There's A Fight On!!!!
Daniel 10:10-14
I remember the days at high school when a cry would sound - “There is a fight on!!!” - and all the students would coming from within earshot to the place where the kids were fighting. Now, 30 years after graduating high school, I am a teacher and even the hint of students moving as a group towards the sounds of a scuffle sends my radar going.
But there is indeed a fight on…in both the physical world in which we live, and also the spiritual realm that exists.
It’s interesting and curious that many of us, who are Christians can pick up the signals if someone is intending to be physical and violent towards us or those around us - yet many cannot see, or understand the signs of spiritual attacks. I have written a previous blog post about this, which can be found in the link below…
We often run to the LORD in prayer when those attacks come, as they more often than not present themselves as very difficult times in our lives. Going to God (Yahweh) in prayer is the right thing to do. Problems arise in our hearts and minds when it appears that God isn’t acting on our behalf in the situation we are struggling with.
This is amplified even more-so in these current times when darkness and evil seem to be gaining an upper hand in the communities and nations in which we live.
Daniel faced such a situation during his lifetime of service to the various rulers of Babylon - where he had been taken to during the exile of the people from the southern kingdom of Judah. During a time of person upheaval, where he was involved in not only providing spiritual insight to the rulers of the day, but also uttering prophetic words for the Jews and future humanity. In that time Daniel focusses in on God, and prays to HIM about the plight of God’s people in the land of Babylon.
When it all seemed silent to Daniel, something happened…something supernatural…a form of encouragement and provision that had come directly from the throne room of yahweh HIMSELF…
Daniel 10:10-14 says…
“Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling. 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 has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one 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. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”
How often do we truly forget that we are “Precious to God”? Like think about it for a moment. When was the last time that you consciously said to yourself “I am precious to God!” My guess is that it’s been a while. I know it is something that I struggle with personally. But here it is (and there are a bunch of scriptures littered throughout the whole Bible that say the same thing. This statement is even more important that then fact Daniel is talking to an Angel.
And it is because God sees Daniel as ‘precious’ that he has sent an angel to minister to him.
It is interesting g to also note that whenever people come into contact with the supernatural - especially supernatural entities like angels and demons our first reaction is fear. But the difference is that angels will always offer peace and safety, whereas demons will always continue to make you feel afraid and insecure.
What the angel says next is valuable to us, the angel tells Daniel “Because you humbled yourself before God, and you sought HIM in prayer - HE heard you” - this should serve as encouragement for us. If we humble ourselves before God by saying “In all our strength, and all our knowledge, and all our skill we can sort this out God - we need you to help me!” then God will hear us, and HE will answer us.
Now here comes the crazy part - but the part that when you think about it might make perfect sense in your own life and the situations you face. The angel tells Daniel that the reason he hasn’t gotten a response or an answer to his prayers from God (Yahweh) was because spiritual forces were actively trying to hinder words of encouragement from getting to Daniel from God.
The term ‘Prince of Persia’ is not referring to a physical person, or a person in a position of power within the Persian realm. It is a territorial demonic entity (whose influence on the Persian region - now known as Iran - seems to continue to this day), who was apposed to Yahweh, and to the chosen people of Yahweh (the Jews).
As Christians who walk in the light of Jesus Christ we live, work and stand in the territories of demonic forces. It should come as no surprise that part of their mission is to come against the body of believers by trying to hinder them, trying to bring fear and doubt into their lives, and to try to hinder them hearing from God.
But, even with that fact, we see here that God will appoint an angelic being to bring us comfort. We also see this in the verses below.
Psalm 91:11 “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” Or consider Hebrews 1:14 which says… “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
So here we have two scriptures, one from the Old testament and one from the New testament that inform us that God will send ministering angels to protect us, to witness to us and to minister to us. This should be of great comfort to know that not only is the Father on our side, not only is the Son (Jesus) on our side, not only is the Holy Spirit on our side - but they (the Godhead Trinity) have set the army of heaven to help those who believe in God.
In today’s evil world we are much like Daniel in that we work and live in worldly places, in worldly systems. But as we stand for righteousness, and stand against evil - know that we will face struggle, strife and opposition from the forces of darkness. Our hope is built on nothing less than the blood of Jesus Christ. We also know that the Father protects and provides for HIS children, as he hears and responds to their prayers.
I pray that even as you walk out the path Daniel did…that you find peace and comfort in the Word of God. may you keep humbly praying to God for help and may HIS ministering angels come to you in your time of need.