The Prophecies of Daniel
Part 10: The Terrifying Vision (Daniel 10)
After two weeks off to celebrate the Easter Season we are returning to our study of the prophecies found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. The book of Daniel is rightly called the Apocalypse of the Old Testament, because no other book besides Revelation gives us so much detail about the future and the times of the end. Through the many prophecies that we have studied so far, we’ve started to see God’s plan for not only the Jewish people, but also the Gentile nations of the world.
Daniel received visions from God concerning what has been come to be known as the Times of the Gentiles. By Gentile, I mean any nation or people who are not of Jewish origin. In the Bible you are either Gentile, Jew, or part of the Church. The Times of the Gentiles is the period of history in which the Gentile nations will hold sway over the earth. The Jews are no longer the head of the nations, and they won’t be until the Times of the Gentiles is over with the return of Jesus Christ. When Christ returns at the end of the Tribulation to set up His Kingdom the Jews will once again be restored as the head of the nations of the world.
We’ve seen through these series of visions or prophecies that God told Daniel which nations or empires would control the Middle East throughout history, from the Babylonians to the final empire of the Antichrist, which is forming before our eyes today. We’ve seen just how accurately these prophecies have been fulfilled throughout history. And we’ve speculated on who the final Gentile ruler, the Antichrist, will be.
I was watching a teaching video the other day by Dr. Perry Stone called “The Bloodline of the Antichrist” in which he made the following statement. He said that for a few years now he’s been 98% positive that the Antichrist will be a Muslim from the Middle East. Today he is 100% positive that the Antichrist will be a Muslim. I thought this was exciting since that is the same conclusion that we came to from our own studies of the book of Daniel.
This morning we are going to pick up our study with chapter ten of the book of Daniel. I recommended last week that you read chapters ten through twelve. The reason for this is because these three chapters are all part of one revelation given to Daniel. In chapter ten we have an introduction to the vision. Chapter eleven is the interpretation of the vision. And chapter twelve is the closing or wrap-up of this final vision.
Now, we are not going to try to tackle all three chapters in just one teaching even though I asked you read all three chapters to get an idea of what we are going to study. In fact, this vision may take a few weeks to get through because there is so much information and nuggets of truth hidden in these chapters that I want to share with you.
If you had the chance to read any of these chapters you may already have an inkling as to how difficult this passage is to understand and interpret. I thank you for those of you who have said a prayer for me while I’ve been trying to prepare for these teachings, because I wouldn’t even begin to have an idea how to interpret them without the help of the Holy Spirit.
The only way I’ve been able to gain even minimal understanding of these chapters is through what I call an in-depth prophetical study. What I mean by this is that I’ve had to use multiple Bible translations, Greek/Hebrew study Bibles to do key word studies, as well as consulting other scholars and their interpretations of these passages. And I’m going to pass what I’ve found on to you. You may already notice the insert in your bulletins of the key word studies. I thought you’d be able to see more clearly what I am trying to tell you if you had this reference before you.
So, I hope you’re ready for an in-depth prophetical study of the last three chapters of the book of Daniel. Today we are going to start with the introduction to this final revelation in chapter ten.
I. The Introduction to the Vision
Let’s begin by reading the first verse of chapter 10, first in the KJV and then in the NIV translation.
Daniel 10:1 (KJV), “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia [536 BC] a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
Daniel 10:1 (NIV), “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia [536 BC], 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.
Okay, already, just by reading that one verse in the two different translations you can see a difference in meaning and clarity. While they are saying the same thing, they are using different meanings of the original Hebrew words which this passage was written in. So by going back to the original Hebrew meanings we can gain a greater understanding of what Daniel is trying to tell us.
A. Nuggets of Truth Hidden in the Hebrew Words
The words, which I have underlined in the Scripture references, are the key words or phrases that we are going to look at the meanings of. We’ll briefly go through all of them, which you will be able to follow from the Key Word Studies Chart, and then we’ll put them all together and see what we come up with.
1. King James Version
Starting with the KJV, the first phrase we come to is “was revealed.” “Was revealed” comes from the Hebrew word galah (gaw-law) which means “to expose, uncover, disclose, show, reveal.” Okay, so far no big surprises. The next two phrases though are packed with hidden treasure.
“Time appointed” is the Hebrew word tsbaah (tseb-aw-aw). Tsbaah refers to “a mass of persons organized for war; an army readying for battle.” It comes from the root word tsaba, (tsaw-baw) which means “to assemble, to fight, or to muster for war.” As you can see the phrase “time appointed” has a vastly different meaning in English than “an army readying for war.” That’s why knowing what the original Hebrew word means can improve our understanding of a Scripture passage.
The third key word from the KJV is “long.” The Hebrew word for “long” is gadowl (gaw-dole) which means “great or exceeding.” It is derived from the root word gadal (gaw-dal) which means “to make large, to advance, lift up, or magnify.”
So from the KJV of Daniel 10:1 we see that Daniel is shown a message concerning a great or large amassing of troops for war. This is confirmed and expounded upon in the NIV translation of this verse.
2. New International Version
In the NIV translation the first key word is “revelation.” This is the Hebrew word dabar (day-bar) which means “what is said; word; matter; thing.” It could also mean “to say, speak, tell, command, or promise.” But what is even more revealing is that it is related to the Hebrew word gamliyel, which means “the recompense of God” or “God will repay.”
The second key phrase is “a great war” which is the Hebrew word saba (say-ba). This means “to fight, do battle;” or it could stand for “an army, a host (as is the host of heaven, meaning angels) or a division.” It’s beginning to sound like God is going to go to war for the Jews.
The third key word is “understanding.” The Hebrew word is biyn, which means “to consider with full attention; to ponder.”
And the last key word is “vision” which is the Hebrew word mareh. Mareh means “what is seen with the eye, appearance.” It comes from the root word raah (ray- aw) meaning “to become visible, appear, show oneself; to be selected.” But it is related to the word matiyl, which means “rod of iron.”
3. Interpretation of the Hebrew
So, let’s put all these nuggets of truth together that we’ve mined out of these two translations. In the year 536 BC, Daniel was selected to receive a word from the Lord in which God is showing or revealing to him what is to come. This vision is showing how God is going to repay the Gentiles for what they did to His children, the Jews. God is going to muster a physical and spiritual army to go to war for them, and then He is going to rule over the entire world with a rod of iron or perhaps in means His repayment will come in the form of a rod of iron.
(Now, can you believe we got all that from one single verse in Daniel 10?)
And verses 14 and 21 confirm and support our interpretation of verse 1. Daniel 10:14 (NIV), “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.”
Daniel 10:21 (NIV), “but first I will tell you what is written in the Book [Scripture, Word] of Truth.”
The vision, which is written in the Book of Truth, means that it was already determined in the mind of God to happen even before He revealed it to Daniel over 2500 years ago. God already knew what would happen and how He would respond and had written it down.
We also can confirm that this vision concerns the Jews and what will happen to them in the near and distant futures because is says it concerns your [Daniel’s] people, who would be the Jews.
And then, in verses 2, 3 and 16 we see that while Daniel was pondering what he had seen it had a severe effect on him. Daniel 10:2-3, 16 (NIV), “At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. [3] I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until three weeks were over.”
Then he tells the man in his vision that, “[16] ‘I [Daniel] am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I am helpless.’”
Now we’re never actually given a description of the original vision Daniel saw like in past chapters. There are no rams or statues or horns given as symbols for us to try to interpret. We don’t know exactly what Daniel saw. Maybe the symbolism was such that we wouldn’t understand it. Maybe Daniel was told not to write down the vision. We don’t know. But from our word study of verse 1 we have an inkling of what he saw. Then we will find out the interpretation of the vision in the next chapter.
But however the vision or revelation came to Daniel it must have been frightening, because as we can see from his reaction he mourned, and fasted, and petitioned heaven for three full weeks because of what he saw. Maybe we are blessed not to know what Daniel originally saw.
II. A Messenger From Heaven
What God revealed to Daniel was very traumatic for Daniel. And we see that once again, just like in chapter nine, God sends a messenger from heaven to comfort him and interpret the vision for him.
Daniel 10:4-9 (NIV), “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, [5] I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. [6] His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightening, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
“[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. [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. [9] Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.”
A. Who Is The Messenger?
There are two things I want to point out to you about the messenger. First, just who is he, and second why did it take him so long to answer Daniel’s prayer?
So, first, let’s see if we can figure out just who this messenger is since this passage doesn’t give us a name. Just about every study Bible that I have consulted and several prophecy scholars will say that these verses are describing the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.
Daniel lived before Jesus came to earth, so they are saying that this is an appearance of Jesus, the Messiah, to Daniel before He came to earth in human form 500 years later. And they base this claim on the fact that this description is very similar to one given of Jesus in Revelation 1. And if you were to go to Revelation chapter one and read verse 10, and verses 12 through 17, you would find that there are indeed similarities between these two passages.
However, I personally don’t think this is Jesus Christ. I believe this messenger is an angel, probably the angel Gabriel. I base this on the fact that there are several passages in the Bible in which angels are described using these same word pictures as Daniel did.
In Matthew 28 at the tomb of Jesus, an angel of the Lord was similarly described as this messenger to Daniel, and he had the same effect on the guards at the tomb as this man, they fainted as dead.
Matthew 28:2-4, “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it. [3] His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. [4] The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”
I also believe this is an angel and not Jesus Christ, because he is a messenger, sent by God to answer Daniel’s prayer. The word angel actually means “messenger.” That is one of their main purposes.
But the main reason I believe this is an angel has to do with the fact that it took him 21 days to answer Daniel’s prayer.
B. Why Did It Take So Long To Answer Daniel’s Prayer?
Daniel 10:12-13, 20, (NIV), “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. [13] 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…[20]…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;…”
The reason the answer to Daniel’s prayer took so long to reach him was because this messenger was delayed by the prince of the Persian kingdom. This prince of Persia is not a human. No human being could delay a spiritual messenger from heaven from doing his mission for 21 days. This prince of Persia and the prince of Greece mentioned in verse 20, are powerful evil spirits who hold sway or control over the area of Persia and then later Greece.
Remember the Bible tells us that “…we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [wicked spirits] in high places [heavenly places] (Ephesians 6:12, KJV).” And Satan is the called, “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2).”
This powerful evil spirit may be the equivalent of an evil archangel, because in Daniel 12 the archangel Michael is also called a prince. So this powerful evil spirit who controlled the Persian Empire blocked the answer to Daniel’s prayers from getting to him for three weeks. It wasn’t until Michael came to help the messenger that he was able to make it to Daniel’s side.
This is why I don’t think this messenger is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Because Jesus wouldn’t have needed the help of an archangel to fight an evil spirit, no matter how powerful that spirit was. He created that spirit in the first place. Jesus could have easily overpowered it with a single word from His mouth.
So, I believe this messenger with Daniel’s answer to prayer, is a heavenly angel, possibly even Gabriel, since in Daniel chapter nine it was Gabriel who came to Daniel in response to his prayers before.
Now that is just the introduction to this vision. The actual interpretation of the vision is given in chapter 11. So we’re going to stop there this morning and for next week read chapter 11 see if you can figure out who the king of the north and the king of the south are.
Sermon Sources:
The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, King James Version. Edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers. Chattanooga, TN. Copyright 1991.
The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, New International Version. Edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers. Chattanooga, TN. Copyright 1996.
Larkin, Rev. Clarence. The Book of Daniel. Clarence Larkin Estate, Glenside, PA. Copyright 1929.
Stone, Dr. Perry. Daniel:Unlocking the Secrets of the Scroll. Two-hour VHS teaching. Copyright 2007. www.perrystone.org.
