a century or more. The Jews
had been in exile in Babylon since 605 BC. According to the books of
Ezra–Nehemiah, the return to Israel occurred in several waves, i.e. under Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. In the book of
Nehemiah (445B.C.), who lived almost a 100 years after Daniel, we find a record
of 42,360 people that went home to Israel (Neh. 7:66). It does not
appear as if Daniel ever made it back to Israel. In fact, the prophecy of
Daniel ends with these words concerning him… “…And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at
the end of the days” (12:13). This
points forward to something more glorious, something far greater than an
earthly country. Daniel, like Abraham and Moses was enabled to look forward to
a far greater city, “that has
foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebr. 11:10)
During that third year of Cyrus, when some of his countrymen
were already beginning to settle back in Israel, Daniel received a revelation of
a great conflict to come. He understood
the word and had understanding of the vision (10:1). This vision so
overwhelmed Daniel that he mourned with fasting for three weeks. When the going gets tough the tough get
praying. Please note that this response was heard from the very beginning (10:12), but Daniel did not know that
yet. It would take another three weeks before he would receive an
explanation. God often makes his people
wait a while before they see the answer. How encouraging then to know that God
sees and hears our petitions (1 Jn. 5:14,15).
We do not need to have our questions immediately answered if we know that God
hears us. We are reminded in this passage of what a tremendous need we have in
the church today for intercessors like Daniel. Faithful praying people always have
been the human tool used by God to bring true perspective, true wisdom of the
times, and the knowledge what to do. Praying people also have been the reason
why God, in history has often revived and renewed His church (Ps.85:6). We have a tremendous need for
that ministry in our own day.
2. 10:4-12 An overwhelming Visitor assures
Daniel
In response to prayer, Daniel receives this glorious and
overwhelming visitation. After three
weeks (10:4), when Daniel was
standing on the bank of the Tigris river,
he lifted up his eyes and saw an
indescribably glorious man. We called it
a Theophany. When we consider the
description we shall see the similarity with what Abraham saw
(Gen. 15 etc.), what Jacob
saw (Ex.32:30), what Moses saw in Exodus
3, whom Isaiah saw (Isaiah 6), whom Ezekiel
saw (Ezek. 1:26-28), whom Peter, James and John saw on the Mount of
Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-13; 2
Pet.1:16-18), whom Saul
saw on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) and whom John saw on the Isle of Patmos (Rev. 1:9-18). Daniel saw him too. Whether this was the angel Gabriel, or another angel or an
appearance of the pre-incarnate Lord
Jesus Christ we do not know. All we know
that this was heaven’s own presence! The
men with Daniel were not privileged to see this
although they felt his
presence and “trembled and fled to hide themselves” (10:7). The effect on Daniel is recorded throughout the
chapter. Daniel tells us, “no strength was left in me (10:8,16,17). My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength
… I fell on my face in deep sleep with my
face to the ground“ (10:8). That
glorious visitor left Daniel trembling, shaken and speechless by this encounter. There is nothing casual about a heavenly visitor. [1]
The visitor affirms something in 10:11,19
to Daniel that was previously said in 9:23, “You are greatly loved”. It
is a great word of affirmation and assurance.
It is also the answer to Daniel’s prayer. In Chapter 11 we shall see that the vision
concerns some of the huge trials and sufferings which the Jews – the covenant people of
God, shall undergo in the future. And
the glorious visitor helps Daniel to understand
the bigger picture which is behind this huge conflict. He introduces the reality of the spiritual
conflict (Ch. 10) which is behind
the physical conflict of the nations in Ch.11, with Israel caught up in the
middle.
3. 10:13-14 What’s behind it all: Spiritual Warfare
And so He tells Daniel that He has been at war with the Prince of Persia these past twenty-one days (10:13). In all this he assures Daniel that his prayer was not neglected. What Daniel saw caused him to be anxious for the future of his people. The glorious man comes to assure him, “I came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come” (10:14). The first thing that David must understand is that there is behind all of history a huge, unseen reality, a war raging in the heavenlies. This glorious visitor, assisted by Michael (10:13,21, Jude 9) is presently fighting with the Prince of Persia, and soon also with the prince of Greece (10:20). We know very little about these realities, and it is not really wise to speculate[2], but we know that the apostle Paul affirms this in Ephesians 6:10ff. This has generated an interest in the last century in ‘territorial spirits’, generating the theory that every community has ‘territorial spirits’ or guardian demons who rule over them. Prayer warriors are then called to identify the names of these territorial spirits and bind them in the Name of Jesus, to release the captives held in bondage by them. This movement seemed all very man centred, and we here nothing of it now. Still, there can be no doubt that the Bible affirms that there is a huge spiritual battle happening in the unseen realm, and in an ongoing fashion.
Abraham
Kuyper (1837–1920), pastor, theologian, and one time prime minister of the
Netherlands once wrote, “If once the curtain were pulled back, and
the spiritual world behind it came to view, it would expose to our spiritual
vision a struggle so intense, so convulsive, sweeping everything within its
range, that the fiercest battle fought on earth would seem, by comparison, a
mere game…”[3]
There can be no doubt that Satan does his utmost to destroy
the church of God on earth through killing her, and by infiltrating and
subverting her[4].
We must remember that our entire existence on earth is about the war for the
human heart. And the ultimate truth is this: Everyone is a captive of Satan
until they are liberated or freed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The whole
world is Satan’s current domain (1 John
5:19) and not just Persia or Greece. Satan uses any means at his disposal-
any political powers, religious
organisations, false teachings, at all
times.
How then can Satan be
defeated? The
glorious One seen by Daniel, has successfully resisted him. Ultimately, only
the One who was to come from God in the flesh would decisively defeat the
powers of darkness by His sinless life and death. The Lord Christ defeated
Satan at the cross (John 12:31, 16:11,
and Rev. 12:7-9). The gospel of Jesus now goes beyond the boundaries of Israel into every nation in
the world, systematically plundering the strong man of his subjects. By divine
permission He is presently allowed to roam the earth like a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8), and as such he will never stop attacking the people of God
until the second coming of Christ. The way he is defeated now is through gospel
preaching and gospel living. Every Christian is called to resist the devil and he will flee (James
4:7; 1 Pet. 5:9).
So what we see here then is a revelation of the spiritual
battle for the kingdom of God. And so, even after their return to Israel there
would be severe spiritual conflict. They
weren’t returning to heaven. We learn so much from this.
We learn first of all, that all the events of this world
cannot be simply interpreted by historical interpreters. History is far bigger. Ultimately history is
His story. Therefore history, the past and the future is spiritual and theological. One
American general was once asked, “Sir what is the origin of all wars?” The
general said, “the origin of all wars is
theological.” We tend to think of Washington
or Moscow, the West or the East as the ultimate powerbrokers. But they are not at the
centre of the ultimate power struggle of history. “Not here, but up there, that is where the real conflict is waged”.
Let me ask you a question. What do you see in this building? Is there anything else?Let me tell you what I see. From this passage and from Ephesians 6 and from the book of Revelation I see powers and principalities at work. I see spiritual forces above engaged in a war for your soul.
We learn that Christians are inevitably caught up in that
spiritual conflict and we learn that our
prayers have a role. This passage teaches us
concerning the power of prayer,
but be careful! The power of prayer is
not in the prayer. The power of prayer is in the God who wants “all men to pray, lifting holy hands without
anger or quarrelling” (1 Tim 2:8). From the life of Daniel we also
learn that the power of prayer is connected to the power of consistent godliness
and holiness. Our character and our prayer goes together. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working”
(James 5: 16b).
Once again I submit to you that the Bible gives you the only
reasonable worldview and explanation for
the way things are in this world.
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