PART 5: DANIEL'S DEPRESSION —

1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar;

Daniel is still in Persia; he is trying to influence the Persians.

2 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks.

3 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth,

As shown here, normally, Daniel did not eat meat and wine — tasty food.

Three weeks (twenty-one days) prior to getting the vision, Daniel was depressed. God was speaking, and there was turmoil going on inside of Daniel.

Application: One way to know if God is trying to tell us something is if we have—

Daniel did not feel like eating [not even tasty food] and he was restless because God was trying to tell him something. Why would that cause depression? Would it not be exhilarating?

Application: Something happens when God tries to tell us something: Our flesh raises up — the source of turmoil.

4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,

The Tigris River is quite a long distance from Babylon. Daniel must have been there to conduct business.

5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz.

6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of tumult.

Previously, Daniel had seen the angel, Gabriel; however, this was not Gabriel or any other godly angel.

Let us compare the Person of Daniel 10:5-6 with the One described in Revelation 1:13-16

Notice that the descriptions are almost identical. Both visions speak of the same Person —

This vision was given to Daniel as an encouragement and as a confirmation, the same reason Ezekiel got the vision he did.

7 Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves.

Daniel saw this Man, but the men with him did not.

Picture: What is another situation where a biblical believer saw Messiah Jesus but others did not? On the Damascus Road, Paul alone saw the vision and he fell to the ground. The men travelling with him saw no one, but they stood speechless. (Please see Acts 9:1-7.)

The sheep (biblical believers of the church age) will hear their name. What will the unregenerate do?

The unregenerate will not follow Messiah Jesus because they do not know His voice. However, they will be aware of something/One and they will be in great fear.

8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength.

9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Daniel goes into a deep sleep.

Another visitor comes…

10 Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.

11 He said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.

12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words."

The angel says that From the very day that you wanted this information, I was dispatched to send it to you. So Daniel had been depressed for three weeks, and now we see that the Lord God was trying to tell him something.

Picture: Paul told the Colossians that the faith and love in their lives was resonating out throughout the Roman Empire. He said that this all began the day they—

There was a three-week delay…

13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia."

Daniel's prayer had gone up and God dispatched an angel immediately (even before Daniel prayed). The prince of Persia blocked the godly angel.

The prince of Persia is not a human being and he is not a godly being, because he is holding up an angel of God for three weeks.

In the New Testament, a prince is called a principality. Principalities are over nations (countries) and are concerned with the big issues and events surrounding the nations, including politics, military matters, commerce and trade. It appears that the entire world is organized according to principalities, which correspond to earthly governments. Generally speaking, every nation has an angelic Principality and a demonic Principality, although there are more demonic Principalities.

The demonic prince of Persia is blocking the godly angel because he is trying to stop the king of Persia from letting the Jews return to the Land. Additionally, he is concerned that Daniel is going to get a thorough account of the Antichrist and his future activities, including—

• He will go back and forth from Egypt to Russia.
• He will mount a campaign against the United States.
• What his concerns will be.
• What he is going to do — specifics — he was busted!

Of course, Satan does not want that information out.

Daniel will also be getting specific information about Antiochus Epiphanes [who was also busted]. Satan knew what this message was going to be, and he had to try and stop it.

Twenty-one days equal the duration of Daniel's depression [due to the delay].

Application: If something is delayed inexplicably, it could be because of demonic activity in our circumstances or demonic control of unregenerate people around us.

There was a standoff for three weeks, but then the angel of God gets help from Michael.

Apparently, Michael is the godly prime minister over the administration of the universe. The nation of Israel is so important to the Lord God that He has Michael watching over them. Obviously, Satan has marshaled his forces against Israel.

A standoff occurs here: prince against prince. The two different ways this block would be taken care of by God are as follows:

1. Bring a lot of angelic messengers into the situation, or
2. Check this prince by restraining the progress of this opponent.

God told Michael to watch over the nation and check this prince. The problem was that they were doing so in a place away from Daniel. Neither the prince of Persia nor the godly prince won, because they cannot kill each other. However, the prince of Persia is out of the way, so the angelic Messenger slips through and goes to Daniel.

It was critical to get this message to Daniel.

The content of the revelation is given later, but now we hear the rest of the angel's story…

14 Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.

Let us drop down to verse 20…

20 Then he said, "Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come."

The godly Messenger is going to give Daniel the message very quickly, because he sees the prince of Greece coming So listen very carefully, and then he is out of there because I am the only one holding the fort down over here.

If he had stayed away, the demonic prince of Persia certainly would have accomplished one thing —

Satan was very serious about stopping the Decree of Artaxerxes from being issued.

Greece was an independent city-state. Satan got them to fight against each other to neutralize them. Then they stopped fighting and began to ally with each other; therefore, Satan used peace to neutralize them as well. Letting the flesh take care of itself freed up the demonic prince of Greece so he could go load the deck (increase the forces) in Persia.

It is imperative the godly prince goes back.

21 However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.

He said your prince meaning your principality of Israel. The other angels are not powerful enough.

For some unknown reason God has delegated an astonishing amount of responsibility and authority to His angels. What is more remarkable is the amount of authority He has given His own children.

Question: Why Did Not Satan Intervene?

Satan was checked (restrained) by the Lord God. The Lord God wants us to know this so we will do the following:

1. Know and pray about spiritual warfare. We often regard individuals who do pray about the invisible, spirit realm as fringe people or as extreme charismatics. But that is what they do, and maybe we should as well.
2. Pray like Daniel did. Remember what we saw in the beginning of Daniel 9? Daniel identified himself with the nation of Israel We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled. That is the key for us, because the picture is not of Daniel, rather, it is a picture of Israel.

The Israelites were in Babylon at this time. Being in Babylon is a picture of being in the world. Obviously, they were out of God's will. The sons of Israel were in the wrong place; they were out of the place of blessing.

A biblical believer is not guided internally by godly angels; however, godly angels externally protect biblical believers and do activities for them.

When a biblical believer is occupied by self — controlled by his flesh — and he is not interested in spiritual matters, then that individual does not receive much guidance from Holy Spirit even though He continues to give it. This individual is not on God's ship, but on a lifeboat hanging off the edge. However, from God's perspective, the biblical believer is in the captain's seat with Him all of the time. God is not going to let a biblical believer down; He will bend heaven and earth to keep him with Him and to keep a biblical believer from harm.

The enemy can tell [indirectly] when prayer is involved.

A biblical believer prays about something, God dispatches His angels immediately. In the meantime, the enemy sees a biblical believer praying, and they announce that he is doing so. The enemy guesses about what the biblical believer must be praying, though they cannot know for sure. Demons cannot read a biblical believer's mind, put hexes on him, or put thoughts into his mind. However, they can mobilize circumstances around biblical believers, they can block things from happening, and they can possess unredeemed individuals.

If a biblical believer is not praying about things, or if he is praying Give me, give me, give me, then the Lord God says What am I going to have to do to this guy? Get more godly angels over here on this guy!

God is trying to tell a biblical believer something when there are delays in situations that are either good or [inexplicably] bad circumstances. These situations primarily involve other people.

Satan marshals his forces against a biblical believer, which can happen even if that individual is in fellowship with the Lord God. [If you are out of fellowship with the Lord God, then no question, it will happen.]

Picture: Here in Daniel, they were out of the will of the Lord God, and He sent His angels to guide them and to help them.

The way to minimize the enemy's forces coming against a biblical believer is with his mind.

Satan cannot read a biblical believer's mind nor can he put hexes or things into his mind. On the other hand, one cannot dismiss Satan. Consider the following:

• Paul tells us to be on the watch (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
• Peter tells us that Satan, our adversary, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
• James tells us to resist the devil (James 4:7).

Obviously, Satan is doing something, but all he can do is ROAR! Are biblical believers afraid of a roaring lion, who is in a cage? Of course not! We know he cannot hurt us. So the way to resist Satan is to know:

That is where we come back to what Daniel prayed. His prayer revealed his mind; Daniel's concern was for God's glory.

Application: Any biblical believer who is concerned for God's glory, and prays for what God is doing, is dangerous to Satan.

When George Bush ran against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, Bush referred to Reagan's trickle down economics as voodoo economics. Reagan's theory of trickle down economics was as follows: Businesses with a lot of capital invest it, and the benefits trickle down to everybody below them.

God's blessing ship is this way. It is trickle down. We pray for the huge things, for God's glory, and when we do that blessings trickle down to us.

The more we pray about the big picture and the more our minds are on the big picture, then since we are in the big picture, the more we benefit.

It is supernatural blessings, because we are in the place of blessing through our minds.

Father, thank You that we are in the place of supernatural blessing through our minds. What a disaster it would be if our lives were dependent upon our performance instead of our understanding what You say to us. Indeed, You are a glorious God!

Thank You for dispatching Your angels in direct response to our prayers, and to our needs, whether we voice them or not. You understand and know what is best for us at all times, and we thank You for this assurance.

Father, thank You for teaching us that, sometimes, unexplained depression might be a signal that Holy Spirit is telling us something. Help us to remember that our flesh raises up (another source of turmoil) when You speak. So enable us to listen very carefully to Holy Spirit, so we may clearly hear and understand what You are saying.

Help us not to be occupied by self [through our flesh] and instead may we be interested in spiritual matters. Most importantly, thank You for keeping me in the captain's seat with You, regardless that I feel like I am ominously hanging onto the edge of a lifeboat because of my performance. Your grace keeps me from being fearful of what man, the world, or I can do to myself.

May my concern be for Your glory and Your honor.

In Your Son's name, Jesus, I praise You and thank You. Amen.

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