- [Preacher] The book of Daniel
has a specific example of spiritual warfare
that casts further light on the location
of Satan's kingdom.
In fact, it describes a battle of angels.
In Daniel 10,
Daniel describes how he sat himself to pray
and seek God for a revelation concerning the future
of his people, Israel.
For three weeks,
he devoted himself with particular intensity to prayer
and waiting on God.
At the end of the three weeks,
an angel from heaven came to Daniel with the answer
to his prayer.
The angel was so glorious and powerful
that all the people with Daniel were scattered
and he was the only one who remained to receive
the revelation.
Daniel 10:2-6 says:
"At that time, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
I ate no choice food,
no meat or wine touched my lips,
and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks
were over.
On the 24th day of the first month,
as I was standing on the bank of the great river,
the Tigris, I looked up and there before me
was a man dressed in linen,
with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
His body was like topaz,
his face like lightning,
his eyes like flaming torches,
his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze,
and his voice like the sound of a multitude."
As I have already mentioned,
Daniel's companions could not stand this glorious apparition
and just disappeared.
Then the angel began to speak to Daniel.
And the part on which we would focus on
is verses 12 and 13.
Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel.
Since the first day you began to pray for understanding
and to humble yourself before your God,
your request had been heard in heaven.
I have come an answer to your prayer."
Verse 12.
It is essential to know that from the first day
that Daniel started praying, his prayer was heard,
and the angel was dispatched with the answer.
However, the angel did not arrive on earth
with Daniel's prayers for 21 days.
What kept the angel three weeks on the journey?
Satan's angels opposed him.
Somewhere in the journey from heaven to earth,
the angel was required to go through Satan's kingdom
in the heavenly.
There, he was opposed by evil angels who tried
to prevent him from getting through
with a message to Daniel.
Verse 13 continues with the following:
"But for 21 days,
the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way.
Then Michael, one of the archangels came to help me,
and I left him there with the spirit prince
of the kingdom of Persia."
All this took place in the heavenly realms.
The leader of Satan's angels is called
the prince of the kingdom of Persia,
the chief ruler over Persia.
Related to him and apparently under him
were various kings or lesser angels.
Then on God's side, the angel that came to help
the original angel was the Archangel Michael.
In Daniel 12:1, we read this about Michael:
"At that time, Michael, the archangel
who stands guard over your nation, will arise."
The word great prince, we can interpret as archangel.
This particular archangel, Michael,
stands guard over the sons of Daniel's people,
the children of Israel.
In some unique way,
Michael is charged by God with watching over the interests
of and protecting Israel.
Because this whole revelation is centered
on Israel's future,
it was very much in the interest of Israel
that the messenger should get through.
So when the first angel was held up,
the archangel, Michael, came to help him.
And they battled there with the satanic angels for 21 days.
The satanic angels were represented by one
who is known as the prince of the kingdom of Persia,
the supreme ruler, and under him,
various kings or subordinate rulers
who had various areas of authority.
For instance,
there might be one king over each major city
of the Persian Empire,
one over each major ethnic group.
Perhaps one also over each of the various religious
and pagan cults of the Persian Empire.
We get a picture of a highly organized,
structured kingdom with various areas in descending levels
of authority with headquarters in the heavenly,
a kingdom of rebellious fallen spirit beings.
The angel, again, spoke about this conflict
in Daniel 10:20:
"He replied, 'Do you know why I have come?
Soon, I must return to fight against the spirit prince
of the kingdom of Persia.'"
In other words, the battle against this evil, satanic angel,
who dominated the empire of Persia, was not yet complete.
There would be further war in the heavens.
The angel continued with the following:
"After that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece
will come," verse 20.
In other words,
once victory was gained over the evil angel
who ruled the empire of Persia,
the next empire that would arise
would be the empire of Greece.
And that also would have its own specific evil angel
who was the ruler or prince of Greece.
And verse 21:
"The angel who was speaking to Daniel said the following:
'No one helps me against these spirit princes
except Michael, your spirit prince.'"
So we see again that the archangel, Michael,
is associated explicitly with protecting and watching
over the interests of God's people, Israel.
We also see that it took the united strength
of the first angel and Michael to overcome the ruling angels
and Satan's kingdom who were opposing the outworking
of God's purpose for Israel.
You might wonder at the reference to Persia and Greece.
Let us be reminded that the four major Gentile Empires
successfully dominated Israel and the city of Jerusalem
from about the fifth century BC and onwards.
They were Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Persia and Greece were significant
because at that time
they were the two dominant Gentile empires.
We see from these passages in Daniel
that the battle centered around God's people
and God's purposes.
I believe that is still true today.
Wherever God's people are
and God's purposes are being worked out
is where the spiritual battle will be most intense.
The effect of Daniel's prayers is somewhat staggering.
When Daniel started to pray on earth,
it set all heaven in motion,
both the angels of God and Satan's angels.
That gives us a terrific insight into what prayer can do.
We should also know that God's angels
apparently needed the help of Daniel's prayers
to get them through and accomplish their mission.
Again, that gives us tremendous insight
into the effectiveness of prayer.
Time to time, we read in the news of people
who have risen up to overthrow their governments.
Almost always a vast conspiracy is involved.
A person can't do it by himself.
He needs to have help.
He needs co-plotters, co-conspirators, co-revolutionaries.
Does it astonish you to see then
that when Satan was cast out of heaven, he didn't go alone.
Oh, Holy Spirit.
Jesus asked the father to give me the spirit of truth.
John 14:17:
"Even the spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive
because it seeth him not
neither knoweth him.
But ye know him
for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you."
Help me to see you in the word of God.
Open my mind to understand your truth,
and open my heart to accept your truths in faith,
even before I gained the right belief.
Holy Spirit, be the caretaker of my life.
Sustain the seeds of heaven
that you have already planted inside me
and make it flourish so that your love,
your ways, and your kingdom will continuously develop
inside me and bear much good fruit for others.
Oh, Holy spirit.
Jesus stated,
Do not worry about how you will defend yourselves
or what you will say
for the Holy spirit will teach you what you should say.
Luke 12: 11-12:
"And when they bring you onto the synagogues
and onto magistrates and powers,
take ye no thought how or what you shall answer
or what ye shall say
for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour
what ye ought to say."
Assist me to believe in you continually.
- [Narrator] We hope you're blessed by this message.
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