The chapter begins with Daniel in a state of mourning for three weeks. Daniel was at this point an old man; he had not returned with the people who went back to Jerusalem. Nonetheless, Daniel was very concerned for his people and the state in Jerusalem; perhaps he was distressed that there were many who did not opt to return from exile and the temple and city were still in disarray. He was also probably concerned with the prophecy that his people would still have to undergo much sufferings and trouble in the future.
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while standing on the bank of river Tigris, Daniel had a vision of an angelic being; the vision was so terrifying to those with him that they fled whilst Daniel himself became very weak with no strength left in him. Some commentators thought this was a theophany (an appearance of Christ in His pre-incarnate state); others felt that this was probably an angel as he needed help in his battle against a demon, from angel Michael (which Christ as God would not have needed),
Three times, Daniel had to be strengthened by the touch of an angel to be able to receive the communication from the angel sent to him to reveal what was to happen to Daniel’s people in the latter days.
The angel first of all revealed that the prince of the kingdom of Persia (probably a powerful demon) withstood him to prevent him from coming to Daniel and he had to be helped by one of the chief princes, Michael. He also revealed that the prince of Greece (another demon) would be coming to battle against him subsequently and here again, he would receive help from Michael (one of the chief angels).
Here we are given a glimpse of the heavenly realm and the principalities and power in this realm.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Behind all these forces and power is the evil one, Satan himself, with all his schemes.
We see how even the angels of the Lord do not find it easy to overcome them and the battle can be long and drawn. No wonder Apostle Paul enjoined the believers to put on the whole armour of God and to pray in this fight. Daniel himself, one beloved of God, had to pray fervently and over a long period before receiving God’s messenger and message for His people.
We need to be aware that the schemes of the evil one includes deception, direct temptations, persecutions and the sowing of fear and discord among God’s people. He has his demons working for him and he uses the negative influence and temptations of this world to cause Christians to go astray; he also knows the weaknesses of the flesh and indwelling sin among believers and he is crafty enough to exploit and manipulate these areas to gain his ground. The enemy is also ‘conversant’ with the Bible and he is an expert in distorting the truth and teaching in the Scriptures to cause many to ‘fall in battle’. We need to be vigilant against our adversary “the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:5(b)).
When we see wrong teachings and theology being promoted by charismatic individuals who claim to be from God, we can be sure that the devil and his demons are behind it all; when we notice the rise of jealousy, envy, dissensions among God’s people in the church, he is also at work; when we see God’s people adopting worldly methods in Christian service; when we God’s people under bondage of sin, pornography, materialism and worldly pleasures, he is definitely involved with his minions. The only problem is, often, God’s people are not conscious of the spiritual battles and warfare going on in the spiritual realm; we only perceive what we can see in the physical realm.
Of course, we must not fall into the trap of concluding that everything that goes wrong is of the devil; often than not, it can be due to our own wrong choices and failures – we must not be so taken up with ‘spiritual attacks’ that we see evil ‘behind every bush’ and we become spiritually ‘paralysed’ and so fearful that we actually ended up as spiritual casualties even before the real battle begins.
A prayerful stance, a vigilant spirit and a discerning attitude are needful; we must depend on the Lord God and His Holy Spirit (implying that prayer is essential and a wholesome understanding of the Bible is indispensable) to fight the battles.
We must however realise that God has won the victory through Christ at Calvary; “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him (i.e. Christ)” (Colossians 2:15). In a sense, the war is over at the Cross, but the battles and skirmishes continue as the devil knows that he has limited time and he refuses to admit defeat. Our part is therefore “to take up the whole armour of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13). We are to defend our ground of victory, secured for us by the Lord Jesus and therefore to stand as ‘more than conquerors through Him who loves us”.
The book of Daniel records for us the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms and the revelation that God’s kingdom would finally triumph over all and last forever. We notice that the rulers of the earthly kingdoms became proud with their achievements in warfare and their accomplishments in victory; they became so proud that they desired to be worshipped and to be gods of their own making. But they had to be humbled and to acknowledge the sovereignty of the one true God over the ‘sovereignty’ of human rulers. But note also that behind the power of these rulers and earthly kingdom is Satan himself, who rebels against God and wishes to be God himself. He is the one who marshals human rulers and human kingdoms to rebel against God so that he could establish his own kingdom and rule. He is the one behind who uses rebellious human rulers and human authority to ‘side with him’ to achieve his ambition – we see that this would finally be revealed in the final battle between the ‘false trinity’ (comprising of Satan, the false prophet and Antichrist) and the triune God before the ‘end’, revealed in the book of Revelation and also prophesied to a certain extent in the book of Daniel.
From the garden in Eden, man, manipulated by the evil one, has been rebelling against God and wanting to be god of this world. The history of the world has been characterised by kingdom after kingdom, ruler after ruler, who sought to be worshipped and to be god.
The book of Daniel affirms the presence of God’s faithful people who refuse to defile themselves by breaking God’s law; they give God the glory for their achievements; they prefer to die rather than commit idolatry and they refuse to compromise their devotional habits under pressure. Daniel’s visions assert that the people of God will triumph because their God rules the future. It is not possible for God’s people to be defeated, for their God, the only God, is sovereign. God not only rules the future; He rules each individual’s future and He rules the future of each nation and His Church.
God is the one who creates, reveals, saves, judges and rules -from the garden of Eden in Genesis to the day of the Lord in Revelation – and He would usher in the new earth in the new heaven where He would rule in glory with His people, and there would be final liberation, restoration and re-making of the world, the cosmos, and the complete elimination of evil.