Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Wednesday, December 3, Daniel 10:13

"The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,"

Honestly, this is one of the most intriguing chapters in the Bible, for it gives us a brief glimpse of those in the spiritual realm. Paul wrote: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

There is one thing I think should be recognized however, before you get mixed up with the truth and the "force", which has been deluding many. Many religions see evil and good as equals fighting in the spiritual realm. The Bible teaches that there is no "equal", but that there was a created being who rejected the Creator, and took many with him.

We see here a hindrance, not to the will of God, for His will and prophetic words are sure and will happen. What we see is a hindrance to the prayer of Daniel to "understand" what is sure to come. Some may wonder why this was something worth fighting about for the wicked forces, but I think that it is quite obvious, once you read Daniel 11.

Daniel 11 is so meticulous, so exacting, that liberal "scholars" cannot accept that it was not written after the fact, but centuries before. It proves the complete accuracy of the Bible and Daniel's prophecies, so we can be assured that the future prophecies he was given will occur as well.

And, as you will see, those prophecies are primarily about the "glorious land", and the forces affecting it. It's about those who were promised the Land, and when you understand this, all the prophetic Scripture ties together. You don't have to spiritualize this. You don't have to replace the Jews with the Church. These are two distinct plans. We also see another group, which are the Tribulation saints, who will be won to Christ and His Kingdom by the Jews, whose eyes will be opened in the time of the end. God even designates how many, and which tribes from which they will come.

And we see in Revelation that there will come a time when that ruler of darkness will be imprisoned for 1000 years, and there will be another interesting dispensation of grace where Christ physically rules. It seems as if there will be those of us with resurrected bodies dwelling with the survivors of the Tribulation, survivors who are still bearing children who will have the fallen nature, living in an "Edenic" type of atmosphere that prolongs their lives, maybe through the entire millennial period for some.

And yet, with all of this before them, multitudes will love their sin over Christ, and rebel when Satan is temporarily released at the end of the 1000 years. He will gather them together and be quickly destroyed.

It's hard for us to imagine, so God gives us a little insight through these great prophecies. And when we read the meticulousness of Daniel 11, we see why the powers of the darkness did not want this to be revealed.

But we see it. And we need to pray according to Ephesians 6:12. We need to see that there is a force behind those who hate us, or who try to hinder the work of God in our daily lives. Not for His purposes, His purposes are sure, and will be fulfilled. We saw in chapter 10 that the angel was moving away from the king of Persia over to the demon king of Greece, already preparing for what would come next.

No, the understanding of this gives us an understanding how we can love even our enemies, for they are lost, possessed, and susceptible to all kinds of demonic evil. We testify of the Light which can dispel their darkness and free them from that evil power.

And in the midst of our tribulation, we can hold fast the words of Jesus as He concluded His message in the Upper Room before His awful Passion: "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Memorize that!

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

*ESV used unless noted*

Memory Helps:

Our new title for Daniel 10:

"An Angel AT-TEN-DS to the TREM-bling Daniel after a very TENSE battle with the prince of Persia." (long, but detailed: You see the "TEN"s, "Trem" rhymes with 10)

Should be very simple to make a word picture of this, it can be drawn into a "story strip". I don't say "comic strip", because it isn't funny. You can use stick figures to tell this story since it is so very visual. Of course, the artistic will make it much more elaborate. The point is to get you to memorize the whole story line, no matter what your ability. I stick to the stick figures, pun intended!