End Times - Part 1
Daniel - A Giant Amongst Giants • Sermon • Submitted
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When we last left off, we started the second half of Daniel and we contemplated Daniel an learned about his four visions.
Daniel’s Visions
The Four Beasts
The Ram and the Goat
The Seventy Seeks
The Time of the End
We saw God revealing to Daniel His purpose concerning the grand plan for the future. What is now history to us, and where we can see very clearly what is happening with the benefit of hindsight, was still in Daniel’s future. In fact, much of it would happen long after Daniel’s death. All of it had to do with the nation of Israel and the everlasting kingdom to come.
In this second half of the tenth chapter of Daniel marks his final recorded vision. Starting in verse 14, we see Daniel prophesying events that will affect Daniel’s people (the Nation of Israel).
Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”
But remember, the words of Daniel’s visions were to be sealed until the time of the end.
And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Because of this, many people have taken this last part of Daniel to be all about end-times prophesy. But as we’ve been discovering, The time of the end meant something completely different to the Jews at the time than what it does to the modern day Christian. In fact we’ve found an incredible amount of fulfilled prophesy that has had nothing to do with the end times prophesies as they are taught to Christians today, so is this latter part of Daniel more of the same? Does it describe the end times as we think of it when Christ returns, or does it refer to God’s dealings with Israel as we discussed previously? Again, as I mentioned before, Daniel 10 is considered one of the most difficult passages of scripture to interpret. So let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing. Let’s just look at it with a clear mind, allowing scripture to speak for itself as much as possible.
The Mysterious Warrior
The Mysterious Warrior
Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.
A hand touches Daniel and causes him to tremble and become so terrified that he fell to his face, then the man calls him greatly beloved - a term which is now becoming very common for Daniel to hear.
At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
Now let me just pause here. Can you imagine what your confidence would be like, if you were constantly getting Words from the Lord about how beloved you are? Can you imagine the strength that knowing that would bring? Well saints, the good news is that God has sent you a love letter that is meant to remind you each and every day that you are God’s beloved. This is why it’s so important for you to stay in scripture and read about God’s goodness to you. Please don’t make assumptions about the goodness of God based upon how the world, or even other Christians treat you. Make your absolute conclusion on God’s love and His goodness based only on His word. That was for free, so now let’s get back to our study.
He then tells Daniel to understand what he’s about to hear, and you know, in spite of Daniel’s great fear, hearing those words of love from God, really made a difference. It gave him the strength to get on his feet. He’s still trembling, but he manages to get to his feet. Let’s continue...
Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.
The man then speaks words of comfort and reassurance to Daniel. He tells them that his humility and desire to understand is why he’s there. And then he tells him why it’s taken so long for him to receive his answer.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
The prince of the kingdom of Persia had been delaying the answer to prayer for three weeks. See saints, Daniel’s repentance and his mourning for the sins of Israel reached the throne room of heaven immediately, and immediately elicited a response from the Almighty, and the answer was sent back to Daniel, but remember, Jesus declared that Satan is the god of this world, and he has princes that do his bidding. The enemy only has dominion because of the sinfulness of humanity, but he does have some authority nevertheless. It seems that there was a fierce spiritual battle that took place and that delayed the response to Daniel’s prayer. But pastor, that’s old testament, surely things like that don’t happen today do they? Well, let’s take a look.
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
What about,
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Sometimes when our prayers are not immediately answered, it’s because of spiritual interference. And in this case, it was no regular spiritual warfare, it seems as one of the chief demons was withstanding Gabriel - He says that it was the Prince of Persia that was standing against him, and the reason he finally got through is because of the assistance of Michael - one of the chief princes. So the archangel Michael is not just a prince in the angelic realm, he’s a chief prince! We also understand the position and power of Michael in the angel hierarchy, when we consider who his equal is when it comes to angelic beings.
Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
and based upon what Gabriel says about Michael, we can also conclude that Michael is the archangel who has been appointed to be the guardian over Israel.
But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.
But all of this warfare, and the calling out of God’s big guns, has come down to this...
Daniel 10:14 (NKJV)
Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”
It’s all about making Daniel understand. There is an incredible amount of effort and spiritual warfare and it’s all being put out with one key thing in mind. It is all being made in order to help Daniel understand God’s plan. Mind you, this effort isn’t being put in to delivering Israel at this time. This amazing effort is going into answering one man’s prayer, by helping him to understand.
Saints, we need to know and accept that sometimes the only thing we will gain in prayer, is understanding. We may not get what we’re praying for, but we will always gain understanding if we open ourselves to trusting God completely to answer our prayers in the way that he deems to be the best to us.
In this case, the angel has come to help Daniel understand what will happen to his people, and what will occur “in the latter days”, or “many days yet to come”. As we discussed previously, the expression “the latter days” appears to refer to the time leading up to the comping of Messiah (i.e. the birth of Jesus).
But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
What is He specifically talking about? He’s talking about the last days, meaning the last days before Messiah was to arrive, the then and now. So with this in mind, let’s continue to see what’s going on with Daniel.
When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength. For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me.”
We see that while he was initially speechless. So much so that he turned his face toward the ground! Have you ever seen anybody so stunned that they can’t even look up. They are flabbergasted to the point of not being able to do anything. But then it says that when one with the likeness of the sons of men touched his lips, he was able to speak again. Now, some say that this is the pre-incarnate Jesus, otherwise known as a Christophany, but I don’t think so. The phrase here says one that looked like the sons of men - plural. Whenever the Bible speaks of Jesus, He is referred to as the Son of Man - singular. Most likely this is referring to Gabriel, as he is the one that helped him before, and besides, who really believes that Jesus would have needed Michael’s assistance to prevail against the devil? But at any rate, he touches Daniel’s lips and he can speak once again, but he is still suffering a big time depression and is pretty much sapped.
Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”
So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
There it is again, “O man greatly beloved, fear not!” Sometimes all we need when we in our deepest throws of despair is to be reminded of God’s great love for us. Even when we are facing death itself, sometimes it’s enough to know that God loves us. To know His goodness is all we need, to know His love gives us all the strength we need to carry on. So Gabriel imparts love and courage and peace to Daniel so he is ready to hear what the angel has to say, but the angel tells him that the battle isn’t yet over, because he has to return soon to battle the Prince of Persia.
Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.
And if that weren’t bad enough, no sooner than the battle with the prince of Persia is finished, the prince of Greece shows up to pick up where he left off.
But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.
“Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.)
So, before he leaves, he wants to be sure Daniel knows what is noted in “the Scripture of Truth”. He basically says that he has to fight these princes alone and only receives help from Michael, but he helps Michael out as well.
Putting it All Together
Putting it All Together
From this point until the end of Daniel, the vision of the end is revealed which will describe what happens in the latter days, something that will occur many days yet to come. We’ll pick up on that next week, but I want us to review what I think some of the important takeaways in this passage of scripture and that is this.
There is spiritual warfare that is going on all around us. Spiritual forces fighting against each other and withstanding one another. Sometimes answer to prayer is delayed because a spiritual battle may be taking place in order for us to receive that answer that God has provisioned for us.
Spiritual forces help each other in the battle. Spiritual forces may indeed be called upon to assist others, especially when their assignments overlap. Then “your” angel will get assistance.
There is a hierarchy amongst angels. With Michael being introduced as “one of the chief princes” and as “the prince who stands over your people” we are introduced to the concept of guardian angels, and even guardians over entire nations.
What does it all mean though? What does it mean to us individually. Well, we may not know a lot about spiritual warfare except that it’s real, and it’s going on today. It does make us more mindful of how we pray, knowing that out prayers may be affecting the outcome of the spiritual battles. And it gives more urgency to this well-known passage of scripture.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—