Focus: Opposition to God and his people occurs in the visible and invisible realms or heavenly places. These realms make up the battlefields where God engages the powers of evil and darkness and sin.
Function: To encourage the people to recognize the forces of evil in conflict with God’s rule all around us and even, at times, within us.
Text: Daniel 10:12-11:1 (txt. 12,13a)
Have you ever been to places of evil? Dachau—a WW II,
German concentration camp—is such a place. Numerous innocent Jews and others
were gassed by the Nazis in camps such as Dachau.
Places of evil—they are numerous. Go to Pearl Harbor and observe the Arizona battle ship, sunk by a surprise attack of Japanese airplanes and bombs. Hundreds of sailors are entombed in that battleship. Or go to ground zero in New York, where the World Trade Towers were destroyed by Islamist terrorists flying airplanes into the buildings. More than 3000 innocent people perished in that attack.
These are all places where people experienced evil acts and horrendous deeds. No doubt, you can think of more such places. They are visible and tangible. They are places where the stench of evil and their memories linger for many decades.
What Christians easily forget, however, is that evil and opposition to God and his people occur not only in visible places, but also in heavenly realms or invisible places. In fact, Daniel chapter 10 teaches us that the earthly as well as the heavenly or spiritual realms make up the battlefields where God engages the powers of evil and darkness and sins.
Therefore, let us recognize that the forces of evil work all around us and even, at times, within us. Be aware! And be on guard! Know the enemy! And know his battlegrounds and tactics!
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In his vision Daniel encounters an angel from God. We learn that this angel fought “the prince of the Persian kingdom for 21 days.” We also learn that Michael, one of the chief princes or angels came to assist the angel of the Lord in his resistance against the prince of the Persian kingdom.
Now the angels who do God’s bidding are ministering spirits (so says Scripture in Hebrews chapter 1). God sends them to “serve those who will inherit salvation.” It is safe to assume that the prince of the Persian kingdom is also a spirit, but that spirit serves Satan, the prince of darkness, the father of all lies.
We do not SEE with
the naked eye the battles between the spirits of God and the spirits of the
Devil because their battlefields or territory concern the invisible realms that
circumscribe or envelop us. But we do become aware of their influence upon our
lives and visible reality. Evil spirits are able to influence us, to move us to
dark thoughts and evil deeds. And just as evil spirits can poison and influence
us here on earth, so can the Spirit of God and his ministering spirits or
angels influence us—NOT to do evil but to resist or overcome evil and do good.
This is why the Apostle Paul tells Christians in Ephesus to “…be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.” We are practical people today. Science shapes our thinking and worldview. And thus we tend to have blind spots when it comes to spiritual forces that oppose God and his people throughout the world.
The angel in Daniel 10 gives us a penetrating view of battlefields where God engages the powers of evil and darkness and sin. You see, Daniel sees and hears about powerful kings and local rulers in Samaria, for example, who try to stop God and his people from returning to Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple. Emperors and wicked kings, as well as magistrates and simple-minded, self-serving people—these are the enemies we see with our naked eyes.
But behind them stand the forces of the prince of darkness; they influence the minds and thinking of people; they poison the hearts of politicians and judges, so that injustice and shenanigans in high places dishonor and oppose the will of God.
It is important that we realize that invisible evil forces in service of the devil oppose the purposes and plans of God for his church and kingdom. It is important to know the enemy and its tactics and its battlefields. Anti-Christian forces are always at work trying to oppose and stop the rule of God to advance in our world.
Christ Jesus has broken the power of those forces on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. He conquered them and broke the back of Satan (so to speak). But realize this: the people of God are still engaged in mop-up battles, which take place in earthly places as well as in heavenly or spiritual realms. These places are connected.
Who shaped the heart and mind of a Hitler, a Pol Pot, a Stalin, for example? What powers of evil move tyrants and dictators to oppress their subjects? What forces of sin move people like Kim Jong Il from North Korea? Or the Iranian leader wanting to blow up Israel today? Where does the anti-Christian mentality come from that promotes immorality and abortion and gay marriage in contradiction to God’s Word?
The powers of evil and darkness poison our minds with philosophies and worldviews that wish to diminish God and his people. These powers influence our culture, our arts, our educational institutions—often with the result that people become secularized and vocal in their opposition to God and his Word. Know the enemy! Be aware of his tactics! Realize the battlefields. And learn from Daniel.
One final comment: the powers of darkness will also try to infiltrate you and me and the church. Don’t kid yourself! The church of Christ and the gates or powers of hell are often at odds with each other. Thank God that Christ has assured the victory, for he said that the powers of hell will not prevail against God or his people, the church.
But they
will try! They will use us if we let our guards down. They will shape our
thinking if we do not fight ignorance of God’s way and Word. If we lower our
guards and close our eyes to the invisible realm and forces of darkness, we
become vulnerable and targets of sin and the devil. Therefore, we must be on guard
and learn from Daniel and the rest of Scripture. As Paul says: “…put on the
full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand
your ground….”
In the name
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.