Server Outage Notice: TheSeed.info is transfering to a new Server on Tuesday April 13th
| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Rev. Rodney den Boer > the LORD shows his help by preparing Daniel for the final vision | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Read: Daniel 10 Sing: Ps 121:1, 2, 3, 4; Ps 119:22; Ps 77:1, 3; Ps 91:1, 4, 5; Ps 68:8, 12 Questions:
|
Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Imagine a man walking along the beach in Gallipoli in 1915, in the middle of WWI. Imagine he was just going for a morning walk with his dog and ignorant of the battle all around him. That can be us. We are in a spiritual battle, and we often don’t realise how serious it is, and how weak we are in this battle. We can be unaware of our need for God’s help at every moment in our lives.
The catechism says in LD 52, “in ourselves we are so weak that we cannot stand even for a moment. Moreover, our sworn enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh, do not cease to attack us.” We need God’s help far more than we often realise. We need God’s help to fight sinful impulses to lust or envy or become bitter. We need God’s help to deny our will and obey his will. We are fully dependent on him. Do you realise your need for God?
The message of our text this morning is that God does help us. Daniel 10-12 is one long section with the final vision of the book. This vision reveals the struggles of God’s people and his care over them until the time of Christ. And in ch10, God prepares Daniel for the vision of ch11-12. And in this preparation, we see how God helps his people. That’s the message of Daniel 10, which I’ve summarised in this way:
The LORD shows his help by preparing Daniel for the final vision
- He answers prayer
- He fights on our behalf
- He strengthens his servant
1. The LORD answers prayer
In v1 we learn that it was the third year of King Cyrus. It was two years after the prayer of confession Daniel prayed in ch9. It is also two years after the first group of exiles went back to Jerusalem. After 70 years in exile, God moved the heart of King Cyrus so that he sent them back to Jerusalem and gave them resources to rebuild the temple and their city.
You might wonder: why didn’t Daniel go back? Here he is, in the Persian court. He would have been an old man by this point, and yet, he had been longing to go back. He had prayed faithfully towards Jerusalem every day and had not forgotten his city or his God. We can conclude that he must have felt convinced God had a task for him in the Persian court.
But even though he didn’t go back, Daniel still had the state of his city and people in his heart. By this point, we learn from the book of Ezra that the returned exiles had faced opposition and the work of rebuilding had already ground to a halt. It appears that King Cyrus had gone off to fight a war, and his son Cambyses acted as king in his place and had sent a decree to stop the building of the temple. So, there was no glorious restoration of the temple. It was still ruined by the desolations of the seventy years of exile.
What did Daniel do? He mourned and fasted for three weeks. He was very concerned for the city of God, for the church. In the Bible, fasting was connected to prayer, so we can be sure that he also prayed for the church. For three weeks, he mourned the state of the church. It was close to his heart; he loved the church.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we share Daniel’s concern? When the church faces disgrace in the community, or persecution, or is ravaged by false teaching, do we mourn and pray for restoration? Daniel’s example here gives us a test by which we can see if we truly love the church.
And in response to his prayer, God sent a messenger. When Daniel had mourned for three weeks, he was with a group of people at the Tigris River. And in a vision, he saw a man clothed in linen. This man is described in v5-6. Look there and see gold, lightning, fire, bronze, and a terrific sound. As one commentator said, “in a word he appeared in dazzling splendour and magnificence throughout.”[1] It was enough to knock Daniel’s companions off their feet – they fled. Daniel himself was drained. It reminds you of Saul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, when the risen Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, a light shone around him from heaven, and Saul and his companions all fell to the ground, and his companions were speechless. Such was the glory of this messenger that Daniel saw.
Who was he? Some suggest that he was a pre-incarnate form of the Son of God. There are similarities between this vision and the vision of Almighty God in Ezekiel ch1, as well as the vision that John had of the risen Jesus in Revelation 1. At least, we can say that this messenger came with heavenly glory. He came as a messenger of the Almighty God.
And he also came in response to Daniel’s prayer, as he says in v12, “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.” He came in answer to Daniel’s prayer. As soon as Daniel had begun to pray, three weeks earlier, God had heard him. From the first day, your words were heard.
And you notice the difference with chapter 9. You remember last week, when Daniel was praying and confessing sin, immediately God sent the angel Gabriel with a message. God answered him immediately in ch9, but here, it seems, there was a three-week delay. The vision comes three weeks after he begun to pray God earnestly for the church. We’ll look at the reason for the delay shortly, but for now we can notice that on both occasions, God heard him immediately. Even though God didn’t come with an immediate answer in this chapter, God did hear him.
I wonder, my brothers and sisters, if there have been times when you’ve prayed, and it seems that God hasn’t heard. Have you had that? He doesn’t seem to draw near immediately with his comforting presence. You’ve poured out your heart before him but you don’t have the peace of God which surpasses understanding.
The word of the Lord from this passage is that God has still heard you in that time. He may not give you the immediate answer you like, but your prayers have not gone into empty space – they’ve gone into the throne room of God. The Reformer John Calvin put it beautifully in his commentary on this passage: “Our prayers have already been heard, while God’s favour and mercy is concealed from us… God was still favourable towards [Daniel] in that time of delay.”
How do we know that God hears us? Because God has sent his Son to be our Mediator, to die for our sin, to take the curse we deserved, to restore us to the Father, and who now intercedes before the Father so that we can pray to him boldly. The book of Hebrews therefore says that with confidence, we may draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find help in time of need.
Dear brothers and sisters, you can be sure that God hears you. Keep praying, pleading with him, trusting that in Christ he does hear you, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Even if it doesn’t feel to be true, believe that he loves you and in Christ is favourably disposed towards you. But why was there this delay of three weeks?
2. The LORD fights on our behalf
The heavenly messenger explains in v13: “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days.” In other words, three weeks. Who was this prince? He is best described, in the words of one commentator, as a “guardian spirit of the Persian kingdom.”[2] He is a power of darkness, he resists the heavenly messenger – he is an angel from the league of Satan. God created angels, invisible spiritual beings, as his messengers. And some of them fell together with Satan, their leader. And since that time, they have viciously attacked God and his people. This evil angel exercised authority over the kingdom of Persia.
This shows us the great power of Satan and his army of evil angels. In Revelation 12:9 Satan is called the deceiver of the whole world. He rules the domain of darkness and holds unbelievers in his power. How do his spirits do their work?
They influence people in key positions in society in order to corrupt an entire society. They influence people in positions of authority, so that they make decisions promoting ungodly ideas. They use people with great influence on society who shape a society’s worldview, people like writers, songwriters, YouTube influencers, poets, movie producers, journalists. We know that Persia, like Babylon, was full of astrology. But we can also be sure that this prince of Persia influenced the King. He influenced Cambyses, the acting king, so that he issued a decree for the Jews to stop building the temple. The prince of Persia would have influenced the songwriters of Persia, their storytellers and poets. He was the guardian spirit of the Persian kingdom.
And we learn from v13 that he withstood this heavenly messenger from bringing an answer to Daniel’s prayer. This prince didn’t want Daniel’s prayer answered, he wanted the people in Jerusalem to bow to the pressure, to give in to the opposition they faced, to give up. He withstood the messenger for three weeks.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have a small glimpse here into the spiritual battle which is being fought all around us. Also today, the powers of darkness “can pollute a society’s traditions and values.”[3] Paul writes in Ephesians 2:2 about Satan as the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. He influences the unbelieving world and has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they are unable to believe the gospel, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:4. We know that Satan is busy in the occult, in Satanism, in divination, witchcraft. He is – as God’s children we must flee from that abomination. But he is also busy blinding the minds of unbelievers, people we work with and study with, “normal” people who have nothing to do with the occult. Satan has blinded their minds. And he is also busy corrupting the values of our society by influencing songwriters and movie producers.
Abraham Kuyper once said, “If once the curtain were pulled back, and the spiritual world behind it came to view, it would expose to our spiritual vision a struggle so intense, so convulsive, sweeping everything within its range, that the fiercest battle ever fought on earth would seem, by comparison, a mere game. Not here, but up there – that is where the real conflict is waged.”
But in this battle, dear brothers and sisters, we can be assured of God’s help, indeed, that he is fighting an unseen battle for us. Here we learn that Daniel’s messenger has been fighting for three weeks, and also that he was helped by Michael. Michael is called in v14 “one of the chief princes” and in v21, he is called “your prince.” He also appears in Revelation 12:7, fighting with his angels against the dragon, Satan. That was when Satan was cast out of heaven. Michael was the prince of the Jews, an archangel, one of the greatest angels who fought for God’s people, a guardian spirit of God’s people, and who helped the heavenly messenger of chapter 10.
Daniel could be assured, even as he was given this glimpse into a conflict between the angels, of God’s help and protection. And beloved, we, too, can be assured of God’s help, that he fights for us.
I want to emphasise, too, the balance in this chapter and the next. Chapter 11 gives the details of this vision, and goes into great detail about different kings that will arise, especially Antiochus IV, and the hatred he will show to God’s people. There is a lot of detail about human rulers over that chapter, but only a few verses to this angelic conflict. It is important, while being aware of the spiritual battle all around us, not to give undue attention to it. Most of that happens without our notice. We need to know that there is a battle all around us, but the Lord, in his wisdom, has hidden many details from us. And we should be content with that.
And further, we can rest in the knowledge that our Lord Jesus Christ has defeated Satan and all the powers of darkness on the cross. Christ single-handedly did combat with them. Paul writes in Colossians 2:15 that Christ disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them. That’s why Paul could write in Ephesians 1 that Christ is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named – that is, above the prince of Persia and the prince of the power of the air, and all the evil rulers that influence our society. Behold your Saviour, beloved! Your strong Saviour, who has defeated Satan decisively, and has bound him, and will cast him into the lake of fire. You belong to Jesus Christ in life and death, and nothing can separate you from his love, no devil nor power of darkness.
Believe that God has fought for you in his Son. Are there times when it seems God hasn’t answered your prayer? If you are living in unrepentant sin, you need to repent and be restored to God’s favour. He may withdraw a sense of his favour to lead you to repentance.
But if you living a repentant life, and it seems that God has not answered your prayer, dear brothers and sisters, believe that your God is for you, he loves you, and he fights for you. You remember that beautiful poem about the footprints on the beach, when the poet writes about two sets of footprints throughout his life, one set his own, the other set of God who walked beside him. And then he looks at the hardest times of his life and sees only one set of footprints, and is confused, where were you then, Lord? And the Lord says, “my child, it was then that I carried you.” It was then that I fought for you, unseen battles you didn’t even know about.
And dear congregation, to give us even more encouragement, God has promised to give us his angels, his heavenly beings, to fight for us and to minister to us. If only we could sometimes get a glimpse into the way angels are busy in our daily life! Hebrews 1:14 says that are God’s ministers, sent out to serve for the sake of those who are inheriting salvation. Psalm 91 says that God will command his angels concerning us, to guard us in all our ways. Psalm 34 says that the angel of the Lord encamps around all those who fear God, and delivers them. God is busy in countless ways, serving us with angels, protecting us from dangers we didn’t even know about, defending us so that we will inherit our full salvation. How great is our God! How awesome is the help that he gives us. So, dear congregation, believe that your God has ultimately helped you by sending his Son to destroy the works of the devil. Believe that you belong to him and no power of darkness can snatch you from his hand. Believe that your God continues to help you by sending his messengers for you. And know that he strengthens us.
3. The LORD strengthens his servant
Daniel’s reaction in this chapter is very striking. In v8, because of the great vision, there was no strength in him. It’s repeated: I retained no strength. And then the messenger touched him, which woke him up from his deep sleep. And then after the messenger spoke about his delay from the prince of Persia, Daniel, in v15, was speechless. For the second time, he was touched, in v16, and he said, “my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength.” In v17 he even says, “as for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me.” Daniel was extremely drained from the vision. The glorious appearance of the heavenly messenger, the insight into angelic conflict, it was exhausting.
And perhaps you feel the same as you confront the powers of darkness, as you resist temptation, as you fight the subtle influence of the world, as you think about the power that Satan has and how he might exercise that. Perhaps you’re exhausted by it all.
Well, in response, the heavenly messenger touches Daniel for the third time. Did you notice that? The LORD, through this messenger, shows his personal care and concern for Daniel by touching him. And he also speaks words to strengthen and encourage him, v19, “O man, greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong.” And these words, notice it was the words, strengthened him.
The messenger said for the second time that Daniel was a man “greatly beloved.” What a beautiful, personal assurance of God’s love! This is rare in the Bible to receive this personal affirmation of God’s love in this way – Abraham was called a friend of God, but we only read that after his life. Daniel was greatly beloved. What a beautiful truth! Whatever this vision contained, Daniel could be sure, I am God’s beloved one. And with this affirmation came the call not to fear, but to be strong. As Paul would later write in Ephesians 6:10: “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” Daniel could continue in God’s might. The words strengthened him.
They strengthened him especially for the task that would come next, which was to receive the vision of ch11-12. God willing, we’ll consider that next week. But we see God’s grace in preparing his servant by strengthening him.
And we, too, receive strength from God, by knowing who we are as his beloved children. God the Father and the Son have sent their Holy Spirit into our hearts to be our helper, our comforter, and he is also called, in Romans 8, the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out Abba, Father. By the Spirit, we are assured that we are God’s beloved children. The Spirit reminds us of the Father’s love, he gives us the assurance that God hears us through Jesus Christ, that we belong to Christ in life and death.
And how does he work? He works especially through the words of God. That’s how he strengthens us. You’ve noticed that, haven’t you – as you read a certain verse and it really jumps out at you and strengthens you. Or perhaps someone shares a verse with you to encourage you and it seems to fit your situation perfectly. Or the sermon you hear gives you strength to carry on in your spiritual life. Or you are encouraged by the psalms or hymns we sing to each other in the worship service. God the Holy Spirit uses the words he inspired to strengthen us, to equip us for our task of service in God’s kingdom. So, dear congregation, be filled with the Spirit, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, so that you receive strength from him.
And pray, in the Spirit. This chapter is a great reminder of the power of prayer. The heavenly messenger came in response to Daniel’s prayers as he interceded for his people. Daniel was a man with a nature like ours, weak and sinful, and yet he prayed to the Almighty God, the God of armies, who fights for us. Believe that he is able to do powerful things in response to your prayers! So plead with him for the church, for the spread of the gospel, and that he’ll protect you from the power of evil. And let’s also pray for each other, that we will know God’s great power. That’s how Paul prays in Ephesians 1, that the Ephesians would know what is the exceeding greatness of God’s power towards us who believe. Isn’t that a great thing to pray for each other? That we’ll know who amazingly powerful God is. Let’s do that.
We face an unseen battle, and often we don’t realise how weak we are. In ourselves, we are so weak that we cannot stand for even a moment. But, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, receive his word of assurance today that he fights for us, he had defeated the devil and delivered us from our sins. With that confidence, call on him, receive his mighty power, and be strong in the Lord. Amen.
[1] Stuart, quoted in Young.
[2] Cf. Young’s commentary.
[3] Clinton Arnold, The Powers of Darkness, p204.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Rodney den Boer, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Rodney den Boer
Please direct any comments to the Webmaster
