Episode 169: Daniel 10:1-21 Essential and Dependent Agents of Jesus

We worked through chapter ten of Daniel which is really the first part of the section which ends in chapter twelve. In the last chapter we saw an amazing testimony to the reality of spiritual warfare. Daniel had been fasting from meat and wine and other delicacies for three weeks. He describes himself as in mourning. There is an angel which appears to Daniel and the contents of his message tell us Daniel must have been mourning over his fellow Israelites who were in captivity. The angel starts out by describing how he had been delayed by the prince of Persia for twenty-one days. Michael had come to help and this seems to be the reason this angel finally got through. The scene we see play out between this angel and Daniel sounds very much like the scene between Paul and Jesus on the road to Damascus and also has aspects of the meeting between Jesus and John at the beginning of the book of Revelation. Is this just another angel or is this the appearance of a pre-incarnate Jesus. If this is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus it tells us something of the nature of spiritual warfare. There must be great power on display in the heavens. There appears to be a recognition of authority over regions on the earth, because he talks about the prince of the kingdom of Persia and the kings of Persia withstanding him. This doesn’t mean these beings are more powerful than a pre-incarnate Jesus but it would simply mean there is a regional right they were asserting which God Himself recognized, and these beings as angels had to work through. This also tells us God will do whatever it takes to get to his own and to respond to their prayers. This angel’s appearance is majestic and magnificent. Daniel’s response is to be undone and unable to speak or respond. The angel’s touch is enough to strengthen Daniel and remove his guilt before the angel. Again these actions seem to be pointing to this being a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus. The angel tells Daniel he is going to tell him the message he came to deliver and then return to fight the prince of Persia and how when he goes the prince of Greece will come. I personally believe the angel speaking here is a true Christophany.