OPINION —
Last week we saw an angel telling Daniel about how he was delayed three weeks by “the prince of the Persian kingdom (10:13). He also spoke of “the prince of Greece” (v. 20) and had more to say about Michael—“one of the chief princes” (v. 13). What is going on?
Let’s begin with what we know: Michael is an archangel (Jude 1:9). He is identified here as “one of the chief princes” (v. 3) and a “great prince” in 12:1. I think this gives us grounds for understanding the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece to be evil spiritual entities — possibly angels as well. Paul speaks in Ephesians 6:12 about our struggle being against, “the rulers . . . the authorities . . . the powers of this dark world . . . the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” In 2 Kings 6, when the Arameans had surrounded the city where Elisha and his servant are, Elisha assured his servant, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v. 17). Look at the context and it’s clear he wasn’t speaking about any human army.
What we have in Daniel 10 then is a glimpse of warfare in the spiritual realm. There was an evil entity who was working in support of the Persian kingdom and the angel who appeared to Daniel (perhaps Gabriel), was “resisted” and “retained” by it for 21 days (v. 21) until Michael came to his aid (v. 13). Whether the purpose of this resistance/retaining was so Daniel couldn’t receive his message or that was just a by-product, it’s not entirely clear — but the latter seems more probable. We do know this entity was working against God and His purposes. We also know that after the angel gave Daniel his message, he returned to fight against this entity and would also engage the prince of Greece. In 11:1 we have another challenging text that tells us our angel took a stand “to support and protect” with Darius or Michael. Hmm … it’s all very interesting and intriguing.
When we think about the emphasis in the book of Daniel about how “the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes” (4:32), this gives a peek at some of what is involved in that. Remember, the miracle in 2 Kings 6 was not that there was a spiritual army pro-tecting Elisha and his servant—the miracle was that his servant could see it (Alexander McClaren)! Didn’t Jesus speak of little ones and “their angels” (Matthew 18:10). Doesn’t the Hebrew writer talk about angels being “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (1:14)? Doesn’t John tell us “The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4)? Don’t you find all this greatly encouraging? We are not alone in the battles we face.
I’ve said in this piece that there is more going on than meets the eye. More to Daniel’s point, God is control of it all! That’s all the more reason to live for Him and give Him praise.
Find more of Green’s writings at his website: a-taste-of-grace-with-bruce-green.com.