If you would open to Daniel 10. Daniel chapter 10. We've been out of the book of Daniel for a few weeks, but it looks like we will have, Lord willing, three weeks left in this. And for the sake of time, it pains me to do this, but I'm going to not read all of this and then read it again as I preach. I'm going to read a little bit as I preach and then read a little more. And so we'll read through this chapter, but not all, not twice tonight. Let me just pray once more for this passage. Father, Your words are sacred. They've been preserved for us. And Lord, this chapter is unique. I've never preached anything like it. I've almost never thought thoughts and haven't thought many of the thoughts I've thought this week just looking at it. And so, Lord, I don't know all the ways that You might want to use this tonight. but we pray that You would use it. Lord, let us be hearers that receive with faith. And Lord, let this bring fruit in our lives. And we pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, I have had a few weeks now to kind of meditate on this passage. And I really believe that what is in this chapter for us is exactly what we need to hear in this hour. And I've had, I've heard this a few times even this week, that people are just saying things like, I don't know who to believe, I don't know who to listen to. You know, when I look at social media, it's just so much information and conflicting information and, you know, scientifically in the medical field and politics and culture, it's just so much confusion. And there's a desire for truth. Everybody deep down wants truth. And v. 1 is unique and timely when it says, in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel. who was named Beltshazzar, and the word was true. So the word is revealed, that's how we get truth, through revelation, God reveals truth, and then it says, and the word was true. And then the one speaking truth to Daniel, it says at the very end of this chapter, verse 21, he says, I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. Guys, think about that phrase for a second. Book of truth. Book of truth. That could be a reference to scripture, but many believe it's a reference to another book, a book that contains all of history, all of God's preordained purposes throughout history. A book of truth. Where God has literally written out everything that will come to pass before it comes to pass. Jeff is a history teacher. I know some of you are history majors. And one thing we know about history is it's not something you can study without understanding these truths that it's declaring as truths are subjective. There's some element in which they're not objective. They could be biased. There could be things left out. They're open to interpretation how these different events have been recorded for us. God has a history book, and it's not only accurately telling us what happened in the past, it's accurately predicting what will happen in the future, because history is His story. And He's unfolding it for Daniel, and then Daniel is unfolding it for us. And guys, look, it's not enough for you to just hear truth. It's just not. Maybe you give yourself a pat on the back for hearing truth or going, yeah, I believe that. You must understand truth. It says Daniel right here in this passage, understood the Word. Understood the Word. And here's something we know about those who understand the Word. Those who understand the Word will have times in which we are deeply burdened by the Word of God, by the truth of God. And there will be times we are deeply strengthened by the truth of God. But what we are not, if we understand the Word, we are not people who are apathetic, or careless, or indifferent toward the truth of God. That is someone, if you are, in an ongoing way, apathetic, indifferent, careless toward the Word of God, and that is a perpetual pattern in your life, you don't yet understand the truth of God. To understand the truth is to be even emotionally, at times, disturbed over your own failures to obey the truth of God, or others' failures to obey the truth of God. And that's Daniel in this passage. It says in v. 2, in those days, I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for a full three weeks. Truth does that to a man. He had no one to impress. He's pushing 90. This is horribly dangerous for his health. He's burdened. He's burdened for the people of God, for his own soul. We know in chapter 9, he's confessing his own sins and the sins of the people. This man is burdened for the people of God and how they are treating the truth of God. And Daniel, maybe it's worth pointing out here, Daniel is in politics, okay? This is not a pastor. You go, pastors are supposed to be like this. He's not a pastor. He's not a missionary. He is a politician. He should care about everything going on in Babylon or everything going on in Persia. That is not his passion. That is not his burden, at least not his ultimate one. His ultimate burden and passion is for the kingdom of God, and the people of God, and the worship of God. That is what makes this man spend three weeks fasting and praying And let me give a little more context to this because it really does highlight what's going on here if we can understand the context. Verse 1 says this is the third year of King Cyrus. We know about that from not only Scripture, but the Maccabean period in general. You can study outside Scripture. But we know that there were laws enacted and put in motion by King Cyrus for the exiles in Persia at this point, that they had freedom to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and take Jerusalem back over, and that was going to be their land, and they were given freedom to rebuild all that was once theirs. That law was enacted. They were given freedom. And now in the third year of King Cyrus, a new law is enacted by King Cyrus. No, you can't. So the doors open. You can go, oh, sorry, change your mind. No, you can't. It's now forbidden. And what they thought they were going to be able to do, they are no longer going to do. And Daniel, I don't know how many, the Bible doesn't tell us exactly how many Israelites are burdened over this reality. I don't think there's a lot that care. You know, read Nehemiah, read the book of Ezra. We get the back story of what's going on here. There were some that cared, but it wasn't a lot. And when we say care, we're not just meaning, well, they like Jerusalem because of the food there and the job choices. Going back to Jerusalem, was going back to church, essentially, for them. I mean, they couldn't offer sacrifices in Persia. They couldn't gather and worship the Lord. They couldn't just gather and read the Scriptures together. All those things could happen in Jerusalem. All those things could happen in conjunction with the temple and the priesthood and the whole Levitical system. All that was in Jerusalem. And the problem is, very few people cared. Because Persia's comfortable. And Babylon's nice. And we like life here. Why are we going to inconvenience ourselves and go to Jerusalem? There's high taxation. You know how much money they're going to tax us to have to do all this work? You know how expensive and time-consuming that is? You know how much persecution we're getting? Not only from other Israelites, like we read in Nehemiah, but our own families don't want us to go. The laws are now forbidding it. And on top of all of this, Daniel is broken at the apathy in the hearts of many regarding the worship of God and the work of God. And Sinclair Ferguson sums this up well. He said, those who did not sing the Lord's Song in a foreign land, got to the point that they had no desire to sing it in the Lord's land. And church, listen, it is hard not to see the parallel right here. I've just got to pause and say, there is a striking similarity between what they're going through in that time and what we're going through in this time. Because there are some who refuse to sing the Lord's song during a pandemic Therefore, they will not sing the Lord's song after the pandemic. These people, many of these Jews, did not treat the exilic period, that exile period, faith, they did not persevere with the Lord or with His people. And when it was over, and they finally had freedom to go back and do it, they didn't care. Their hearts had gotten so cold and apathetic, they didn't care any longer. That's why Daniel is broken over this reality. And it's in the midst of this discouragement that we get verse 5. Daniel is walking along. You just picture Daniel. He's walking around. He has a few of his buddies. I don't know who it was. It doesn't tell us. He's walking with a few others down the Tigris River during this time of fasting, and it says in verse 5, I lifted up my eyes and looked and behold a man. A man, clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold of Uphaz around his waist. His body was like burl. His face was the appearance of lightning. His eyes like flaming torches. His arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze. And the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. Who is that? Who is that man? If you read many of the modern scholars, they will tell you it is an angel. Some will name him and say it's Gabriel. I've obviously never seen Gabriel. I don't know what he looks like. I don't know if this is him for sure. I'm sure he's an amazing angelic being. I'm quite positive that Gabriel would say, uh-uh, not me. This is not me. Throughout church history, almost no one believed that this was Gabriel or any angel. Most Puritans and Reformers, and if you read the old commentaries, they will tell you that this was a pre-incarnate Christ. But many of the more modern will push back and say, no, this is an angel because the pre-incarnate Christ would not need the help of Michael, the archangel, to help him win this battle. So I want to deal with this for a second. I don't think that's a problem, personally. I think that's the best argument you could bring forth, that this might be an angel that's appearing to Daniel. But I would push back and say, if that's a problem, why is it not a problem that when Jesus comes out of the wilderness, during that wilderness temptation, and it says what? Who strengthened him? Who ministered to Jesus when he came out of the wilderness? It says angels ministered to him. Jesus needed angels to minister to him? I thought it was Jesus. Or what about in the Garden of Gethsemane? Right before His crucifixion, it says an angel came and encouraged Him. Jesus needed an angel to encourage Him? I thought it was Jesus. We know that angels often helped. win battles. Remember 2 Kings? Israel's massively outnumbered by the Syrian army, or so they thought, until Elijah prayed and said, oh God, please open their eyes to see. And God opens their eyes and they see surrounding Elijah a multitude, a multitude of warriors. Angelic warriors. You say, why couldn't God just take them out without the angels? God uses angels. to win battles. I don't see a problem with the pre-incarnate Christ partnering up with Michael to win a battle. And most of church history have not seen that to be a problem. Let me give us a few additional reasons. I think we should remember the word angel means messenger. That's what it means. So oftentimes in Scripture, the first time I ever heard this was Jonathan Edwards argues extensively for this, that most of the time when you see an angel in the Old Testament appear to someone, you are seeing the appearance of the pre-incarnate Son of God. Most of the appearances of the angels. Additionally, in Daniel, we have the pre-incarnate Christ. He's already shown up in chapter three. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and who's that other fourth person in the fiery furnace? Well, it's largely believed that that was Christ, pre-incarnate. Many would argue that in the lion's den, there was an angel that shut the mouth of those lions. Who is that? Many have taught and believed that was the pre-incarnate Christ. So for Him to show up again in chapter 10, that's not sounding too far-fetched. Additionally, Daniel calls Him Lord three times. Also, Daniel's experience here when you line this up, say, next to the Apostle Paul in Acts 9 when he's going down the road to Damascus, and then Jesus appears to him. There's some striking similarities. But I think the most convincing evidence, this is the pre-incarnate Christ, is this glorious way that He's described. And I want to look at this for a minute, because when you look at the archangel Michael or Gabriel in Scripture, they are never described like this. And when you look at these theophanies, in the Old Testament. You see them in Ezekiel and in Revelation and in other places. I actually had someone call me late last night unrelated to all of this, but they were asking a question. They were studying Genesis, and they had come across a theophany, or Christophany, a pre-appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. And the person of Melchizedek, and we talked through that. So let me show us some comparisons. We've got Ezekiel 1, and you can turn there if you want, but I'm gonna just read this very quickly and just say the similarities between Ezekiel's description of this one who appears to him and Daniel. It says, the eyes are like flaming torches, same as Daniel. The body in his feet like gleaming crystallites, same as Daniel. His voice like the sound of a torment and a sound of a multitude, same as Daniel. the appearance of a human figure the same as Daniel. So whatever Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 1 seems to be the same thing Daniel is seeing. And at the end of Ezekiel 1, right after it gives the description, it says, such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And we know Hebrews says that Jesus is the likeness of the Lord, the image, the exact imprint of His nature. And so I believe Ezekiel saw the pre-incarnate Christ, and what Ezekiel saw looks exactly like what Daniel is seeing. Let me give you another one. Daniel 10. And then compare that, what we're reading in Daniel 10, to Revelation 1, verse 13 through 16, which nobody questions if this is Jesus. It explicitly says that it is. And it says this, one like a son of man, there's the description like a man, clothed with a long robe and a golden sash around his chest, The hairs of his head were white like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength." So that's what the apostle John saw in his vision that came to him. which is almost identical to what Ezekiel saw when that person came to Ezekiel, and what Daniel saw when that person came to Daniel. The descriptions are almost identical. And let me highlight three of these that are worth noting. Look at verse 5. We're in Daniel 10. Look at verse 5. It says that he is clothed in linen. Now if you look at the Old Testament, those who were clothed in linen were priests. Priests were clothed in linen. I can't think of any time in Scripture that an angel comes disguised as a priest. Angels don't typically dress like priests, but Jesus is a priest. It says this angel was also wearing a golden belt, Revelation says, and also in Daniel it says he is wearing a golden sash. Verse 6, his face was like the appearance of lightning. That's what it says in Daniel. His face was like lightning. In Revelation, at His second coming, His face is like lightning. We see lastly at the end of verse 6, the sound of His words was like the sound of a multitude. And then Revelation 1.15 describing Jesus, His voice was like the roar of many waters. This is why Puritan Matthew Henry said, the description of that glorious person who Daniel saw could be no other than Christ Himself, the Eternal Word. How glorious did Christ appear! And it should engage us to think highly and honorably of Him. Consider how great this man is! And in all things, let him have his preeminence. Admire this servant who condescended for us and for our salvation. And over all this splendor, he drew a veil when he took upon the form of a servant and emptied himself. Church, we do ourselves a great disservice by only thinking of Jesus as He was as a human. Now, He is still human. But He is not human like He was when He was on this earth. We do ourselves a great disservice when that is our view of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was a baby. In a manger, that is true. Yes, he was a boy sitting at the temple growing in wisdom. Yes, he was a young man who took over the family carpentry business and did that until his thirties. Yes, he was a miracle worker and Jewish teacher who fulfilled the law for us. Yes, he was a suffering servant that Isaiah described as the one who would be crushed for our iniquities. Yes, He was the One who walked out of the tomb after three days because death could not hold Him. And He is the second Adam. The first of a new race that lives forever. But no longer, listen, no longer is Jesus veiled in humanity. His humanity is glorified. His humanity is now glorified. And so what Daniel was seeing when Jesus showed up to him that day is far closer to the Jesus that is now enthroned in heaven than how we typically think of Jesus when we see Him in a coloring book or a painting that someone paints. We should lift our thoughts of Him. Let me read this one more time for us in Daniel 10 v. 5. I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold of euphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl. His face was like the appearance of lightning. His eyes like flaming torches. His arms and legs were like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. Guys, in Daniel and in the Gospel of John, when John sees Jesus in His resurrected state, the reaction is the same. I'll read the one from Revelation. When John saw Him, it says, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He laid His hand on me and said, Fear not. That's the same thing that He said to Daniel. And in verse 8, it says, "...my radiant appearance was fearfully changed." This is Daniel. When Jesus touched Daniel, "...my appearance was fearfully changed. I retained no strength. And then I heard the sound of His words, and I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground, and a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees." So He knows, I don't stand up in the presence of whoever this man is. He stayed on His hands and His knees before Him. But then in v. 11, He said to me, O Daniel, man greatly loved. Can you imagine what that would do to you? To hear someone from Heaven say that to you? What if it was the pre-incarnate Christ that said it? What if later tonight, I mean, what would it do to you to have, brother or sister, think about this, to have someone come to you from heaven and say to you, you are greatly loved. If I picture someone being sent from heaven to me with a message from God, What would they say to me? What would I think they would say? John Mark. A man given so much and he squandered so much. What do you think he would say to you? You know, so and so. So blessed. Greatly loved. they would do such and such better. What do you think this voice from heaven would say to you? You know, we can't fathom. We're quick to say, oh, I believe that for God so loved the world. Or, I believe Jesus loves His church. He loves His church. Everyone. But when it gets more personal, Daniel greatly loved. Put your name before that. Greatly loved. When it gets that personal, can you even believe that? That that could be said about you. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, it has been said about you. God loves you in Christ. I can say that with absolute certainty and authority. on a few passages, but John 17 especially. Listen to what Jesus says. He says to the Father in prayer. He's talking to the Father. He says, you love them even as you loved me. As in the way that you love me, Father, you love them, your people. And then right after that, he says, Father, You loved me before the foundation of the world, O righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these that You have sent me, I have made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known to them. Why? That the love with which You have loved me may be in them, and I in them. In Christ, You are greatly loved. Apart from Christ, It's different. In Christ, what He said to Daniel, He says to you. And that love is possible because Jesus is a divine warrior. Now here's where I want to transition back into this passage, because that love that we can claim and hold on to, that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, that stabilizing reality in all of our lives, is only possible if Christ is a divine warrior. And that's what he wants to tell Daniel. That is the message of this passage. Daniel is deeply discouraged. He's going, how do we get back into Jerusalem? How do we get there and do all that you've called us to do? The king of Persia is hindering us. We can't get back in. And then Jesus says, Daniel, I am fighting battles that you cannot see and you would not fathom in the heavenly realms. Look at chapter 12. We're going to get there in two weeks, but he says, "...at that time shall arise Michael, the great prince, who has charge of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be written in the Book, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." He's talking about the resurrection. Some to everlasting life. Some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. And those who turn, many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." He's saying, you're discouraged, Daniel, because you don't know yet what I'm doing. I am fighting spiritual battles even to the point that I will destroy your last enemy, which is death itself, and I will raise My people up." We need three weeks to unpack the depth and the beauty of this passage, but Christ here is claiming to be the divine warrior who fights on behalf of His people. I just can't help but put us in Revelation one more time. Revelation 19, 11. I just want to read this quickly for us. We see Jesus as this warrior here as well. He says, I saw heaven open. John is seeing this vision of what is to come. And behold, a white horse and the one sitting on it. It's called Faithful and True. And in righteousness, he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire. On His head are many diadems. And He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood. His robe is no longer white. He's still wearing that priest robe, but now it's dipped in blood. And I believe that is because the priest became the sacrifice as well. And the name by which He is called is the Word of God. And it says, the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword in which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron, and He will tread the winepresses, the fury of the wrath of God of the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh was a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." Listen, that Jesus, is right now enthroned in heaven. He is. And this Jesus is the Jesus who fights for us. And I want to end just saying something about spiritual warfare here, because chapter 10, chapter 11, chapter 12, the rest of the book of Daniel is about spiritual warfare. And it starts in this beginning of this vision, so let me say something in closing about this. When you do a study on spiritual warfare, Immediately you're going to realize everybody wants to get really practical really quick. How do I begin to do battle? How do I do spiritual warfare? And there is a place to talk about that, but it is tragic and often overlooked. The primary thing to remember is not how you or I do battle with spiritual forces. but how Christ does battle with spiritual forces on our behalf. We must simply start there. He is the divine warrior who has fought and is fighting for us countless spiritual battles on our behalf. Let me make sure you see this in our text in Daniel before we move on. Go to verse 20 quickly. This one speaking to Daniel said, Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. I wanted to come tell you a few things. I wanted you to see me and see who I am, clothed as this divine warrior. But I'm about to go back and I'm going to fight the Prince of Persia, and then the Prince of Greece will come. The Prince of Persia is a principality. Ephesians calls these principalities and powers. He's not talking about a human king here. This is a demonic authority over the nation of Persia that Christ, teaming up with Michael, goes to do battle against. And he says, listen, you may not be able to change the laws and the edicts the king of Persia is putting in place to stop you from going back to do that work. I am fighting in the heavenly realms. I am fighting principalities and powers you don't even see, Daniel. Trust me. Understand more is going on than you now realize. And that's helpful to remember, guys. Ephesians 6 talks about principalities and powers in the heavenly places that are behind much of the evil in the world. Some of y'all watched the news and you scrolled through Facebook this week and you're like, what is going on? This doesn't even seem believable. How is this stuff even happening? There are principalities and powers. There are spiritual things happening behind physical things. Especially if it's evil, there are demonic forces behind human evil. It's a core Christian belief. It's taught over and over again in the Scriptures, and Jesus is saying, I am doing war with this one-third of the angels that have come down from heaven, that are on this earth, princes, He's calling them here, over certain geopolitical boundaries, Persia, one over Greece, one over America, I would assume. And Christ fights them. Not you, primarily. And listen to, well, let me say this. This would be a great time for a preacher to begin to talk about how we need to be prayer warriors. Especially given the fact that Daniel is, if anyone should be called a prayer warrior, it should be Daniel. That's not the point of this text. We don't see the highlight in the spotlight go to Daniel. Be a prayer warrior like Daniel. Fight the spiritual battles. We see two things here, and they're not contradictions. We see Christ being the divine warrior who is fighting the spiritual battles that we don't even see, so that all victories are His, and we see that our prayers matter, especially in spiritual places. Look at verse 12. He says, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. I hope you see that. There is absolutely no contradiction between Christ being the divine warrior that fights spiritual battles we don't even know. Some of y'all think, well, if I could just wake up earlier, if I could just not look at this or do this or say this, and you think it's all physical, and we forget that there's spiritual battles happening, and Christ will fight those, but that does not mean that your prayers don't matter. John Piper said, probably the number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is that we try to turn our wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. Daniel and the people, the Old Testament saints, had a mission. Get back to Jerusalem. Rebuild the temple. Establish the worship of God again. Teach the law of God again. Get my people healthy. That was their mission. We have a mission. Make disciples of all nations. Build up the body of Christ. And there is much happening in the unseen places to get that done. Guys, 2021, if I could prophesy, will probably be harder than 2020. Okay? Health-wise, culturally, politically, I mean, I don't know. It's very likely it could get harder. You need to learn to pray. Not just for a comfortable life, but for a fruitful life. To accomplish something for the Kingdom of God. Daniel was a politician. Okay? Seek the Lord in prayer. Guys, as we go to the table, remember and go to the table with this in your mind. The greatest victory Christ won The greatest battle He did was on the cross. And in His resurrection when He defeated our greatest enemy, which is death itself. He did that for us. And as we go to the table, let's rejoice in that and remember that. If you have not placed your faith in Christ, you could do that and He would save you. And I hope you will. Let's pray. An awesome chapter. A unique chapter. We pray that You would make it effective and fruitful in our lives. Lord, help us as we go to the table to think great thoughts of Your Son and what He accomplished for us. And Lord, help us as we go from here to remember there is much more happening in the heavenly places and unseen places than we realize. And yet we have a great warrior to fight on our behalf. And so deepen our confidence in Him. We pray it in Jesus' name, Amen.