Daniel Chapter 10

Daniel

chapter 10: Spiritual Forces at War

Hebrews 1:14 asks, "are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" The archangel Michael helped this angel so he could be free from barriers in order to help Daniel.

Sometimes when we pray we struggle with patience, because we fail to understand the depth of the battle raging in the spiritual realm that causes delays even when an answer is immediately on its way. This chapter of Daniel is an excellent picture of how God is continually at work on our behalf even when we don't see the results of our prayers.

Daniel 10:14

Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the distant future, for the vision concerns a time many days away."

The vision will be an explanation of what Daniel already knows. He was in mourning because of a message about the future that concerned Israel and the Jewish people. Now he will receive the explanation so he can understand it.

Daniel 10:15

When he had said these words to me, I set my face toward the ground and became speechless.

Some Bibles say that Daniel "bowed" with his face to the ground, suggesting that Daniel was worshipping the angel, and one of the arguments in favor of considering that this was Jesus. However, that isn't entirely clear from the passage so we can't draw conclusions from it.

Daniel 10:16-18

Then one in the form of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, "O my lord, because of the vision I am filled with sorrow, and I have no strength left.

For how can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? I have no strength left in me and I can hardly breathe."

Again one who looked like a man touched me and strengthened me,

The prophet Isaiah had a vision in which he became speechless until an angel held a coal to his lips.

Angels are sometimes used to strengthen us when we are fatigued or weakened by spiritual issues. When Jesus was praying in agony in the Garden of Gesthemene, an angel came to give him strength.

Daniel 10:19-20

and said, "O man greatly loved, don't be afraid. Be filled with peace! Be strong now, be strong." When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Speak lord, for you have given me strength."

Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Shortly I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. When I have gone forth, the prince of Greece will come.

The spiritual battles continue to rage at all times, and this being will have to return to the fight. Notice the reference to the demon prince of the kingdom of Greece, which will not rise to prominence for another 200 years!

Daniel 10:21-11:1

But I will show you that what is written in the Book of Truth. No one supports me in these things except Michael your prince.

And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and strengthen him.

The angel says that he took action to support and protect someone from spiritual attack. Who was being protected? Some scholars think this refers to Darius, while others believe the reference is to Michael the Archangel. In other words, the sentence may read "And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect Michael the Archangel." Some Bibles present this view, but it is not completely certain that this is the meaning here.

Revelation 12:7 tells us that there was war in heaven and that Michael the archangel and his army fought against the dragon and his angels fought back. Currently Satan has been granted limited authority as the ruler of the space we live in (Ephesians 2:2). When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, one of the temptations Satan used was to promise him all the kingdoms of earth. It would not have been a temptation if Satan didn't have the right to make such an offer!

We should not assume that the angel's words about support mean that no one came to help him. It may just as easily mean that nobody was available to help him because they were assigned to other tasks. In other words, he may not have meant "I was helpless except for Michael's help" but instead could have meant "Only Michael was available to assist me." So this reference doesn't invalidate the view that this angel is the Messiah, though that view is far from certain and filled with debate.

The first verse of chapter 11 is actually the end of the angel's statement in chapter 10. Chapter and verse numbers were added centuries later. Speculation is that the passage was broken this way because the preceding verses have to do with the angel's alliance with Michael and the next (Daniel 11:1) with the angel's involvement with the life of the human king Darius the Mede.

Anti-Semetism in History

The Jewish people have many times in their history faced attempts to wipe them out of existence. Satan continually tries to block God's already published plan for Israel.

In this chapter of Daniel, the angel's reference to the battle with the spiritual king of Persia may be related to the attempt by Haman (still about 100 years away when this vision is given) to eliminate the Jews through the decree by Xerxes, the one thwarted with the help of Esther.

Another attempt to destroy the Jews was by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Later would come orders to expell the Jews from the Roman empire and during the Spanish inquisition, then of course the well-documented holocaust under Hitler.

It is clear that his continued attempt to eliminate the Jewish people means God's plan for the Jews is far from complete.

Attacks in the world against Christian beliefs, moral values and biblical foundations are other examples of ongoing war raging in the spiritual realms. We need to continue praying and acting on what we believe!