Daniel: Spiritual War
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Intro
Intro
Ready to have you mind blown?
I know for some of you what you will hear this morning will be new and weird and wonderful. It will open up you eyes to read the scripture in a way that you’ve never appreciated before.
Some of you will think it’s crazy, and I can live with that. Some of our English translations obscure this topic.
Although we treat this Bible as one book, it is actually a collection of different books collated together. The amazing thing is that although it is different writings with different authors from different time periods, we have one unfolding drama of redemption! Lets just take a moment to appreciate that!
Now, this drama of redemption is not only contained to the physical world, but is also played out across the spiritual world.
What do I mean by “spiritual world”? I mean the world that we cannot see where spiritual beings move while we remain unaware. Is it a place? Is it another dimension? Is it just that spiritual beings have some kind of cloaking device?
We don’t know! It is something that is beyond our understanding and experience. And God has kept it that way. He gives us glimpses across the pages of Scripture about what is going on, and forbids us from trying to get involved through divination and witchcraft and the like.
So, even though we can’t have all our questions answered, there is an overarching redemption in the pages of Scripture that is played out in the spiritual world with divine beings.
And here’s the thing - although God’s word transcends the time and place of it’s creation - in order to understand it well, we need to read it from the perspective of the people who wrote it and who were the original intended audience.
We can’t take our preconceived ideas about angels and cherubs with little bows and demons with horns and goats legs and apply that to the bible, no, we step back and let it speak for itself and help us understand.
The Backstory
The Backstory
So what’s the back story?
In Genesis 1-11:9 we get a “prelude to history” - in those wild and crazy stories the scripture gives us lenses through which to interpret everything that comes after. In particular we are given some key events of sin and rebellion that set the stage for the rest of history.
Those key events are:
The rebellion of Adam & Eve at the Serpent’s behest in Gen 2.
The rebellion of the Son’s of God in Gen 6 followed by a flood.
The rebellion and subsequent scattering at the Tower of Babel.
In each of these events we see a pattern emerging - where gods and men try to supplant the Lord Most High by trying to deify themselves. So God scatters the people across the world. He disperses them and essentially disowns everybody. Yet even though he disowns them, he sets divine beings in charge of those other nations and chooses one nation as his own. Don’t believe me? lets read it:
Remember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
But the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
So God chooses Israel as his own, a nation he will use to bless the world, and he gives the others over to mid-level management by the Sons of God - divine beings.
But, because we already know Gen 1-11, we know that the Sons of God can, and have, rebelled before. We are left wondering, what becomes of those other nations?
Well, we know! The other nations do not honor God as the Lord Most High and they devolve into places of idolatry, false worship and lawlessness. So, there is hope that God might dethrone these cocky middle managers and take over. Let’s look at Psalm 82 which outlines the OT state of affairs:
A psalm of Asaph.
God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
“How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
“I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
This is the background for texts like ours today. There are divine beings who have power and authority to lead nations. Unfortunately many are actually opposed to God Most High.
But,
Israel Is God’s Chosen, through whom he will bless the nations by re-inheriting them in a new Adam.
God responds to Prayer (& Fasting)
God responds to Prayer (& Fasting)
v1-12
Coming back to Daniel in the early 500 BC. God’s “inheritance” Israel
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
Daniel retired in the first year of Cyrus (two years earlier cf. 1:21)
He is given a yet another message - how? After prayer and fasting
This message unfolds over the next three chapters. This week Just ch10.
At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
Why was he mourning?
According to Ezra - Cyrus had allowed Jews to return home in his first year, to start rebuilding the temple. Good news right?
Daniel is on the banks of the Tigris, he’s not home and things aren’t going well there anyway. Quite upsetting!
The future is not unfolding in the way Daniel had hoped (maybe like being a new pastor who has gone through three lock downs since arriving, certainly not the year of fresh directions we hoped for!)
His mourning prayer is answered with an Angel (messenger)
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
Who is this? A divine being - some say Jesus, but the text is not clear.
He is so overpowering that he knock Daniel out - a familiar pattern in angelic confrontations!
God’s messenger reaches out to restore Daniel, to enable him to receive the message
He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
Even though overpowered, he is enabled - trembling - to be prepared for the message.
A message sent to Daniel especially
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
God heard, and he answered!
God hears his people, we have the Son & Spirit interceding for us.
Fasting doesn’t force God’s hand but it is a spiritual discipline that can help us pursue God seriously.
Miraculous visitations not guaranteed, but he will hear and he may act.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
God Strengthens & Speaks to His People
God Strengthens & Speaks to His People
v14-19
The angel has come with words from God:
Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
Daniel brought low by the circumstances of mourning, and by the vision. He’s a quivering mess, and he needs help to receive the message.
And so the Angel touches Him to strengthen Him! You would think such a touch from such a awesome being would kill the old man, but instead he is strengthened:
While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”
The Lord knows our frame and our weakness, and yet he speaks to us. Like the Israelites round the foot of Saini we have had intercessor hear on our behalf and write it down in the text we have today - but just because we’re not face to face with an angel doesn’t mean this message is any less awesome. God has spoken to His people throughout the ages
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
Many will not hear God's word - spiritual deafness or willful disregard. But through regeneration God will enable us to
God is at War with Insurgents
God is at War with Insurgents
v13, 20-21
Why did it take the prayer 3 weeks to be answered?
But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
There was a hold up from other spiritual beings! He was pinned down!
This is another brief window into the world that we have been speaking about - where there are powerful beings with authority - some in rebellion to God.
This is like our earthly experience - there are people such as Gov and Churches and Families who have authority - but they misuse and abuse that authority. God doesn’t depose them then and there even when they are working across His purposes. But He lets them continue in rebellion giving them opportunity to repent and working out His plan all the same.
There are various spiritual beings are warring with each other now (in Daniel’s ay), and into the future:
So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.
And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)
Before the coming Battle, this angel has come to deliver the message.
He knows what we have been speaking about from the other passages - Greece will arise after Persia.
This fits with what we know from the ancient biblical worldview - that there will be powers that are over other kingdoms/people and they will be rebealious.
At this time, the war was ongoing. But God had a plan to reclaim His people and re-inherit the nations! Daniel was about to hear a message of hope, despite the dire circumstances he was in, this angel would lay out the Hope that God would deliver his people from the power of these wicked “princes”. But more on that in future weeks.
For now, I want to skip to the end: Jesus was the one who would bring about the re inheritance of all the nations:
Colossians 2:15 (NIV)
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
No-one in Jesus needs to fear being under the princes of darkness, because Christ has overcome them by the cross. Something we probably don’t full understand yet!
Now we are His messengers! We do not need to fear princes and power because of Jesus victory.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Pray! (& fast if you want to!)
Be strengthened by God’s word! It is food for our soul - get into into ya! Read - listen - sing - chant - whatever!
Remember that Jesus has all authority - go and proclaim His victory!
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”