Daniel – Chapter 10b
Chapter 10 Outline
I. Fasting And Prayer (10:1-9)
a. The Fast (10:1-4)
1. The Duration (10:1-3)
2. The Location (10:4)
b. The Feast (9:5-12)
1. The Man’s Apparel (10:5)
2. The Man’s Appearance (10:6)
3. The Man’s Affect (10:7-9)
II. Hindrances and Deliverances (10:10-21)
a. The Reassurance (10:10-11)
b. The Revelation (10:12-14)
c. The Reaction (10:15-19)
d. The Resolution (10:20-21)
Message
I. Fasting And Prayer (10:1-9)
II. Hindrances and Deliverances (10:10-21)
a. The Reassurance (10:10-11)
Verse 10
It seems from this passage that the Man clothed in linen has now vanished from the scene and one of the angels, maybe Gabriel again, touched Daniel. The old prophet was on his face on the ground, but the ministry of the angel enabled him to lift himself to his hands and knees.
Then the angel spoke to him and this gave him the strength to stand upright. This reminds us that the angels ministered to our Lord after His temptation Matthew 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
An angel was also there with our Lord as He prayed in the Garden Luke 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Verse 11
This is the second time Daniel is addressed as greatly beloved (Daniel 9:23 and also see Daniel 10:19)…..
Even as a man “greatly beloved” of God, look at Daniel’s reaction I stood trembling. What a testimony to all those who have a spiritual pride. What a rebuke to those who think that they can command God and who use flippant and irreverent terms to address the One who sits on the heavenly throne.
b. The Revelation (10:12-14)
Verse 12
No delay occurred between Daniel’s prayer and God’s response. The moment Daniel began to pray, he was heard, and the answer was on its way.
There are many different reasons why we experience a delay in receiving an answer to our prayers. Sometimes it is because we are in no spiritual condition to receive the answer. Sometimes we ask amiss, and God withholds the answer to give us time to see for ourselves how wrong our request is.
Verse 13
Now Daniel learns what it was that hindered the response to his prayer. The prince of the kingdom of Persia was not a human prince. One angel in one night could slay Sennacherib’s army 2 Chronicles 32:21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria… No human prince could hinder an angel from delivering a message from God’s throne.
The “prince of Persia” was a fallen angel, one of Satan’s hierarchy. The New Testament tells us more about the various orders that exist among those spirit powers. We engage them in war when we pray. Paul reminded us in Ephesians 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Here we learn that Persia was ruled not only by a human prince, Cyrus, but also, in the unseen world, by a fallen angelic prince. From this we can see the ongoing conflict in the heavenlies. In this case, the Prince of Persia was able to hinder God’s herald and in the end Michael, one of the chief princes came to help the messenger. His arrival swung the balance of the conflict.
Let us look at some other Scriptures for a moment to shed some light on this unseen world.
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. Satan comes before the throne of God as the great adversary and accuser of the brethren.; he accused Job to God and desired to test Job’s faith.
The Lord did not deny this demand, but delivered Job into his hands (for Job’s own good.) So we can see from the Bible that God is able to use the devil to carry out His purposes for the blessing of His children. He has not, nor will He ever be, outwitted by Satan.
Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon. Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. The devil is the sifter of God’s wheat. The Lord wants His wheat sifted; He does not want chaff. When the devil is used to sift God’s wheat and His children are put in the devil’s sieve, not one grain of wheat is lost.
Don’t despair if you find yourself, like Job or Peter, in the devil’s sieve. It is God who is letting you be sifted like that because He has seen the chaff that is in your life and He wants the real to be separated from the false.
So from this we can see that good and evil angels have direct access to the presence of God.
Revelation 12:7-10 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, [8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [10] And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Here we see the end of Satan’s place as the accuser with access to Heaven. He is driven out by the same Michael who came to Gabriel’s assistance . This event will take place in the middle of the 70th week (mid way through the tribulation – 3 ½ years after the covenant is signed with Israel). After this, no foul spirit will ever have access to God’s presence.
Our foes are these wicked spirits; like the prince of the kingdom of Persia, they are ruling the hearts of men in these days of darkness. Paul warns us against their wiles. Satan’s task, at this present time, is to seek to deceive the people of God.
Verse 14
The vision to which the angel referred to is the long vision of Chapter 11. As we shall see, this amazing vision covers to entire period between the Old and New Testaments, from Malachi to Matthew. It then leaps over the Church age and focuses on what the angel calls “the latter days” John Phillips says that “this is one of the focal revelations of all prophecy.”
c. The Reaction (10:15-19)
Daniel realised the great significance of God’s plans for Israel, and once again he fainted and was unable to speak. Here he had been involved in a cosmic spiritual conflict and didn’t even know it, and the Lord was using some of His highest ranking angels to answer his prayers.
This certainly lifts prayer out of the level of humdrum religious exercise and shows it to be one of our strongest and most important spiritual weapons. The neglect of prayer is the reason why many churches and individual believers are so weak and defeated.
Someone has rightly said, “Much prayer, much power; no prayer, no power!” Jesus taught His disciples that the demonic forces could not be defeated except by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:14-21), the very activities that Daniel had been involved in for the last three weeks.
Once again the angel restored Daniel’s strength so that he could hear the prophetic message and record it for our learning. The angel tells him to be strong so that he could have the strength to be able to hear the long message that the angel brought to him.
d. The Resolution (10:20-21)
The angel was about to show Daniel the terrible and ceaseless conflicts that would take place on the earth in the years to come, conflicts that would ravage the Promised land again and again. Judah would be a pawn in the power plays of two rival kingdoms, one to the north the other to the south. That little land would become a battleground as hostile kingdoms marched to and fro one against the other.
Behind all of this turmoil are unseen and sinister spiritual forces. Satanic princes keep the world in upheaval. People wonder why peace on earth is such an impossible goal. One of the reasons is because Satan hates the human race. Why? Because man was made in the image and likeness of God, ever since the Fall Satan has delighted in tormenting and terrorising the people of this world.
Finally, the angel made it clear that the battle wasn’t yet over. As soon as he had finished instructing Daniel, Gabriel would return to assist Michael in battling the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece, two satanic angels who were opposing the plans of the Lord for these nations.
The ruler of Persia had shown great kindness and mercy in allowing the Jews to return home and Satan was against this decision (because it proves that God is faithful to His promises). Thankfully Judah was not left defenceless and unprotected from these hostile angels in this unseen world, they had Michael, a great warrior angel, Gabriel called him Michael your prince.
You can see now why God tells us to pray for those in authority over us, so that God’s will, not Satan’s plans, will be fulfilled in their lives (1 Timothy 2:1-3) The destiny of more than one nation have been changed because God’s people have fervently prayed.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Go, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
