God Strengthens Daniel to Stand in the Battle

Shared on October 13, 2024

The veil is lifted off of the spiritual warfare that you and I are a part of today. Watch this week’s lesson as Pastor McCrary guides us through the angels ministering to Daniel after a spiritual battle to reach him. We will certainly see that there is more going on in our world than what we can physically see.

Introduction

For two months I preached a series of sermons – “The Battle of Good vs. Evil”.  In it I focused on a war that’s been waged since before you and I, our parents, grandparents, and so on were born.  The war is not between flesh and blood but principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness (Eph. 6:12).  Spiritual warfare is real and in our lesson this week, its veil is lifted for Daniel.

Daniel’s Mourning

In the opening of Daniel 10, we are told that Daniel had been mourning for three full weeks (Dan. 10:2).  Because he was mourning, Daniel had eaten no pleasant food, meat, nor drank any wine— he was fasting.  Fasting, when done properly, is a means for one to draw closer to God and gain understanding.  

Why was he in mourning?  Scripture doesn’t exactly tell us why Daniel was mourning.  If we try to speculate, we could assume he was troubled about his people?  This took place during the third year of Cyrus and we know that one group of Jews had already returned back to Jerusalem.  Upon their return, the Jews faced many hardships.  

For example, the rebuilding and restoration of the temple was met with adversity and delay.  The temple wasn’t completed until the sixth year of Darius’ reign (Ezr. 6:15) – twenty years after the return.  The restoring of the walls didn’t begin until Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes’ reign (Neh. 2:1-11) –  nearly 70 years after the temple was completed.  So, it’s very possible that Daniel was troubled by the trouble his people were facing in Jerusalem, but again, scripture doesn’t tell us exactly.

Vision of Christ Full of Glory

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, Daniel had a vision of a “certain man” who was clothed in linen, had a belt of gold around his waist (Dan. 10:4-5).  

There has been discussion for quite some time about who the certain man is with some saying an angel while others say it’s the preincarnate Christ.  Before my dad passed away, me and him had been discussing this passage of scripture.  At that time, I had nearly made it to Daniel as I was reading all 66 books of the Bible.  We were going to discuss it more once I got into the book but he passed away before I got into Daniel.

That said, we both agreed that the certain man could be nobody but Christ.  Some suggest it’s not Christ because Daniel doesn’t identify the certain man as Christ – I disagree.  I believe Daniel is pretty straightforward in identifying that this was Christ.  What are the clues?

The first clue is Daniel saying that the vision was of a “certain man”.  Just as he did in his vision of the Son of Man coming in the clouds, Daniel used a phrase that Christ would later use.  There are several parables where Jesus used the figure of “a certain man” to represent God or to represent Himself.  I do not think it to be a coincidence that Daniel used the phrase “a certain man” since he was being guided by the Spirit in sharing this vision.

The second clues come from Daniel’s descriptions of the certain, so, let’s pay close attention to the descriptions.  The face of the certain man, Daniel described, was the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like torches of fire (Dan. 10:6).  In other words, the eyes of the certain man were eyes of judgment.  Angels don’t judge as judgment belongs to the Lord.

Continuing in that same vision, Daniel said the certain man had arms and feet that were bronze in color and his words were like the voice of a multitude (Dan. 10:6).  Keep these descriptions in mind as we will turn over to the Revelation of Christ and see John’s description of the Son of Man.  

John described seeing the Son of Man in the fullness of His glory in his vision.  Christ was clothed with a garment that went down to His feet and girded about the chest with a belt of gold (Rev. 1:12-13).  Christ had hair that was white like wool and His eyes like a flame of fire (Rev. 1:14).  The feet of Christ were described as being like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace and His voice as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15).

So, to me, Daniel had seen a vision of the Son of Man – Christ, the Lord.  I believe He was seeing Christ in the fullness of His glory just as he had seen when he saw the second coming of Christ.  This would be the second appearance of Christ in the book of Daniel.  This was a vision that only Daniel had seen even though he was with other men (Dan. 10:7).  

God Sends Daniel Help

So, why was Daniel seeing Christ?  Well, he had been mounting and fasting, trying to draw closer to the Lord.  He certainly accomplished that, didn’t he?  However, Daniel was unable to fully receive the vision as his body began to give out.  Daniel could only hear the words of the “certain man” as he hit the ground (Dan. 10:8-9).

So, our lesson opens up with Daniel having been laid out on the ground with his face to the ground.  We are told that suddenly a hand touched Daniel which caused him to get to his hands and his knees (Dan. 10:10). 

The one that touched Daniel said to him, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you (Dan. 10:11).”  The one who touched Daniel was an angel that was sent by God.  Don’t overlook the fact that Daniel was greatly beloved by the Lord – I believe this is true for all of those in fellowship with God.

So, why was the angel sent to Daniel?  I’ll point back to the fact that Daniel had been reaching out to the Lord through his fasting and prayer. Christ was essentially giving an answer to Daniel’s prayer but Daniel passed out.  Daniel “heard the sound of his words” which implies that he had no clarity of Christ’s answer.  So, the angel was sent to give Daniel an answer to his prayers he had been praying while fasting for three weeks.  

The Waging of Spiritual Warfare

Now, what we will begin to see in the next few verses is the veil being lifted on the spiritual warfare being waged even to this day.  The angel said to Daniel, “from the first day that you set your heart to understand … your words were heard; and I have come because of your words (Dan. 10:12).  What words?  

Daniel, I will speculate again, may have been seeking to understand why his people were having struggles upon returning to Jerusalem.  Again, I want to reiterate, that is just my speculation as I can’t say for a fact what Daniel sought to understand.  However, I do want to point out that Daniel’s prayer was heard the first day he set his heart to understand.  God hears our prayers right away and even has an immediate answer for us.

Blocking God’s answer to prayers

However, the angel told Daniel that the “prince” of the kingdom of Persia withstood it for twenty-one days (Dan. 10:13)Who can withstand an angel?  Is this prince in reference to Cyrus?  Could Cyrus, a mere mortal man, withstand an angel of God?  Absolutely not!  Who is this prince?

The angel continued and told Daniel that Michael, “one of the chief princes”, had to come and help.  The angel admitted to Daniel that it was not able to withstand the kings of Persia alone.  Again, notice that angel called Micahel one of the “chief princes”.  

The Michael being spoken of in this scripture is the same Michael of Revelation 12.  “And war broke out in heaven:  Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.  So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan (Rev. 12:7-9)…”

Jude, in his letter, referred to Michael as the archangel who contends with the devil (Jude 9).  The angel considering Michael as one of the “chief princes” is something that should be noted.  Michael is an angel of a higher class than the angel that was sent to deliver God’s answer to his prayer.

The fact that the one who withstood the angel for twenty-one days was referred to as the prince of the kingdom should also be eye opening.  There was another angel that was hindering the angel sent to Daniel.  The fact that Michael had to come help shows that the other angel was a bit much for the one sent to Daniel.  

Was it Satan withstanding the angel that was sent to Daniel?  I don’t think so.  The reason why I say that is because I believe the angel would have referred to the devil by name.  The fact that he was prince of a region and was standing against the angel from God definitely implies that angel was a demon of Satan – one in a high role in Satan’s army.

Every time I study this passage of scripture, I am blown away that the angel from God was blocked from reaching Daniel for twenty-one days!  Does something like this still happen today?  I certainly believe so.  Satan wages war against the Lord by trying to hinder us.  One of his first measures of attack is trying to block God’s message from getting to us.

The renewing of our strength

Now, in this battle of good and evil, we must not ever stop leaning on the Lord and calling on Him.  Why is that?  Because we face an adversary that throws everything he has at us trying to weigh us down.  Life, with all its trials and tribulations, also can weigh on us.  

Jesus encouraged all of those who labor and are heavy laden to come to Him so that He can give them rest (Matt. 11:28).  Daniel was one of those that had done just that.  So, the angel, with the help of Michael, overcame their opposition and he stood with Daniel.  The angel sought to give Daniel understanding of what would happen to his people in the latter days (Dan. 10:14).  This is why I believe Daniel had been mourning his people.

The words of the angel caused Daniel to become speechless and then we are told that another, having the likeness of the sons of men” touched Daniel’s lips (Dan. 10:16).  Is this another angel?  Yes.  Again, we aren’t given a name for the angels but we are seeing how they minister to us.

In this case, after his lips were touched, Daniel opened his mouth and spoke; this implies Daniel was given strength to speak.  Daniel stated that sorrow had overwhelmed him because of the vision.  The vision in mind here would have to be the one covered in this chapter of Daniel seeing Christ full of glory.  

Now, sorrow is certainly not what one should feel when being in the presence of Christ.  So, these visions were really starting to take a toll on Daniel.  However, as I said in last week’s sermon and lesson, Daniel’s visions, while showing trouble, weren’t meant to make us troubled.  Daniel’s visions were meant to inspire hope and to prepare us for what’s to come.

So, the angel that had taken the likeness of a man touched Daniel again and strengthened him (Dan. 10:18).  The angel said to Daniel, “Fear not!  Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”  This very much sounds like what Jesus said to the disciples when He told them that He would be leaving this world.  “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).”

These angels were ministering and renewing Daniel’s strength in the spiritual warfare that still takes place today.  As the angels ministered to Daniel, they still do for all of God’s children.  To Daniel, they strengthened him by ministering the word of God, and I tell you that they do the same for all of us today.  

We need this renewal of strength in all that we face and go through in life.  We are going to have days where we are filled with great joy.  Then we are going to have other days where we mourn and are in sorrow because of what we and our loved ones go through.  That being said, let us take a way that the Lord will never leave us to sulk in our sorrows.  No, God will lift you up!


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