“Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling. Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.” While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen, my Lord, and I am very weak. How can someone like me, your servant, talk to you, my Lord? My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.” Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning. “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my Lord, for you have strengthened me.” He replied, “Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come. Meanwhile, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince.”
Daniel 10:10-21 NLT
The reality of spiritual warfare is something that Christians often misunderstand. They either take one of two positions. The first and most prominent in a western culture is that it simply doesn’t truly exist. They believe it to be a metaphor for the human journey. Here we see that it is more than that. Secondly, they often believe it to be too literal. Held up by movies and stories about excorcisms and demonic battles, they misunderstand its reality. The truth is that the angelic war is somewhere in between these hear two realities. It would be correct to say that the lives of demons and angels are somehow entangled with ours. There are angels assigned to humans and nations and even churches. Yet not everything that happens with one happens to the other. However, it would also be correct to say that a similar battle is taking place between the two in that the sides of the battle run across planes of existence. Angels fight against the devil, just as we do. Yet in both planes of existence, the Son of Man, stands strong and capable with agency and a plan that he is waiting to enact. He gives strength to both Michael and Daniel, and to us as well. We can find solace in this fact.
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