Daniel 10:20-21

.1 ‘Then he said to me, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I go, lo, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth, and there is none who makes himself strong with me against these, but Michael your prince. And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.”

The question is rhetorical to make him think of the vision to come. But first it is necessary for Daniel to know that behind all that is said powerful beings are at work bringing about God's purposes, and powerful beings are at work seeking to thwart them. Once he has finished speaking with Daniel this mighty angel will return to the battle against the prince of Persia. And this will later be followed by a battle against the prince of Greece. For as the previous visions, and the one to come, are fulfilled on earth, these battles will be taking place in heavenly places.

Both the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece are Satan's minions, seeking to shape the history of Persia and Greece to their will to ensure that they continually behave as brute beasts. But the mighty angel and the even mightier Michael are at work thwarting those purposes. Thus they will aid the struggling returned exiles, they will aid in the building of the temple and the thwarting of the enemies of the project, they will aid Nehemiah in defending the city and building its walls, they will aid the people of God in the activities of the kings of the north and the kings of the south, and will aid the fight against Antiochus, for they are the angels who support the people of God unseen. Why it was they who had strengthened and sustained activities while Darius the Mede was on the throne of Babylon in his first year. This probably refers to the restoration of the temple vessels to the exiles and the assistance with their return against all difficulties.

And now that he realises this Daniel can learn what is written in the writing of truth, the heavenly record of what is to happen in the days to come with regard to those peoples who surround and affect the people of God (as described in chapter 11), for he is now aware of those who stand firm for the people of God.

‘There is none who makes himself strong with me against these, but Michael your prince.' To make himself strong means that he as it were girds on his armour and arms himself, and gathers his followers, in order to support his fellow angel. The negative is probably speaking about the leaders. Both he and Michael are probably to be seen as having legions of angels under their control. ‘Michael your prince' (compare Daniel 12:1 where he is ‘the great prince who stands for the children of your people') suggests that it is Michael who especially watches over the people of God. Because they are responsive to God no Satanic angel can be their prince (this of course applies to the ‘ideal' or true people of God. Many Jews who were not really the people of God would be influenced by, indeed had already been influenced by, Satanic angels).

For in the end all God's promises are to His true and responsive people. The Jews also recognised this. Each group saw themselves as really representing the people of God. There was a strange ambivalence about their views. The Pharisees could see the Sadducees as fellow Israelites, and as rightly participating in temple rites, but they also saw them as in some sense not true Jews at all and as, at the most, doubtful recipients of eternal life.

Excursus on the Princes of Persia and Greece and Suchlike.

It should first be noted that that great man of prayer, Daniel, was not called on to battle with the prince of Persia or Greece in any way. The battling was to be left in the hands of the angel visitant and Michael the Archangel. Daniel was to deal with the earthly side of things by means of the word and prayer. Heavenly conflict was to be left to heavenly beings. If we do otherwise we transgress the bounds that God has laid down.

We are reminded by Jude of those angels who ‘kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation' and in that context he spoke of those men who ‘set at nought dominion and rail at dignities (‘glorious beings'), whereas Michael the Archangel, when contending with the Devil --- dare not bring against him a railing judgment but said “The Lord rebuke you”. But these rail at whatever things they know not.' This was a stern warning that men should not step outside the bounds that God has set. Men should not seek to ‘take on' the ‘heavenly' forces of evil, or commune with them in any way, although they must resist their activities against men by the word of God and prayer.

2 Peter backs this up sternly speaking of those who ‘walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise dominion. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble at railing at glorious beings, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord' (2 Peter 2:10). If even angels have to beware when dealing with the spirit forces of evil, how much more men. Yet, says Peter, there are some foolish enough to try. That is not to say that we should live in fear of them. Through Christ we have certain protection, but only while we do not overstep the bound between the physical and spirit world.

It is, of course, true that where evil angels/spirits/devils do impinge on human territory, seeking to influence their minds and turn men from the true way, they are to be battled with, but this is by taking on the armour of God, by the right use of the word of God, and through righteousness, both imputed from Christ and revealed in life (Ephesians 6:10). We note in that passage that we are to stand firm (Daniel 10:14 compare Ephesians 4:27), not to take the battle to the enemy. It is the battle for the mind, the battle against spiritual blindness and temptation. We resist him by being ‘subject to God' (James 4:11). All this is to do with ‘the wiles of the Devil' and we are reminded above that he is not to be treated lightly.

When Christians battle against such forces it is on an ‘earthly' basis. Then ‘the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds, casting down imaginations (reasonings, often false), and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ' (2 Corinthians 10:4). In other words God enables us through the word and prayer to open men's eyes, to remove the blindness brought about by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), to win the battle for the hearts and minds of men. But if we seek to take the battle against ‘heavenly' beings into a higher sphere apart from this, both Jude and Peter say that we do very foolishly.

Fortunately the Devil has been bound and is restricted by God (Mark 3:27; Revelation 20:3) which is why his power is limited, but not so limited that Michael dared attack him directly. These descriptions of his being limited and restricted are to comfort us in our defensive battle against him. They are pictorial and not to be taken literally. Satan is a spirit being and cannot be bound by a physical chain or in a physical place. Thus he is at the same time restricted by God, and yet prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), revealed through the activities of persecutors (Daniel 10:9 with Daniel 4:12).

Note how as in Daniel it is Satan's effects in this world that we battle against, not directly Satan himself. That is to be left to greater than us (Revelation 12:7). Jesus nowhere taught His disciples to enter into such conflicts. They were only to call on Christ's name against the Enemy when he had sought to interfere in human affairs by possession.

End of Excursus.