Year 0, Day 10: Daniel 10

Daniel Prays Again

Well, yesterday I spoke much about confession and prayer.  So today, let’s pick that theme right back up again.  In Daniel 10 we see Daniel praying and fasting.  The question is why?  So, let’s do a little history.  The third year of Cyrus the king – as mentioned in Daniel 10:1 – is 536 B.C.  This is the year when the first wave of Jews returned to Jerusalem. 

So why would Daniel be fasting, praying, and removing himself from the joys of life such as anointing oneself with perfumed oils?  He was concerned for the people.  Some had gone back to rebuild and reclaim the land.  They had gone back to rebuild the temple.  The work that they were doing was dangerous, and Daniel was worried.  So he did what any good leader should do.  He worried.  He prayed.  He fasted.  He prayed some more.

While he prays, he has this incredible vision.  If I may hold onto the thread of worry and concern while I transition in topics, notice the month given in the passage.  Daniel speaks of it being in the 24^th day of the first month.  So, he has been praying and fasting for the better portion of this first month of the year.  We in the western world think of the first month as January, but Leviticus 23:1-14 tells us that the first month of the Jewish year is the month in which Passover is celebrated (specifically the 14^th day).  So Daniel has been praying and fasting during the time when the Jews remember how God released them from the Egyptian bondage.  Now Daniel is watching as God once again releases His people from bondage out of Babylon to reclaim the Promised Land.  No wonder he prayed, fasted, and was deeply moved!  He was praying that God’s promise to bring about a holy remnant would be fulfilled as it was during Passover.  It was the season for seeing bondage come to an end through God’s hands!

Before we look at the actual context of the vision, I’d like to say one more thing.  Notice that this vision happens late in Daniel’s life.  Daniel 1:1-7 tells us a story occurring somewhere around 605 B.C.  This means that if Daniel was a youth in 605 B.C. then he is likely somewhere around 75 or 80 years old by the time of the vision in Daniel 10.  He is a wise man, filled with great experience.  Daniel has lived through many trials and has stuck with God.  There is something to be said for a person who perseveres through life always returning to faith as their core tenet.  We may drift from time to time, but like Daniel we only truly get an appreciation of faith through periods of loyalty, work, effort, and consistent faithfulness to God’s ways.

Spiritual Warfare

Okay, let’s go back to this vision.  We have at least one glorious image – and I believe most likely two.  We have the glorious image of the man in Daniel 10:5-9, whose message is so incredibly powerful that not only does it knock Daniel off his feet but it also is not recorded in the text!  Then a hand touches Daniel.  It could be the hand of the one in Daniel 10:5-9, but I personally don’t think so.  I think the hand is an actual hand of an actual messenger of God – not a part of the vision.  {Most scholars think that this hand and the words of ministry spoken here are spoken by Gabriel, although there is no textual proof to be able to make a dogmatic statement to this effect.  I see no reason to disagree with that perspective.}  The words spoken to Daniel unfold a picture of a great divine war – a war that many mainline theologians would bury under the sand of academia.

When I went to seminary, we never spoke about angels, devils, demons, or even Satan.  We were encouraged to not speak of them, because it is not “logical” or “academically/scientifically” rational.  And while that may be true, this vision has something to tell us.  Daniel prays to God seeking wisdom.  This messenger who touches Daniel was “intercepted” by the prince of Persia.  {Keep in mind that here as well as Daniel 12 that the word “prince” often takes on a spiritual connotation that could easily be applied to divine beings}  We are also told about Michael, who is identified in Daniel 12:1 as God’s angelic protector for Israel.  {For other references of Michael see Revelation 12:7 and Jude 9.} Michael comes to the aid of this messenger and by working together the messenger is able to escape and come to Daniel.

Academically speaking, the theologically elite would like for us to think that God is contained in our relationship with scripture and our relationship with our neighbors.  And yes, God cares a great deal about both of those things.  But there is a great dimension of God that I do not believe we acknowledge all that often.  Why is it so easy to believe in God and also so easy to push the existence of Satan to the back burner – as if when we ignore him then he goes away?  We do not believe God goes away when we ignore Him, so why should Satan and his powers?  I think Satan would actually prefer us to think that way.  Ignore Satan, and we turn a blind eye to his workings.

I’m going to give a little testimony here.  This past June, the youth in this church went on a mission trip.  When we came back, we were spirit-filled and with our congregation we claimed our sanctuary as Holy Ground.  We even had T-shirts printed up to remind people about it.  And then something interesting happened.  One by one the spiritual leaders in the congregation started coming under attack.  Their lives got “complicated.”  There were small spiritual quibbles that cropped up and began to divide people.  Families suddenly found themselves busy and occupied with other things and it was hard to put time in to Sunday School, worship, and even Bible Study.  Go figure!  It was no coincidence that within a week of claiming our place of worship as Holy Ground that one-by-one I was on the phone with every spiritual leader in my congregation helping them through a difficult stretch of their life! Satan was happy with us when we weren’t spiritual – but once we opened the door to God it was time for him to distract us, divide us, split us apart, and destroy the spirituality that had begun to grow within us.

Spiritual warfare is a reality, and we ignore it to our own peril.  Satan wants to be ignored so he can work in peace.  When we start to claim his territory for God, he has to get involved personally and the spiritual struggle begins.  I think we can learn two things from this passage.  First, God expects faithful leaders to remain faithful as well as to live faithfully.   Second, there is more to spirituality than we can see, hear, and observe with our eyes and ears.  To truly get a sense of the spiritual warfare around us, we must look into the world through the eyes of God and His Spirit.