We’ve seen some amazing things in Daniel:
- a king who becomes animal-like and then later has his humanity restored,
- three young men are thrown into a furnace so hot it killed those who threw them in—but the young men survive,
- Daniel spends the night in a den of lions and lives to pray about it,
- A mysterious hand appears and writes on a wall,
- Daniel consistently tells us history ahead of time.
These incidents provide us with windows through which we get glimpses of the world beyond ours. After all, these things don’t “naturally” occur in our world—so they point us to the reality of a world beyond ours.
These glimpses (and the larger truths they embody) are made known to us by God revealing them to us through His word. We can’t see into this world through telescopes or microscopes. Neither are we able to discover its existence through scientific experimentation or statistical studies. The world beyond is not subject to the laws of this world. In fact, it often defies them. That being the case, speaking of miracles, angels, or spiritual powers sounds strange and unacceptable to many. But to those anchored in God’s word, we know they are part of this other world.
While much of the book of Daniel is history revealed ahead of it happening, Daniel 10 is something different. It is the preface to the predictive material in chapter 11-12, but it also one of those rare sections of Scripture where the curtain is pulled back and we get exposed to some spiritual truths that can cause our heads to spin.
The setting is the third year of the Persian king Cyrus. Daniel receives a revelation from God about a “great war” or “conflict” (ESV). This vision absolutely floors him and sends Daniel into mourning and fasting for three weeks (v. 2). Later, as he is standing on the banks of the Tigris River, a being appears to him to “explain to your people what will happen in the future” (v. 14).
But before the angel gets into that he tells 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” (v. 11). Then he says in v. 13:
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.
Who is this prince of the Persian kingdom resisting the angel for three weeks? Before we answer this, it’s worth noting that we also hear about the “prince of Greece” (v. 20), as well as Michael, who is called “your prince” in reference to Daniel (v. 21).
Let’s begin with what we know: Michael is an archangel (Jude 1:9), while here he is identified as “one of the chief princes” (v. 3) and a “great prince” in 12:1. I think that gives us ground to understand the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece as evil spiritual entities—possibly angels as well. Paul speaks in Ephesians 6:12 about our struggle being against, “the rulers . . . the authorities . . . the powers of this dark world . . . the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” In 2 Kings 6, when the Arameans have surrounded the city where Elisha and his servant are, Elisha assures the servant, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v. 17). Look at the context and it’s clear he wasn’t speaking about any human army!
What we have in Daniel 10 then is a glimpse of warfare in the spiritual realm. There was an evil entity that was working to support the Persian kingdom and the angel who appeared to Daniel (perhaps Gabriel), was “resisted” and “retained” by it for 21 days (v. 21) until Michael came to his aid (v. 13). Whether the purpose of this resistance/retaining was so Daniel couldn’t receive his message or that was just a by-product, it’s not entirely clear–but theater seems more probable. We do know the entity was working against God and His purposes. We also know that after the angel gives Daniel his message, he returned to fight against this entity and would also engage the prince of Greece. In 11:1 we have another challenging text that tells us our angel took a stand “to support and protect” with Darius or Michael. Hmm . . . it’s all very interesting and intriguing.
When we think about the emphasis in the book of Daniel about how “the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes” (4:32), this gives a peek at some of what is involved in that. Remember, the miracle in 2 Kings 6 was not that there was a spiritual army protecting Elisha and his servant—the miracle was that his servant could see it (Alexander McClaren)! Didn’t Jesus speak of little ones and “their angels” (Matthew 18:10). Doesn’t the Hebrew writer talk about angels being “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (1:14)? Doesn’t John say great “the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4)? Don’t you find all this greatly encouraging? We are not alone in the battles we face!
I’ve said in this piece that there is more going on than meets the eye. More to Daniel’s point, God is control of it all! That’s all the more reason to live for Him and give Him praise.
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 