“Before Your God” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“Before Your God”

The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

March 30, 2025 :: Daniel 10:1-11:1

In Daniel chapter 10, old Daniel is still praying.

In Daniel chapter 10, old Daniel is not done praying for his people.

We’ve learned a lot about prayer by watching Daniel pray in this book. Daniel prayed in chapter 2, and God revealed the king’s dream and the true interpretation of the king’s dream to Daniel. Daniel faithfully prayed in chapter 6 and got thrown to the lions for it (and saved from the lions by that same Lord). Last week, in Daniel chapter 9, Daniel was desperately praying for the end of Israel’s exile as Jeremiah had prophesied in his book.

And the Lord answered by sending the angel Gabriel to inform Daniel not just that God will perfectly keep His promises but that He has a perfect plan to fix (not just the exile after 70 years, but to fix everything) in His perfect timing (70 “sevens” whatever they are). And the Lord is perfectly on time.

Well, as we open Daniel chapter 10, Daniel is still praying.

A few years have gone by. Some things have changed. God’s plan is still being worked out in human history. And Daniel is still praying. And God is still answering.

In fact, in answer to his prayer, Daniel has perhaps the wildest encounter with the Lord in this whole book! And that’s saying a lot. What a life Daniel lived! What things God showed him! And what things we can learn from him and his book!

We’ve reached the last bit of the Book of Daniel. These last 3 chapters are actually all about the same thing, the fourth and last vision that God gave to Daniel. There was one central vision in chapter 7, one focusing vision in chapter 8, one super-enigmatic vision in chapter 9, and then this last one is the longest one, chapters 10 through 12.

It’s going to take us a few weeks to work our way through it. Instead of preaching a two hour sermon, I think I will just break it up into chunks just like whoever put in the chapter numbers did! But keep that in mind as we work through it. Chapters 10 through 12 are all one thing. In fact, chapter 10 is really just preparation. It’s just getting Daniel (and us) ready to receive the content of the prophecy of the future in chapters 11 and 12.

The sermon title for today is “Before Your God.” I pulled those words from verse 12, where Daniel’s heavenly visitor tells Daniel that he has come in response to Daniel’s prayers before His God. It’s actually the only verse in chapter 10 that includes a divine name. So I zeroed in on that because I’ve been trying to focus on the names of God as I’ve titled these sermons.

Because this chapter is not ultimately about Daniel or about his prayers or even about the mysterious spiritual beings that we will learn about as we read it. This chapter is ultimately about Daniel’s God Who is also ours. Let’s start in verse 1.

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over” (vv.1-3).

Old Daniel is still praying. And he’s praying desperately. When the chapter opens, Daniel informs us that he’s been mourning for three weeks. Literally, that says, “3 ‘sevens’ of days.” So it’s that word we learned we learned last week, a ‘seven’ “shavua” (a set of seven) but here it’s specifically a “‘seven’ of days” so this is literal 3 week period that Daniel has been mourning; 21 days.

He’s gone on a partial fast. No choice food, no meat or wine. No skin cream for his cracked and dry Jewish skin under the harsh Babylonian sun. It’s kind of like a return to how he was in chapter 1 when Daniel refused the king’s rich food during the wisemen training period. Three weeks, he’s back to water and vegetables once again.

And he’s praying.

Why is Daniel praying so desperately? It doesn’t say. But we can guess. For one thing, Daniel just is a man of prayer. He’s been praying for decades, he’s not going to stop.

But the timestamp of verse 1 might give us a good clue as to why in particular he’s praying like this now. When did this happen? Verse 1 says it was, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia...”

Now, I think that means the third year that Cyrus (who was the high king of Persia) ruled over Babylon. Not the third year Cyrus was king of Persia but king over Babylon. He took over Babylon in 539 BC when the writing was on the wall for Belshazzar. And he put Darius the Mede in charge of Babylon in 539 BC. Darius is not mentioned here. Perhaps because he’s died already. He was already 62 when he took over.

Or maybe verse 1 emphasizes Cyrus because of what else he did in his first year over Babylon. He allowed the Jews to go home! We talked about this last week (and you can read about it in the book of Ezra). Cyrus decreed that the Jews could go home, and nearly 50,000 of them took him up on it.

I wonder how many of them passed through the Ishtar gate as they made the 600+ mile trek back to Judah to rebuilt their city and even their temple.

But Daniel did not go home. He did not pass through the Ishtar gate and head west to Judah. In verse 4, we’ll find him north and east of Babylon standing at the Tigris river. Daniel stayed behind and prayed. And prayed. And prayed.

This is three years later, so that makes it about 536 BC. How old is Daniel in 536 BC? He’s around 83? 84? And old Daniel has decided that he’s going to fast and pray.

He’s probably gotten some bad news from back home. Yes, the people went back home and started to rebuild. But if you read the book of Ezra, you’ll find out that right about this time, they stopped rebuilding the temple (see especially chapters 4 through 6). They got sidetracked and stalled. They encountered opposition and they kind of gave up for a while.

It’s just a guess, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Daniel has heard about their lack of progress, and he’s been discouraged. Daniel has been receiving visions for a few years now that tell him that there are terrible things in store for his people. And it seems like it’s already coming true. So he mourns. He fasts. And he prays. He, in the words of verse 12, humbles himself before his God.

I’ve got just two points of application this morning, and here’s the first one:

#1. HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE YOUR GOD.

What an example for you and me, right?

Dare to be a Daniel and continue to care about the pain of the people of God. Dare to be a Daniel and continue to pour yourself out in prayer, humbling yourself before your God.

We sang it this morning, “Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord.” That’s easier to sing and to say that it is to do. But Daniel shows us the way.

Daniel could have just sat back at this point in his life, couldn’t he? He could have said, “I’ve done my time. I’ve served my people. I’ve been praying and prophesying and representing my people in the highest courts of the nations for decades and decades. I’ll let somebody else do it now. I’m retired from prayer ministry. God has told me that He’s got a perfect plan on a perfect timetable. So I’ll just let Him do it now.”

But, no, as much as Daniel trusts God’s perfect plan, Daniel also knows that his people are suffering, and they need someone to pray for them. And they need someone to try to understand what is going on. And they need someone to fight for them in prayer.

Verse 1 says that this vision is true and concerns “a great war.” A great struggle. A great conflict. And this is Daniel’s way of fighting in this war. He prays. He humbles himself before his God, and he prays.

How about you and me? Are we praying? Are we humbling ourselves before our God? Do we get on our knees? There is a war going on! A spiritual war. Are we just sitting on the sidelines?

Who are you praying for right now? Who is on your list? Are you praying for missionaries, those people on the back wall? Are you praying for the persecuted church, our brothers and sisters who are suffering for the name of Jesus around the world? Are you praying for your local church? Are you praying for the people in the pew? Do you receive the prayer emails that Denise sends out, and do you pray for them when you read them? Are you praying for your family, especially for their spiritual condition, for their discipleship, for their citizenship in the kingdom of kingdoms? Are you praying “Your kingdom come! Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven?” (Matthew 6:10).

To really pray like that requires humility. Daniel could have been the proudest man around, but instead he humbled himself before his God. And God answered. Boy, did God answer! Look at verse 4.

“On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude” (vv.4-6).

I can’t imagine. Can you? What a glorious being this was! How radiant and marvelous!

Heather Joy pointed out to me how much light is here. Not only is he wearing linen (like a priest) but he’s wrapped around the middle in shining gold. And his upper body shines like a precious gemstone (whichever one it actually is–some other versions say topaz (KJV), some say beryl (NIV11, ESV), some say yellow jasper (NET). Nobody’s quite sure. Whatever exact gemstone it is like, it’s amazing! It’s like he’s made of a precious metal and probably glowing?!

His face is like lightning! Lightning! Brightness itself! If you look at lightning, and close your eyes, it’s still there. His face is like that! And his eyes themselves are like flaming torches, fire coming out of his eyes! And his arms and legs are shiny bronze. This person is dazzling!

And his voice? It’s like the sound of a great crowd. Like Beaver Stadium full of 120,000 screaming fans. That’s his voice! Deep, loud, forceful, tremendous. And it echoes and echoes and echoes and echoes.

Here’s a reason to humble ourselves! Because our God is glorious.

Now, who is this person in verse 5 and 6?

It doesn’t say. We’re back to the problem of identification we’ve had throughout this study. There is no naming names, no “who is who.”

And so, we may need to pull out our helpful little phrase, “I don’t know, and that’s okay.” Or maybe better, “I’m not sure, and that’s okay.”

A lot of biblical scholars think that this is the angel Gabriel once again.

He showed up in chapter 8 and in chapter 9, maybe it’s Gabriel again in chapter 10. If he’s the same person talking at the end of the chapter, then he works in cooperation with the angel Michael. So Gabriel is not a bad guess.

But a lot of other biblical scholars think this is Someone Else. They think that this is not just an angelophany (like Greg taught us at Stay Sharp) but a Christophany. They think this is pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. They think this is the Son of Man before He became a man.

And that’s quite possible, too. The best argument for that is the parallels between these two verses and the way that Jesus is described by the Apostle John in Revelation chapter 1. Read Revelation 1 this afternoon and look at all of the similarities. They are striking.

And there, He’s even called, “One like a son of man” right out of the Book of Daniel.

I’m not 100% sure that this is Jesus here because of how later in the chapter, he seems to be a little hindered and to need help from Michael. So that gives me a little pause. It may be that He just allows Himself to need that help. Or maybe the end of the chapter is actually talking about a second heavenly being that is an angel, and this is Jesus in just verses 5&6, but I kind of (for those reasons) lean towards this being a some kind of angel (see, for example, the cherubim in Ezekiel 1). Perhaps a higher angel even than Gabriel and Michael. The angel of the LORD.

It doesn’t say, and I’m not quite sure. And that’s okay. Because it really doesn’t matter. Because whoever this is, he is from God and reflects God’s own glory. This being shows how resplendent God is. How beautiful. How dazzling. If this isn’t God the Son, then God the Son is this plus infinitely more!

And he’s come to reveal God’s own secrets to Daniel and eventually to us.

I can’t imagine what this was like. I almost wish I could have been there, but then I see how it affected everyone who was. Look at verse 7.

“I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. [They couldn’t hack it. They couldn’t see it, but they felt it. And it was the scariest thing they have ever felt. V.8] So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless.

Then I heard him speaking [with that voice like the sound of a multitude!], and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground” (vv.7-9).

Is this how we think about God? I think that we often only think about God in terms of Psalm 23. The gentle Shepherd. (And He is that!) But we often can think about God only as this soft thing. Like a doddering old grandpa with a white beard who couldn’t hurt a fly. Santa Claus.

That’s not what He’s like. He is the Ancient of Days. He is the One like a Son of Man. He is the King of Kingdoms. He is like nothing else, and He is terrifying. He is awesome. He is overwhelming, and we should humble ourselves before Him.

Daniel has fallen down into a deep sleep, face to the ground. 83 year old Daniel is lying there facedown. It probably looks like he’s dead. He’s seen a vision of the glory of God, and he’s overawed and undone.

And then somebody touches him. Somebody is going to touch Daniel 3 times in this chapter. Verse 10, verse 16, and verse 18. Maybe the same person as verses 5&6. Imagine being touched by him!!! Or maybe a new person, an angel. Either way, it wakes him up. Verse 10.

“A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, ‘Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.’ And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling” (vv.10-11).

Do you see it? He’s been face down. Then he’s on his hands and knees. Then he’s standing but on trembling legs. This is no walk in the park. This is no sweet and easy moment for Daniel. In a lengthy life of amazing and scary moments, this may be the hardest moment of Daniel’s long life. And he needs strengthening.

The whole rest of this chapter is all about Daniel being strengthened to receive the rest of the vision. And we can be strengthened from it, too.

#2. BE STRENGTHENED BEFORE YOUR GOD.

It’s strengthening even while it was overwhelming, right? It is strengthening to know that your God is this glorious.

Your God is glorious!

Daniel was knocked off his feet by the grandeur of this vision, but the vision also shows God’s power. And if God’s power is revealed like this, then He can fulfill all of His promises and answer all of Daniel’s prayers. He can help the people in Judah who have fallen behind in rebuilding the temple. And He can do everything He’s going to promise in chapters 11 and 12.

Your God is glorious. Be strengthened by that.

And here’s something else to strengthen you: Your God treasures you.

Did you see how Daniel is addressed in verse 11? It’s the same word Gabriel used in chapter 9 (v.23). V.11 “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed.”

Some translations say, “beloved.” Some say “greatly loved.” Some say “precious.”

The Hebrew word there, “hemduth” refers to something that is craved or coveted, something that is desired. It’s something you treasure. It’s saying that Daniel was highly treasured by God! Now, this is the only place where that word is used to describe a person in the Bible, and so Daniel is the only person who is described this way. Perhaps he was esteemed for his great faith and faithfulness. He was special in that way.

But we know from the rest of the Bible how God feels about us, don’t we? The Bible says that we are “God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved...” (Col. 3:12). God so loved us that He gave us One and Only Son (His beloved Son! With Whom He was well-pleased! He gave Him up for us all! (Rom. 8:32)). Jesus died on the Cross because God so treasured us. Your God so treasured you!

Be strengthened by that. Draw strength today from your God’s love for you.

And He shows that by answering prayer. Your God is answering your prayers. Look at verse 12. Daniel is standing up, trembling.

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”

When was that? How long has Daniel been on this partial fast? “Three ‘sevens’ of days,” right?

God was listening the whole time.

“Your words were heard.”

“And I have come in response to them.”

Our God is a listening God. We talked about this last week. Our God is not impassive and implacable. He’s not deaf. He’s listening when we pray.

Three weeks, Daniel’s been praying.

Week one, his words were heard.

Week two, his words were heard.

Week three, his words were heard.

And this heavenly being has been sent in response to them.

And the God who listened to Daniel is listening to us when we pray. Do you need to hear that? Have you been praying recently and wondering if Anybody is listening? Have you been demoralized because you aren’t seeing the answers you’re hoping for?

Hear this. Be strengthened by this: “Your words were heard.” Keep praying. Sometimes it seems like nobody’s listening, but we know the Lord is, the whole time!

And in verse 13, the heavenly being actually peels back a corner of the curtain to tell Daniel why it took song long for him to get this particular answer.

In chapter 9, Gabriel got there before Daniel’s prayer was over! But here the answer was delayed. Look at verse 13.

“Since the first day...your words were heard, and I have come in response to them...But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come” (vv.13-14).

Now that is something entirely new. You think you’ve seen it all in the Book of Daniel, and then he’s got a new surprise to pop out at you! And this is something that doesn’t really show up anywhere else in the Bible outside of Daniel chapter 10.

This heavenly being says that he was resisted for 21 days. He was withstood or hindered or blocked by “the prince of the Persian kingdom.”

Who is that? “I’m not sure, and that’s okay.”

The word for “prince” is “sar” like we learned about in chapter 8. A chieftain or leader or king of some kind. This “sar” is the “sar” of the Persian kingdom.

Now, that could be Cyrus...or his son? But verse 1 named Cyrus. I don’t know why he would be not named here if it’s him. And how could Cyrus or his human son withstand this heavenly being? I don’t think he could.

So that leads most biblical scholars to think that this “Prince of the Persian Kingdom” refers to a demonic being. A powerful demonic spirit that is at work in the kingdom of Persia.

Sometimes those are called “territorial spirits.” Because they seem to be tied to a particular kingdom. I think it might be better to call them “empiric spirits” because it’s less about geography than it is about the socio-political aspect of a kingdom. Not so much “place” as “people.”

We don’t know that much about this reality, and I think that’s on purpose, and it’s good that we don’t. We couldn’t handle it if we did.

But it strengthens us to know that it’s going on where we can’t see.

Your God is working where you cannot see. Verse 1 said that there is a “great war!” And now we know that there is a great war in the unseen realms. Unbeknownst to us, these powerful beings are “duking it out” behind the scenes.

The prince of the Persian kingdom actually hinders the one speaking from arriving to Daniel for 21 days. But then Michael (also called a “prince” here, a “chief sar”), and we know he’s an angel (Jude 1, Revelation 12, Michael) shows up and helps the speaker to break free and come to Daniel.

What was that like?! We don’t know. And it’s more than okay! We couldn’t handle it if we tried.

Notice what this says we should do about these empiric spirits:

Absolutely nothing at all.

Daniel doesn’t tell us that we should try to learn their names or ranks or dominions or go to battle with them ourselves. Daniel doesn’t tell us to do anything about them at all!

This is one of the few places in the Bible where we get a peek behind the curtain. And I think the main point is just to tell us that there’s a lot going on behind the curtain.

There is a cosmic conflict. We do live in a spiritual warzone. We need to know that. As Paul says in Ephesians, “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” (Ephesians 6:12).

But Paul doesn’t say, “Let’s figure out their names. Let’s figure out their kingdoms. Let’s name them and talk to them and go to battle against them.”

No, he says basically that we clothe ourselves with gospel truth and then we live out the Christian life and we keep on praying (see Eph. 6:10-18). And we trust that God will handle all the stuff behind the scenes. All the stuff we cannot see.

Does that strengthen you? It does me. It’s a great relief.

Of course it’s scary. It’s scary to think that we have these powerful unseen enemies. Is there a Prince of the Kingdom of America that is dedicated to oppressing us hedre in this country? I don’t know. But I do know there is a war going on. And I know Who is winning it.

I know that Jesus has actually already won it (see 1 Peter 3:22). Jesus has “disarmed the powers and authorities, [and] he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15).

Our Celebration Choir is preparing a song right now for you where the phrase we sing over and over is, “And the devil went down.” The war is won even if there are still some "mop up" battles to fight.

I think it’s important, again, to point out that none of this means that God is not sovereign. Even in Daniel chapter 10, just because there’s a war raging behind the scenes does not mean that God is not in control. Or that Satan and God are somehow equal in power and wrestling with one another, sometimes one winning and sometimes the other. That may be somewhat true on the angelic level, but not on the divine level.

The Lord is the Ancient of Days unbothered by these great evils and ultimate judge over them (see Daniel 7!). As we learned in chapter 4, God is “the Most High...who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation....He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one [not the Prince of Persia or the Prince of Greece or Satan himself] can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (see Daniel 4:34-35).

God allows this unseen war to rage for His own wise purposes. And when He says that it’s time for it to be all over, that’s when it will end.

At this point in the story, Michael has helped the heavenly messenger to get free and to come to Daniel to explain the future. Verse 14 again.

“Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

That’s what’s in chapters 11 and 12. There is more conflict, more war on the way. Both behind the scenes and on the stage of human history. He’s going to predict things from right then and there all the way to eternity.

And it was more than Daniel could stand. He just about falls over again. Verse 15.

“While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, ‘I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I am helpless. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe’ (vv.15-17).

This is so hard on Daniel. He’s overwhelmed. He’s almost like a rag-doll. Old Daniel just about can’t take what he’s hearing, but this one like a man touches his mouth. Every time he gets touched, he can do a little bit more.

He talks. He says, “How can I talk? I can hardly breath. My strength is gone.” Verse 18.

“Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. ‘Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,’ he said. [There is it is again. Treasured.] ‘Peace! Be strong now; be strong.’ When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.’”

I love that. “Be strong now; be strong.” I almost titled this message, “Be Strong Now; Be Strong.” It’s the same root word over and over again the Hebrew. “Hazak”

He “touched me and gave me [hazak]. ‘Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,' ‘Peace! Be [hazak] now; be [hazak].' When he spoke to me, I was [hazak] and said, ‘Speak, my lord, since you have given me [hazak].”

“Be strong now; be strong.”

What are you facing right where you need strength? I’m sure that everybody here has something big, something daunting that is staring you in the face.

Daniel had to receive one last long and scary vision. And he needed strength. He needed “hazak.” Where did he get it? Not from himself. He got it from his God Because he knew that his God was working out His perfect plan.

Your God is working out His perfect plan.

And He’s perfectly on time. In verse 20, the messenger speaks again to Daniel and tells him what is happening next. Verse 20.

“So he said, ‘Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince. And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)” (10:20-11:1).

Apparently, this heavenly messenger is going back into battle, and at some point the prince of Persia will go down and the prince of Greece will come on the scene.

This tracks with everything we’ve been learning about the successive kingdoms. The silver kingdom of the Medes and the Persians will be followed by the bronze kingdom of the Greeks. The beast like a bear will disappear, and the beast like a leopard will rule. The ram will go down, and the goat will race across the earth. And that’s a lot of what chapter 11 will be about.

And before he goes, the heavenly messenger will tell Daniel what is in the Book of Truth, or “the truthful writings.” It’s not so much an actual book as a record of what is definitely going to come. What God’s reliable plan looks like.

And he mysteriously tells Daniel that there is no one else fighting on his level except for Michael, the prince of (Israel?, Daniel’s people). And they’ve been fighting together side by side since the first year of Darius the Mede when Persia took over Babylon.

Daniel is now strengthened to hear what God has planned for his people. It will be hard to receive. But he’s ready.

Because his God has touched him.

Because his God is glorious.

Because his God treasures him.

Because his God is answering his prayers.

Because his God is working where he cannot see.

Because his God is working out his perfect plan with perfect timing.

“Be strong now; be strong.”

Before your God.