Daniel and the Demons - Part 1

Undermined Christian lady asked. This welcomes a Turning Point when it comes to the power of prayer.

Even the score is a glimpse that either for beverage or marsh is a chapter from Daniel's life, which is urgent prayer brings an angel down from heaven to Vermont but God hears our prayers and is faithful to continuing his series and Daniel his David today's powerful message Daniel and the demon. Today we open our Bibles to Daniel.

Chapter 10, and for these next two days were going to be examining the 10th chapter of Daniel, and I hope you'll stay with us and will learn all that goes on in the other world that we sometimes don't think it's real and it is more real than the world in which you and I walk every day. Well, you get a good start on this. This new lesson Daniel and the demons it's the 10th chapter of Daniel and were going to open our Bibles and begin right now studying this portion of God's word. I like to suggest the passage we have before us is very interesting one because it kind of draws the curtain aside and helps us to look beyond the scene into a world where Satan operates where we might not normally be aware of his operation.

In order for us to get to that portion of the chapters we have to set the stage and understand what's happening in the 10th chapter of the book of Daniel. Chapter 10 of Daniel introduces us to the last three chapters in the last section of the book you are now in Daniel's fourth vision.

His final vision and actually chapters 10, 11 and 12 are all kind of connected. They all fit together.

This is the beginning and it just flows through kind of filling in the empty places of all of the visions that have already gone in the book, but the important thing to understand about the 10th chapter of book of Daniel is that there are two things going on in this chapter. First of all, there is a conflict that is waging in the heart of the prophet that's going on down here on the earth.

But while that's going on. There is a conflict in the heavens.

And so if you want to outline the chapters easy to do it. Conflict in the heart of the conflict in the heavens. That's all going to look at the chapter.

First of all, examining the conflict that was in the heart of Daniel. Now, the chapter opens by telling us that this is the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, that may not seem to be too important except as a reminder to us that it was in the first year of the reign of Cyrus the King that the edict of Cyrus was given allowing the people of the Jews to go back to their homeland and began to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus proclaimed that any Jew who wanted to go back could go back and begin the process of rebuilding that sacred place that was so very special to the Jewish people. We open the chapter we read that Daniel in the third year of Cyrus two years after that decree has been made.

Daniel whose name was called notice as Emily had a dream or thing revealed on to him. And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long. I want to stop just there. That phrase, the time appointed was long really be translated that the time appointed, or the time appointed in Daniel's life was a time of great conflict. That's what the phrase mean has nothing to do with time. The phrase literally means that the time appointed on the experience. Daniel was going through was an experience of great conflict in his inner life, and he understood the thing that he had understanding of the vision and in those days I Daniel was morning for three full weeks. I know pleasant Brad neither came place or wine in my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled other things going on in Daniel's life is this, that he is now alone by himself in battle and are still many Jews left in Babylon, but Daniel's alone is contemplating the situation of his people and he is overwhelmingly burdened by what is going on.

First of all, when Cyrus gave the opportunity for the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, surprising as it may seem to us just a view under 50,000 volunteered to return. There were many thousands of Jews beyond that number that were still in Babylon who could have gone back, but they didn't go and I believe that Daniel was burden because of the apathy of this people here was their opportunity to go back to the holy city. Be involved in rearing up again the house of God that was so special to them and all this captivity that been looking forward to that time.

Now that opportunity came Cyrus that it's all right only a small number in comparison of the Jews were in battle and volunteered to go back. But here's the scenario. Once those who did go back returned to the city of Jerusalem as we read in Ezra chapter 3.

It took them two years just to get the foundations of the temple started they weren't working at it very hard.

They were just sort of playing at the job when you come to the fourth chapter of the book of Ezra. You learn that the renegade Jews who lived in that territory decided that they were going to give these Jews terrible strife in rebuilding the temple and you read in the fourth chapter of the book of Ezra.

These words then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah, they troubled them in building and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. All the days of Cyrus king of Persia and other words here now is small limited Jews that been allowed to go back to their city. They played around for two years. Just getting the foundation up and now the renegade Jews eliminator.

I decided to fix them good and so they go to the leadership and they persuade the leadership of these Jews are rebels and that their traders and that there really back to restore the walls of the city and so can basis gives an edict that he shuts the whole thing down in the word filters back to Daniel.

He's back in Babylon. He's been praying for these dear people every day.

Committing them to the Lord and he's just overwhelmed with sorrow for what is becoming a travesty of the grace of God in the lives of his people and along with that. He also heard the word that many of the Jews who had returned and fallen back into sin, and they started marrying foreign wives getting back into the same kind of thing that got them put into captivity in the first place. And here's Daniel the man of God, the righteous prophet and what does he do. He is broken hearted. He's burdened he's filled with inner conflict and so we read of his conflict in this text, the result of his burdened party is that he goes into great inner turmoil and the Scripture says he began to sorrow and to mourn for one days, three weeks of day and he began the fast.

He ate know pleasant food and no meat or wine came to his lips. The Scripture even says there wasn't any outward show. He didn't anoint his body and that's a very interesting phrase because if we put that in our culture it's sort of like slapping some aftershave lotion on before you go out in public, the Jews had this kind of ointment when they went out in the joyous frame of mind. They went out the anointed with the ointment and what that says is the Daniel's very sorrowful unit even anoint his body wasn't seen in public. He stated in his home and he fasted and prayed and he lifted up his heart God because of the overwhelming burden he had first. Here they were at the end of the captivity, they should've learned all of these lessons that God wanted to teach them. They been given a new opportunity they were blowing that opportunity. Daniel's now some 90 years old is watch this whole process is on his face before God and be single God, what am I going to do what is to become of these people. It's interesting to me that when Daniel got burdened in his heart he knew where to go like you to jump ahead in the text. If you will, to the 12 verse, which is a report of the angel to Daniel after he finally arrived with the answer. He says this in the 12 verse then said the angel onto me, fear not, Daniel four from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. This tells us what happened when Daniel got burdened what you do when you get burdened you know I look back over my life and I discovered that I have some terrible temptations when I get burdened. I want to go find Ren cool let me dump on you do that and you know that's all right, everybody needs to have a friend that you can go and just pour out your heart to what is it interesting that we do everything else but the one thing God is provided for us when we get under a bird and what Daniel did was he went straight to the source and the Scripture says that he began to pray this prayer was an overwhelming prayer as described in the 12 verse.

It was a spiritual prayer, for it was offered before God.

It was an emotional prayer because it says here that he said his heart. It was an intellectual prairie desire to understand.

It was a volitional prayer.

He was determined to get an answer. The word set his heart is the same phrase that is used of the Lord Jesus when we read of him that he set his face toward the cross.

He was determined to get an answer that I believe it was a verbal prayer and out loud prayer. You will I don't think Daniel prayed under his breath, think you got someplace alone. Nobody could hear him and he just poured his whole heart out to God, he lifted up his words. In fact, the angel said it was your words that got me down here so is concerned the Hartford conflict in his heart, the burden in the battle that he was going through was directed toward heaven. I remember reading not long ago. The story of Andrew Bohn are, who after his death was said to be one of the great prayer warriors of his day. One day his daughter after he had died was taking up Welsh evangelists through the church that he and Pastor Missy walked into the church to show the Welsh evangelists. The pew in the back of the building and she said when I was a little girl my daddy used to bring me in here and sit me and that you would need say I'll be out in a little while you stay here and I wouldn't see him for a while. She said one day I decided to find out what it was.

My dad was doing and so I crawled out of that pew and I walked up until I finally saw him and she said I saw the strangest thing my dad would be seated in the pew and he would then forward as if to read the name on the pew. That was back in the times when they had names on HQ and he would read the name on that pew and he would bow his head he would pray that he would scoot over and would read the name on the view next to it and he would bow his head and pray. She said all through the evening while I was there. What my dad was doing. I found out later was he was coming to the place with the people of God came to worship and he was going into that building and one by one he was praying for every parishioner that came to that church in the place where they would hear the word.

The next day because he had such an overwhelming burden for his people wonder what would happen if those of us in the ministry.

If all of us would began to carry the burdens that God places on our heart back to the source, even as Daniel did well. This burdened man began to pray and I want to tell you his prayer must've been something because it was a prayer that got the attention of the Angels, and in fact, this turned out to be a prayer that brought the Angels down the angel said in verse 12 Daniel what I heard you praying as soon as your words came. That's what initiated my response.

Now there's a great deal of discussion over this messenger from heaven is we read in verses five through nine.

That is, Daniel was praying and as he was alone in the vision that he was left alone. He saw this great vision in verse eight, and there remained no strength in me for my comeliness was returned to me in the corruption and I retain no strength and I heard the voice of his words. When I heard the voice of his words that I was in deep sleep in my face toward the ground in a hand touched me, which set me on my knees and upon the palms of my hands. If you go back to the fifth verse you discover that what Daniel saw in his vision when the angel came down with something like a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen whose lines were girded with Feingold youth as his body also was like barrel in his face was as the appearance of lightning in his eyes as lamps of fire in his arms and his feet like in color. The polished brass and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude use.

Put yourself in his place.

If you been fasting for 21 days that had anything to eat.

You are isolated away from everybody you're pouring out your heart to God over that brief time and all of a sudden you looked up you saw something like what Daniel just described is no wonder the Scripture says he passed it out. You stated that on the spot.

In fact, it took the Lord's will see in a few minutes. Many separate stages to get Daniel back to the place where he was comprehensive and was able to understand what God wanted to communicate to another thing I want to notice this this angel that came down from heaven.

Some people say that was the son of God in the Old Testament that was Jesus coming down. We call that in theology at Christophe and he or a theophany in Old Testament appearance of Christ and there was a time when I studied this passage when I thought that was true because when you read that description of that person he saw.

You have to believe it was the son of God. It sounds just like the picture of Jesus in Revelation chapter 1 over in the book of Ezekiel. What I've come to believe that is the Lord because the Scripture says that that one who came down were going to see in a moment was withstood by the Prince of Persia. One of Satan's emissaries and it took them 21 days overcoming in my Lord isn't like that.

I doubt if the Lord's ever been detained 21 days by an emissary of Satan. Even though he was taken out to the wilderness for 40 days by Satan himself.

So what we have here is a situation where Daniel was praying. He's been burned apart this great conflict in his heart he lifts up his voice to God.

God answers and he sends out an angel now the interesting thing that's going on here is this.

While this conflict is happening in the heart of Daniel. There's something going on out in space that we don't find out about till we get to the 13th verse, verse 13, the angel comes and I'd like to if I could just sort of fantasize what happened you know Daniel wasn't use to a 21 day weight for an answer from God and he kinda was custom to better service than that. The last time he prayed the Scripture says before he got the words out of his mouth. God answered them right in little prayer. Remember now. He's been playing for 21 days and nothing's happening. I mean you just keep praying and praying is like God is gone all of a sudden 21 days later the angel shows up and I can imagine Daniel saying so were you been in the Angels explaining why he is 21 days late coming in answer to the request verse 13 but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and 20 days, but low, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Now this is a fascinating thing.

I don't know of any place else in the Bible where you see anything like this get this Satan intercepted the answer to Daniel's prayer between heaven and earth. Now, stay with me because I'm not a heretic and I want you to understand that. Here's what happened. Daniel prayed on earth.

God heard in heaven and he answered, he dispatched an angel to come and give the answer to Daniel in between heaven and earth that Angel was accosted by an evil angel and they did warfare in outer space if you will for 21 days before God's angel finally prevailed and he was allowed to continue his journey to birth, you say Jeremiah, that is the most bizarre thing I've ever heard in my life but first of all we need to establish that it is in keeping with the doctrine of the word of God.

Did you know that Satan has his angels over and over again. The Bible tells us that Satan has his angels. We need to understand that his angels are organized over and over again. The Bible tells us that Satan has his angels. Revelation 12 seven says in war broke out in heaven and his angels, God's angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels, and then in Matthew chapter 25 in verse 41 we read these words, then he will say unto those on the left hand depart from me, you cursive into everlasting fire, prepared for new the devil and his angels, and the Prince of Persia is obviously not a man.

The Prince of Persia mentioned in 13 could not be a man for no human could have resisted the messenger of God for 21 days has to be something supernatural. Since he did oppose God's emissary must've been one of Satan's evil messengers or demons because that's the only kind of conflict that you can explain in terms of what happened in the angelic messenger. With the help of the chief Angel Michael as we learned later, was able to rest the position of influence away from this Persian prince and have victory. So once again what's happening is Daniel's praying God's answer and he dispatches an angel and angel comes is intercepted in between heaven and earth by an evil angel and a war against each other for 21 days you say to me. Pastor Jeremiah want to evil angels do well they run Satan's world. Wait a minute. This is God's world. No, Satan's world. I think that's one of the things we've forgotten. Satan has control of this world as it is when man sinned in the garden. He lost the opportunity to run the world and he submitted to Satan the control of the world. In fact, over and over again as we read in the Scripture we find three times. Jesus calls Satan the prince of this world. John 1231 now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this world be cast out the word prince. There is the word which we translate, sometimes by the words are sees our ties are czar CSA are the ruler of the world. John 1430 hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world, that have nothing in me. John 1611 of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. When you turn over to the book of first John chapter 5 in verse 19. You learn and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one. Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse four calls Satan the god of this age or the God of this world.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse two says in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of this will be.

I think the greatest proof that Satan is in control of this world is found in this fact that one day in the presence of Jesus. He claimed that the world was his and Jesus did not correct him. You might want to turn to this in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 4 verses five through seven. This is in that temptation. In the wilderness. I want you to notice carefully the devil taking him up into a high mountain and showed him to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and the devil sent him to the Lord all this power I will give the glory of them for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give it, if thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

Now notice Jesus didn't say Satan who you trying to kid this isn't your world. This is my world is not what he answered is, he never rebuked him at all for claiming that the world was his what he did was in verse eight Jesus said get the behind me Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall closer Jesus rebukes Satan, for Satan's attempt to get Jesus to worship him. But he never corrected Satan. When Satan said this world is mine, and I'm running it. That's price. A lot of people in this short leash. This enemy of ours is on but he is powerful and we feel his presence.

Some of us more recently, almost as if he were showing up personally every day. We have some more of this tomorrow from Daniel.

Chapter 10 I hope you're intrigued enough to want to be with us as we conclude the 10th chapter of Daniel were moving toward the end of this book we have maybe a couple weeks left of study in the book of Daniel, but it's all very riveting. It's the it's the prophecy part of the book that most of us have stumbled over in the past we found out self-explanatory. If we know where the keys are trying to show is that as we go through this together. Please don't join us for the Friday edition) this could station for more information on the materializes series the handwriting on the wall, please visit our website where we offer to freeways to help you stay connected monthly magazine Turning Points and a daily email devotional sign up today at Doug Jeremiah total/lighting that Jeremiah thoughtful/writing company via Safari. The last out in his writing inside a time for miserable. You can also purchase the Jeremiah study Bible standardization in the new international version as well is instead large print in the new King James choice of return go to Jeremiah.old/radio on Gary. Hopefully join us tomorrow as we continue the handwriting on the Turning Point. Jeremiah, thanks for taking time to listen to the Friendly's in question