Demons and Kingdoms

Introduction

Daniel 10. pg. 748

Christianity is a strange religion

If your Christianity isn’t strange, if it fits neatly into the modern conception of reality, then your version of Christianity probably needs a tune up

We have a strange religion

Some of you may remember the character, Horatio, from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Horatio is a rationalist, he’s educated, he’s intelligent, he’s not given to superstition. Everything must fit into his philosophical scheme and his logical accounting of the world.

If something seems to him to contradict reason, or if it cannot be empirically proven, then it cannot be true

But then, one night the ghost of the dead king Hamlet appears to him

He can scarcely believe his eyes. Ghosts aren’t real

Then his friend Hamlet warns him

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Daniel 10 is a text that reminds us of this truth. It pulls back the veil and gives us a glimpse into mysteries that are almost too awful to consider

Modernism in the Church

We Modern Evangelicals, like all Christians before us, are deeply affected by our own cultural context.

No matter how Biblical the Christian attempts to be, the world’s way of thinking will inevitably seep into his thought.

And ours is a society predicated upon the assumption of materialism.

If one cannot see, taste, smell, hear, or feel a thing; if it cannot be measured in some quantifiable manner, then it must not exist.

Of course, the modern atheist and agnostic applies this reasoning in arguing against the existence of God, but the Christian is not immune to the dangers of materialism and empiricism.

Certainly, a Christian would never give up the idea that God exists, but Christians do often downplay the role of spiritual forces in the world.

Our forefathers were unencumbered by the weight of modern materialism and were therefore able to see through the physical world of matter and energy into the spiritual realm beyond.

To the modern Christian, these old-fashioned and unenlightened ways of thinking seem quaint at best, and preposterous at worst.

Yet, there is much that a person can learn by assuming an ancient worldview because it often more closely reflects a biblical worldview.

The Bible is not a modern document, the Christian religion is not materialistic in nature, and the Ancients were correct about many things that we have since lost.

The faithful Christian has a duty, in his pursuit of truth and in his love for God, to shake off the materialism of his present age, and to embrace the truth that the spiritual and metaphysical pervades every aspect of the created and material world.

There is indeed an unseen realm behind the physical world which we inhabit

It is this truth that Daniel 10 helps our reluctant eyes to see.

Read Text:

Daniel 10:1-11:1.

Pg. 748

Thesis: A cosmic battle between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God is raging, but God will gain the victory

Angels in Conflict

God in His Greatness

Worshippers at War

Angels in Conflict

Throughout the book of Daniel, the kingdom of God has been juxtaposed with the kingdoms of this world

There is a a great cosmic holy war between the city of God and the city of man

First we see it in real time as Babylon destroys God’s chosen kingdom, Israel, and carts her off into captivity

We see it again in Dan. 2 with the vision of the Great Colossus.

A Giant statue made up of four different metals, each representing a different earthly kingdom; Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Then a stone, representative of the Kingdom of God crushes the Colossus into pieces and grows until it becomes a mountain which covers the whole world.

This is the Kingdom of God overcoming the kingdoms of this world.

In Chapter 7 we saw another vision, this one of 4 beasts, each representing the kingdoms depicted in chapter 2.

Each of these fearsome kingdoms is destroyed as the Son of Man, the Messiah ascends to His throne in Heaven

Daniel 7:14 “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

There is a continual struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world that spans human history

This is not a war in which the victor is in doubt, we know who will have dominion

Indeed, throughout Daniel, the central lesson is that, though the kingdoms of men seem to be powerful, controlling forces, The God of Heaven has control over them and moves them to advance His causes in His kingdom

Daniel 4:17 the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’”

We see this holy war play out throughout redemptive history

The Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Muslims, the pagans, the secular atheists, and now, the neo-pagans, all have waged war against God and against His people since the beginning

But here, in Daniel 10, we get a rare glimpse at the spiritual realities of this warfare as the veil is pulled back for Daniel to see that the scope of the war is far greater than even he knew.

Indeed, v. 1 tells us that the vision Daniel is to receive in Chs. 10-11 is of a great conflict.

Behind the nations of men are mighty spiritual entities, angelic beings, engaged in conflict with one another

"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 ever fought on earth would seem, by comparison, a mere game." -Abraham Kuyper

Demons and Nations

In v. 13, the angel sent to give the vision to Daniel tells him that he would have come three weeks prior when Daniel started praying, but he was detained by the Prince of Persia

The prince he is speaking of here is no human ruler, but is another angel, or rather, a fallen angel. A particular demon given authority over the kingdom of Persia

We know this Prince of Persia is not a mere man for 2 reasons

First, no mere man could restrain a celestial being for any amount of time, let alone 3 weeks

Every time we see angels in the scriptures they are terrifying beings who cause panic and dread in the hearts of men.

Second, in vv. 13 & 21, the angel makes reference to another prince, the angel Michael. These princes are powers, rulers, authorities in the heavenly places, the very same that Paul speaks of in Eph. 6.

They are angels. Some righteous, some fallen.

Persia had its own angelic, or rather, demonic Prince, as did Greece, as we see in v. 20.

Michael is called Israel’s angel in v. 21

These demons led the nations under their control to try to thwart God’s plans and destroy God’s people.

This may all sound preposterous, nations having fallen angels over them.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Let me take you on a biblical journey to show you this is the case.

The Curse of the Nations

Deuteronomy 32:7–9 “Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.”

Here, as YHWH comes into covenant with Israel before they venture into Canaan, He speaks of the division of the nations

When we think back on biblical history, where do we see the nations being divided? In the curse of Babel in Gen. 11.

Interestingly, in Deut. 32, God gives us more insight into what was really going on in that curse. He not only divided them and confused their languages, but He also apportioned them to the sons of God

The Sons of God

There is some debate as to who these sons of God are, are they Gods elect? Are they humanity in general?

They are angels.

We see similar language used in,

Job 38:4–7 ““Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

There were no men when God laid the foundation of the earth, but apparently there were angels, and these, God calls the sons of God.

Interestingly, in Deut. 32, the nations are divided up amongst these sons of God, but Israel belongs to YHWH

The Gods of the Nations

What we see here is that in the curse at Babel, due to their rebellion the nations were given over to fallen angels, demons, to worship them and to be led by them.

They were given over to idolatry, but not merely to worship non-beings, but rather, to worship real spiritual beings who had been given dominion over them

This is why the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 10 that the idols that the pagans worship are actually demons.

1 Corinthians 10:20 “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.”

Psalm 82.

Interestingly, in Ps. 82, we get a similar glimpse behind the curtain into the spiritual realm.

Psalm 82:1–8 “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”

Here we see fallen angels, the gods of the nations judged for the injustice and cruelty of their respective nations.

Again, demons, cosmic powers standing behind the nations of men, even held accountable by God for the injustice and wickedness of the nations.

Demonic Nations

The evil and cruelty of Persia and of Greece cannot be reduced merely to the actions of wicked men. But it was driven by demonic entities, their princes.

Such is still the case today. How could we conclude anything different when we look at just the atrocities and miseries of the 20th century

This means that no nation is religiously neutral. They either serve demons, or they serve God.

Who do we serve? To which god does America belong.

The answer to that question was clear at our founding and for most of our history.

Yet over the last two generations were have chosen to give ourselves to the demons of sexual essentialism and secular humanism.

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

Daniel’s eyes were opened to Israel’s true danger

He heard the angel’s words and saw the reality and his strength left him. He understood that God’s people were contending against more than mere human foes

But their human foes were led on and driven by powerful demonic forces.

Daniel could clearly see what Paul would explain centuries later in his letter to the Ephesians

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

We too must have our eyes open. We talk about worldly ideologies, tyrannical magistrates, sinful behavior, Christian persecution and think that we are in a battle against fallen human beings. But our situation is much more dangerous than that.

The evil men arrayed against the church of God are the least of our problems.

Given this reality, Daniel could have despaired

And so might we

But the greatest power that Daniel saw in his vision was neither angelic nor demonic, it was divine.

God in His Greatness

There is some debate as to who exactly appears to Daniel in this vision.

Furthermore, how many whos are there? 1, 2, 3?

In the first part of the vision (vv. 4-9), Daniel sees a terrific vision of a man clothed in linen.

It looks like he’s made of radiant precious stones and his voice is the sound of a million voices all speaking in unison.

After Daniel sees this one and hears his voice, he collapses and loses consciousness.

Then we read in v. 10 a hand touches Daniel and revives him.

The one who touches him then proceeds to deliver the message.

There are two here. The one Daniel sees initially and the one who comes to strengthen him and give him the message.

The one that Daniel sees first is Christ, the second is an angel, probably Gabriel.

I say this for two reasons

First, because the one who delivers the message to Daniel says he was delayed 3 weeks by the Prince of Persia

No demon would have the power to contend against God for any amount of time.

Second, because the description of the man clothed in linen is remarkably like the description of Christ given in Ezekiel and in Revelation

Revelation 1:12–15 “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.”

God in His Terrible Glory

Daniel is given a vision of God in His terrible glory

He grasps at words to describe the beauty and power and awesomeness of what he saw

Daniel says that he appeared to be composed of Beryl, an unusually bright bluish-green stone

Precious Stones = Beauty

His face like lightening = Radiant Power and glory

Eyes like flaming torches = seeing all, knowing all, piercing even into the depths of the soul

Arms and legs like burnished bronze = Strength and beauty

And His voice, the sound of a multitude, the hearing of which made Daniel lose consciousness

This vision was a far cry from the old man with the white beard in the clouds

God is greater still

Even this vision, this theophany, was not the whole picture, nor could it be

It was merely God stooping down to Daniel and making Himself visible to the weak and finite eyes of a man

Can you see God?

What is God?

The finite cannot contain the infinite

What Daniel saw was merely a glimmer of the majesty and power of the infinite God.

This is the awful, immense, and unbounded glory of our God

The Comfort of God’s Favor

No doubt, though the vision of Christ was terrifying for Daniel, in the end, it was of great comfort to him

He had seen behind the veil of this material world into the unseen realm. He knew the immense demonic forces that were arrayed against him and against his people.

Forces that sought the destruction of God’s kingdom and God’s people.

Yet, what were these demonic forces compared to YHWH?

They are creatures, He the Creator.

They are finite, He infinite

They are limited in their power and authority, He limitless in all things

How could the Prince of Persia, the Prince of Greece, or any other so called god stand against the Most High and His servants?

How could they and their kingdoms hope to topple the kingdom of God?

God is with us

We too live in a day when the kingdoms of men seek to overthrow the kingdom of God and destroy the church

We’ve even begun to see our own nation take a hostile stance towards Christianity

We know that we are not fighting against mere men, but against demonic forces far greater than we.

How can we rebuild the church? How can we expand the kingdom? How do we revive our righteous influence in this nation?

The task is far greater than we think because our enemies are far greater than we have imagine.

And yet, greater is He who is in us than He who is in the World

If our God is for us, who can be against us?

Far from being in a hopeless battle, we are confident of our victory because our king and our commander is Jesus Christ.

His face is like lightning, His body a radiant jewel, His eyes flaming torches, his arms and legs like burnished bronze, and when he utters His voice, the sound of a multitude of millions issues forth

Our God is great, our God is for us, our God has been victorious, He will be victorious again.

The Sight of God is a terror to those He loves

V. 11 tells us that Daniel was a man greatly loved by God and He still could not bear the sight of the Lord’s glory.

Yet even so, Daniel fainted at the sight and sound of His mighty power.

What would it be like to behold the awesome majesty of this God as one who is not greatly loved?

That describes some here this morning. You have not submitted yourself to your Creator, you remain in rebellion against Him

One day you will see him as Daniel saw Him. And your terror will be all the greater because you will experience the fullness of His wrath against you for siding with demons against Him and those He loves.

But it does not need to be this way. You can go before His judgment throne in confidence that your sins are forgiven.

You can be, like Daniel, one greatly loved by this terrifying God, if you would only repent of your sins and trust in Christ.

Worshippers at War

In the book of Daniel, God’s people were at war. And what do God’s people do while at war?

Ezra Preached

Continually placing God’s truth before God’s people. His law and His Gospel

Nehemiah built and battled

Rebuilding the walls and the temple.

Protecting God’s people from violent enemies.

There is a place for these things in the church today as we war against spiritual forces.

We must preach the truth, we must build the church and supporting institutions, and families, we must even at times defend ourselves from those who seek our destruction.

But what did Daniel do?

Daniel Prayed

Daniel 10:2–3 “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.”

Daniel 10:12 “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”

Why did Daniel stay in Babylon?

V. 1 tells us that this vision came to him in the 3rd year of king Cyrus

Yet we know that the exile ended and the people were free to return in the first year of Cyrus’ reign

Daniel most likely stayed in Babylon for 2 reasons

First, he was old by this time, into his 70’s or 80’s, and he was probably not able to make the long journey back to his homeland.

He could not return and pick up a shovel to help rebuild the walls

He could not wield a sword to defend his brothers against the attacks of their enemies

But this didn’t mean that he was of no use to his countrymen.

He was not sidelined in this holy war.

Throughout this book we have seen Daniel as a man of prayer, and given their true demonic enemies, the prayer of Daniel was a far more valuable weapon than swords and spears

It was a far more useful tool in the rebuilding of the city than shovels and hammers

God Heard Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel fasted and prayed for three weeks for the welfare of his countrymen suffering in the promised land

It is interesting that Daniel paired his prayers with his fasting. No doubt he heard of the immense troubles that the people of God were facing in the Land and he was moved to pity and grief.

Why should he feast when his people were suffering? Why should he seek the comforts of luxury when his people had no roofs to protect them and no walls to shield them?

Everything was not alright and Daniel didn’t act like everything was alright. So he humbled himself by fasting and he prayed. God looked kindly upon this act of humility and prayer.

v. 12 said that God heard because of his humility and his prayer

Again, we can learn from Daniel’s exemplary prayers. Do not, in pride, presume upon the kindness and grace of God

He owes you nothing, yet, in Christ, He will freely grant you all things. Do not assume He will bless you as if you deserve His blessing

But trust that, for the sake of His Son, He will hear your prayers and He will act in your best interests

Philippians 4:6 in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

James 4:2 “You do not have, because you do not ask.”

Daniel 10:12 “Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”

The Angel came because of Daniel’s words

Our prayers set even heavenly beings in motion

So pray

Pray

We are in the midst of a cosmic struggle.

There are forces so far beyond our comprehension that if we could see them as Daniel saw them, we would probably crumble as he crumbled.

What do we do in such a war? Do we merely keep our heads down? Do we flee? Are we bystanders?

No, we pray. And we don’t pray for small things. We pray for the big things.

We tend to pray for the small things either, because we don’t think the big things are possible

Or, because we don’t think that God is willing to grant us the big things

Do you think God weak? Do you think Him unable? Do you think He doesn’t love you enough to grant the truly big requests?

Brothers and sisters, the war we fight is too big to limit our prayers to the little things

To pray that God would save a few instead of many

To pray that he would help you defeat the small sin rather than the big, deeply ingrained sin

To only pray that he would grow His kingdom here in Cape Coral in a marginal and imperceptible way rather than in an explosive and obvious manner

To only pray for revival in our churches and not pray for revival in our nation

Pray big prayers

The Missionary, William Carey once famously said, “expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” But it starts by asking great things from God

Conclusion

A Sure Victory

Satan and His angels will continually war against the kingdom of God and against His church. We have been bloodied since the beginning by our great adversary

Even now, we feel his advances in our own land, we see him taking ground and spreading lies even in the church of God

The war is so big and the battle so intense and the enemies so fierce, we can be driven to despair

But we have been promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s church

And we know that we are no longer on the defensive against the fallen sons of God as ancient Israel was

Rather, since our Lord rose from the dead, defeating death and putting our enemies to flight,

And since he ascended to His throne at the Father’s right hand, we have been on the offensive, and we have every reason to hope

Don’t lose heart, don’t let your shoulders slump, march forward in confidence

Christ has won the decisive battle, we just have to mop up the remaining resistance.

Furthermore, we are not on our own in this war. We have Gabriel, and Michael, and innumerable mighty angels at our side, contending for us

And we have the Spirit of the living God, against whom no power can stand

Where has the Lord called you to fight? Which battle has He given you? Fight hard

I want to return briefly to Psalm 82:6–8 “I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”

The glorious conclusion and promise, though the nations of men currently belong to demons, God shall inherit the nations.