DANIEL 10

INTRODUCTION:

1. There are several important Scriptural truths brought out here in chapter 10. One of them is that prayer delayed is not prayer denied.
2. There are unseen spiritual forces, angels, and demons, representing various countries, engaged in spiritual conflict. This is the real background to world events and in Daniel 10 our Lord draws back the veil for a few moments and gives us a glimpse (cf. Eph.6:12).

10:1 TIME – "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia" – c. 538 BC.

10:2,3 Some captives had already gone back to Jerusalem, as permitted by Cyrus’ degree, but Daniel had remained in exile. The Bible does not say why Daniel mourned "three full weeks." Perhaps it was because of discouraging reports from those who had returned from Jerusalem (the work on the temple had stopped). Perhaps it was because of the poor spiritual condition of the Jews in exile, as well as the heathen.

10:4 "The great river, which is Hiddekel" refers to the Tigris River (cf. Gen.2:14). Hiddekel is the Hebrew name.

10:5,6 Who is this "certain man"? In the margin of the Scofield Bible, there is a reference to a theophany and a cross reference for Rev.1:9. There are several similarities between the appearance of Christ on Patmos and this certain man who appeared to Daniel (cf. Rev.1:13-16). However, the fact that "the prince of the kingdom of Persia" could hinder him makes it unlikely that it was the pre-incarnate Christ (10:13). Most likely it was the angel Gabriel or some other angel (cf. 8:16).

10:7 This is similar to what happened to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. No one else saw the vision.

10:8,9 Daniel reacted the way everyone else in the Bible reacts when face to face with a theophany (cf. Job 42;5,6; Isaiah 6:5; Ezekiel 1:28; 3:23; Rev. 1:17).

10:10 Scofield’s margin says that "vs. 10-15 introduce an angel. The theophany begins again at vs. 16." This "hand" does not necessarily have to be from the same "man" Daniel saw before he fell asleep.

10:11,12 God does hear our prayers immediately.

10:13 This "prince of Persia" must be an angelic being. No mere man can hinder God’s angels. And since he is opposing God and resisting His angels, he must be a demon, an emissary of Satan.

According to the Bible, God has arranged the angelic realm in differing ranks referred to as "principality, and power, and might, and dominion" (Eph.1:21). Michael, referred to as "the archangel" (Jude 9), and Gabriel have been assigned authority over angels who administer God’s affairs for the nation Israel (cf. Dan.8:16; 9:21;10:21; 12:1; Luke 1:26). In imitation, Satan has also apparently assigned high-ranking demons to positions of authority over each kingdom. Therefore, the prince of Persia was a Satanic representative assigned to Persia. To seek to prevent Gabriel’s message from getting to Daniel, the prince of Persia attacked Gabriel as he embarked on his mission. This gives us insight into the nature of the warfare fought in the heavens between God’s elect angels and Satan’s wicked demons to which the apostle Paul referred (Eph.6:12). This particular battle lasted three weeks until Michael came to the angel’s assistance. And it still was not over, because he would have to "return to fight with the prince of Persia" (10:20).

10:14 The message concerns "what shall befall thy people (Israel) in the latter days." This is detailed in chapters 11 & 12.

10:15-19 Daniel had been weakened and "became dumb (speechless)" by these various revelations (cf. 10:8; 7:15; 8:27).

10:20 As we saw in our study of vs. 13, Satan assigns certain demons to influence the nations against Israel. Since the cross, this Satanic opposition has primarily been directed against Christians (e.g. Muslim countries, Communist countries, RC countries, Eastern Orthodox countries, etc. that oppose the Gospel). Cf. Matt.4:8-11.

10:21 Michael is "your prince" in the sense that he protects Israel (cf. 12:1), Daniel’s people (cf. 10:13).