Prayer is Spiritual Warfare

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. 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, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.” (vs. 2-9)

I. THE MAJESTY OF JESUS: THE PINNACLE OF ALL PROPHECY

Who was this person? Most biblical scholars agree this is one of the pre-incarnate visions of the Lord Jesus Christ. The entire point of prophecy is to present a clearer picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. People who are “prophecy-junkies” often read the Bible to try to find the details of the future so they can create a new chart or some new end-time prediction. They miss the whole point. The more you study prophecy, the more you see the pinnacle of all prophecy is Jesus. Don’t forget the last book in our Bible is not called “Revelations” as most people call it. It is correctly titled “The Revelation.” What is the rest of its title? According to Revelation 1:1 it is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is the point of all prophecy.

Now this was not the first time Daniel was exposed to Jesus. In chapter 2, Jesus was the “stone not cut by human hands” that crushed the kingdoms of this world. In chapter 7, Jesus was called “the son of man who is given an everlasting Kingdom.” In chapter 8, He is called “the Prince of princes” who comes to defeat the Antichrist. In chapter 9, Jesus is identified as “the Anointed One” who will be cut off 483 years after the decree goes forth to rebuild Jerusalem. And even in chapter 4, Daniel writes about the fourth man who walked in the fire with his three Hebrew friends.

The entire Bible is all about Jesus. You can find Jesus in Genesis 1:1 and all the way to Revelation 22:21 and on every page in between. If you read the Bible (especially the Old Testament) and don’t find Jesus, you’d better read it again, because you’ve missed the point.

But of all the visions of Jesus contained in the book of Daniel, this vision in the tenth chapter is the most majestic. Daniel was visiting a place on the bank of the river Tigris with a group of men, when he looked up and there standing before him was the most breathtaking sight he had ever seen.

This picture of the glorified, majestic Jesus was the same the three disciples saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was strikingly similar to what Saul of Tarsus saw on the Damascus Road. Before Saul of Tarsus became the Apostle Paul, was on his way to Damascus to bring the Christians of the city to Jerusalem to stand trial for their faith in Jesus. Suddenly, there was a light brighter than the sun shining around him and he saw the Lord Jesus. He fell to the ground. The men who were with him did not see the Person of Jesus but heard only the sound of his voice speaking to the apostle Paul. Paul reacted the same way as Daniel. He was overwhelmed, he fell to the ground, and had no strength left in him. Of course, there are some who try to explain what Paul experienced as nothing but an epileptic fit. When that was reported to the great English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, he said, “O, blessed epilepsy! Would that every man in London could have epilepsy like that!”

The same happens here with Daniel. Daniel alone saw this vision, the men with