{"id":23795,"date":"2022-10-31T22:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-9_15-27-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-10-18T21:32:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T04:32:02","slug":"daniel-10_1-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-10_1-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Get Too Comfortable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel 10:1-21\u00a0 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 10:1-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 10:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 The third year of Cyrus king of Persia would be approximately 536 B.C.\u00a0 By this point, it would have been about a couple years since King Cyrus first started allowing Jewish exiles, starting with Ezra and other Jews, to return to Jerusalem.\u00a0 For some reason, Daniel didn\u2019t go back, maybe because Daniel was now an old man (about 85 years old) or maybe because he thought he would be of better service by staying.<\/p>\n

Some people get crusty and bitter (not just physically but emotionally and spiritually) as they get older.\u00a0 Not Daniel.\u00a0 In his old age, Daniel maintained a soft heart toward God.\u00a0 Here we see Daniel doing a partial fast for 3 weeks.\u00a0 Abstaining from meat, wine and lotions, Daniel was probably limiting himself to bread and water.<\/p>\n

Why was Daniel fasting?\u00a0 Some scholars think Daniel may have been preparing for Passover.\u00a0 However, the fact that Daniel was \u201cmourning\u201d (v2) suggests that Daniel was grieving some kind of loss.\u00a0 Perhaps Daniel had learned of the sad state Jerusalem was in and was bringing his grief to God.\u00a0 Perhaps Daniel was mourning for other reasons.\u00a0 In any event, we know that Daniel was intentionally drawing near to God through fasting and prayer.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0This time of fasting and prayer would prepare the way for Daniel to have one of his most powerful encounters with God.<\/p>\n

In Daniel 9, we saw how Daniel responded to God\u2019s Word with prayer and fasting (Daniel 9:2-3).\u00a0 Here in Daniel 10, we see how Daniel got ready to hear God\u2019s Word with prayer and fasting.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When done with the right attitude, fasting can help you keep a soft heart toward God and prepare you to experience more of His power.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 10:4-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-9:\u00a0 As Daniel stands on the bank of the Tigris River, Daniel sees a man with an appearance more mesmerising than anything he had ever seen: a face like lightning, eyes like torches, arms and legs like gleaming bronze, a body like chrysolite, a voice that boomed like a multitude.\u00a0 The men with Daniel do not see the man but they feel a terrifying presence and they hide.\u00a0 The sight of this man saps all of Daniel\u2019s strength and Daniel falls into a deep sleep, face down on the ground.<\/p>\n

Who is this man?\u00a0 Considering the exceptional magnificence of this figure, the effect he had on Daniel and the parallels between him and the one the apostle John saw in Revelation 1, a strong argument can be made that this was the Lord Jesus personally appearing to Daniel.\u00a0 There is no one like the Lord and nothing as powerful and electrifying as His presence.<\/p>\n

Daniel 10:10-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-11:\u00a0 As Daniel lies face down, he feels a hand touch him.\u00a0 This could have been the hand of the extraordinary man that Daniel saw, but considering the next verses a better explanation might be that it was the hand of another angel sent to speak to Daniel.<\/p>\n

Daniel 10:12-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-14:\u00a0 As soon as Daniel humbled himself to pray, an angel had been sent to respond to Daniel\u2019s prayer.\u00a0 So why the delay of 21 days?\u00a0 The angel says that \u201cthe prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days\u201d until Michael, a chief angel prince, came to this angel\u2019s aid.\u00a0 Who is this \u201cprince of the Persian kingdom\u201d?\u00a0 This prince was not a human ruler but an angel working for the other side, a demon.\u00a0 In other words, the answer to Daniel\u2019s prayer was caught up in a conflict between God\u2019s angels and Satan\u2019s demons.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Repeatedly we are told that\u00a0our real enemy is not people but Satan<\/strong>, and that \u201cour struggle is not against flesh and blood\u00a0but against the rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.\u201d (Ephesians 6:12)\u00a0 In other words, angels are real.\u00a0 Demons are real.\u00a0 Verses like Daniel 10:13 suggest that, just as God\u2019s angels seem to operate pursuant to a well organized hierarchy, so Satan\u2019s demons are an intricately organized group where certain demons are given jurisdiction to operate in certain parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Though spiritual warfare is real, the good news is that our victory and our ability to overcome in spiritual warfare through Jesus\u2019 name are real as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 10:15-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I am helpless.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come;
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-21:\u00a0 By this time Persia had already allowed some Jews to return to Jerusalem. But from this angel we learn that there was still an ongoing battle to be fought with the prince of Persia and later the prince of Greece (v20-21).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0When you\u2019ve experienced a victory, don\u2019t get too comfortable. Until the day Jesus returns there will still be more battles to fight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So that we can fight future battles, let\u2019s keep being strengthened by God\u2019s touch and by God\u2019s Word, just like Daniel was strengthened here by a touch and a word from heaven (v15-19).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, thank You that in Your Son Jesus I am armed with the authority, the strength, and everything I need to fight and overcome the enemy.\u00a0 Needing You, I come to You with an open heart and say Holy Spirit please fill me today.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 10:1-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 10:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 The third year of Cyrus king of Persia would be approximately 536 B.C.\u00a0 By this point, it would have been about a couple years since King Cyrus first started allowing Jewish exiles, starting with Ezra and other Jews, to return to Jerusalem.\u00a0 For some reason, Daniel didn\u2019t go back, maybe because Daniel was now an old man (about 85 years old) or maybe because he thought he would be of better service by staying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23795"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23798,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23795\/revisions\/23798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}