BEHIND THE CURTAIN (Daniel 10:1-21)

If we patiently wade through Daniel's vision, we find a critical but often forgotten method on how to overcome the spiritual forces of darkness and strongholds that keep us bound in our own day. This is war!

Transcript

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The old movie The Wizard of Oz is a classic. Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion all go to see the Wizard of Oz, who can give to each what they lack. They get to the Emerald City, but the great and powerful Wizard of Oz does not receive them. He appears as a giant, fiery, green, ghostly face, and he refuses to help them until they bring to him the broomstick of the wicked witch of the West. They set off and finally bring the witch's broom, but the wizard still is not happy to see them. He blusters on the screen until Dorothy's dog Toto pulls aside a corner curtain to reveal an old man pulling levers and blaring into a microphone. That's sometimes the picture of God that we have, isn't it? And yet I want us to understand that God is not behind the curtains pulling levers and blaring into a microphone just in order to intimidate us. And yet there is a curtain. In back of all the problems, pain, and barriers that we see played out in our lives on earth, there is an unseen spiritual reality behind the curtain. The curtain of the physical world, circumstances, events, and even our own choices. This curtain hides these spiritual realities. In Daniel chapter 10, I believe Daniel is allowed to see behind the curtain. I'm going to break this chapter down into the following subsections. The first is going to be the time and encounter, and that's verses 1 to 9. Then the clarification, verses 18 to 21. And finally, we'll look at the application of this and what this means about our own daily lives. First, let's look at the time and the encounter that Daniel experiences. He says in Daniel 10 and verse 1, in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belter Shazzar. The time here is the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia, or 536 BC. Now, in Cyrus' first year, in 538 BC, what we do not yet know, but what 2 Chronicles tells us is that Cyrus has said, Thus says Cyrus, King of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him, let him go up. Now this is remarkable. In other words, Cyrus has released the captives. And he does that two years before the vision that Daniel is going to receive in this chapter. In Cyrus' first year, Daniel is 82 years of age. He retires that year, according to Daniel 1 21. Now, this is two years later, and Daniel receives what he calls a word. Daniel 10 and verse 1. This is a vision that details the time that actually is going to be covered in Daniel chapter 8. This is a time frame that extends 375 years into Daniel's future. It is so breathtaking that we are told by Daniel, and the word was true, and it was a great conflict. In other words, the vision Daniel sees is about a great conflict. What we're about to read involved a great warfare. How so? Well, we're about to find out. But before we do, Daniel says about himself, and he understood the word and had understanding of the vision, the he here being Daniel. Now it didn't start out that way. Fact of the matter is that by the time Daniel received the vision, he was really down. In Daniel chapter 10 and verse 2, he says, 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. That's a long time. Why is Daniel so distraught? At age eighty-four now, he mourns, fasts, and prays for his people Israel for twenty one days? Here's the time, then. Cyrus has freed the people. The 70-year exile is over. Gabriel, as we saw in Daniel chapter 9, has given to him a countdown that Jerusalem will be rebuilt in 49 years, the Messiah will come in 434 years beyond that. What's to be down about? Why is he depressed? Well, as I indicated a moment ago, it had been two years since Cyrus told the Jews to go home. And few did. Less than 50,000. A fraction of those deported, or those who had been born there, go back. Why? Why are they stuck in Babylon? They're given the opportunity to go home, everything they had hoped for for the last 70 years, and few do. Why is this? They're too comfortable, prosperous, settled in Babylon to care about restoring Jerusalem or the temple or their homes. All of that involves a great deal of hard work. And those who did return found life extremely hard. It took seven months just to clear the rubble off the temple site, not to mention the city of Jerusalem itself. And they faced so much opposition once they got there, the work ground to a halt. Daniel's hopes are ruined. Few go back, they cannot restore the temple, they cannot restore the monarchy, the city, or even get the sacrifices up and running again. And Daniel is just too old to go back himself, or perhaps too disappointed about things, or both. What do you do? Well, all is not lost. And now Daniel is going to explain the encounter that would give him hope. And it this is what is leading to a great vision that he's going to receive. So we pick up the reading at verse number four. He says, On the twenty fourth day of the first month, this would be April of 536 BC, 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. We don't know where Ufaz is, but apparently there's good gold there. Okay. Verse 6 says, His body was like birl, birl's a transparent, sparkling gem, 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. You say, Well, who is this? This does not appear to be an angel. It appears to be identical to the description of the glorified Christ in Revelation chapter 1. So for the sake of argument, I'm just going to say that this appears to be a pre-incarnate vision of Jesus Christ Himself. Verse 7, Daniel goes on. He says, And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. In other words, they can't stand Christ's glory, as as those on the Damascus road experienced in Acts chapter 9. The same thing is true here. And Daniel goes on, verse 80, he says, 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. My friends, listen. This is an eighty-four-year-old man who loses consciousness because of what he has envisioned. The physical, emotional, and mental toll on a person who sees behind the curtain is devastating. Daniel is disturbed, alarmed, sick, pale, depressed, exhausted, speechless, in writhing sorrow, and even breathless. Seeing a vision of the holy is not exhilarating. It's not fun. And it is not a plaything, as Daniel indicates here. Let's look at Christ's message to Daniel and the reaction. In verse 10, Daniel goes on to say, And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. In other words, Christ touches Daniel. He comes to. He gets to his hands and knees, but he's still quaking. Verse 11, and he said to me, O Daniel, man greatly loved, and under understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you. In other words, Christ wants Daniel to get all the way up. Daniel can't do this on his own power. The rest of the verse says, And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Verse 11 says. Even a godly man like Daniel should have died at Christ's presence. And Christ's word is the only power that allows him to live, much less stand. Verse 12 says, 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, this would have been three weeks ago, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. In other words, Christ comes visibly in full glory in response to Daniel's prayer. And his appearance is shocking, and so is what he says. Verse 13 goes on to say, The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to me for help, for I was left there with the kings of Persia and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for the days yet to come. In other words, Christ is saying to Daniel, Between God and you, I met the Prince of Persia. He obstructed God's purposes. It took me three weeks fighting him to get through. And so the archangel Michael came to help me. This is what delayed my coming to you so that you would know Israel's future. This is what he's saying. This is pretty mysterious to us, isn't it? Whoever the prince and the kings of Persia are, they withstood Christ. Who are these? These are obviously not human. They're demons. They animate and empower the Prince of Persia and other Persian kings. Daniel's prayer moves Christ to take on these high-level demons. And this war delays his coming to Daniel, but Christ prevails, and yet Daniel would not feel the impact of this victory as is indicated in verse 14 for days yet to come. It will stretch out for a long period to come. In fact, it would go from Daniel's time, Daniel here in 536, all the way to 164 BC, as this will unfold for us in chapter 11. Nonetheless, in face of all of this, Daniel remains standing, but barely. But the point here is it takes supernatural power to unfreeze Daniel's lips to get him to stand up. Verse 16 goes on to say, 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. Of all that Daniel could say, he says on this occasion how he feels. He complains to the Lord he's in pain, he has no breath. Daniel assumes that God wants to talk to him. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. And now from verses 18 to 21, we get a bit of clarification. Boy, we need that, don't we? This is all pretty mysterious to us. And if you're reading through this and you think, I don't know if I understood this, I get it. This may take a couple of times going through to let it set on us a little while before some of it pulls together. Verse 18. Daniel again says, again, one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. I want you to notice that throughout this encounter, Daniel has got to be repeatedly strengthened and revived, made to stand up before he can even function. Verse 19, 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. As always, God speaks and it happens. Now what he's about to say is nothing short of astounding. In verse 20, 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 contend by my side against these except Michael, your prince. In other words, Christ says, Daniel, I want you to understand the battle is not yet over. Because when I leave your presence, I will have to fight my way back through the demonic princes of Persia. The conflict is so great that Michael has to help him. He's the only one who can. Michael is called the great prince who has charge of your people. Or Israel chapter 12 and verse 1 says. But this is the beginning. Daniel is now having to deal with the Persian Empire. And their princes are fighting against Christ. The Prince of Greece is ultimately going to come. And Christ will have to engage him as well. Christ will make known to Daniel what is inscribed in the book of truth according to verse 21. And all of that's going to be spelled out in the remaining two chapters of Daniel. We'll have to get to that later. Now, what I want you to see from all of this, and again, this isn't extremely confusing, I know, and for many of you, you may not have ever read this chapter. So what do we pull from this? Let's boil it down in its simplest parts. I think what we see is that we are at war. Life is a battle, that we are actually living in a war zone. And in Daniel chapter 10, it pulls back for us the curtain of this battle, the battle behind the battle. Where we find God most at work, Satan is going to ramp up his efforts. Satan resists God's purposes and God's people. He rules the world according to 1 John 5.19. I think that we can ferret out through other places that he rules through demons. And these demons are highly organized and have hierarchies and ranks with certain spheres of authority. Scripture links angels in God's heavenly council to various nations or states. Sometimes these are referred to as sons of God. In other words, nations have angelic counterparts who align with God and his purposes, or demonic counterparts chosen by Satan who oppose God and his purposes. This is why the nation of Persia, the Empire of Greece, have princes. These are spiritual forces or princes. An archangel is responsible for the whole kingdom of Persia. He has charge over apparently sub-angels ruling over other regions or cities within Persia. The point I want you to get is this. Each nation has a specific demonic power at work that is reflected in the order and culture of that nation. And it's different from nation to nation. You and I just see the nations on a map, and we're familiar with the United States or Russia or China or Iran. But behind these nations, there is a particular satanic king over them, whether they be continents, nations, states, regions, cities, even racial groups and ethnicities. Angels or archangels, both good and evil, hold the world order intact. This is what's behind the curtain. Power, politics, economics, religion, education, law, courts, geographic boundaries, mindsets, all of these things are in place because of these princes, these powers. They keep certain places or peoples oppressed under the spirit of slavery, according to Romans 8:15. In other words, behind world empires are satanic forces of darkness at work. They are real. And they are the real explanation for the way things are. Everything that is visible, in other words, and physical, has an invisible and spiritual counterpart. And you cannot understand what is going on in the world if you're only looking at the visible or the physical. If all you're doing is reading the newspaper or listening to the news source. If that's all you see, you do not understand what is happening in the world. The real powers determining individual political or national status and destiny are invisible and spiritual. Angels of light are lined against the angels of darkness, and all human events and history result from the back and forth war between these forces. This is the picture that we're getting in Daniel's vision in Daniel chapter 10. Now here's the good news, my friends. The good news is that we are not unarmed. As God's people, we are not unarmed. And prayer moves stuff around. That's what we learn in Daniel chapter 10. Daniel's prayer moves God's army against unseating satanic strongholds behind the curtain. Prayer changed minds, ended opposition, extended God's purposes and the borders of his kingdom. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 in the New Testament, Paul says, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against, listen to this, the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We better understand a little bit about what those are. In other words, we do not fight against persons with bodies. Whatever the battlefield seems to be, we are at war with vast organized armies of smart and powerful beings in the heavenly places without bodies who are arrayed in battle against us. A hostile kingdom opposes us. And by prayer and the scriptures, the sword of the Spirit, we fight our way through this spiritual opposition. This is the picture that is given in Daniel chapter 10. And as a result, Christ and his heavenly forces advance his purpose, often in ways that we cannot or we will not see for some time. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 4, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. In other words, Christ's disciples alone have the weapons with power to intervene in this spiritual war. Earthly armies cannot do this. Carnal strategies will not do this. Only God's people can with weapons that are spiritual. The one who wins in the heavenly realms determines the course of history. And so, my friends, the most significant thing we can do is get into the Word of God and use the sword of the Spirit, but also pray in the power of the Holy Spirit for God to move the demonic barriers to Christ's reign. Prayer moves powers standing in the way, and it alters the future. Prayer is an act of war. It is a bunker buster into the heart of Satan's dominion. If you are in God's kingdom, you are at war with Satan's kingdom. It is not an option. We either get equipped and learn how to fight, or we're a casualty. My friends, why be a casualty when Jesus told us that hell's gate will not prevail against his church? Do not let the kingdom of darkness prevail. Take up the spiritual weapons of warfare and fight against the principalities and the powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. These and all of the gates of hell cannot prevail against God's people. Daniel reminds us of this. Praise the name of Jesus, who is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.