Daniel 10:10-21
Daniel 10:10-21
Prophecies Concerning Persia and Greece
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.
My Thoughts:
I know I said it last night but my statement about “Daniel being a true man of God” is so true, if you take nothing else form this chapter it should be this one fact.
So, we see that after Daniel had fallen at the majestic appearance of Christ, the Angel Gabriel, obviously was the speaker in verses 11-13, he laid his hand upon Daniel and gave him and assurance that he was greatly beloved. I would have fainted from just that statement, but here the Angel Gabriel states that Daniel a man was favored by God, you would come to the realization that not only has or in Daniels case will, God send his only Son to die for mankind but He loves the each individual, greatly.
The next thing that caught my eye was; how often are the prayers to God’s people heard but have no apparent answer. We see that even in Daniel’s case, the angel tells him that from the first day he set his heart to understand, his words were heard. We see Gabriel saying “your prayer was heard” but during these three weeks which you have devoted to prayer and fasting, the king of Persia has resisted my influence and prevented my coming.
So, who was this Michael, who came to Gabriel’s assistance? The name translates out to “He who is like God” and the Scriptures clearly show that Christ is the one who bears this name. We read in (1 Thessalonians 4:16) were Paul states that when Christ appears to raise the dead, the voice of the archangel is heard. Whose voice is heard when the dead are raised? The voice of the Son of God.
I like how John puts these two scriptures together in (John 5:28) they prove that the dead are called form their graves by the voice of the Son of God, that the voice which is then heard is the voice of the Archangel, proving that the Archangel is the Son of God, and that the Archangel is called Michael, from which is follows that Michael is the Son of God. Also in the last verse on chapter 10 he is called “your Prince” and in the 1st of Daniel 12, he is called “the great Prince”
Christ is the one and only Archangel.
Ellen White Statements:
“All these things weighed heavily upon my spirits, and in the confusion I was sometimes tempted to doubt my own experience. While at family prayers one morning, the power of God began to rest upon me, and the thought rushed into my mind that it was mesmerism, and I resisted it. Immediately I was struck dumb and for a few moments was lost to everything around me. I then saw my sin in doubting the power of God, and that for so doing I was struck dumb, and that my tongue would be loosed in less than twenty-four hours. A card was held up before me, on which were written in letters of gold the chapter and verse of fifty texts of Scripture. [These texts are given at the close of this article.] After I came out of vision, I beckoned for the slate, and wrote upon it that I was dumb, also what I had seen, and that I wished the large bible. I took the Bible and readily turned to all the texts that I had seen upon the card. I was unable to speak all day. Early the next morning my soul was filled with joy, and my tongue was loosed to shout the high praises of God. After that I dared not doubt or for a moment resist the power of God, however others might think of me.” {EW 22.2}
Last thoughts:
After Gabriel had made these things to Daniel, only four being in the universe knew of these important truths; Daniel, Gabriel, Christ, and God. Just think about that, how you like to be in that group and I wonder if Daniel ever thought of these things.
About bobh6
40 Days of study 
Many times I have studied Daniel but here is something I had never caught before. The prince of Persia fighting with Gabriel, keeping him from coming to Daniel. The “prince of persia” was evidently an evil angel, a fallen angel under the direction of satan. He is in complete contrast to the “great Prince who has charge of your people” Michael. Michael who leads and protects Israel. Michael comes to reinforce Gabriel. The demon “prince” is defeated and the king of Persia then makes the right decision about the temple reconstruction. I am saddend that I have missed so much in my studies of the Bible. I am grateful to my Lord when He openes my eyes and lets me learn more of Him. I know to that in the last days we will need to “strengthened” as Daniel was. I look at my life and I wonder why does God love me so. HOW can he love me so. Daniel was a mighty prayer warrior and walked very close to God, but me,…I am grateful He loves me. I accept it but will never understand it.
Rosi, i totally agree sometimes we ask ourselves a lot of questions, why does God love me the way he does. I cannot compare myself to people like Daniel who dwelled on prayer, or people like Paul who studied the Scripture all the time, i fall way short that standard, but God has not given up on me, instead he encourage and motivates through his action and will in my life. We worship a awesome God and this should always encourage us all the time.
Seems like the more Daniel, or us, try to study and understand, the more confused we become. Amazingly he did everything right yet he still needed to wait. When we study we really need to humbly and patiently pray for true understanding. Seems like the greater emphaises here is on patience. Sometimes we’re too quick to pride ourselves in our knowledge, without humbly waiting for new light. I had a friend who studied soo much, he confused himself and lost faith all together. It really could happen. Satan, through our own human weaknesses and sin, tries to rob or destories the truth from us. Jesus teaches this in his parable of the sower found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
The good news I got from this is that God takes a personal interest in this type of desire, intervenes and streghtens us. Love the spoken command given and right away he was strenghten. He probably could of just spoken the words from His thorne in heaven yet He pesonally comes down and touches us and commands His will in our life. What a priviledge to have such a personal God and Savior.