Daniel Chapter 10

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. A light unto my path. Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina. This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion.

at each location each week. And we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest, Dr. Sam Warren. Daniel chapter 10 spiritual warfare.

We have seen the struggle in the flesh in person From the lion's den to the fiery furnace to the visions to all the conflict This week we will look in the ugly face of demonic characters and leaders and principalities. As well as angelic beings. I'm Stu Everson. Welcome to this Wednesday in the Word. Podcast.

Dr. Sam Horn is with me. Dr. Horn. Daniel chapter 10 introduces.

A new View, a different view. The unseen view, it's almost as though. Daniels prayed like Elijah that His servant's eyes would be opened. And the servant's eyes were opened and he saw the chariots of fire. And his fear was assuaged.

Well, We our eyes are opened. And we see a whole lot of things that are A little bit strange to our eyes, Doctor Horne, and certainly brought a lot of fear. to daniel yeah i mean this is an amazing chapter and as you said we get a window into what's really going on in heaven. It's sort of like the behind the scenes tour. That you get at certain places, you know, where you go and you see the sun.

And you see the scene behind the scene. And that's in essence what's happening here in chapter 10 to get us ready for what's coming in chapter 11 and 12.

So you'll notice that it took place in the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia. A word, a message was revealed to Daniel. It wasn't so much spoken right away, it was revealed to him, it was uncovered. It's interesting, the book of Revelation. is the uncovering, the apocalypsis, the revealing of something.

And here is something that is being revealed to Daniel in that same way. And what we're gonna see in chapter 10 actually shows up in Revelation 12 in this incredible war. that's been going on between God and his armies. And Satan and his army. And it's a stunning portrait.

Wow. And that's what's going on here. And, Dr. Horne, you know, you said something real important. They're bringing in Revelation, friends.

This is one of those studies where you literally could be holding. Daniel opened in one hand and Revelation opened the other hand. And a lot of pastors, when they teach the Revelations, they go back to Daniel. It is one of the. greatest tools in the Old Testament.

To help us see the framework of prophecy. In the New Testament, of course, a lot of things have... been fulfilled. We talked about that last week in Daniel chapter 9. Dr.

Horn, before we get into. A A preview of what's coming up this week in these verses in chapter. Uh chapter 10, will you help us give us a little bit of a review? of of Daniel 1 through 9.

Now, people listening might be a little upset with me or they might be a little bit off put because we We're going to do 10 and 11. And Dr. Horn, after looking at, he had 21 verses in 10 and a whole lot of material and meat. You have 47 verses in chapter 11. And there's so much in here.

God took the time to reveal all of this. And there's so much detail, and there's such a larger narrative, this unseen narrative, and a deeper narrative. In a connection with all this New Testament prophecy that I I don't see any way around having to you know, doing two weeks doing a week and ten. And then doing a week in 11, not to mention all the spiritual warfare happening because everyone's talking about Halloween right now, Doc. Everyone's talking about it.

You know, we barely got the July 4th celebrations of fireworks through when people were hanging jack-o'-lanterns in these pop-up stores all over the country. Selling all the ghoulish and goblins and witches and everything like that. Our country really. Halloween is like one of the top netting holidays now. And if you think it's just a game, it's just a little fantasy, it's just a little cute thing.

You better think again, and we're going to see that in Daniel. Chapter 10. Point blank. But doctor Warren, quickly give us a review. What's happened in one through nine to get us to ten?

It's an interesting shift. Give us that real quick, and then we'll jump into a preview of these these twenty one verses. Yeah, so people that are joining me for the first time, the whole point to the book, the message that God is trying to communicate to Daniel and through Daniel is that. God rules and his kingdom matters more. He rules the kingdoms of men.

And he will give those kingdoms to whoever he wants. And that's what we saw in the first six chapters. How do I navigate as a Christian? In a world where God is giving authority and power to pagan kingdoms that are completely opposed. to him, to his rule, to his moral character, and to his people.

And so the book of Daniel is basically in the first half showing us how Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego navigated that. and how God used them in the process of humbling two pagan kings. Nebuchadnezzar was humbled unto salvation. And Belshazzar, his grandson, was humbled unto destruction. And that's ultimately what we find Paul saying in Philippians 2 when he says, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.

that Jesus Christ is Lord. You're either going to humble Yourself unto salvation and embrace Jesus as your Lord, or one day you're going to humble yourself unto destruction and admit. what you have resisted and denied your whole life. And that's what the first half of the book is all about. The second half of the book.

is wisdom that has God has for his people. and that wisdom is that his kingdom really does matter. But the kingdom that matters is the kingdom that he's going to give to his son, who's going to set it up on the earth one day. And we saw that in that stone at the end of chapter two. We saw that in chapter seven when the ancient of days gave dominion and authority and power and a kingdom.

To the Son of Man that was standing before him. That's the kingdom that matters.

So when we get to Daniel chapter 9. What has happened is Cyrus the Great has just written a letter. Letting Daniel's people go back to Israel to rebuild the temple. And to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. And Daniel is assuming that that's the kingdom that's gonna last forever.

That's the kingdom that's gonna be in play. That's the kingdom that is going to now start to rule the nations. And he gets this vision in chapter eight that blures him. Because the vision in chapter eight. Keeps rolling with more persecution and more kingdoms.

The kingdom of Persia, the kingdom of Greece, and the kingdom of Rome in two parts that is going to continue to dominate and continue to oppress this little kingdom that Cyrus just allowed to go back to rebuild. And Daniel is confused.

So in chapter 9, he prays, and we found out. That God reveals to him in chapter 9, the messianic mission, the six big things Messiah is going to do, and the timeframe until his first coming. And that's what we spent chapter 9 talking about.

Now, in chapter 10, Two years have passed.

So in chapter 10, we are now in the third year. of Cyrus's reign. And the reports that have been coming back from the people that Cyrus sent back to Jerusalem to do the rebuilding three years ago, those reports are coming back and they're not good. They have been opposed. by people like Sandballot and Tobias.

There has been opposition. And so Daniel is confused. Daniel is, he's trying to think through what is really going on here. How can this be happening? And all of a sudden, he gets a word, and the word was true.

So he's going to get the true picture. And and the whole Picture that he's about to get is of a great conflict. And the emphasis there is on great. This isn't just a normal human conflict. In other words, Daniel was used to battles.

He got to Babylon, if you remember in chapter one, through a battle. Nebuchadnezzar was in all kinds of battles.

So Daniel was not unaware of battles and conflicts with armies. And he certainly saw Cyrus' army come in and tumble down Babylon.

So this was not just another battle. This was a great conflict. And we're going to find out that the great conflict we're going to discover in chapter 10 is the conflict. that goes on between the forces of God and the forces of Satan and they energize all the little armies that we're reading about in chapter 10 and 11 that have so confused Daniel. Wow, it's a great review, Dr.

Horne. I've heard it said many times. By many men of God, that prayer is warfare. Correct. Animation of this than we see in Daniel chapter 10.

It's set up by Daniel chapter 9, which by the way, it just keeps coming back to me. I've been praying that prayer of Daniel. I find myself praying it, and I find myself needing that prayer of Daniel. I find myself engrossed in that in the 70 weeks. And I said to my group this week at Wednesday in the Word, I said, guys, What to that question?

that you and I worked through last time, what does prayer have to do with prophecy?

Well Let's just put it this way. We don't have a clue what this stuff means, but God does. He knows the numbers, he knows the years, he knows the timetable. And so when we pray, We're simply opening our heart to him, opening our minds to his wisdom. And that was exactly the case of Daniel, which is why this Daniel 9 prayer, which is why we split Daniel 9 into two weeks.

Which is really why we're going to break up 10 and 11 in two weeks, which originally I didn't want to do. Because what some of us view as monotony or repeated material. Is actually, God doesn't waste any of his word. He doesn't waste one detail. And we're going to, and you'll find that as we get into chapter 11, there's going to be some things in there that'll blow everyone away historically.

And even more spiritual warfare. And even more dealings with God's sovereignty, his perfect plan, even when things look absolutely. devastating. On all fronts. Dr.

Horn, back to chapter 10. Great, you did a great review on the preview.

So right there, Daniel is, he's been praying in chapter nine, gets the answer, gets the vision. gets uh one of the most profound theological Eschatological assessments in the whole Bible in those in those final. Eight or so verses of chapter nine. And then spilling into chapter 10, he's praying and fasting again.

So on the. The prayer is warfare side, fasting, there's a warfare going on. We see no food, we see someone groaning and praying. Praying and on their knees, interceding. But then suddenly we start seeing these angelic figures.

So pick us up there and give us a preview of how to teach through. How do you break down? Chapter 10 Of the book of Daniel for us, real quick. 21 verses. Yeah, so I'm going to make a connection.

And then I want to lay out five realities. I think that's the best way to go at this chapter.

So, one big connection, and five realities that we can apply to our life right now. All right.

So, the big connection starts in verse two. And it goes all the way down through verse 9. And by the time Daniel is done, he is on his face. He is in a deep sleep. It's like he faints.

And at the vision. And what he sees is a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Euphaz around his waist. His body was like barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. There's only one other person. In prophetic literature, who shows up like this, and he shows up in Revelation chapter one.

And everything you read here. and more. Is true about the person that John sees in Revelation 1, and he has the exact same response that Daniel has. He falls on his face like he's in a deep sleep, and somebody has to come and stand him up.

So the question is. Who is this person? And the person that we're looking at is Jesus. It is the ancient of days giving to the son of man a kingdom. And it is this son of man.

Now, we see him in chapter 10, at the opening of chapter 10, because of something that he's going to do in chapter 12. In chapter 12, we come to the end time. And there is this arrogant ruler. who has set up a palatial tent. Between the sea of uh uh the mediterranean sea and the holy mountain of God.

And and and what's right there in that section is called the plain of megiddo.

So, this arrogant ruler in chapter 11 and the last verse of 11, 45, is going to send up a A palatial tent. And he will come to destroy God's people in God's land, but he himself will come to an end with nobody to help him. And in chapter 12, we find out. that there will be someone who will deliver. God's people.

And the person who's going to deliver God's people in chapter 12 is the person Daniel sees in chapter 10.

So, this vision is going to end the way it starts. It's going to end with this magnificent person. Who's going to ultimately show up again at the end, and he is going to destroy this enemy, and he's going to deliver the people. Does that make sense? Yeah, it it makes a lot of sense, although I'm still Getting my mind around it, and I think I listened to last week's podcast like three or four times just to get it.

Yeah, I know, it's processes, but it's a lot to think of. I now some some theologians uh say that the the vi the the vision of the heavenly or the glorious man In that first part of chapter 10.

Some say he's Jesus, which is your conclusion, because he is regaled. almost identically to the glorious man. The Son of God in Revelations chapter one.

However, Some believe that he's Gabriel because they believe he's the same one who's battling. the Prince of Persia. In the next few verses of chapter 10, but you believe those are two different ones. In your assumption, it's not a hill to die on, but that's kind of your belief. And then you take him the deliverer as Jesus is the deliverer in chapter 12.

So that's something that people can work through and pray through. And look at again, you want to compare scripture with scripture when you draw these conclusions. Uh, Dr. Hornich, you do very. Great job of, but let me ask you.

He has this encounter. And then he has. Then he has Gabriel coming again, and then we think it's Gabriel, who is giving him. this account in this account of this This almost like Galactic. A battle in the heavenlies between evil And darkness and good, and people are wondering: hey, when I'm praying, what's happening?

Well, this is what's happening, but it's You know, there's time and space issues. There are. you know, issues of, you know, a real popular book was written in the late 80s called This Present Darkness and then there was a series that Peretti wrote Which really accentuated the spiritual warfare thing. And I actually read them and I actually. Ruined a couple of good nights' sleep reading those books.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, but you know, you don't want to hypersensationalize this. And I think we'll get to that practically here at the end. But keep on going through these verses because they're 21 verses. And so, if I'm going through them, you've set us up, and then now take us kind of to the finish line.

So, no matter who you think the person Daniel saw in the very first chapter, there is no doubt that the person talking to him in verse 10 is the angel. And it's probably, as you said, the angel Gabriel. And so he is going to reveal to Daniel. What's really going on in the cosmic picture? There is this spiritual warfare that's been going on in heaven.

And that spiritual warfare is actually going to drive all the warfare that we're going to read about in chapter 11. Behind the events in chapter 11 that are so confusing. There is this spiritual warfare that is energizing all of it. And so all of a sudden, divine mystery and human history collide in a way that we have never thought about before. And that's what chapter 11 is trying to show us.

So here's what I've done with chapter 10. I have. I have acknowledged the spiritual warfare that is going on at a cosmic level. And I see it in Revelation 12, where we see this. Angelica.

army headed by Satan. In conflict with the armies of God who are led by his champion. And those armies are battling each other in heaven, but their conflict spills over to earth. And that's extremely clear. And so what happens next in chapter 10, here are the five things.

That I think as you think about it, that sort of unpack it. Number one, faithfulness is more difficult than we ever imagined. When you think about the intensity of the conflict. And what's driving the conflict, and how huge it is, and how intense it is, faithfulness is harder than we imagined. And that's what we see in verse one.

The word was true, and it was a great conflict. This conflict that constantly showed up in Daniel's life. Why is it that the Assyrians and the Babylonians and later the Persians and later the Greeks and the Romans, why is all of this coming against God's people?

Well, on the one hand, God is allowing it because of their sins. But on the other hand, this is coming at them because there is a satanic enemy who is determined to destroy them. And so this is. incredibly difficult. For Daniel, and he discovers what you and I discover: that faithfulness is more difficult.

than we imagined. And so I think. That's especially true when what we thought was going to happen, based on our understanding of scripture, what we thought was going to happen actually didn't happen. God said to Jeremiah, I know the plans I have for you. Plans to build you and prosper you.

And Daniel gets a vision, and it doesn't look like anything's getting built and anything's prospering. It looks like a whole bunch more warfare, a whole bunch more difficulty, and trials and afflictions. And so faithfulness. is harder than we imagine. That's point number one.

Point number two is prayer is more vital than we realize, and you brought this up. uh stu in your comments earlier daniel prayed In all of chapter nine. And what we discover is this angel comes to him and he says, Look, Daniel. The moment you started talking back in chapter nine. Your words came before the ancient days.

And he commissioned me, he sent me to you. And I was hindered.

So prayer. Is what activates the conflict, right? There is this incredible. Truth, Daniel, from the first day, verse 12, that you set your heart to understand and you humbled yourself before God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. words.

And those prayers were answered but the answer was hindered The prince of the king of Persia withstood me 21 days.

So almost a month. Three weeks. Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me. For I was left there with the king of Persia. In other words, look, if he hadn't come to help me.

Um I'm not sure I would have been able to get to you.

So, what we're told here is this conflict. Is is happening on an earthling level. uh through nations like persia and Babylon and Greece and Rome, but on a heavenly level, it's being energized. by demonic. and angelic forces that are in conflict.

And prayer is absolutely. Vital. And I think we miss that if we don't let this sit in.

So faithfulness is harder than we realize. And prayer is more vital than we imagined. And then, number three, truth is more difficult than we expected. You know, we anticipate that if we could just get the truth, if we could just figure out the truth, it would fix everything. Actually, in Daniel's case, when he got the truth, it was incredibly difficult.

Truth is more difficult sometimes than we expect. it overwhelmed him in chapter one or in chapter 10 verse 1. It confused him in verses 4 through 11. It disheartened him in verses 12 through 14. Right?

But when God sends His messenger. to come and interpret the truth, it strengthens. Yeah. And so what we find. In verse 17, Daniel says, How can your servant talk?

With my Lord, for no strength remains in me, and no breath is in me. And one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, O man, greatly loved, fear not. Peace be with you. Be strong and of good courage.

And as he spoke, I was strengthened. And I said, let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me.

So when we just think about truth. True. Is incredibly valuable, and we should never, never diminish it. But sometimes it is more difficult than we expect. I mean, think about the realities that you face every day.

You go to the doctor's office and you get a truth from a scan. Right. You turn on your television. And all of a sudden you realize there's been a failure of the bank system and one of the banks is your bank. And you just got a hard truth.

or you show up at work and your boss calls an all team meeting and you find out your company was sold and all of the employees of this particular branch are being furloughed. permanently. Truze can be shattering. Truth can be overwhelming. Daniel got truth about the future.

Everything that God told him and is going to tell him in chapter 11 is going to happen.

So he gets truth. But that truth is hard. It is difficult. It is overwhelming. It is confusing.

This doesn't make sense. Until God sends his messenger to strengthen us. And that's what God does. We have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit navigates the hard truths of life.

by bringing us to the word that the spirit gives us. and we we are strengthened so there is this truth that is more difficult Number four, reality is more complicated than we assumed. You know, I thought Daniel would say, I thought. I endured 70 years, I figured out what. Jeremiah was saying was kind of tough.

I figured out what Isaiah said. But man, I was able to interpret the vision for Nebuchadnezzar when nobody else could. I interpreted the dream in chapter four. I was able to figure out the writing on the wall. But these visions are tough.

This is so complicated. I don't understand what I'm looking at. I mean And God, for you to tell me there's a grease is fine. I don't have a clue what you mean. I don't know what a grease is.

I've never heard of grease. I live in a country called Persia that just took over Babylon and you're talking about a Greece. And then you're talking about the kings of the north. I don't have a clue what you're talking about. It is more complicated than I assumed.

And that's true. Reality is always more complicated than we thought. And that's really what is going on here. And so when you look at Verse 20, the angel says to him, Do you know why I have come to you? And Daniel's like...

I think I do. And the angel says, I came to you. I interrupted the battle. because God loves you and he wants you to know something. I'm going to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth.

I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. But what I'm going to tell you, we're going to find out later, is not for now. It is for the end time. It is for the latter days.

So reality is more complicated than we ever assumed. And then here's the final thing in verses 18 and 19. This is more available than we ever believed. Grace is amazing. One having the appearance of man, this is verse 18 and 19, touched me and strengthened me.

And he said, Oh man, Daniel. Oh man, greatly loved. Fear not. Peace be with you. Be strong and of good courage.

This is exactly what that what God told Joshua to do when he took over for Moses. Be strong and have good courage. And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened. You know, we're going to need. God to strengthen us.

as we face the uncertainty of the future. as what is yet future for us. is as confusing and as difficult to understand and as overwhelming as Daniel's was. And and God through his word strengthened daniel so that he would keep watching and waiting and working and walking for God in the kingdom of Persia. And that's what we find out in chapter 12.

Daniel, go your way. In other words, attend to your business. This is not for now. And that's really what we have to do. God has given us a great business to attend to, and that is the winning of the nations.

Go you into all the world. And as we Look at a chapter like this. It's easy to get overwhelmed. But what demons are we going to encounter? What angelic forces?

What about Halloween? What about all of this? And the answer is: God says, Look, you You need to do what I told Daniel to do. You need to know that I have the future well in hand. And what you need to do is go your way and attend to your business.

I will strengthen you. I will give you peace. I will help you be strong and have good courage so that you can keep watching, you can keep waiting, you can keep working, and you can keep walking by faith. And that's the beauty of chapter 10. We can go into a lot more detail, but if I were talking to a group of guys who were going to work every day and they needed to figure out chapter 10, those are the five things I would put in front of them.

I love those five things, and they tie in with the text. I mean, basically, that's how you want a good Bible study, good exposition. You want to start with the text and then it'll take you into Into application, let the text do the talking, let the text do the speaking. You've done that, Dr. Horne.

And I loved how you closed on that note of how amazing grace is. And now we see God's grace. Just interwoven in the life of Daniel. Yeah. God interacts with him through these answers.

And I love verses 10 and 11 of chapter 10, where again, and I think for the third or fourth time in this book. Total right there. Daniel is dearly beloved. And, you know, and the angel says, I've heard your prayer. You've humbled yourself before God.

And this is what God promises. You know, he says, This is to whom I look, Isaiah 66, 1 and 2 says, to him. Who Who is humble, who trembles at my word. And certainly Daniel was humble, didn't have all the answers, even though he was the smartest guy, by the way. He was the greatest, most erudite scholar in the land, didn't have all the answers.

He, you know, he of anyone, he was the only one that at that high level. He was a government bureaucrat, yet he walked with God. If anyone could have stood proud and said, I'm going to lick this. I know the scriptures. I'm God's chosen.

It was him. But he. got on his knees. And he didn't trust AI. He trusted Praei.

He didn't trust email. He trusted an email. And he went after God, and God answered. And God said, This is how God viewed him.

So it's real important, and we spent some time on this in chapter nine. This is something you do need to belabor. How does God view Daniel, he tells us, how does God view you? We all have our perception of God. We all have opinions of God.

The world certainly has an opinion of God, but what is God's. Opinion of you What does God think about you? And this is a beautiful thing. Yes, Daniel believed in God, but God believed in him. And God poured his grace out on him.

Dr. Horne, your concluding thoughts as we see. This uh chapter 10 Boy, it's so rich. There's a lot in there. We don't want to go too deep in the weeds on every verse on this.

broadcast podcast, but we do want to give our our leaders and folks studying and journeying through Daniel Enough meat on the bones to help them, and questions: how's your prayer life? How are you engaging? Darkness. If you are praying, you are in war. Is the does the Devil flee at the sight of you on your knees, on bended knee.

Is there a Is there someone praying for you? Are you walking with God today? most likely, almost guaranteed, Because someone, a godly mom, a godly grandmom, a granddad, prayed for you. Who Prayed for you? Who have you prayed for?

Who are you praying for? Who are you going to war? You want to go to battle for someone? Intercede for them, pray for them. If they say, will you pray for me this, then pray for them right there and then.

Put a hand, I just left a conference. You know, we saw some people struggling.

Some guys trying to create an amazing Christian movement. We said, let's stop. Let's pray for you right now. I know that's not why we came in this room to talk to you guys, but let's just pray for you that God would bless us, that God would work, that God would open hearts, He would prepare. And there is no revival.

There is no work of God. There is no. Powerful victory. In the heavenlies. In the spiritual realm, in any realm, without the power of prayer.

I really hope folks will quote Ephesians chapter 6. Verse 10, 11, 12, all the way through 18 and 19. By the way, Dr. Warren. A nice word on Ephesians chapter 6, the spiritual armor.

I had a college prof tell me that one of the greatest pieces of armor. That when people when people bring out the giant body of armor and Shining and regaled, and everything, and they teach on. Ephesians 6, the sword of the spirit, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, you know, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel preaching. All these great instruments and important. armaments He said this professor said.

He said you Cannot have war in the armor of God without prayer. And we forget about verse 18. That's right. Where Paul says praying always. With all prayer, With all supplication in the spirit and watching.

With all prayer for all the saints. And he said, and pray for me.

So, and this college professor said, Stu, it's like having a Lamborghini. in the garage with no gas. That's the Christian life. You have all these wonderful gifts of God, you have all these wonderful pieces of armor. But if you don't have prayer, Prayer is what brings to life.

that body of armour. Prayer is a fuel. That brings to life, that fuels that car to a hundred miles an hour. And this is spiritual warfare. Everyone you see is held by something far.

darker, far more sinister. Every sinner, every addiction, every challenge, everything people listening to this right now, you're struggling with. is is from darkness and only God. Only God, only the weapons of warfare which are not carnal but are spiritual, to the tearing down of strongholds. 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

Verses three, four, and five, casting down those things. And bringing them into captivity in the obedience of Jesus only by His spiritual Warfare, and this is what Daniel recognized, and Dr. Horn. This is what really Halloween is a massive amplification of darkness in our culture. People celebrate it, they dress up like demons.

You know, it's funny in the public school system, you can put a witch. With nasty warts all over, you can put demonic symbols, you can put all kinds of death and doom everywhere, but you can't put a Bible on the wall, you can't put a cross. You know, we glamorize and glorify it, and it's billions of dollars in retail sales, by the way, by the time you're done with all the costumes and all the candy and all the other things. But hey, We serve the god of all light. That's right.

And in him is no darkness at all. And we walk in the light. If we say, if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. First John 1. And so, and John 1:5, what does it say?

It says, Light has overcome darkness. Isn't that beautiful? That's right. And so, so this is something to close us out. I went on too long on that, but I just want to really, especially in this season, this time of year, man, I tell you, it's and of course, every day the enemy is awake, and every day the enemy is trying to infect us with darkness and trying to blind us and trying to keep us off our knees.

And he's trying to keep us from opening our mouth with the gospel. He's trying to move us to that passive. Christian level. He knows he can't, if you're a believer, he knows he can't take you to hell anymore. But what does he try to do?

He tries to infect you with passivity and indifference and hypocrisy. And so we are, this is a summoning. To this is a call to arms right out of Daniel chapter 10, right, brother? Oh amen.

So let me close it this way. For some reason, I get these little. things that show up on my Facebook feed where they show something from World War II, like Omaha Beach. What it was like then, and then they have right next to it what it is today. And so you might see people on the beach with umbrellas and a picnic or whatever.

And then right next to it is what it was like. back in World War II when the troops were landing and all the shells were exploding around. And I sometimes wonder. If we could see, if God would just open our blinders a little bit, like he did here for Daniel, and we could see what's really going on around us. When we drive down the highway or when we come home, etc., we might be shot.

at the warfare that's actually going around us what we think this beach where we can swim might actually be Omaha Beach under attack. And that's why we need the armor of God. And that's why we need Daniel 10 and 11, because what we discover in 11 is that God is completely in control of that battle. It it is He's got it. It may take hundreds of years from our perspective.

And those minutes. And so, as we come, grace is available for all of our minutes. and all of our 70 years or more, and we can trust God.

So let me pray to that end. Lord, thank you for this wonderful chapter. Thank you for a man who thousands of years ago lived faithfully in a hard place his whole life. never get him to see what he prayed for, what Need to go back. never understanding fully what you were up to.

And Lord, we are the result of that man's faithfulness because you delayed. answering Daniel's prayers. we were able to be saved. Your son came and died. and somebody came and brought the gospel to us.

And Lord, we're so grateful for Daniel's faithfulness. and for your patience. And Lord, we pray that somehow we would do the same in our lives and in our place. In Jesus' name. Mm.

Thank you, Dr. Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at webinthword.com. Follow us on YouTube, Facebook. and all social media, including Insteo Graham.

and be encouraged, stay in the word. Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.

Proverbs 30, verse 5.