Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Daniel 10 | Date: June 30, 2019 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Introduction

Daniel chapter 10, working our way through Daniel’s prophecies, and this chapter, if any you have seen anywhere, is a strange chapter. But it is a major contribution to our understanding of the doctrine of angels, and I hope to see that as we go through. Daniel chapter 10, let’s take the time to read through the chapter.

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 24th 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 on 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 21 days. But Michael came, one of the chief princes, came to help me. For I was left there with the king 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 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 men 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.” And 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.”

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, this is an unusual passage of Scripture, and yet we are convinced that you have given it to us for our benefit. We ask that you will give us a right understanding of it. We pray that you would encourage us by it. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Daniel chapters 10, 11, and 12 all are one single unit. Fear not, I will not try to preach through all three chapters this morning. Sunday after Vacation Bible School, most of you would be sleeping anyway. Daniel chapter 10 gives us the setting of the vision that comes in chapters 11 and 12. In chapter 10 here, in the setting, we have a heavenly messenger that comes and appears to Daniel in response to Daniel’s prayers, and he reveals to Daniel what is to come. And what is to come is explained then in chapters 11 and 12. It’s the content of that vision and it has to do with Israel through the coming centuries and then on to the consummation.

Well, Chapter 10, as I say, is the setting. It’s the prologue to that vision. It gives us the background. It gives us Daniel’s own experience as to how this vision came about. And it provides some fascinating insight into some unseen factors that make our world and our culture what it is.

The Setting Of The Vision

He gives us in verse 1 the date of this vision. He dates the event for us as the third year of Cyrus in Babylon. That would be about 536 BC. This is then after the Babylonian Empire has been toppled. The Medo-Persian Empire has taken over. In fact, this is after now Cyrus has made the decree allowing the people of Israel to go back to their land—those that would. This is then the last of Daniel’s visions. He’s an old man at this point, no doubt over 80 years old, perhaps over 90.

Verse 4, he dates the visitation of the messenger as the 24th of Nisan. That is, April the 23rd on our calendar. And he says in verse 2 that he’s been in mourning for three weeks. So since April 1st or 2nd, he’s been in mourning. And now three weeks later, this angel shows up.

Now, why was Daniel in mourning? It’s not told us explicitly here, but it’s pretty obvious given the historical context that he’s concerned about his people. He’s concerned about the city of Jerusalem. He’s concerned about the rebuilding and those who have gone back. He knew that Cyrus had issued the decree allowing the Jews to return home and some had gone back. Daniel himself was not part of the group that went back. Why did he not go back? Don’t know. Perhaps it’s because he was just too old. Perhaps it’s because he had important roles to play back in Babylon, serving in the palace as an advisor there, so he could be of support in that way. That could be it. Some have suggested perhaps he just remained back as a prayer supporter for those who went.

Well, he’s at least doing that because that’s what we see happening here in the opening verses of chapter 10. But he also knows, Daniel also knows, that relatively few of the people of Israel were carried off into exile into Babylon 70 years before. And now they’re children and children’s children. Very few of them went back to Jerusalem when they were allowed to go. There’s evidently some discouragement—at least not enough zeal on their part to make the trip. You might remember that we saw early on in Daniel chapter 1, when we introduced this whole setting, we saw the remark from the Psalms that was written in this context: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” They want us here in Babylon to sing of the Lord. Well, we can’t do that. We’re not back at home. Well here now, evidently, they’re not concerned enough at this point to go back home and sing that song either.

There’s evidently some kind of discouragement going on and so relatively few people went back. Those who go back are facing all kinds of opposition. It is a crisis point that Daniel recognizes—a crisis with regard to God’s purpose and with regard to His promise. Would the Jews ever be reestablished in their land as God had promised? Would the city be rebuilt? Would the temple be rebuilt? And what about God’s purpose to restore the kingdom to Israel? What about all of this that God has promised? Will it happen or not? It seems to be a real crisis point and it seems that now is why Daniel in the opening verses here is in mourning and in prayer. And so he prays for the success of their efforts back in Jerusalem—a success, by the way, that Daniel himself would never see. He’s back in Babylon.

Well, verses two and three tell us that he is in mourning. He’s fasting—sort of a semi-fast—and praying. Says he didn’t anoint himself with oil at all during this period. Anointing yourself with oil in the ancient Near East was a very common practice. A matter of soothing and massaging it in makes one feel better. Our equivalent might be something like, “I didn’t even do the luxury of a hot shower. I just gave myself to prayer and giving myself to God and asking for His help.”

Well, then in verses 4 and following, Daniel, after three weeks, is standing on the banks of the Tigris River, and a visitor shows up. And it’s not your average house guest. And it’s a visionary experience, we learn in verse 7. Those men who were with him don’t see it. In fact, they scatter. They’re scared to death. Whatever’s going on, it frightens them, and so they leave.

And then in verses 5 and 6, he describes this visitor’s radiant appearance. Look at that: “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.” So we have this radiant, majestic figure showing up in Daniel’s presence for him to see. If he is not a divine being, at least he’s a man of heavenly origin of some kind, and he dazzles in his brilliance and his majesty, and Daniel is taken by it.

That says that he’s a man. Obviously, this is not a flesh and blood human being, but a being with the appearance of a man. And as you can imagine, there has been all kinds of ink spilled here trying to determine just who was this. Who is this being? Is it Gabriel, the one who has shown up earlier in Daniel’s prophecy? It’s not Michael because he talks about Michael as separate from him. Many have suggested this is in fact a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. There is some evidence for that. The description that he gives surpasses the description that he gives earlier of Gabriel and other angels that have come. He’s more radiant, he’s more powerful. The description that he gives actually resembles the description that we are given of God in Ezekiel chapter 1 and in Revelation chapter 1. It sounds like a divine being.

And in fact, the encounter so drains Daniel of his energy that he’s unable to speak. He loses consciousness for a while. He has to be strengthened in order to carry on the conversation. The reaction of the men scattering and leaving reminds us of the reaction of those men in Saul’s vision of Jesus in Acts chapter 9. And Daniel then addresses this visitor with terms of reverence three times over: “my Lord, my Lord, my Lord.” And he doesn’t give that kind of language to any of his other angelic encounters. Well, does that mean then that this is in fact the Son of God revealing Himself before His incarnation? I suppose we can’t be certain, but at least it is some reflection of the divine majesty here—God making His presence known to Daniel in some way.

Now it says in verse 5, he is clothed with linen and a belt of fine gold and so on. That’s the attire of the priest. So is he showing up now to make intercession for the people of Israel? Showing up now to assure him of forgiveness? Well then in verses 8 and following, we read that Daniel is deeply affected by this experience. He’s not exhilarated by it. He’s not excited. He’s drained. He’s emotionally exhausted by it. He’s confronted with divine majesty and it melts him. And when the visitor speaks, Daniel himself trembles and requires some kind of help to be strengthened to carry on the conversation.

And then verse 11, what this visitor has to say to Daniel is just astonishing. He greets him saying, “You are a man greatly loved.” If you have the New International Version, it’s translated there, I think, “you are highly esteemed.” The Hebrew reads, “a man of preciousness.” Here’s a man who, receiving a heavenly visitor, the visitor tells him, “You’re a man greatly loved,” that is, by God. Now we’ve seen earlier in the book of Daniel that several times we are told that Daniel was a man with an excellent spirit. That’s never defined for us except by the context, which seems to show us that this is a man who is known by his integrity—a man who is wise, a man who has insight into the times, a man who hears from God, a man who’s faithful and principled. And he has this reputation in Daniel and in the king’s court of a man with an excellent spirit. You get the impression that he’s a man that has such a bearing and such a presence about him that he commands respect.

Well, you’ve probably heard the old saying that reputation is what others think you are; character is what God knows you are. In Daniel’s case, evidently the two coalesce. And in God’s estimation, here is a man of an excellent spirit and he’s greatly loved by God and esteemed by Him. I can think of one New Testament parallel for that, and that is in our Lord’s parables, when He greets His servants and says to the faithful, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.”

Well evidently, Daniel has been praying to know God’s purpose for Israel. And so verse 14, this visitor says, “I 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.” Daniel was concerned about the people of Israel; what will come of them? What of all that God has promised for them? What of the rebuilding of the city? What of the rebuilding of the temple? What of the kingdom that God has promised? What about all of this that we’re supposed to receive because of God’s promise? He’s concerned about that and he’s praying, and now this visitor shows up and says, “I’ve come to let you in on all of that. I’ll tell you what it’s all about.” In verse 14, the vision, he says, concerns the latter days—the centuries to come and culminating, as we’ve seen so often in Daniel’s prophecy, culminating in the consummation itself at the end of the age. Now we’ll look into that. The content of that vision is chapters 11 and 12 and we’ll begin that next time.

A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Spirit World

But for today, let’s look at this angel’s explanation of the circumstances. It’s just a remarkable thing. It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes kind of look that we get of what’s going on. It’s just, I think, as remarkable as the prophecy itself. And it introduces us to a whole world of reality all around us that we don’t see, a reality of which we are completely unaware, except that it’s been revealed to us here in passages like this. And this, as I said earlier, is a major contribution to our understanding of these kinds of things. There’s not another passage quite like it in the whole of Scripture.

Look again at verses 12 and following: “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 king 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 to come.'”

That is to say, Daniel, the day you began to pray, I was sent. And I was sent to come and tell you what was going on and to give you this message from God. Three weeks have passed. And the reason three weeks have passed before I got here, he says, is because the Prince of Persia was opposing me. He was holding me up. And then finally, Michael came to assist me. And because Michael came to assist me, finally I was able to get here.

Fascinating. What in the world is going on with all of that? Some kind of struggle, some kind of conflict in the spirit world that is specifically related to Daniel and his situation, his circumstances there. Now notice some specifics here. Verse 13, the Prince of Persia. Who in the world is that who is contending with this heavenly being? The Prince of Persia evidently is an angelic—probably fallen angel—a demonic figure of some kind. And so we have these angelic beings in conflict regarding Daniel’s circumstances.

Again in verse 13, Michael is mentioned. Michael, one of the chief princes. Now you might remember recently in the Sunday morning messages, Pastor Boyd worked his way through Jude and we found in verse nine there that Michael was referred to there as the archangel. Here, one of the chief princes. So we have the Prince of Persia, we have in verse 13 also Michael, one of the chief princes. Then verse 20, if you look down there, he says, “Now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.” So we have another angelic being, some fallen angelic being struggling against this messenger from heaven. And then verse 21, “Michael, your prince.” Michael, your prince. That is Israel’s prince. And if there’s any doubt as to what that means, go forward to chapter 12 and verse 1 and you’ll see “Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people.” Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. So this is Israel’s angel, Michael.

Now all of this clash of kingdoms then that we’ve been seeing in Daniel, this back and forth and these international conflicts, all of this is presented to us here now in terms of a conflict in the spirit world above it all. Verse 13, the prince of Persia withstood me for three weeks. Verse 20, now I’ll return to fight against the Prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the Prince of Greece will come. And so we have this international conflict that is first of all—first of all—a conflict in the spirit world and then gives expression in our world. Fascinating. And we have, as I say, insight here into the spirit world that we’re given virtually nowhere else in the Scriptures.

Now we know from other passages in the Scriptures a few details about the spirit world, the angelic world. We have little hints and clues of it here and there through the Scriptures. We have, for example, enough terminology used with regard to the angels and the demons to know that there is some kind of organization among them, some kind of hierarchy, some kind of delegation of authorities and realms of authority and things like that. Paul, for example, refers to the principalities, the powers, the dominions, the authorities, and so on. And here in Daniel 10, we learn that angelic beings, at least some of them, are given specific areas of responsibility over nations—responsibilities and functions that we are let in on only occasionally in the Scriptures, and here we’re given a little bit more insight into it.

It’s fascinating to imagine how this works. Evidently—and again, we’re not given extensive information here—but evidently, there is a world all around us that is very real, angels and demons in conflict, each of whom with delegated areas of responsibility under them, carrying out their responsibilities and their respective objectives against one another concerning their areas of responsibility in their fight. Now over it all, of course, is God. Just like we are left to go about our own thing here on earth knowing that, of course, God oversees it all and He is sovereign over it all. That’s the lesson of Daniel chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzar’s tree dream, you’ll remember that; he learned who reigns. But evidently in the spirit world there is something like that akin to our world where we have these ranks and authorities of angelic beings carrying out their respective missions concerning affairs here in our world. Fascinating revelation. All around us, a very real, related world to us that we can’t see, influencing, in fact, what we see in our world in major ways. And we’re just now told that that’s what’s going on because it’s not something that we can see. But it is a real conflict, nonetheless.

Now there’s one illustration of this that we have elsewhere in Scripture. And again, it’s just a brief one, but I want you to go back and look at it in 2 Kings chapter 6. 2 Kings chapter 6. I won’t take time to read the whole passage, but I’ll give you the setting. Here we have the king of Syria making war against Israel. And the king of Syria plans a battle. And he plans the sabotage on Israel. “We know that the king of Israel and his troops are going to be coming through here at such and such a time. We’re going to lay a trap for them. And when they come to such and such a point, we’ll sabotage them. It’ll be a great ambush. We’ll rout them. And we won’t have to hear about Israel ever again.”

Well, it’s a foolproof plan. It’s going to work unless someone leaks the information. But what they didn’t realize is that in Israel, there’s a prophet. And God tells things to prophets. And so Elisha is told, and Elisha says to the king of Israel, “Hey, don’t do that because if you do, they’re going to ambush you.” And so they don’t. And the king of Syria now is upset because who leaked this information? “It wasn’t us, we didn’t do it.” “They’ve got a prophet in Israel. He told them about it.” “Get me that prophet. I want that guy.” And so he sends his soldiers with horses and chariots—that is with all the heavy artillery, because that’s what you need to get a prophet, I guess. Sends all the heavy artillery to go get Elisha and pick him up, bring him back to the king of Syria.

Meanwhile Elisha is back at home. His servant looks up and says, “Oh, no.” And he sees these horses and chariots and the armies of Assyrians coming. And he said, “This doesn’t look good.” And he says to Elisha, “What are we going to do?” And Elisha says, “Ah, don’t worry.” And what he says is fascinating: “There are more of us than there are of them.” And his servant does a double take and he scratches his head. And then verse 17: “Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” And when the Assyrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Lord, please strike this people with blindness.” And that was that. And it was over. And verse 23 tells us the Syrians never came again against Israel.

Well, there it was. The servant couldn’t see it until God opened his eyes to see it. But isn’t this a fascinating revelation? That all around them, unbeknownst to them, there’s more of us than there are of them. Fascinating. And Daniel 10 now tells us that these angels, some of them, have specific areas of responsibility, namely nations.

I’m sure some of you have heard some of the stories that come out of World War I, World War II—some famous stories. Among the most famous in this regard, in this category, is in 1914, in a battle in Belgium. A fierce battle between British troops and German troops. They were coming into conflict and it was a particularly fierce battle. And afterwards, both the soldiers and the officers on the British and the German side—soldiers and officers on both the British and the German side—report the same thing: that standing between them, particularly at the fiercest part of the battle, were angels hovering over the battlefield with their hands out against the soldiers.

Okay. I’m not sure what all to do with that, but I learned here that I can’t just dismiss that. It’s a fascinating revelation that we have. And Daniel 10 is telling us that that is not some isolated experience, but this is God watching over His people and over His people in this world above us that is very real. In fact, Daniel chapter 11 in verse one, I think should go with chapter 10—what precedes: “As for me,” the visitor says, “in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.” In the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to strengthen him and to confirm him. This heavenly visitor, in the first year of Darius, made it happen.

Remember, this is God at work, and God has sent an angel, and he is saying now, “I’m the one that made that happen.” This man has been in alliance—whoever this visitor is—has been in alliance with Michael against the demons of Persia and Greece now for several years. And what occasioned this particular conflict, he says, was the restoration of Israel to her land and these circumstances. And it seems then that Satan is trying to thwart the purpose of God in the return of His people to the land. And these angelic beings are at conflict to carry out God’s purpose in it all.

This, by the way, informs a later frightening moment you remember in the history of Israel in Persia some years later. We read of it in the book of Esther. You remember Haman plots against the people of Israel to exterminate them all. Mordecai overhears the plan and reports it to Esther. Esther goes and intercedes with the king and you get this beautiful irony at the end of the story that Haman is hanging on his own gallows. Here we find out that all of that is the outworking of Michael struggling against the Prince of Persia. It is not an accident that Mordecai overheard that conversation. It’s not an accident that the king received Esther when she came to intercede. There’s another world at work making these things happen.

The Struggle Between The City Of God And The City Of Man

Well, Daniel chapter 10 then is, as I say, a fascinating and a massively important insight that we get into life behind the scenes—history behind the scenes. History is not just the outworking of so many human activities. History is not the outworking of just so many human choices. Not just the outworking of so much activity on the human level.

Many of you are fans of the works of C.S. Lewis. I have not read a lot of C.S. Lewis. I’ve read enough to know that he’s one of the best writers I’ve ever read. Amazing writer. Some of his theology is terrible. Some of it’s very good. Most of what he writes is very good. I was not aware until this year of a novel that he wrote by the title of That Hideous Strength. I heard of it twice in just recent months. One, a book that I’ve read this year borrowed the title and borrowed from his theme. And another was from a pastor friend of mine who read the book and told me about it. Evidently, That Hideous Strength is a novel about the corruption of society and the evil forces at work to corrupt society. So it’s got a lot of this supernaturalism at work and angelic beings and things like that.

C.S. Lewis makes reference to that and evidently his reviewers, many of them who didn’t share any kind of biblical worldview, didn’t like that. It was too fanciful. And Lewis responds to that and he says, “Apparently reviewers will not tolerate a mixture of the realistic and the supernatural.” Which he says is a pity because, “A, it’s just the mixture I like. And B, we have to put up with it in real life.” Well, at that point, he’s right on target.

Paul tells us, for example, in Ephesians chapter 2: “You were dead in trespasses and sins in which you walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also walked in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” Walking in lockstep to Satan. Has it ever struck you that evil in our society and this awful cultural drift that we are witnessing in our generation—has it ever struck you that the forces of evil seem so organized? And here we’re let in on that, that there is something above it. Now, there’s much organization, much more than meets the eye. There’s much organization on the human level as well. But above that, we find that that is not pure coincidence. But we have the forces of evil at work.

Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6, “we struggle not against flesh and blood.” Well, in point of fact, we do. These people that are corrupting our society are flesh and blood. The opponents of Christianity are flesh and blood. But in ultimate terms, we do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And all of that, in turn, is just the outworking of what we learned at the beginning in Genesis 3: “I’ll put enmity between you, Satan, and the woman, between your seed and her seed.” And there’s going to be this endless conflict between the devil against the people of God.

And that, of course, comes to its climax in the book of Revelation, especially chapters 11 and following, where Satan inspires the beast and the false prophet against the people of God. Unseen, but very real—this is the world we live in. Job certainly experienced that, didn’t he? All of his suffering was not because of anything else, but that he was faithful, and so drew enemy fire. In a world above him that he couldn’t see, of which he was completely unaware, accusations were made and attacks came. And not for him only, but Moses tells us in Psalm 91 that God says He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They’ll bear you up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone. I suspect we just cannot imagine how many times the people of God have been preserved and spared because of the activity of God’s messengers unseen to us.

And Daniel 10 is telling us now that that is true on the national and international level as well. History, our cultural drifts, and even the individual experiences of the people of God—these are not just the chance happenings explained by so much human activity. And in fact, we learn in Daniel chapter 10, history is made not in Washington, and not in Moscow, and not in Beijing, and not in Pyongyang, not in Tehran. The real struggle is between the city of God and the city of man. And it works its way out in our experience.

Another important lesson here in this chapter is that precisely because these ultimate battles are fought in this unseen world, and precisely because the conflict exists in a spirit world, Christians must pray for God to be at work. There’s no room for self-sufficiency here. Daniel is at prayer, and that is the example for us. Are you concerned about the current cultural drift with such a vengeance to the left in our society? I am. So what do we do about it? Political activism? I’m all for it. We can do that. I’m all for it. Anything you can say or do to influence people, I’m all for it. But we ought to remember, oughtn’t we, that above it all are other forces at work and we must pray.

And we should also remember here in Daniel chapter 10 that although in some ways this spirit world is much like our world—forces of angels at work carrying out their thing just like we do in our world carrying out our thing, God ruling over it all—just as there are so many similarities between the two worlds, there’s one thing that’s different. And that is in this world, the prince of Persia dominates lowly Israel. In that world, the great chief prince, Michael, contends for Israel. And in God’s time, Israel will be saved.

Well, Daniel is overwhelmed by all of this. In verses 16 to 19, the angel strengthens him. Verses 20 and 21, the visitor tells him he’s still in combat, but there’s still combat going on, so he has to return to it. “The Prince of Greece will be coming too. I’ve got to fight against him. Michael will come.” And it’s encouraging for Daniel to know that he has these great champions fighting for him. And the same encouragement is for us. In the drift of our culture, the rise of evil, the rise of violence, the rise of everything that’s wrong, both societally and internationally, and the rise of all of this evil, we have a great champion fighting for our cause.

And if we are right, that this heavenly visitor is in fact a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus, then we see all the more clearly how this battle will be won. Our Lord Jesus has come, He’s gone to the cross, He’s earned His kingship, He’s taken the sin of men and women to Himself and He’s stripped the devil of his authority and He’s taken all authority to Himself. “All authority in heaven and earth,” He says, “is mine.”

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing. We’re not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Just ask who that may be. Of course, Christ Jesus it is He, Lord Sabaoth, Lord of hosts is His name, from age to age the same, and He must and He will win the battle. Amen.

Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, You have let us in on so much. We thank you for it. We pray that you will encourage us by it, encourage us with the knowledge that we have one who is all powerful, championing our cause. We ask that all the authority that is His would be brought to bear on this world in the fullest way soon. Lord Jesus, come quickly, we pray, amen.