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Daniel 10
Skip Heitzig

Daniel 10 (NKJV™)
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision.
2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
4 Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris,
5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz!
6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength.
9 Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.
10 Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands.
11 And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.
12 Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.
13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
14 "Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come."
15 When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless.
16 And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, "My lord, because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength.
17 "For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me."
18 Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me.
19 And he said, "O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!" So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."
20 Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.
21 "But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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27 Daniel - 1991

Daniel is a book of history as well as prophecy, and it contains one of the most awesome and detailed predictions in the entire Bible. Skip Heitzig examines the backbone of Bible prophecy.

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Daniel 10

Chapter 10, 11, and 12 are one section and the last section of this book. It's really the last vision that a man by the name of Daniel, a prophet, a Jew, received. Now Daniel was a teenager when he was taken from his home in Jerusalem. And he was shipped across the desert to Iraq, to around Baghdad, ancient Babylon. He was part of a captivity that God warned the Jews would happen if they would turn away from obeying him.

Daniel was an unusual character because he had unusual qualities. He was very good looking. He was very smart. He handled himself properly. He was very teachable.

It was Nebuchadnezzar's practice, the King of Babylon, to take quality people from different countries that were his slaves and educate them in Babylonian culture, history, and the like so that they could serve Him as representatives worldwide in his court. And Daniel was chosen. Four Hebrew people, four Hebrew teenagers-- Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

He came as a teenager at the beginning of the captivity. He was probably about 15 years old, or 13 to 15 years old when he was taken captive. In Chapter 10, he is now 85.

He has served the Lord in a foreign country for 70 years. He's seen the beginning of the captivity and the end of the captivity. He's lived a good long life. The amazing thing about Daniel, of course, is that he was pretty much the same when he was 15 as when he was 85. He still served the Lord.

It is beautiful to find a teenager serving Jesus Christ. I get so excited when I see the youth group or some of the junior high and high school people turned on for Jesus-- especially with the peer pressure that you get at school, which is probably a lot like Babylon would have been for Daniel-- and to remain true amidst your friends telling you to not follow Jesus, but do their thing-- very rare, but very beautiful-- and to start habits of serving God from a young age. By the time you get to be 85, you're going to be great to hang around.

I love hanging out with people who've walked with Jesus for years. I just want to kind of sit at their feet and soak in all of their experiences. They have so much to share.

And it would be great to just hang around Daniel and hear of all of his experiences and hear him speak about all of his visions. But in Chapter 10, 11, and 12, to get back to what we're speaking about here, is the last section of Daniel. Chapter 10 really is an introduction.

Chapter 11 deals with prophecies that were future to Daniel. They're history to us. It speaks of the things that would happen to the Jews, especially war and persecution, from the time of Daniel to the time of Christ, roughly. And Chapter 12, the end of Chapter 11 and Chapter 12, speak about the Antichrist, the tribulation period, the two resurrections, and finally, the kingdom age.

And Daniel Chapter 10 is interesting because we see in it behind the scenes. We see behind earthly governments into the spiritual realms. You'll see the battles between angels and demons, between God's forces and the forces of the enemy Satan.

Now I know that there's a lot of attention these days given to Satanism, the occult. It's become kind of a chic, vogue, in thing. It is very real.

There is a spirit realm. Many of us are not aware of it. And probably most of us are aware of it only at times. But it's around us all the time.

And every time there's a conflict on Earth, I am convinced, and I can see it from the scripture, that it's because there's a conflict in the heavenly realms. And it happens to touch the sphere of mankind because we are the objects of God's love, and we are God's creation, and God has a plan for the world. But there is much activity, spiritual activity taking place that we cannot see, we are not aware of. We just know from the scripture that it exists.

When it comes to spiritual warfare, I think there are two extremes. There are some people who say that demons, the devil doesn't exist. It's a fairy tale. It's a way for man to categorize and blame all of his ills on some unseen, unknown force.

And then there's the opposite extreme. And I find many Christians in this camp. And that is they give the devil too much credit. Oh, he's real.

But often Christians give the devil what he's always been looking for, an equal status with God, as if he's the opposite of God. And some Christians talk about the devil so much, speak about deliverance from the devil so much, that in effect, they exalt the position of the devil far above his true position. It was always his desire-- from the beginning, we are told by the prophet-- that he would be like the most high.

And people can exalt his status in thinking, oh, he's like the most high, and there's this huge battle going on between God and the devil. And it's like two guys in the ring, battling it out. And we watch with bated breath to see who's going to win.

Satan is already defeated, Colossians tells us. He was defeated at the cross. We can yield power to him. I think some Christians give in to him and then they blame him for what they have foolishly done.

I think some believers can sail too close to the lake of fire and brimstone that their sails get singed. They're just walking really, really closely, instead of not yielding any power to him. But we're going to see some of these battles that go on in heavenly places tonight.

I think really that Chapter 10 would be the pinnacle of Daniel's experience receiving visions from the Lord. You can see a progression in Daniel. First of all, in the beginning of the book, he gets to interpret somebody else's visions and dreams.

Then he gets his own dreams and visions from the Lord. Then in Chapter 9, Gabriel, an angel sent from God, gives him a prophetic overview of Israel's history, which to Daniel was future. But in Chapter 10, it would seem that Daniel gets a visit from the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ himself. There's an interesting vision that we pick up in Chapter 10.

It says in the third year of Cyrus, around 536 BC, who is the King of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long. And he understood the message and had understanding of the vision.

Now this is the third year. We remember in the first year of this character that he allowed the Jews to return to their homeland to build the temple. And so it happened that a guy by the name of Zerubbabel-- wild name, I wouldn't suggest you name any of your children that. If you're looking for a biblical name, I would skip that one.

Zerubbabel took 50,000 of the Jews from Babylon back to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem at the decree of Cyrus. And in those days, I, Daniel was mourning for three full weeks. We don't know why but it could be, just guessing, that it was because so few of the Jews returned to Jerusalem.

Only 50,000 out of so many more that had been there, just a small percentage of the Jews, went back. The rest of them were just happy in Babylon. They liked it. It was comfortable. It was home. Why pull up roots?

Now the question has been raised, why didn't Daniel go then? Well, first of all, Daniel's 85 years old. It's a long walk to Jerusalem.

He couldn't get on an airplane and fly from Baghdad to Tel Aviv and take a bus up to Jerusalem. It was by caravan. You walk.

He was 85. He thought, look, God has put me here. I spent my ministry here. God has used me to be an emissary for the Jewish people. I think God still has worked for me. And I'm 85.

And it could be that he stayed to encourage more of the Jews to go. But for some reason, he stayed. And he was mourning for three full weeks.

And I ate no pleasant food. No meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all until three whole weeks were fulfilled. Now on the 24th day of the first month, I was by the side of the great river, that is the Tigris, lifted my eyes and looked. And behold, a certain man was clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with a gold of Uphaz.

Now he sees this interesting vision, or dream, or reality, whatever. But he sees a certain man who's dressed to the hilt. First of all, he has linen on, very expensive, something that only the priests would wear administering to the Lord in the temple of Jerusalem. And at that time, it was very, very costly.

So the guy had nice duds on, pure linen. And he had a gold belt around, solid gold, like the gold of Uphaz, a port where gold was mined from around Babylon. And he looked up and his body was like beryl, beautiful stone.

His face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. Now there are people who say this was an angelic appearance. There are others, and I would tend to agree with them, who call this a theophany, a Christophany, whatever you want to call it, which simply means the appearance, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

If you were to compare these verses with Chapter 1 of Revelation, it'd blow your mind. It's almost identical. Where Jesus Christ appears to John and it's the same kind of description-- instead of his voice being like a multitude, however, his voice is like the rushing sound of many waters, feet like bronze, his countenance is shining, and he's dressed like this.

And I, Daniel alone saw the vision. For the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great terror fell on them so that they fled to hide themselves. They were probably people serving in the court with Daniel.

And they were just casually having an afternoon one day, probably sent out on official business there at the Tigris River. All of a sudden, they can't see the thing. But Daniel is so engrossed in what he sees, and they're so frightened by his reaction, they don't know what it is. They just-- I don't know, let's just get out of here.

And so they fled. He was all alone. Therefore, I was left alone when I saw this great vision. And no strength remained in me, for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the sound of his words. And while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Boy, does this point to the frailty of man in the presence of God. Man is basically a proud creature. And man will question God. Man will even shake the fist at God.

But when that man is in the real presence of God, it's a different story. Peter was quite a fisherman. Peter was quite a proud man.

Until Jesus stepped onto his boat one time and he said, Peter, launch out a little bit from the shore. Let's go fishing. Peter said, Jesus, I've been fishing all night. We caught nothing.

Those were the words of an experienced fisherman. Everyone who fishes in Galilee knows the best fishing is at night, not in the morning. And I've been working this lake for years.

This is my occupation, Jesus. I have worked all night. I haven't caught anything. You're a preacher. You're a good preacher, Jesus. But I am a fisherman.

But hey, I'll humor you. At your command, sure, I'll let it out. Let's go have some fun.

Guys, let the nets out. He wants to go fishing. Let's humor the guy.

And as he threw it out, the nets became so full of fish that they were about to break and the boat was about to sink. And it dawned on Peter who this was.

This was the Son of God. And he knelt down on his knees, and he said, depart from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man-- first time he's ever said that.

Peter was proud until he saw himself in the presence of deity, and he saw that he was frail and meek. It's the same kind of effect that Isaiah has in Chapter 6. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple.

And there were angels flying around and one sitting on the throne. The angels were crying holy, holy, holy. And as I took in the scene, all I could say is woe is me.

[LAUGHTER]

For I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people that have unclean lips.

Seeing himself in the sight of God, in the light of the presence and the countenance of a holy God, he saw his own sinfulness. Daniel, a great man of God, a great leader in Babylon, nevertheless, at the presence of this certain man, he is on his face and he's humble. I heard a story that, back in the East at one of the hospitals on the Eastern seaboard, in the front of the hospital is a huge white marble statue of Jesus Christ, with his arms outstretched.

And one day there were people around it. And a cynic, an unbeliever, was looking at this statue, cynically walking around from angle to angle, checking out this statue. And a little girl came up to him and tugged on him and said, that's the wrong way to see it. Fall down on your knees and look up. That's the only way to see it.

Well, Daniel had that idea. He fell down. And then suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, oh, Daniel? Man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.

It would seem that this is another character, not the same one. He's on his knees before when the certain man is speaking. And now a hand touches him. Doesn't say it was that man. But probably, in context, if you would read Chapter 9, 10, 11, and 12 at a setting, you'd see the differences of characters.

It would seem like this is an angelic being, perhaps Gabriel, the same one that was speaking back in Chapter 9. Oh, Daniel, man, greatly beloved-- you know that's a nice thing to hear. When you're scared to death in the presence of a being that you really don't know who he is, and you're trembling for someone to say, hey, we love you.

Whew! Thanks. I'm greatly beloved. To understand these words that I speak to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. And while he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. He said to me, do not fear, Daniel.

For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days.

And behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. For I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. And now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.

And while he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground. I became speechless. And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. And I opened my mouth and I spoke, saying to him who stood before me, my lord, because of the vision, my sorrows have overwhelmed me, for I have retained no strength.

For how can this servant of the Lord talk with you? For how can this servant of my Lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me. And again, one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me.

And he said, oh, man, greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be to you. And so when he spoke to me, I was strengthened. And he said, let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me.

And then he said do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth, indeed, the prince of Greece will come.

It's a wild 20 verses we've just read. Now back over in Chapter 10, where it says "then suddenly a hand touched me", it would seem like, in this episode, an angelic being comes, like in Chapter 9, to give him revelation. Angels are prominent in the scripture. They are spiritual and super human beings.

You, as a person, are the highest of God's created order upon this Earth. But that doesn't mean you're the highest of God's creation, period. For the Bible says that God has made man a little lower than the angels.

Angels are not limited to time and space like you are. They are not born and die, like you are. They seem to be eternal, powerful, superhuman beings. Though the angels of God look into and desire to look into the things that pertain to you, the church.

And what's even more wild and perhaps a little bit disconcerting to them is the Bible says that you and I will one day judge the angels. I can't picture angels getting too excited over that proposition, especially knowing the frailty of man. And when God says he will glorify us, the angels are counting on that one. So God could pull it off, that we could judge them. It's going to take a lot of glorification for us to handle it.

Angels, in the scripture, seem to be progressive. That is they are more prominent as Jewish history goes on. Until the New Testament, they're very prominent. Jesus spoke of angels many times.

In Matthew Chapter 13, he spoke of angels as being the reapers at the end of the age when God judges the world. That the angels will go throughout and be the reapers, gathering in those people for judgment. Jesus spoke of little children. And he said that their angels always behold the face of my Father, who is in heaven.

And then Jesus spoke about his return, that he would return with the holy angels coming with him. They have a prominent role in the New Testament, administering to Jesus. When Jesus was born, it was Gabriel who announced to Mary, Mary, don't be afraid.

You're with child. The Holy Spirit has come upon you. He appeared to Joseph. When Jesus was born, an angel appeared to the shepherds.

And they were greatly afraid. The angels said, don't be afraid. I bring you good tidings of great joy. For unto you this day in Bethlehem is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

And then with the angel appeared a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God, saying glory to God in the highest. Then an angel appeared to Joseph. Saying Joseph, Herod wants to kill your son. Take him to Egypt. When Jesus was led up onto a high mountain and he was tempted by the devil, when the devil left him, the angels came and ministered to him.

In the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus said, Father, not my will, but yours be done-- at that point, it says an angel descended from heaven and strengthened him. And then when Jesus rose from the dead, beautiful story, Matthew Chapter 28, a great earthquake shook the ground around Jerusalem. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled the stone away from the door and sat on it.

Which always puzzled me-- why didn't he just do his job, and then go home? But he wanted to hang around. Took the stone off the door, he just kind of sat on it so that he could tell the women who came to the tomb, hey, you're looking for Jesus. He's not here.

He's risen. Don't you remember? He said so. Go to Galilee. Tell his disciples and Peter that he's risen. He's going to meet up with you up at the shores of Galilee.

Great job to be an angel. And yet, they minister to us, too. So I imagine that we keep them on their toes. Hebrews Chapter 1 Verse 14 says that angels are ministering spirits, sent to minister to you and I, those who are heirs of salvation.

I like that. You've got protection. Maybe some people have said, oh, a guardian angel-- yeah, that's fairy tale. No, it's not.

God has sent his angels to you. And the Bible says sometimes they appear like humans. For many have entertained angels unaware.

Now I know people say I saw an angel. I really did. I was out on the road. An angel appeared in this person's car. How do you know it was an angel? Bible says an angel unaware. Says that you wouldn't know about it.

The writer just says many have entertained angels, but they didn't know they were angels. Now there have been times that I've wondered, some strange circumstances of it happened. But I personally have never met, that I would know, an angel. Except one-- I married her.

[LAUGHTER]

[APPLAUSE]

But that was a little different. That was an angel aware. Peter had a wild experience. He was in prison.

And his angel had an interesting personality. Peter was sleeping. An angel came and just hit him, struck him on the side.

Get up! Put your sandals on, gird up your belt. Let's go.

And Peter didn't know was going on. He said follow me. And he bailed him out of prison.

At another time, in Acts Chapter 27, Paul the Apostle is on a boat sailing from Caesarea to Rome. And Paul gets everybody's attention on the ship. He goes, excuse me. I have an announcement.

It was a big storm. And everybody was scared that they were going to die. And Paul says, you're not going to die. An angel appeared to me and spoke to me tonight and said that I have to appear before Caesar.

And that God will keep my life and the life of everybody on this ship. They probably said, you weirdo. But he spoke with great confidence that an angel of the Lord had spoken to him. So angels are prominent in the New Testament, being sent to minister to those who are heirs of salvation.

Some of you, God has to send three or four or five or six angels, the way you drive--

[LAUGHTER]

--the way you live. Thank God for his work. But then also in this chapter, we see the work of-- it would seem-- like demons. I want you to look here, Chapter 10, Verse 12.

Do not fear, Daniel, from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I have come because of your words. That is, to me, a great verse. The minute you prayed on Earth, your words were heard in heaven.

Didn't have to go through God's secretary. It's the beautiful thing about God. He is not limited like we are. Now we're humans.

We have schedules to keep. We have appointment books. We have secretaries and all that stuff because we're humans. We can't be like God.

God has that unlimited ability to have audience with anybody who wants to. You can pray to him, and he can be totally intent in answering your prayer. And somebody on the other side of the world, in another language, can be talking to him, and he can have the same effect with them-- always blows my mind.

That as soon as you started praying, Daniel, from the first day, your words were heard. And I have come because of your words. Now to me, that's comforting. It's great.

We can come before his throne boldly, the Book of Hebrews tells us, boldly. You don't have to fear when you come into God's throne, nor do you have to send someone else in for you. Well, I'm not worthy to come into God. I got to speak to his mother or somebody who knows him better to get to God.

No. The Bible says that because of the work of Jesus, you can come boldly on your own. He said, I'm not worthy. He knows that. But he'll still listen to you because of what Jesus did.

That's the beauty of saying in Jesus' name. Use any other name on God, it won't work. He won't hear. It's only the name of Jesus and what Jesus has done that gets you audience with him. So you come boldly.

While this is great, it took the angel three weeks to get there. Said as soon as you started praying, I was dispatched. But he started three weeks ago. It says at the beginning of this chapter.

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the Kings of Persia. He was intercepted by this character, this some being-- one of the princes-- he was left there with-- OK.

The prince of the kingdom of Persia intercepted him. A few things to note-- obviously, this being was not a man, because he was able to intercept angelic beings. Secondly, he was probably Satan's agent, because he was opposing God's people and the prayer of Daniel.

And thirdly, this being seems to influence governments. He's called the prince of Persia. And it says, I had been left alone with the kings of Persia. It seems that there are spiritual beings, and the Bible says that they are in rankings, Ephesians and Colossians, that have influence upon the leaders of this world, the kings, the princes, the presidents, the prime ministers of this world. That in heavenly places, there are spiritual activities going on.

That's why the Bible tells you we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, the workers of darkness in heavenly places. That's where we are to do battle, spiritual warfare. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision refers to many days yet to come.

If I were to piece all of the scriptures about the devil and demons together, it would go like this. When God created spirit beings, he created all of them essentially good, but also with free will. And one of them named Satan, Lucifer, depending on which scripture you look up, who seemed to be numero uno, the anointed cherub that covers-- you can chase on your own in Ezekiel Chapter 28, Isaiah Chapter 14-- that he was lifted up with pride in his heart.

And he said, you know, I don't like being number 1 minus 1. I want to be number one. I want to be like the most high. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, Isaiah tells us.

I will be like the most high. And as soon as he was lifted up with pride in his heart, he was cast out of heaven, the Bible tells us. Revelations says that he drew a third part of the stars, or the angelic beings, out of heaven with him. And so there are today demons-- demons who exercise control in a very skilled, tightly woven network of demonic activity.

See the devil is not like God. God is omnipresent. God can be in Albuquerque, China, and Israel, all at the same time-- your house and my house. God can listen to you and you and you all at the same time. The devil can't do that. He's a created being.

But he's got lots of helpers. And it seems like he can dispatch them. They're in ranked order. They're set out, just as angels are sent out to minister to you, demons would be sent out to hassle you, to cause you to doubt, to get you too busy so that you don't have time for the things of the Lord, to get you worried and filled with anxiety.

And there's a lot of stuff that the enemy can use for that. These demons can also possess the body of an unbeliever, not a believer. An unbeliever a demon can totally possess, including the motor functions of a person's mind. Though it has been rare-- thank God, it has been rare-- I have witnessed on a couple occasions authentic demon possession.

It's nothing to look for. I know people who say they have ministries in it. Well, if God's called you to it, great. I'm glad he didn't call me to it.

And unless you're really equipped, you best not do it. You better not look for it. You might get beat up a little bit. Remember in the book of Act the seven sons of sceva, who went to a man who was demon possessed and said we adjure you by Jesus Christ, whom Paul preaches, come out.

And the demon said, Jesus, we know. Paul, we know. But who are you? And the demons came out and beat the guy to shreds. And the man ran out of the house naked.

Demons can inhabit the body of an unbeliever, never a believer. If you say a demon can inhabit the body of a believer, you are concurring that light and darkness can dwell together, which Paul emphatically states is an impossibility in Corinthians. It can't happen. But he can possess, and he has possessed in the Scripture, the body, the motor functions of unbelievers. And they can exert power and they can oppress people.

Now in Verse 19, he said oh, man, greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be to you. Be strong, yet be strong.

And so when he spoke to me, I was strengthened. I said let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me. And he said do you not know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth, indeed, the prince of Greece will come.

If we could see into the invisible world, or what Donald Grey Barnhouse once wrote, The Invisible War, it would probably blow our minds and probably even scare us to death, or probably really excite us at the same time. There's a fabulous account in I Kings Chapter 6 where there was a prophet. The prophet's name was Elijah.

Elijah had a great hotline with God. And the king of Assyria, when he was attacking Israel, would in secret tell his troops where they were to be poised. And then somehow, God would tell the prophet Elijah what the king of Syria's plans were.

And so he'd tell the king of Israel, hey, the king of Syria is going to poise his men here. Get your men here. And so this frustrated the king of Syria so much that he got his men together and said, which one of you is telling the king of Israel my plans? Who's the traitor?

And finally, one stepped out and he said, oh, king? No one is a traitor. But there is a character in Israel by the name of Elijah, and oh, king, you can't say something to your wife in your bedroom that he doesn't know.

King says go get him. Where is he? And they found that he was in Dauphin. And so the king of Syria sent all of his men to Dauphin, and they surrounded the city at night.

Early in the morning, the sun was rising. The servant of Elijah, Gehazi, looked out. And he saw that the city was surrounded with chariots and the army of Syria.

And he nudges Elijah. Elijah, look! Look at all those chariots out there. They're going to wipe us out. We're dead, we're history.

Elijah probably yawning a little bit, not too worried, said, oh, Lord. Open his eyes that he may see. And the servant of Elijah's eyes were opened spiritually. He was able to see into the spiritual realm.

But before that, Elijah said don't worry. Because there are more that are for us than for them. And then he said, Lord, open his eyes. He opened his eyes, and he saw chariots of fire and the angels of God encamped around the armies that was encamped around the city.

And no doubt the servant of Elijah said, oh, man, those poor Assyrians now.

[LAUGHTER]

Instead of poor me, poor them. And then Elijah said, oh, Lord. Strike them with blindness. And the Assyrians were struck with blindness.

They were urged into the city. They didn't know where they were. And then their eyes were open. And they were enclosed within the city so that the king of Israel could take care of them. He was allowed to see into the invisible world, the spirit world, as was Daniel.

But I will tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth, no one upholds me against these except Michael, your prince. Now there is a spiritual application for you and I. If you are a believer, you have an enemy.

He seeks to thwart the plan and the work of God in your life. That's why the Bible says that you are to put on the full armor of God and do everything you can to stand in the evil day. And if you're going to go devil shouting, and oh, I'm not worried about him, and just confident in the energy of your flesh, look out.

But if you go in His strength-- what do I mean by His strength? Well, the Bible gives us that. The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Read your Bible.

Another weapon is prayer. If you're in constant communion with the Lord, I don't mean every single moment verbally speaking to God, but you're in communion with God throughout the day, you have some kind of a time each day where you're alone with the Lord, you have quiet time. You read your Bible.

You apply the truth of the Bible to your heart. You pray to the Lord. You're in fellowship.

Your faith is built up, and you have the shield of faith. You're going to be sailing, man. Oh, he'll attack, yes. But you'll be ready for him.

If you're out of fellowship with God, if you're out of fellowship with His people, you don't pray much, you don't read your Bible much, you'll find that your life is mincemeat. Right? And so we need to abide in Christ.

John 15-- abide in me, and I in you, and you will bring forth much fruit. The secret to strength is in your personal relationship with God, not your mom's relationship, your boyfriend's your husband, or your pastor's, your personal relationship with God. God has no grandchildren, only children.

And you must have your own personal walk and communication and commitment to God, or you'll find how frustrating it is when you're out of fellowship with him. Daniel was in fellowship with him. Of course he was trembling at the vision. Because he saw what was going to happen to the Jewish people. And we see it in Chapter 11 now.

OK. If you look ahead, Chapter 11 has 45 verses. It is impossible for us to cover it in 15 minutes. So I'm going to speak about a little of it. And I'm glad we've gotten to this point tonight. It'll give you a little bit of an overview for next week.

Let me describe a couple of things to you. See I never know where I'm going to quit Sunday night. We just go by the time.

Daniel 11 is one of those chapters that has blown the minds of scholars and historians for such a long time that they don't know what to do with it. One of the typical, uneducated pseudoscholarly guesses of the Book of Daniel, is that it was written, not by Daniel, they say, but by somebody during the Maccabean period. If you've been with us in Daniel, remember Judas Maccabeus? You remember the Maccabees, second century BC?

And the scholars will say this stuff is so accurate, it can't be prophecy. It has to have been written after the fact. And a person that says that is a secular historian who approaches history with a predisposition and a presupposition that the miraculous doesn't exist. That's unfair, because he will misinterpret history.

And so he looks at this, doesn't know what to do with it, and say, because it's so accurate and I disbelieve in God, disbelieve in miracles, it can't have been written before the fact. It has to have been written after the fact. Therefore, I'll place it during the Maccabean period, second century BC instead of sixth century BC, when Daniel really wrote it.

Well, I heard a story of a seminary class. And the professor had the gall to stand up and say, the Book of Daniel was not written by Daniel. It was written during the Maccabean period, second century BC.

And a very astute student stood up and said, well, I've got a problem with that. And you've got a problem with Jesus. Because Jesus said it was written by Daniel, when you see the abomination of desolation as written by the prophet Daniel.

And you know what the professor said? Well, that's because I know more about Daniel than Jesus knew about Daniel. That's what he said. I kid you not. How'd you like to be in his shoes as he faces judgment?

The reason that there is such a stink about Daniel is because of chapters like Chapter 11. In 35 verses alone, there are 135 detailed prophecies that have been fulfilled in history, incredible detail. And when you read Daniel 11, and if you ever have the chance, I did this one time, to make an exhaustive study of this chapter alone and match up 135 prophecies to their fulfillment historically, you'll walk away blown away.

And the words of Peter will come alive to you. We did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. But we have a more sure word of prophecy, which you do well to take heed to. Because it's like a light that shines in a dark place.

And as I approach a dark future, I don't know really what's going to happen in the future. And it seems to get darker every day that I read the Albuquerque Journal, especially, USA Today, and see the newscasts. It's pretty dark.

I'm raising a son. I wonder what the future is going to be like to him. But as I read chapters like Chapter 11 and see how detailed-- from Daniel's perspective, they were yet future. But they've all been fulfilled.

I am certain that the rest of the promises of God and the Scripture, like the coming of Jesus Christ, will be fulfilled. I don't doubt it. Because I see his accuracy. His track record is so impeccable in Chapter 11.

I love it. Well, Chapter 11 has a theme, by the way. The theme is war. I'm not going to cover every bit of this chapter, probably, with you.

Imagine trying to cover 135 prophecies in 35 verses. That would take months, probably, if we were to map it out and point it out historically. But it's fascinating, nonetheless.

The theme is war. And the question I had when I first studied this chapter is why is there so much detail, that is to us, history, packed into it? Why would God give Daniel this detailed perspective of the annihilation and the persecution and the trials that the Jews suffered?

Well, remember last week, we have a prophetic calendar? The prophetic calendar is called Daniel 70 weeks. 70 weeks of years are determined upon the nation of Israel.

The first part of Chapter 11 Verses 1 through 35 deal with the future, or for us, the history, of the Jews and her enemies during the first 69 weeks. Verse 36 onward deal with the Jews in the 70th week, or during the tribulation period. And it's detailed simply because it is God's people, the Jewish people.

Much of the chapter, at the end, or towards the end, has to deal with the character by the name of Antiochus Epiphanies, a couple of you remember his name. The Assyrian King, Antiochus IV, who persecuted the Jewish people. And a lot of detail is given about him, because he is a foreshadow of another person who will come called the Antichrist who will persecute the Jews in a greater capacity during the tribulation period.

So you can slice this chapter in two. The first 35 verses speak of, for us, the past conflicts with the Jews. Verse 36 onward, the future conflict for Israel. Now again, for Daniel, it was all future. But for us, some of it's passed, and 135 prophecies have been fulfilled already.

But Verse 36 onward are the prophecies yet for the future. When I read this chapter, a chapter that predicts war, I think of how much this planet has been at war. Did you know that only 8% of world history has been peaceful?

8% of world history has been peaceful. The Canadian Army Journal, in estimating how much warfare has gone on planet Earth, estimates that the monetary value of all of the wars fought on Earth would pay for a belt 100 miles wide, 33 feet thick, that would go around the entire planet Earth made of pure gold. Think of that, a pure gold belt 100 miles wide, 33 feet thick. That's the value it would pay for a belt, the monetary value of the wars that have been fought.

Wars, the Bible says, and desolations are determined until the end. By the way, where do wars start, in the UN? No, they start in the heart of man, James tells us.

Where do wars and conflicts come from? Don't they come from the greed and the selfishness within the human heart that wars in your members? That's where it comes from.

And all of us, we have proven over history, are capable of atrocities. Every generation proves we can't get along with each other. In every generation, children that grow up so innocent, they grow up as adults and they become cynical and think will there ever be peace. Oh, how we want peace.

Well, there will be peace one day. It won't be when the Arabs and the Israelis sign an agreement. It will be when Jesus Christ returns. He is the Prince of Peace. He's the only one that will establish long term peace upon the Earth. And he'll enforce it.

OK. Seven minutes-- OK-- I said that the first 35 verses of this chapter speak of the conflicts that Israel has with her enemies in the past. And so if you look at the first couple verses, it speaks of the past. And Verse 1 and 2 speak of Persia.

Remember the visions that have gone on in this book? Nebuchadnezzar had one. Daniel had one.

That the first kingdom would be Babylon. The second would be the Medes and the Persians, then Greece. Or Verses 1 and 2 of this chapter speak of Persia. Verses 3 and 4 speak of Greece. So it should be familiar territory.

Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, this is the angel speaking, stood up to confirm and to strengthen him. Now Persia has a long history. But in two verses, two main events are given.

The first is that at some period an angel came. This angel strengthened and confirmed Darius the Mede. Why is that important?

Because he strengthened Darius the Mede, a decree was signed to let the Jews leave Babylon and go back to Jerusalem. It came from this strengthening. Secondly, Verse 2, and now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia.

And the 4th will be far richer than them all. And by his strength, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. He is speaking of Xerxes, a Persian general who amassed an army of some 2 and 1/2 million soldiers and attacked with great fierceness Greece.

But he lost. He was defeated. And Greece took over, and Alexander the Great is featured in the next couple verses. Then a mighty king, Alexander, shall arise. And he shall rule with great dominion and do according to all of his will.

Now Alexander, as we've said, was a feisty kid. When he was 18, he was a petit prince of Macedonia. His dad was worried, because he was kind of like a mama's boy. And so he decided to tutor him in school.

And he hired Aristotle to be his teacher. And Aristotle tutored, taught Alexander the Great. Four years later, he became really the king of the world. He conquered the world.

Swiftly he marched his armies-- not large, but they were very fast. And they conquered the known world. He died when he was 32, almost 33 in Babylon.

He was at a drunken orgy, a party in Babylon. And he drank what is called the Hercules cup, some massive-- you know, it's kind of like a kegger party, see how much you could drink. And he downed this huge cup.

He already had a fever. He was a lush already. He was already drunk. And he took this thing, and he walked home, got a cold. He died of pneumonia.

Before he died, in Babylon, he lay down in his bed and he wept. There were no more worlds for him to conquer. He was an incredible king.

When he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity. In other words, Alexander's kids won't take over the kingdom for him. It'll be divided into four, but his kids won't take it.

That's what happened. Alexander's successor to the throne was his own son. His uncle, Cassander, killed him. And there was no posterity to take it over. Nor according to his dominion, which he's ruled. For his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.

And what happened? Remember, four generals took over Alexander's empire. All right. And we'll stop with this. We'll pick up next time.

There's a lesson here that I don't want you to miss. Alexander was a ruthless individualist. He was very independent. He did his own thing. He carved out his own place in history.

And yet at the same time, as weird as this is going to sound, he was a tool. God used him. Does that strike you as odd?

Do you remember in Isaiah it speaks of Nebuchadnezzar, yet future, and God says I will bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen king. But God was going to use a heathen king to teach His kids a lesson, so He calls him a servant.

Alexander the Great was also a servant of God. He did know it, but God used him. In taking over the known world, he gave the world the first universal language called Greek. And at that time, you could be in any part of the world, and you could communicate with anyone. So if you traveled from one part to the next, you could communicate with people.

That formed the basis of writing techniques. And the New Testament was written in Greek. So it became a universal document. You could read it anywhere.

And the gospel could be preached, because of the Greek language, almost anywhere in the world. Now that should be a lesson to us, that even bad things that happen, God can use. The Bible says that God uses the wrath of man to praise Him.

I'll give you a modern example, Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein, I admit, would be creepo numero uno for what he has done, atrocities. I met personally and tried to minister to the refugees leaving Kuwait crossing the Iraqi border. I was at the Iraqi border.

And I talked to the refugees, people who'd been raped, had their relatives killed by the soldiers in front of their eyes. He was brutal. Because of what he had done, our soldiers poised themselves in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. But that opened up a door.

The gospel has not been able to get into Saudi Arabia since 8,200. So we thought, well, let's bring in some tracts in Arabic. And a few people squawked at that. But people came to know Jesus through that. It was a door.

Then because of what Saddam Hussein had done, there were Kurdish refugees. That area between Turkey and Iraq and Iran, the Kurds, a displaced people, were persecuted during that time and they became refugees. They were featured every night on CNN.

But because of the plight of the Kurdish refugees, relief groups from all over the world could bring aid. And many groups, including Operation Mobilization, Youth with a Mission, Samaritan's Purse, sent their people over there. And I heard the remarks of one missionary, as he was preaching the Gospel.

And he stood up in front of the Kurdish refugees. And the Kurdish leaders were saying nobody loves us. Nobody loves us. The world hates us.

Americans don't love us. The people in Turkey don't love us. Iraqis, Iranians, they don't love us. Nobody loves us.

You got to say God loves you and preach the gospel to him. And he said, you mean God loves us? And all these people, when he said that, gathered around this man. And the guy thought, oh, maybe I said the wrong thing.

But they couldn't believe that somebody would preach a religious message about God loving them. And he said so many of the Kurdish people came to know Christ. And he turned to my friend, Franklin Graham, and he said we have been waiting and praying for 15 years for a door to open like this. We haven't been able to get the Gospel to these people for 15 years. But now we can.

And so through Saddam's chicanery, God opened a door in Saudi Arabia and with the Kurdish refugees. And so all the things that happen, God can still use them. Hey, God's still on the throne.

Isaiah in Chapter 6 had to learn that. In the year that king Uzziah died, the great revivalist, the spiritual king, when he died, and Isaiah thought, oh, no, now the country is going to pot. The good king's off the throne. He saw God on the throne.

And God's message to him was basically I'm in control, buddy. Relax. But I need somebody to go for me. I want to send you. And these are dark days, and God wants to send you.

But he's still in control. Never forget that. God has a plan, and he's opening doors. Just look for them. And let's see how God can redeem the times.

Well, next week, we're going to a little bit of history, talk about in Chapter or Verse 21 and 22, and Antiochus Epiphanies once again. And then next week, we'll look at the personality of the Antichrist, the one who will come-- who hasn't come yet-- who will come. Maybe he's on the scene today, ready to be revealed, who will come in the 70th week of Daniel and deceive many.

Additional Messages in this Series

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8/25/1991
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Daniel 1
Daniel 1
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9/1/1991
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Daniel 2
Daniel 2
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9/22/1991
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Daniel 3
Daniel 3
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9/29/1991
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Daniel 4
Daniel 4
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10/6/1991
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Daniel 5
Daniel 5
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10/20/1991
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Daniel 6
Daniel 6
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10/27/1991
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Daniel 7
Daniel 7
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11/3/1991
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Daniel 8
Daniel 8
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11/10/1991
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Daniel 9
Daniel 9
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11/24/1991
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Daniel 11-12
Daniel 11-12
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