Daniel 10

Good morning church! If you have your Bible’s would you go ahead & flip on over to Daniel 10? I hope you were as encouraged, challenged and blessed by David Ritchie’s exposition of Daniel 9 as I was. If you missed it you can go back and listen to it on the podcast.

This week we’re going to focus on Daniel 10 which is this really interesting, and strange story about Daniel, God, and angels. Now on the outset you need to know that Daniel 10-12 is one unit. Daniel 10 is this introduction to a vision the angels give to Daniel from God, Daniel 11 and part of 12 is the vision, and the end of Daniel 12 is Daniel’s response. The vision portion of Daniel 11-12 is directly tied to Daniel 8, so we will spend this week in Dan. 10 and next week we’ll look at both 11-12 and wrap this series up.

Now you might hear, angels, Daniel & God, and go, this ought to be interesting—and I hope it is, but this week as I studied this it caused me to wonder about what has influenced my view on angels. Back in 1994 there was a movie that came out that I really loved watching as a kid. Who in here remembers or watched Angels in the Outfield? Now I don’t want to ruin the plot too much if you haven’t seen it, but the story centers around a boy who’s dad had left him in the foster care system. The boy asks his dad when they can be a family again and the dad says, when the Angels win the pennant.

The problem was the Angels were the laughing stock of the MLB. So the boy prays and asks God to help them win a few games. Lo & behold, God sends an angel to the Angels and all the sudden they start miraculously winning games, however, only the boy can see the angels. So the manager of the team and this boy decide that they should have a sign whenever an angel appears to help. Anybody remember that? Pumps their arms like this. If anyone sees an angel behind me while I’m preaching would you mind doing that? I don’t know if I’ll freak out or like step on the gas pedal.

I hate to say it but I really do think that silly movie was informative of my view on angels. Their purpose was to help us win games…it’s why we said the Lord’s Prayer before games. We thought if we did some spiritually good things (like pray) and said the right words, then the angels would be on our side. Daniel 10 shows us that that is not the purpose of angels. In fact, while Daniel 10 is used as a key text in helping us understand angels and their role, the primary point of this chapter isn’t about angels. Like the rest of this book, Daniel 10 is about God. It’s about God and what he is doing and how he is accomplishing is divine plan here on earth. What Daniel 10 encourages us with, what it reminds us of is this truth: In the midst of the battle, know God is fighting for you. That’s our main point today. In the midst of the battle, know God is fighting for you.

Let’s read Daniel 10, pray, and then we’ll look at 4 different ways this passage calls us to action and to have faith in the Most High God. Daniel 10

Daniel 10 ESV

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. 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. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 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 prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and 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.” When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.” Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.

This is God’s Word. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray.

Ok I think there’s 4 ways this text calls us to action while knowing God is fighting for us. I’m a little proud of myself, I don’t know that I’ve ever alliterated a sermon but I did today. Here’s our 4 Rs: Respond, receive, rejoice, & rest. First is respond.

Respond appropriately to the battles you face.

Now just to be clear, I’m not speaking of the angels in the outfield battles here. What were the battles Daniel faced? The text emphasizes there was a great conflict. We could look back through the whole book and see some incredible struggles he walked through, but here at the end of the book and the end of Daniel’s life we find another heart rending battle for Daniel. Verse 1 tells us of a great conflict. The conflict it is directly speaking to is the content of the vision that’s found in Dan. 11-12, and we’ll look more at that next week. But this isn’t the only conflict that’s breaking Daniel’s heart.

Verse 1 tells us this is during the third year of Cyrus’s reign. This means that the initial release of the Jewish exiles back to the Promised Land would have taken place. Daniel wasn’t among that group for one reason or another, but we do know what happens when that group returns back to Jerusalem. They begin to seek to rebuild the temple but their plans are thwarted & oppression resumes.

Now, remember back at the beginning of Dan. 9 Daniel has calculated that the end of the 70 years of exile is about to be over which means that God’s people would be returning to God’s place and living in God’s presence. In other words, God’s kingdom would yet reign again, yet here we are 3 years into their return and it appears His Kingdom isn’t coming.

What do these two great battles, one of a message and another of historical context, cause Daniel to do? How does Daniel respond to the battles that he and his people are facing and are seemingly losing? There’s two things Daniel does. First, Daniel mourns. Daniel has waited so patiently for these past 70 years for the restoration of God’s people to God’s presence. He’s served under pagan kings in absolutely impossible situations that actually should’ve led to his death with the quiet confidence that his faithfulness would be rewarded and God’s people would be protected. It might be the next generation that gets to experience the blessings of his work, but God would fulfill his promises. Now it would almost appear that maybe, just maybe God’s kingdom isn’t coming and this leads Daniel to mourn.

We rightfully mourn the brokenness of this world, but the brokenness of the world we face and the battles that we engage in are all really pointers to the Kingdom of God having yet to come. So I think this begs the question of us, when was the last time you mourned not just over the brokenness of the world but over the delay of God’s Kingdom coming? When was the last time you cried out with the psalmist, “How long O Lord?”

One of the things this passage shows us though isn’t just that Daniel mourned the battles that he faced or the brokenness of the world he lived in, it also shows us that God drew near to Daniel in his brokenness. But isn’t this what He promised in PS. 34:18?

Psalm 34:18 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Jesus echoes this in the Beatitudes Mt. 5:4

Matthew 5:4 ESV

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

How are the mourners comforted? Through the nearness of the Lord. This is why Solomon would say in Eccl. 7:2

Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting

Not only does mourning give perspective, it promises comfort from the God of all comfort. Now there’s more we could say on mourning the brokenness of the world and the delay of the fullness of the Kingdom of God, but we need to press on. This great conflict didn’t just cause Daniel to mourn, it also led him to pray. Look down with me to Daniel 10:12

Daniel 10:12 ESV

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.

You see, Daniel saw the only place to find comfort, clarity, and direction was in prayer. He believed that when he drew near to the Lord that the Lord would draw near to him. As we have seen throughout this whole book, prayer wasn’t optional for Daniel. It was essential for him, but he didn’t just see prayer as essential for his mental & emotional well being or for his personal relationship with the Lord. Daniel actually believed that his prayers were essential to God accomplishing His purposes here on earth.

Why did the angel come to Daniel? “Because of your words.” It seems as if the only reason the angel came to speak to Daniel was because of Daniel’s earnest seeking through prayer. You see God sovereignly acted in the way he saw fit in response to Daniel’s prayer. Look at the grace of God here. He didn’t have to tell Daniel anything, yet he heard his prayers, he saw Daniel’s heart, and he lovingly sent a messenger to him.

Church, when you see the brokenness of this world and it leads you to mourn how do you respond? Is prayer your knee-jerk reaction? Do you see it as essential or as optional? Or do you try to find another way to find comfort and clarity? Daniel 10 calls us to respond appropriately to the battles we face because he is fighting for us.

The second thing Daniel 10 calls us to do is to:

Receive God’s Word with humility.

Now, I want to just clarify something here—this doesn’t mean receive Matt’s Word with humility. I’m as much as if not more of a sinner than the rest of you, so when it comes to hearing my preaching I want to encourage you to be Berean like in your studies. I will say something wrong. But the point isn’t receive my words, but God’s word with humility. I work hard and love to expose the Scriptures to you, but I am a fallen man.

Now while that’s true, I still believe the point remains. Why does this chapter call us to do that. Again, there’s 2 reasons as to why we should do this. First, God’s messenger has gone through battle to bring you His message. Consider this messenger with me for just a second. If you go back to verse 5 you see that this guy shows up dressed up and with a figure that is terrifying.

Now there’s some question as to who “the man” here is. Some theologians, scholars, and pastors are absolutely convinced that this is what’s called a Christophany. In other words, this is a vision of the preincarnate Christ. If you were to flip over to Revelation 1 you’d see an extremely similar description of the resurrected Christ. However, there are some challenges to that view the primary one we’ll look at here in a second.

The second idea is that this is Gabriel, but if that’s the case, why didn’t Daniel call him by name like he did previously and why would his appearance now be so much more startling?

To be honest, I’m not sure who this man is and no matter which camp you fall in, you’re in good company. But honestly, does it really matter? The point is that there is this incredibly ominous figure that appears and he’s so intimidating that his appearance and his voice actually end up knocking Daniel out.

Then it seems that as Daniel is laying on the ground another angel appears and wakes Daniel up and causes him to regain his senses. One of these two angels speaks these encouraging words—which we’ll look at in our next point—but at the end of them he says something that has bothered me all week. Look back to Dan. 10:13

Daniel 10:13 ESV

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,

So you have this incredibly intimidating angel who’s literally come from the throne of God and this prince, whoever he is, likely a demon assigned to the Persian empire, that is able to withstand him?! What is happening here? I have all sorts of questions as to what it means that he’s able to withstand him and why he could, but the text doesn’t tell us that. In fact, this is why some people argue that this man can’t be Christ. Christ can’t be prevented from accomplishing his purposes. So, if we don’t know what all withstanding means, then I think we ask the question what is the battle that this man/angel went through?

Well when you look at the text, the battle this man went through began when Daniel earnestly sought the Lord. In other words, when Daniel was fighting to draw near to the Lord, Satan was working really hard to prevent it. The same battle Daniel was fighting, was the one the angel was fighting too. This bring out the heart of the message: the battles we fight, we don’t fight alone. God & his angels are fighting with you and for you.

This also tells us something significant about these battles that we do face; they aren’t just occuring on the physical plane. Yes, we do have fallen natures and sinful desires, but like Paul said, even when I want to do the thing I should do, I don’t. How could that be? It’s because as Paul said in Eph. 6:12

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

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.

The battles we fight are spiritual battles. Now I think there’s an important implication here for us and one in which I want to say thank you. We need to be a people who are marked by prayer for those who teach the Word to us. Because their preparation is a battle. There’s been a number of you who have come up to me and let me know that you’re praying for me and I just want to say thank you. I think any affect the Word has had in your life through my preaching can be traced back to your prayers. So thank you, and don’t stop. As I seek, or any other person who preaches here seeks to expose the Scriptures to you and help you understand the truths of His Word and how they apply to your life please pray for us. Preparation is a battle. It’s a good one that I love that I get to do, but I firmly believe the efficacy of preaching is reliant on prayer.

So when the Word of God is proclaimed what should we do? We should humbly receive God’s word with humility because it came to us through a battle. But that’s not it. The second reason we receive God’s Word with humility is because God’s revelation can be devastating.

Daniel’s physical response to the appearance of this angel and his message is devastating. He sees the angel and his appearance KO’s him and then he hears that a demon has withstood him for 21 days—the same amount of time he was fasting and praying. If a demon can resist this incredible figure, then what chance to God’s people have?

In my Bible reading this week I was in the book of John. John 16:33 I think brings us such great encouragement. Some of Jesus’ last words to his followers are this:

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

You see the good news of Jesus is that we don’t have to fear demons or the brokenness of the world because he overcame it. John 15 Jesus says abide in me. It means to remain in him. Don’t seek the things of the world but keep your eyes focused on the one who came to overcome for you and rest in his finished work.

But it wasn’t just that the messenger was prevented that devastated Daniel, it was the message itself. You see Daniel sits here seeing the Jews returning to Israel with the hope of restoration and the angel shows up and says, no, this cosmic battle that is occuring now will last till the vision I’m going to tell you comes to fruition—which is for the end. In other words, God’s people will continue to suffer. You see church, the Word of God doesn’t always tell us what we want to hear, but it does tell us what we need to hear. What Daniel needed to hear, was what this book has told us from the beginning: God is sovereignly in control and working all things according to His plan.

This revelation physically devastates Daniel. He couldn’t speak. The fearless Daniel now weak and trembling has lost his ability to speak at the message. I wonder how many times I have heard the Word of God, but just went on like any other Sunday. In my pride, I don’t change, but just continue on in life knowing it was a good sermon that even caused me to feel something. But really, when it comes down to it, I was unwilling to fall on my knees or be seen as weak and trembling because while I may have heard the word, deep down I didn’t think that I really needed it. Hearing God’s Word is one thing, receiving it with humility is entirely another.

Imagine a child who hears their parent say, 'I love you.' For many, this is just pleasant noise, but for some, it becomes a cherished identity, shaping how they view themselves and the world. This highlights the difference between merely hearing sweet words and receiving them as truth that nourishes the heart.

And this actually leads us to our third point, because before Daniel found out the message or the struggle of the messenger do you know what he was told? He was told: You’re greatly loved. So while we receive God’s Word with humility we also:

Rejoice in God’s revelation.

I want to just quickly look back to v11 and skim across it and verse 19. What does the angel declare to Daniel? V11 “o man greatly loved, then in v12 fear not and “I have come because of your words.” Then v 19, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” Daniel is twice told of God’s view of him.

Now why would Daniel need to hear those things? Daniel is weak and trembling because of the message and the messenger. He’s distraught because of the battles he fought and the brokenness he’s seen around him. He can’t stand in his own strength with all of this. I love what Danny Akin had to say of this:

Exalting Jesus in Daniel Conclusion: How Does This Text Point to Christ?

This is the God who strips us of our strength that he may become our strength. This is the God who knocks us down that he may raise us up with renewed strength, peace, and courage (v. 19). Our God often knocks us down to show us who we are without him. And our God raises us up to show us what we can be in him. There is pain in the process. But joy comes in the morning.

You see when God’s revelation is received in humility, it might hurt because it corrects, rebukes and trains, but what results is godliness. To receive this message from God is to rest in the identity that God gives. In doing so Daniel sees and knows the God who loves, strengthens, and encourages his people. That alone is where he can find peace. Not from circumstantial improvement, but from God himself.

Now while this is true of Daniel, the question is does God view us the same way? God didn’t send an angelic messenger to speak to us or to touch us and strengthen us. No God sent his very own Son to die for us and to transform us. The revelation that we can rejoice in isn’t just a message but a man. A man that says, I have overcome the world. A man that gives complete joy and perfect peace. A man that says, do not be afraid because in me there’s nothing to be afraid of. A man that gives rest to the weary and burdened.

Like Daniel, you might be weak and trembling because of what life has brought to your doorstep, but like Daniel, you can rejoice in knowing that God hears your prayers and he loves you greatly. You can know this because he sent his son and now you can rest in him in faith knowing that while things may be really hard, the battles your fighting may seem endless and the brokenness around you doesn’t seem to be getting better, God is still sovereignly working all things for his glory and your good. The message may be hard to hear, but it’s worth rejoicing in.

That leads us to our last point:

Rest knowing the outcome is certain.

Just real quick let’s look back at the last two verses. Daniel 10:20-21

Daniel 10:20–21 ESV

Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.

Back in verse 1 Daniel tells us that what he heard was true and here we see the book of truth. God has written out the metanarrative of history, the grand drama of how all things will unfold and it is true. It’s been written in the book of truth and God never lies, so it will come to fruition. We know this because the prophecy we’ve already looked at has been fulfilled. God has kept and will keep his word. So you don’t have to fret, you don’t have to work anxiously, you don’t have to fear and tremble at what’s in front of you. Instead you can have peace and be strengthened to respond, you can receive His Words with humility, you can rejoice in the truths he declares over you and over history, and you can rest knowing that the battles we face we don’t face alone—God and his angels are fighting for us and with us, but not just that, you can rest in the finished work of the Most High God. The outcome is certain because God has declared it to be so.