Behind the Veil: The Battle You Don’t See (When Angels Go to War)
Notes
Transcript
The world seemed frozen.
Not just cold—but locked.
Time unmoving.
Joy silenced.
A winter that never broke, where the sun never fully rose.
Where evil ruled without challenge, and the people had forgotten the sound of running water.
And then… a whisper.
Not a trumpet.
Not an army.
Just a whisper.
“Aslan is on the move.”
No one had seen him.
There was no proof—only rumor.
But something in that name unsettled the cold.
The cold breeze seemed a little less chilling.
The snow didn’t fall quite as heavily.
The streams that had been frozen for so long began to quietly crack and shift.
The Witch still reigned.
The sky was still gray.
But beneath the surface, something had begun.
The thaw didn’t come all at once.
It never does.
It was slow.
Subtle.
But unmistakable.
The whisper became a current.
The current became a force.
The force became hope.
Because Aslan was not simply arriving:
He was already on the move.
Long before they saw him.
Long before the final battle.
Long before the Witch was cast down.
The rescue had already been set in motion.
The story had already turned.
Victory had begun.
But the people didn’t know it yet.
And that’s the tension we often live in:
When the world still looks frozen…
when evil still appears to reign…
when heaven seems silent…
and the only thing we’re holding on to is a whisper.
That’s where Daniel is in chapter 10.
Three weeks of prayer.
Three weeks of silence.
Three weeks of waiting while the sky stayed gray.
And then—suddenly—he’s overwhelmed by glory.
As Christ, the true Aslan appears,
Not with a whisper this time,
but with fire in His eyes and brilliance that drops Daniel to the ground.
And with this,
the veil is pulled back,
the battlefield is lit.
And now Daniel hears a roar,
not a whisper,
Which reveals to him what was always there.
Which is a God Who is on the move!
But…
To see our God on the move, we must remember we are:
1. Known
2. Defended
3. Held
Last week, we began our study through Daniel chapter 10,
and we saw how it began with Daniel praying and fasting for 3 weeks.
deeply burdened by the great conflict that would affect his people.
And on the 21st day of his fast,
he wasn’t shown the perfect answer,
Instead, he was shown a perfect Person,
which was the pre-incarnate Christ Who appeared in glory and majesty.
So we left Daniel last week overwhelmed,
crushed beneath the weight of divine glory.
And today, that experience continues.
In verse 10, a hand touches him,
and a voice begins to speak.
Now, there is some debate about who these heavenly figures are.
Some think it’s Gabriel throughout the whole chapter.
Some think it’s Gabriel and another angel.
Others, like myself, believe the figure in verses 4–9 is Christ Himself—
and that from verse 10 onward, Daniel is interacting with the angel Gabriel.
And that makes sense.
Because Gabriel is consistently shown in Scripture as a messenger angel:
not a warrior like Michael,
but one sent to speak, to reveal, and to explain.
Gabriel has already appeared twice before in this very book:
once in Daniel 8 to help Daniel understand a vision of future kingdoms.
and again in Daniel 9 to help him understand the 70 weeks.
Gabriel’s role is always the same:
to deliver messages,
to interpret visions,
to make truth known.
And that same role continues in the New Testament.
In Luke 1, Gabriel appears twice:
First to Zechariah, announcing the birth of John the Baptist—
and then to Mary, announcing the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ.
But even Gabriel isn’t a warrior angel like Michael
that doesn’t mean he’s not in the fight.
In fact, in verse 13, we learn he’s been delayed for 21 days,
because he’s been engaged in spiritual warfare,
resisted by the prince of Persia,
So Gabriel finally arrives,
and he touches a trembling Daniel and gets him off the ground onto his hands and knees,
and says in verse 11.
11 “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.”
Daniel has been waiting in silence for three weeks.
But heaven hasn’t been ignoring him—heaven has been fighting for him.
And now the message breaks through:
You are not forgotten.
You are not unseen.
You are greatly loved.
That word for loved is a Hebrew word which means “man of preciousness.”
And it’s the second time in the book Daniel has been called that,
with the first time being in chapter 9 with the prophecy of the 70 weeks.
Which means,
by the end of this chapter Daniel will have been called a man “greatly loved” by God, 3 times in total.
And this repeating emphasis is there for a reason…
It’s being being repeated NOT because God forgets…
but because WE forget.
And what we forget so easily is how greatly loved by God we are!
For we are GREATLY KNOWN by God.
And because we are greatly loved by God we are also greatly heard by Him.
which is why in verse 12, Gabriel says:
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.
This is a remarkable verse…
Because it tells us that heaven hears!
Our prayers are not cast into the cold void.
They are not lost in space.
They are heard—immediately!
not because we are perfect,
not because our prayers perfect,
but because we are greatly loved by our Perfect God!
As this verse tells us,
The very first day that Daniel set his heart to understand and humbled himself before God,
heaven responded.
He was not only heard,
he was answered,
as Gabriel was dispatched from the throne room of heaven,
sent across the battlefield of the unseen realm,
to deliver a glorious truth:
Aslan was on the move!
And what moved Him?
Daniel’s prayer.
If this doesn’t show us the importance and power of prayer, I don’t know what does!
Yes our God is completely sovereign and in full control of every micro-detail of human history!
But in His wisdom, He has ordained not only the ends,
but the MEANS to the ends,
which includes our prayers!
When I was in my mid-twenties,
I was in seminary,
I was wrestling through the doctrine of God’s sovereignty,
And I had finally come to accept it…
because before that, I had hated it…
I hated the idea of God Who has that much power,
but didn’t stop evil in the way I thought He should.
So I had finally swallowed that horse pill - which medicine my soul desperately needed,
but it left me confused and conflicted about prayer…
Why pray if God is sovereign?
Why plead with a God who already has the plan written?
And then one Sunday, I showed up to church,
and my pastor, Craig Muri, preached a sermon on the story of Hezekiah and the Assyrians.
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, was breathing down Jerusalem’s neck,
and God had already spoken through the prophet Isaiah.
He had already said:
“Don’t be afraid. I will handle this.”
But then Sennacherib sends another threat:
a second letter, mocking God again.
And this time, Hezekiah goes to the temple,
lays the letter before the Lord,
and prays.
And what happens next?
God speaks again through Isaiah and says:
21 … “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
And then goes on to detail how He will powerfully intervene on behalf of His people to stop Sennacherib.
Wait—what?
God had already promised to act.
So why does He then say after the fact, “Because you prayed I will do what I promised…”
And right there the penny dropped…
it finally clicked…
Yes, God is sovereign.
Yes, He will accomplish all His will.
But in His perfect wisdom,
He has ordained not just the ends,
but the means to those ends.
And one of those means is the faithful, trembling prayers of His people.
which is why our prayers really do matter church!
It’s why we have prayer meetings.
It’s why we emphasize prayer in our small groups.
And it’s why we’re working to launch more prayer opportunities—
including one before our Sunday morning worship services.
Because prayer moves the hand of an all-powerful God!
And it only moves Him in ways that are for His GLORY and our good,
because we are a people who are known and deeply loved by God,
just as Daniel was.
And because He knows and loves us,
He also promises to defend us.
To see our God on the move, we must remember we are:
1. Known
2. Defended
Even though Daniel’s prayer was heard on the very first day,
From Daniel’s perspective, it was radio silence for 21 says.
Why?
Not because heaven didn’t hear.
Not because God was ignoring him.
But because, as verse 13 tells us,
Gabriel wasn’t late.
He wasn’t wandering.
He was fighting.
For twenty-one days, he was resisted,
held back by a demonic ruler over Persia,
being fought to a stand still, and unable to bring Heaven’s message to Daniel.
until the Michael showed up and cleared the way.
Michael isn’t just any angel.
He’s the archangel—the commander.
The warrior angel of heaven.
He is mentioned only a few times in the Bible,
but every time we see him, he is fighting on behalf of God’s people.
For example, back in our study through the book of Jude we saw Michael engaged in spiritual warfare with Satan himself,
as they fought over the body of Moses,
Remember, Moses was the most respected and revered prophet of Israel.
and when he died, God buried him himself on the mountain,
in a place that no one knew…
Why?
We don’t fully know…
But it’s very possible that Satan was battling Michael over Moses’s body,
Because he knew that the idol-prone Israelites would have easily turned their reverence for Moses into worship…
And so God, in His mercy, dispatched Michael
to contend with Satan and protect His people from idolatry,
even after Moses’s death.
Then in Daniel 10:21, we see Michael referred to as “your prince”
which means he’s the national guardian angel of Israel.
He’s the one God assigns to defend His covenant people
against dark princes like the prince of Persia in verse 13.
Which brings us to an important truth…
something we don’t often think about:
There is a territorial structure in the unseen realm.
The Bible actually tells us that the world’s nations,
have been placed under the dominion of angelic powers.
In Deuteronomy 32:8–9, we read:
8 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. 9 But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
That phrase—“sons of God”—refers to angelic beings.
Which means: when God scattered the nations at Babel,
He assigned heavenly rulers over them.
Some of those rulers remained loyal.
Others were corrupt.
And here in Daniel 10, we’re getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the unseen realm
into that structure and the conflict that comes with it.
Which means, there are dark princes assigned over empires like Persia.
There are holy angels like Michael who are tasked to defend God’s people.
And this battle has been raging from the beginning.
And this battle isn’t just ancient history.
It’s not confined to the Tower of Babel, Daniel’s day, or Moses’s death.
This conflict stretches all the way into the future.
Because we see Michael again in Revelation 12.
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
Michael shows up again—leading the armies of heaven.
And once again, he’s doing what he always does: fighting for the people of God.
But this time, it’s not the prince of Persia he’s fighting.
It’s the dragon—Satan himself.
And just like in Daniel 10, Satan doesn’t go quietly.
There’s resistance.
There’s war.
But there is also victory.
Because the forces of heaven cannot be overthrown.
In verse 13, Gabriel also mentions how he was fighting “the kings of Persia” along with their prince demon,
which again,
provides us a glimpse into the unseen realm.
And what this shows us is a demonic army consisting of rule, authority, and power,
just as 1 Corinthians 15:24 does.
24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
There’s so many verses we could camp out on here.
But the Bible is full of passages that give us a glimpse into the unseen realm.
For example:
In Matthew 26:53, Jesus says:
53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
When Jesus says a Legion, He is referring to a Roman military unit,
which was about 6,000 soldiers…
And that’s just a drop in the bucket out of all of them!
In Revelation 12, we’re told that long before this final battle,
Satan rebelled and he took a third of the angels with him:
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth…
Those “stars” are symbolic of angelic beings - meant to represent their brilliance and number.
Which means that one-third of heaven’s original angels joined Satan in his rebellion,
and they now make up the demonic forces that resist God’s purposes in the world today.
They are not random.
They are not chaotic.
They are structured.
They are given titles like “rulers,” “authorities,” and “powers.”
They are:
Intelligent.
Strategic.
Ancient.
And they are hell-bent on destroying you.
This is why the Apostle Paul wrote:
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. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
And similarly, the apostle Peter writes:
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But wait a minute preacher…
You said only a third of the angels fell…
That means 2/3rd’s are on our side…
So the bad angels are outnumbered 2 to 1…
So what’s there to be worried about?
Well… Demonic forces aren’t the only enemy we face.
In Ephesians 2, Paul tells us that 1/3rd of the angels are only 1/3rd of our enemy…
because we also face THE WORLD, THE FLESH, and THE DEVIL.
Which means the war is:
Within us—in the cravings of our flesh,
Around us—in the pressures of a fallen world,
And upon us—in the assault of demonic powers that are hell-bent on destroying us.
This is not a metaphor.
This is not religious poetry.
This is reality.
And the only way to stand in it…
is to put on the armor of God and stand in His power.
Make no mistake… the enemies we face are stronger than us…
Collectively, they outnumber us.
Intellectually, they outshine us.
and in terms of power, we dwarf in comparison…
Which is why this modern idea of “rebuking Satan” is absolute nonsense.
Look:
If Jude tells us that Michael—the warrior archangel of heaven—refused to rebuke Satan,
but instead said, “The Lord rebuke you”…
then who on earth do we think we are trying to do it ourselves?
So no:
we don’t rebuke Satan.
We don’t talk trash to principalities and powers.
We don’t conquer territories or claim cities like we’re commanders of heaven.
We don’t stand in our own authority or power,
because we have none.
ABSOLUTELY NONE!
But…
we do stand.
Not by shouting at darkness,
Not by wielding our own name,
but by trusting in the name that is above every name.
The name of Jesus,
The only begotten Son of God,
Who showed Himself to Daniel before the veil was lifted and unseen realm was seen with all it’s glorifying terror.
Because Jesus is the one who crushed the serpent’s head.
Jesus is the one who disarmed the rulers and authorities,
putting them to open shame by triumphing over them at the cross.
And Jesus is the one who said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
And that is the mighty hand that holds us in the mist of the battle we don’t see.
To see our God on the move, we must remember we are:
1. Known
2. Defended
3. Held
After getting a glimpse of these horrifying realities…
after being told of angelic warfare, demonic opposition,
and the future suffering that waits for the Jewish people—
Daniel breaks.
He has no strength.
No voice.
No composure.
The veil has been lifted, and the weight is too much to bear.
Verses 15–18 tell us he becomes mute
his face to the ground, unable to speak or stand.
And so what does God do?
He doesn’t scold him.
He doesn’t say, “Come on, Daniel, toughen up.”
He doesn’t pull back and say, “You should be stronger than this.”
He touches him,
Twice.
As Gabriel strengthens him with a touch and with a word.
And in verse 19, he repeats the most precious words Daniel could hear:
19 And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.”
Sound familiar?
That phrase, “Be strong and of good courage”
is the same phrase God spoke to Joshua as he stood before the Promised Land in Joshua 1:9.
As they too were about to engage in warfare…
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Daniel then rises with new strength and says:
“Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
Which isn’t the Hebrew word “Lord God,”
it’s the word for “master” or “sir.”
But the point is,
Daniel rises with new strength for the fight.
Daniel’s not on a physical battlefield.
He’s not standing before giants or cities with walls.
But he’s standing in the middle of a spiritual war
and a terrifying prophetic vision that will define the future of his people.
And God says to him,
“You are greatly loved.”
“You are not alone.”
“So stand. Not in your strength, but in mine.”
Then in verses 20–21,
the messenger says something astounding.
20 … “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. 21 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 war isn’t over.
The angel has to go back into the fight.
Persia won’t be the last empire.
Greece is coming with it’s Prince demon.
And the spiritual battle will continue to rage behind the rise and fall of kingdoms.
But as verse 21 tells us, Michael is still fighting,
and the Word Gabriel speaks is inscribed in the book of truth…
Notice he doesn’t say what is being written.
He doesn’t say what is possible or up for negotiation.
He says what is already inscribed in God’s history book in heaven.
Which means:
The plan is written.
The outcome is secure.
The truth is fixed.
And the God who commands angels,
who permits delay but never defeat,
who holds Daniel when he’s too weak to stand,
is the same God who holds us in the palm of His hand,
and Who wrote our history with the blood of His Son.
Which means that all that Daniel is experiencing isn’t God reacting,
it’s God revealing.
It’s not panic in heaven…
it’s prophecy being fulfilled.
God is not adjusting to Persia.
He’s not scrambling when Greece rises.
He’s not overwhelmed by demonic resistance.
He has already written the end from the beginning.
And verse 1 of chapter 11 shows us this!
Which is one of the worst chapter breaks in the entire Bible….
I’m sure you know this, but God didn’t put the chapter breaks in…
Those came much, much later,
hundreds of years after the Scriptures were written.
And this is one of those places where the division interrupts the flow.
Because verse 1 of chapter 11 really should be the end of chapter 10.
Look at what Gabriel says:
1 “And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
He’s saying:
“Daniel, this war behind the veil? It didn’t start 21 days ago.
It’s been raging far longer than you’ve known.
And I’ve been part of it.”
“Back in the first year of Darius the Mede,
right when the Babylonian empire fell and Persia took the throne,
I was already there, strengthening him, confirming God’s purposes,
preparing the way for what’s unfolding now.”
That’s the very year—539 BC—when God moved the heart of a pagan king
to fulfill the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah.
It’s when Cyrus issued the decree that allowed the Jewish people to go home.
Back to Jerusalem.
Back to rebuild the temple.
Back to rebuild what had been lost.
And you can read it in Ezra chapter one.
the decree goes out in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia…
and Daniel 11:1 tells us Gabriel was there,
strengthening Darius,
influencing the court,
and pushing forward the unseen plan of God.
So Daniel’s not just hearing about angelic warfare,
he’s realizing that heaven had been fighting for Israel’s restoration
long before he saw any results.
And that’s what we need to see too.
Because as we said last week,
“ALL OF IT IS SPIRITUAL.”
In 2 Kings 6, with Elisha and his servant.
The king of Syria sends his army to surround the city of Dothan where Elisha is staying.
And early that morning, Elisha’s servant wakes up.
rubs the sleep from his eyes,
looks out over the city walls,
and is neither strong nor courageous.
Because they’re surrounded
By horses.
By chariots.
By an entire army.
And he runs to Elisha and says,
“Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
But Elisha doesn’t flinch.
He doesn’t panic.
He simply prays, saying:
“O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.”
And in that moment, the servant’s eyes are opened,
and what he sees the unseen realm.
and what he sees is:
the hills around them are full of horses and chariots of fire.
Heaven’s army is already in place.
They weren’t waiting to be summoned.
They were already there
Because ASLAN was on the move.
Just like He was with Daniel.
Just like He was with Hezekiah.
Just like He is with you and me.
That’s why Gabriel told Daniel to be,
“Strong and Courageous”
it was because the Lord His God was with Him and for Him!
Which is exactly what Daniel saw in verses 5-6 of chapter 10,
when the One who goes with him appeared with:
Eyes of flaming fire,
Arms like bronze,
and a voice like roar of a multitude.
Which showed Daniel that THE CAPTAIN of Heaven’s armies was with him and for him.
And that’s why you and I, along with Daniel can be strong and courageous.
Because the One who stood beside Daniel…
is the same One who stood in our place.
The Captain of Heaven’s Armies
became the Lamb who was slain.
The voice that roared like many waters
was silenced on a Roman cross.
The eyes like fire
closed in death
so that ours could be opened to everlasting life by grace through faith in Him.
And because He did,
We don’t fight for victory,
our fight is to live in the victory that He provided.
As we pray with confidence.
Suffer with hope.
And stand in the unseen battle
loved, defended, and held,
because Aslan is on the move,
and the Lion of Judah is coming again.
He is not absent.
He is not delayed.
He is not defeated,
He is enthroned in glory,
fighting
redeeming,
saving,
and returning soon to rule and reign as the king of kings and Lord of Lords.
