Introduction: This week we begin our study of Daniel’s last major
vision. Daniel is now an old man, probably around 90 years of age. In
the prior visions Daniel has been shown the sweep of history among
nations. This week we find another, critical, aspect of history – the
supernatural side of the conflict. Let’s jump into our study of
Daniel and look at this from a new point of view!
- The Revelation
- Read Daniel 10:1. What does this date, the third year of
Cyrus, tell us? (According to the Bible Knowledge
Commentary this is 536 B.C. The Jewish exiles have begun
to return and rebuild the sanctuary. Daniel 1:21 suggests
that Daniel has recently retired from a high position in
the administration.) - What does this revelation concern? (“A great war.”)
- Does Daniel understand it? (It appears that a vision
came soon after that helped Daniel to understand.) - Read Daniel 10:2-3. Why is Daniel mourning? (Read Daniel
10:12. Daniel is upset about the vision of a great war and
he is praying and fasting so that God will help him
understand what it means. It appears that the “soon
thereafter” vision is three weeks later.) - Read Daniel 1:8 and Daniel 1:12-13. Notice something
that we have touched on before, Daniel’s diet has
changed. Why? Is it because when you reach 90 years-old you can pretty much eat anything you want? (This
reinforces our prior conclusion that Daniel’s actions
in chapter 1 are not so much an endorsement of a
vegetarian diet, but an avoidance of eating meat
offered to an idol and not properly prepared. At this
stage of his life Daniel has control over the way his
food is prepared.) - The Messenger
- Read Daniel 10:4-5 and Daniel 10:12. What message is being
delivered to Daniel? (Daniel’s mourning and fasting in
order to understand this vision about the great war has
paid off. This messenger is coming to bring understanding
to Daniel.) - Read Daniel 10:5-6 and Revelation 1:13-16. If you were the
police, and you were taking a description from Daniel and
John, would you think they saw the same person? - Who do you think is this messenger? For additional
clues read Daniel 10:10-13. (Although the first
description that looks like the description of Jesus
in Revelation suggests that this is Jesus in both
cases, it is hard to imagine that Jesus was “sent” or
could be delayed because of resistance. In addition,
there is good reason to believe that Michael is Jesus
(see Revelation 12:7), and Michael is different than
this messenger. That causes me to conclude that
Gabriel is the messenger who has come once again to
Daniel.) - Read Daniel 10:7-9. Why did those people who did not see
the messenger or the vision hide? (This reflects the
terrible power of heavenly beings. We should not forget
this aspect of angels.) - Read Daniel 10:10-11. What do we learn about God’s concern
for our understanding? (Daniel is a model for us in
desperately seeking to understand God’s will. God rewards
a hunger for understanding His word. - Spiritual Warfare
- Read Daniel 10:12-13. Could an earthly king delay Gabriel
for 21 days? Would Jesus (Michael) have to aid Gabriel to
overcome a human? ( The answer is “of course not.” Recall
that those people near Daniel were terrorized by Gabriel’s
presence. Daniel was rendered helpless ( Daniel 10:7-8).) - Read John 12:28-31, John 14:30-31 and John 16:10-11.
What do these texts and the context of Daniel 10
suggest to you about the nature of “the prince of the
Persian kingdom?” (This suggests that this prince is
a fallen angel.) - The texts in John refer to Satan as the prince
of the world. What does this suggest about a
fallen angel called the prince of Persia? (This
makes me think that this is not Satan himself,
but one of his lieutenants who has been
assigned to work with Cyrus.) - Is this telling us what motivated Satan to try to
prevent Gabriel from giving his message to Daniel?
Or, is Gabriel just explaining the work problems he
has recently been having? (Re-read Daniel 10:12.
Gabriel is bringing the interpretation of this vision
that Daniel received. A good argument can be made
that Satan delayed Gabriel because he does not want
Daniel to understand this vision.) - We are going to be studying this vision during
the next two weeks. What does this suggest
about the importance of this vision? - Have you prayed about something and it seemed like
the answer was delayed? Have you considered that
there might be a supernatural element to this? (Read
Ephesians 6:12. Paul tells us that the principal
battle that we face is against spiritual forces
aligned with Satan!) - Read Daniel 10:14. Daniel is told that the vision is about
“your people” in “a time yet to come.” Who are Daniel’s
people? (Israel. The Jewish people.) - Since our study of the vision extends for the next
two weeks, and reaches to the end of time, I want you
to remember that Gabriel says this is about the
Jewish people. I am concerned that we do not take the
involvement of “Daniel’s people” seriously enough
when we consider end times.) - Read Daniel 10:15-17. Why does an explanation of the
future require Daniel to speak? I thought his role was
simply to pay attention! (This makes no sense unless the
conversation is interactive. It must mean that Daniel asks
questions when he does not understand.) - Read Daniel 10:18-19. What will God’s angels do for us?
(They will give us strength. They can encourage us.) - Read Daniel 10:20. Where is Gabriel going next? (To
“fight” against the prince of Persian and the prince of
Greece.”) - Who is the prince of Greece? (This must be another of
Satan’s top lieutenants who is in charge of Greece.
Note that in Daniel’s prior visions that Greece
follows Medo-Persia as the reigning world empire.) - Read Daniel 10:21. How could Gabriel say that he has no
support except from Jesus (Michael)? Is not all of heaven
at his disposal? (I don’t think Gabriel is talking about
what could happen, he is simply telling Daniel who has
been assigned to this specific battle.) - When Gabriel says that Michael is Daniel’s prince,
does this mean that Daniel is so important that
Michael has been assigned to him? (If Michael has
truly been assigned to Daniel, that creates serious
problems for the belief that Michael is Jesus.
Perhaps Gabriel is simply affirming that Michael is
on “our” side, on the side of God’s people.) - Let’s revisit Daniel 10:13. When we discussed this delay
before, I thought it involved something physical, because
Gabriel needed help. If Gabriel is returning to this
“fight” ( Daniel 10:20), does this seem like a physical
battle? (If you were physically wrestling, it seems
unlikely that you would take a break and come back later.) - What kind of battle might this be? (We know that King
Cyrus of Persia was helping God’s people to return to
Jerusalem and rebuild the sanctuary. We have also
studied how this did not work out smoothly. The
logical conclusion is that Gabriel (with the help of
Michael) is encouraging Cyrus to do the right thing.
The prince of Persia, Satan’s ally, is encouraging
Cyrus to do the wrong thing.) - What role do you play in this kind of spiritual
battle? (You need to be aware of the battle going on
around you. And, you need to be aware that you can be
helpful in the battle involving the spiritual welfare
of others!) - Friend, will you ask the Holy Spirit to help you to follow
God and be an effective ally in the spiritual war going on
all around us? - Next week: From North and South to the Beautiful Land.
