Day 259 (Daniel 10-12) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble (0:01)

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

Today we finished our 32nd book of the Bible. It opens during the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, who is currently in charge of Babylon. We've read about Cyrus in other books of prophecy. He's the one who is not a follower of Yahweh, but whom Yahweh uses to move some of his important plans along, like eventually rebuilding the temple.

We're not there yet, though. We're currently on the banks of the Tigris River with Daniel, who has been in mourning and seeking God for three weeks. He sees a vision that has some familiar components. It's a shiny metal-looking man dressed in linen and gold. Lots of commentators think this is the angel Gabriel again. The angel slash messenger of God peels back the curtain to let us see what's been happening behind the scenes. First, the angel lists three things Daniel did as he sought to hear from God. He set his heart to understand, he humbled himself, and he positioned himself before God.

God sent the angel in response to Daniel's prayers, much like we read about with Gabriel yesterday. Then the angel gives us a bit of a glimpse into the spiritual realm. We don't often get those in scripture, at least not this explicitly, probably because we wouldn't be able to handle it.

The angel talks about a fight he's been having with the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia. Remember how each nation has their own set of gods to worship? Those gods are often connected to demonic powers. The holy angels and fallen angels who serve in those roles are often referred to as patron angels. In other words, the angel Daniel is talking to is probably not fighting a literal person prince. He's probably fighting the demonic power who is in charge of Persia. But to be fair, some people believe those demonic powers would actually indwell the kings and leaders of those countries. So it could be a both-and situation, not an either-or situation, where he's fighting the demon who is indwelling the king. This fight lasted for three weeks. The exact amount of time Daniel was in mourning and seeking God's response. It turns out the angel wasn't just fighting with one demon, but lots of demons who are over Persia. Then another angel, the archangel Michael, came in as backup and they defeated them. This news is stupefying to Daniel. The angel touches him and strengthens him and speaks encouraging words to him, starting again with, Oh man, greatly loved, fear not. Peace be with you. Be strong and of good courage. God's message to his faithful servants brings reminders of his love and peace. The angel says he'll fill Daniel in on things, which he does in the next two chapters, but then he has to peace out of this dimension because he's got another fight to handle in the spiritual realm. This time some Greek demons will be added to the mix.

Fortunately, Michael will be there to help him again. We also find out here that Michael is the angel who is signed to protect Daniel and, as we see in 12.1, all of God's people. It's a pretty big deal to have the Archangel Michael as your patron angel. Chapter 11 has a lot going on, so we're going to cover it in broad strokes. If you're especially interested in learning more about these prophecies, I recommend digging deeper in a Study Bible or commentary for starters. We'll link to two of our favorite Study Bibles in today's show notes. But in the meantime, here's a more surface level, easily accessible recap of what happens in this chapter.

The angel says Persia is about to flourish until a powerful Greek ruler, probably Alexander the Great, takes over. His reign will end when his kingdom is divided into fourths. We're barely ten lines into this chapter and we're already seeing how earthly power, even when aided and abetted by demons, is temporary and control is an illusion. All kingdoms crumble except one. There will be wars between lots of different kingdoms that were unnamed by the angel, but that are easily recognizable to modern historians looking back on these prophecies. These kings and kingdoms use murder, manipulation, and even marriage alliances to try to keep their positions of power.

One king will stand in the glorious land with destruction in his hand, according to verse 16 This is almost certainly a reference to Jerusalem and the terror that Antiochus IV will bring to it.

Let's pause for a second and address something you might be wondering about. Didn't God promise he would bring the remnant back to the land after 70 years and establish an eternal kingdom and there would be peace forever? Yes, he did. So why is he now telling us there will be more wars? What about the peace he promised?