Daniel 10

[ Intro ]

Last time we went through Daniel chapter 9. In that chapter Daniel had another encounter with the angel Gabriel. This happened while he was praying. He was praying as he was reviewing the scriptures about the prophecy from Jeremiah on how long him and his people would be in Babylon. The 70 year timeframe was almost up and so he prayed to God, giving him praise, confessing his sin and those of the Israelites, and making his requests to God to show mercy. If you remember we pointed out how Daniel framed his prayer. Adoration, confession, and petition. Also remember in chapter 9, this was in the first year of the Medo-Persian empire taking over Babylon.

Now as we go through Daniel 10 today, there will be more discussion around prayer. And this is a very interesting chapter as we will also get insight to the unseen realm. The spiritual realm.

[ Body ]

Daniel 10:1–3 NLT

1 In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship. 2 When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. 3 All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

So Daniel has yet another vision. And these last chapters in Daniel, chapter 10, 11 and 12 all go together to explain the vision that he had. But we’re only going to go through chapter 10 today. So we won’t get into as many details of the vision today. But from the beginning, we know it was about future events that contained time of war and great hardship. But I want to talk about what he was doing before this vision came. It says he had been in mourning for three whole weeks.

Now Mourning can mean different things in the bible. One of them is what you’d think, mourning as sadness over a loss of someone. But it can also be a meaning of repentance and meaning of seeking God in troubling times. And we know seeking God for answers is what he was doing, that’s what it means here by mourning. Because as we read he was also participating in a form of fasting. Now some would say this wasn’t true fasting. Because that would typically mean you abstain from food and drink completely. And you see here it was only certain foods and certain drink he abstained from. However he also restrained from using fragrant lotions, your translation might read he didn’t anoint himself. This would be mean he didn’t do his typical routine of bathing. Restraining yourself from anything that typically takes your time or fulfills a desire, and replacing with time and dedication to God, can be a form of fasting. Even if your not abstaining completely from food and drink. You are humbling yourself before God by restraining from whatever it is you desire. It could be a variety of things that you decide to restrain from. I’m sure anyone could find something that they enjoy that isn’t totally necessary. There may be nothing wrong with whatever it is we’re spending time on, but replacing that with dedicated time for God, at least for a period of time, is a special thing.

Now you might be wondering why was he doing this, what answers was he seeking? What brought this on. One thing people believe may have caused him to seek answers about is the fact that at this time Israelites had already been given the chance to go back to their homeland. We read at the beginning that this was in the third year of King Cyrus, but from reading the book of Ezra you’ll see in the first year of King Cyrus people were given the chance to go back home and rebuild the temple. So it’s been a couple years now. However, not many decided to go back. And also there were challenges the Israelites faced while trying to rebuild the temple. So these could be a part of his discouragement. And if you’re wondering why didn’t Daniel go back? He would have been close to 90 years old at this time. It would have been quite a journey for him. Also, he was in a great position of authority and probably could have served Israel better by staying in the position of serving the King. Those are a couple of assumptions people make about why he stayed. But that is context of what was going on at this time and what some believe to be one of the big things on his mind.

So here we are Daniel abstaining from many wonderful things he has access to by being in a high position of authority, and he’s determined to get an answer from the Lord and so he’s been restraining himself for three weeks.

Now let’s read verses 4-9

Daniel 10:4–9 NLT

4 On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River, 5 I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. 6 His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people. 7 Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide. 8 So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak. 9 Then I heard the man speak, and when I heard the sound of his voice, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground.

Okay so verses 4-6, Daniel has a vision of someone. It doesn’t say who. In previous visions it said he saw the angel Gabriel, but here we get no explanation. However, we do get a description of who he saw. This is another one of those points that scholars debate whether he saw an angel or the pre-incarnated Jesus. And many believe it was Jesus, and the reasoning for this is if you read revelation chapter 1, there’s a description given of Jesus that matches this one here in many areas. Pretty amazing thought that Daniel prayed and participated in a form of fasting and Jesus himself came before him.

It was so amazing, that Daniel just falls flat on his face. This wasn’t a dream. As you see other people knew something was there and just the presence of the man in the vision terrified them. But it’s interesting that Daniel says they saw nothing. They couldn’t actually see him, but they felt it. Another comparison to an experience of seeing Jesus is with the Apostle Paul. In the book of Acts, and this was when he was Saul, not Paul, and he saw Jesus on the Damascus road. There was a similar experience for the other men with him, they did not see him but the felt the presence and were terrified.

Alright let’s read on, and we’re going to finish this chapter now and read verse 1 of chapter 11 as well.

Daniel 10:10–21 (NLT)

10 Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. 11 And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling.

12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. 14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

15 While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. 16 Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen, my lord, and I am very weak. 17 How can someone like me, your servant, talk to you, my lord? My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.”

18 Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning. 19 “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!”

As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

20 He replied, “Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come. 21 Meanwhile, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince.

Daniel 11:1 NLT

1 I have been standing beside Michael to support and strengthen him since the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede.)

Alright after Daniel face-plants into the ground and has no strength to get up. A man helps him and somehow gives him strength enabling him to rise. Now we don’t know for sure if this is the same man / angel from verse 4-9, the scripture doesn’t make it clear. If from verses 4-9 it was the pre-incarnated Jesus, I would say here this is a different man that is an angel. And if the previous verses was just an angel and not the pre-incarnated Jesus, then this could be the same angelic being. And I’ll get to the reason for that belief in a second.

Okay now verse 12, we get clarification that that Daniel’s mourning and fasting was in fact to receive understanding as it read “Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven.” What’s interesting though is Daniel had been fasting and praying for this answer 21 days. But the angel says your prayer request was heard in heaven as soon as you began praying. His prayer was heard instantly and in verse 13 we see that an answer was also ready immediately. But why did he not get the message for 21 days? This is one of the most interesting insights we see to the spiritual realm right here in verse 13. Let’s read that again.

Daniel 10:13 NLT

13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.

Who is the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia? Now the translation I’m reading makes it a little easier to understand because it says spirit prince. But some translations just say “the prince of the kingdom of Persia”. This was no ordinary king on earth, not King Cyrus of Persia. This was a spiritual being and since they were in opposition to an angel, we know that was some demonic spirit. And they battled for 21 days, until this angel receives helps from the Michael the archangel.

So there are a lot of thoughts and very important things to understand from this one verse.

But let’s clear up one thing quickly, some may read that and be like what, an angel was struggling with a demon, does that mean that the devil can actually put up a fight against God? No the devil has no chance. They are not equal, not even on the same playing field. Satan is a supernatural being no doubt, but the God we worship is the one true God, with a capitol G. There’s no question on that. And this is why I was saying that if we were reading about the pre-incarnated Jesus at the beginning, then this was a new angelic being after verse 10, because Jesus would not be struggling in a battle with a demon.

But there are points that we need to bring out that God allows

There is a spiritual battle going on in heavenly realm that we cannot see. Angels and demons are fighting. And this is not just some far out thought that we only see here in old Testament, no this truth is actually throughout scripture. One other example is in the New Testament the Apostle Paul tells us about this in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 6:12

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Whatever you see happening in life, good or bad, know that there is a spiritual battle going on in the heavenly realm.

2. About these battles, it appears as though there are spirits assigned to regions. As it says he was fighting against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. And if you recall the last few verses we read, the angel actually said hey soon when I’m done here I’m going to have to go back and continue to help out in the battle against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and then the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece is going to come. And that will be a battle. So different demonic beings are identified with different regions. And it makes sense that the demonic spirit of Greece would come into the region that that angel was protecting after defeating the one of Persia. And the reason it makes sense is because we know that Greece conquered the Medo-Persian empire. So as the Greeks came to power, so came the demonic spirits into spiritual battles over those regions.

3. Now another point to make is, at least in this case, prayers can be hindered by this spiritual warfare. Once again, all within what God allows. It’s interesting that Daniel had to pray and fast for that long before God sent Michael the archangel to help so that the other angel could deliver an answer to Daniel. Just remember, your prayers are heard by God as soon as you start, but you might not receive an answer right away. And it’s a bit of a side note compared to what we’ve been talking about, but with prayer it’s important to remember that a prayer that feels unanswered may have just been one that did not align with God’s will. But besides that point, look at Daniel’s consistency. Keep on praying. If you have a deep request, keep praying day after day. Persistence and consistency in important.

We’ll be getting more into the vision and what the angel actually tells Daniel in the next two chapters, but for this chapter one of the big things I think that sticks out to me is how involved we are in this spiritual battle. It’s easy to just think we have satan and God, satan tempts me and I make prayer requests to God, life goes on. But there are angelic beings and demonic spirits and they are battling in the heavenly realm. And when we see struggles around us, it’s so easy to get frustrated at someone or about something, but remember this is a result of something going on behind the scenes in the heavenly realm. And you can participate by communing with God and going out into the world being a light for God.