Submitted by Kerry Patton
“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. 13 But 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.” Daniel 10:12-13
The above passage from Daniel is often quoted as a glimpse of the spiritual warfare that goes on in the realm of angels and demons…a place akin to where Ephesians 6:12 rightly directs our attention concerning the true struggle in our spirituality:
“For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.”
True. True, true, true! The
follower of Christ is wise to keep this understanding of the Christian struggle
(and the human struggle for that matter) in mind. It may often seem that our struggle is
against people, but it isn’t.
Ultimately, the battle of this world is one of spiritual forces.
It is important to draw a line of distinction though…between what is
happening in Daniel and what is being said in Ephesians:
·
In
Ephesians, the Apostle Paul is indeed making a statement about spiritual
warfare.
·
In Daniel,
God is revealing a vision to Daniel… He is communicating truths to Daniel that
concern the rise and fall of nations in political posturing against Israel, and
real attacks that will happen on the fields of the land. God also has information in chapters 10, 11,
and 12 pertinent to the end times before the return of the Messiah that will
not manifest until a time in the future that has yet to be revealed to even our
generation.
Perhaps a major indicator in Daniel that the account is not intended to
teach us about spiritual warfare is in verses 12 and 13 of Daniel 10, where it
can seem to be understood to say that Daniel prayed to God, and God sent out an
angel (who many speculate to be the angel Gabriel), who battles the powers of
darkness for three weeks…THREE WEEKS…and just barely…but only barely, prevails
when the Archangel Michael comes to his aid.
Verse 21 continues this perspective suggesting that for the longest
time, no other angels came to help in this battle. Only Michael ultimately showed up to turn the
tide of the battle. So, for 21 days…the
armies of darkness prevailed against an angel of God, keeping him from his
task, until that moment when God FINALLY dispatches Michael to come help him
out.
With this interpretation, the insinuation is made that had Michael not
shown up, well…things would have gone very badly for the angel of the
Lord. Is that really what we want to
glean from the passage? For me, that interpretation
just doesn’t add up. By my best reading
of scripture, Light always prevails over darkness:
·
John
1:5 says “The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
·
In
Matthew 4:10, Jesus dispatches Satan with a simple “Away with you,” or as another version reads: “Be gone!”
·
In Mark
1:25, Jesus orders a demon to “Be quiet! Come out of the man!”
·
And in
Luke 9:1 we find Jesus giving his disciples “power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal
all diseases.”
The power of God is overwhelmingly victorious in all situation, and that
battle is never a close one. The armies
of God never have to stage a “fourth quarter comeback.” The power of God, and
the will of God always ultimately prevail for our God is Almighty and there is
no end to his power and authority. He
spoke everything that is into existence, and could easily defeat any opposing
force or army with less than the wave of a hand, or even the slightest
extension of his will. Never does he
step back from the battlefield, wipe his brow, and exclaim: “Whew…that was
close. Wow, we really pulled it out
today!” No, the battle is won. Period.
To suggest that the armies of God are in even a small way closely
matched by the armies of hell, and that one of the Father’s warriors almost
didn’t make it out is to me simply impossible – with what we know about
God. Right?
My redirect on this matter is this:
Yes, we are in a spiritual battle, but the battle is the Lord’s. Our best glimpse into spiritual warfare might
be found in the book of James, chapter 4, verse 7 which provides the following
instruction: “Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.”
So, what about those times when we are praying and it seems like the
powers of darkness are prevailing? We do still live in a fallen world, and the
armies of darkness do still wage battle on the people of the world. Our lives are often affected by those peoples
and those battles…sometimes severely.
But ultimately, the battle belongs to the Lord.
When it seems that our answer is delayed or we are not getting the
result that we have asked for, it is NOT because the battle in spiritual realms
is not going well for the armies of God.
It is NOT because the armies of darkness are prevailing. Friends, the battle is going exactly as the
Father has willed and designed it to go.
Victory was settled at Calvary.
When my answer is delayed, or it is not what I have petitioned the
Father for, I must ask “What then is the Father’s purpose for me in these
circumstances? How may I align with his
will and plan, even in light of what I am going through? For I know that my deliverance is assured, my
salvation is secure, and His love is ever faithful and never failing.
Almighty God, I give myself to you. It is my desire to
always submit to you, that your will becomes mine, and your strength becomes
mine. Give me your spirit, and your
wisdom so that I may always resist the enemy when he attacks. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
