Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Daniel 10-12, Ezra 4:24-5:1, Haggai 1
There are so many commentaries on today's passages again. As tomorrow deals with Haggai and Zechariah, I will only focus on Daniel today.
Commentaries on Daniel 10-12
Angels and Prayer (Daniel 10) by John Piper
Lifting the Veil (Daniel 10) by Bob Deffinbaugh
From Here to Eternity (Daniel 11) by Bob Deffinbaugh
The Hope of Heaven (Daniel 12) by Bob Deffinbaugh
The Vision of Glory (Daniel 10) by John MacArthur
The Reign of Rebellion Part 1 (Daniel 11:1-35) by John MacArthur
The Reign of Rebellion Part 2 (Daniel 11:36-45) by John MacArthur
The Great Tribulation Part 1 (Daniel 12:1-3) by John MacArthur
The Great Tribulation Part 2 (Daniel 12:4-13) by John MacArthur
Chapter 10 is a fascinating chapter dealing with the reality of spiritual warfare. Here is what John Piper has to say on the subject...
the New Testament tells us that this prince of demons "darkens the minds of unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 4:4), and that he "deceives the world" (Revelation 12:9), and that he plants his weeds (unbelievers) throughout the world (Matthew 13:39), and that he takes people captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:25), and that he plucks up the seed of the Word when it is preached (Matthew 13:4), and that he thwarts missionary activity (1 Thessalonians 2:18), and that he throws ministers in prison (Revelation 2:10)—since we know the prince of demons does all that, we may conclude with good reason that this is what his sub-princes do as well.
So then, I would conclude that there are high-ranking demonic powers over various regimes and dominions and governments and realms of the world; and that they work to create as much evil and corruption and spiritual darkness as they can. They strive to interrupt Christian missions and ministry as much as they can.
That is why the prince of the kingdom of Persia tried to hinder the messenger from reaching Daniel from heaven. The messenger was bringing a message of truth. Verse 21: the messenger says to Daniel, "But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth." But Satan is a liar and a deceiver from the beginning. The main aim of all his princes is to keep the book of truth from being known and believed. The truth frees people (John 8:32) and sanctifies people (John 17:17). So the territorial spirits like the prince of the kingdom of Persia do their main work of corruption and destruction by blinding the people of their area from the truth.
How then shall we do ministry in view of this reality of "territorial spirits"?
1. Take the Supernatural Seriously
Take the supernatural seriously and realize that we are in a warfare that cannot and should not be domesticated by reinterpreting everything in the biblical worldview so that it fits nicely with secular, naturalistic ways of thinking about the world. Be ready for the extraordinary as well as the ordinary ways that evil spirits work. Don't be presumptuous, as though demons were weak; and don't be anxious, as though they were stronger than Jesus.
Be filled with the Spirit and well-armed with biblical promises about the authority of Jesus Christ and about your rights as a child of God. Remember that two times in our text the messenger from heaven said to Daniel, "O man greatly loved." The word means "desired" or "precious." He said this to take away Daniel's fear in the midst of spiritual warfare. And it should take away ours too.
2. Daniel Wasn't Praying About Angels
The second thing is to notice that Daniel's prayer that has such powerful effects in the spiritual realm was not a prayer about angels and territorial spirits. He was wrestling for truth and for the good of God's people the way we saw him praying last week. He was totally shocked when an angel appeared to him. And he knew nothing about the conflict with the prince of the kingdom of Persia.
But it's no accident that the messenger said that his struggle with the prince of Persian lasted exactly the same amount of time that Daniel's fasting and prayer did (cf. vv. 2, 13)—21 days. The reason for this is that the warfare in the spirit realm was being fought in a real sense by Daniel in the prayer realm.
And so it is with more of our prayers than we realize. But the point is this: Daniel's praying was not about angels. And probably ours shouldn't be either. We should wrestle in prayer and fasting for the things that we know are God's will in our lives and our families and our church and our city and our world. But by and large we should probably leave it to God how he will use angels to get his work done. If God shows us more, we will use it. But the essence of the matter is not knowing the spirits but knowing God and praying in the power of Holy Spirit.
The first 35 verses of Chapter 11 contain such specific prophecy and that was so accurately fulfilled that those who don't believe the Bible is the inspired word of God insist that the book of Daniel must've been written after the events were fulfilled (because it's so impossible!). I think that's so amazing - God knows the future as though it was history.Anyway, my Life Application bible contains a fairly quick summary of the prophecy's fulfillment and I'll quote it here (for more details, check out John MacArthur's sermon above).
The fourth Persian king may have been Xerxes I (486-465BC) who launched an all-out effort against Greece in 480 (Ester 1:1).
Babylonia was defeated by Medo-Persia. Medo-Persia was defeated by Greece under Alexander the Great, who conquered most of the MEditerraean and Middle Eastern lands. After Alexander's death, the empire was divided into four parts. The Ptolemies gained control of the southern section of Palestine, and the Seleucids took the northern part. Verses 1-20 show the conflict between the Ptolemies and Seleucids over control of Palestine in 300-200BC. Verses 21-35 describe the persecution of Israel under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Eventually Alexander the Great's empire was divided into four nations. These four weaker nations were comprised of the following regions: 1) Egypt 2) Babylonia and Syria 3) Asia Minor and 4) Macedon and Greece. The king of Egypt ("the king of the south") was Ptolemy I or perhaps a reference to the Ptolemaic dynasty in general.
In 252 BC Ptolemy II of Egypt (the South) gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II of Syria (the North) to finalize a peace treaty between their two lands. But Berenice was murdered in Antioch by Antiochus II's former wife, Laodice. Bernenice's brother, Ptolemy III, ascended the Eqyptian throne and declared war against the Seleucids to avenge his sister's murder.
11:9-11 The king of Syria (the North) was Seleucus II, and the king of Egypt (the South) was Ptolemy IV.
11:13-16 This king of the north may have been Antiochus III (the Great). He defeated many Egyptian cities and established himself in Israel ("the Beautiful Land"). He was later defeated by the Romans at Magnesia (11:18).
The invader, Antiochus III, tried to bring peace between Egypt and Syria by having his daughter marry Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt, but the plan failed.
The successor to Antiochus III was Seleucus IV. He sent Heliodorus to collect money from teh temple treasury in Jerusalem.
The "overwhelming army" refers to the way all opposition against Antiochus IV will be broken. The prince of the covenant may be the high priest Onias III, who was assassinated by Menelaus in 170 BC.
11:27 These two treacherous kings were probably Antiochus IV of Syria and Ptolemy VI of Egypt.
Antiochus IV would again invade the South, but enemy ships would cause him to retreat. On his way back, he plundered Jerusalem, desecrated the temple, and stopped the Jews' daily sacrifices. The temple was desecrated when he sacrificed pigs on an altar erected in honor of Zeus.
11:32 This reference to those who have violated the covenant may include Menelaus, the high priest, who was won over by Antiochus and who conspired with him against the Jews who were loyal to God.
I find that fascinating!
Tomorrow's passage: Haggai 2:1-9, Zechariah 1:1-6, Haggai 2:10-19, Ezra 5:2, Haggai 2:20-23, Zechariah 1:7-5:11
With less flipping: Haggai 2; Zechariah 1-5, Ezra 5:2
4 comments:
I read much of that same information in my Life Application Bible yesterday and found it very interesting as well. I think we're proving to ourselves here how valuable actually STUDYING the Word really is! Without a bit of research, we would maybe never have known these prophecies had been fulfilled right down to the last detail. It's really quite exciting!!
It IS exciting isn't it?!
Very, very interesting. Definitely further proof that we can trust in God's promises and know that He will do what He says He will do.
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