In this intriguing episode, we delve into the enigmatic world of spirits as presented in the Bible. Using the prophet Daniel’s experiences as a focal point, we explore interactions with angelic beings and their implications for the spiritual and physical realms. Discover how Daniel’s perseverance in prayer led to a vision that offers insight into the cosmic battle between good and evil forces, and what it means for believers today.
00:00:02 Introduction: Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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Do you believe there’s a spirit world out there? There is, you know, although it’s not exactly out there. It’s right here. It’s in the same room with you. You can’t see it, can’t feel it, can’t taste it, can’t touch it because, well, the science fiction writers probably would call it another dimension. And they may be the closest to explaining it in terms that modern man might understand. And once in a while, there’s a tear in the membrane that separates our world from the spirit world, and we become aware of it. Hopefully, not a part of it. But the Bible, it doesn’t tell us much about that world. And what it does tell us, it is almost in throwaway lines. The Bible is more concerned with how we live our lives here and now than it is about the spirit world. And the advice from the Bible is, for the most part, leave that world alone. That’s not your business. But it does make reference to it from time to time. There’s an incident in one of the prophets that illustrates what I’m talking about. It’s a prophet named Daniel. Daniel was taken captive to Babylon among a number of people that were taken captive in Jerusalem. A lot of people were left in Jerusalem. The city was still there and still functioning. But a lot of people had been taken as captives, hostages, as it were, to Babylon. Daniel had made his way really into the Babylonian government. He was a high official in that government. But he maintained his religious belief through the whole time. Now, there was a time when Daniel, because really I think became depressed because he realized that they were going to die over there in that captivity. They weren’t going back because the length of the captivity was going to run 70 long years. And that by and large, the people who went back to Jerusalem would be very, very few of them people who left. They would be children. They would be people who were born in captivity. Well, it made Daniel very sad, and he had been fasting, mourning, as he puts it, for three full weeks because he was praying that God would somehow show him where this thing was going to go. He fasted, prayed for three weeks. He says, I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled. This is in Daniel 2, verses 2 and 3. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, As I was by the side of the great river, I lifted up my eyes and looked. And behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold. But this fellow, well, this fellow is rather different. His body was like a translucent emerald. It was green. His face was like the appearance of lightning. His eyes were like lamps of fire. They’d burn a hole in you. His arms and his feet were like polished brass, and the voice of his words were a powerful rumble, one that probably would move the room where Daniel was. I, Daniel, alone saw the vision. There were men with me, but they didn’t see it. But a great quaking fell on them, and they ran off somewhere to hide themselves. You know, the reason for this is not hard to understand. There was enormous power emanating from this creature. And even though they couldn’t see him, they felt him. And that power, that quaking, that fear that made their knees knock together, sent them off to their chambers and their closets to try to hide from whatever it was that they felt. Daniel says, I was left alone and I saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me. Yet I heard the voice of his words and when I heard the voice of his words, well then I went into a deep sleep on my face with my face toward the ground. And a hand reached out and touched me and sat me up on my knees and upon the palms of my hands, like a child on hands and knees. And he said to me, Daniel, you’re a man greatly beloved. Understand the words that I speak unto you and stand upright, for I am sent to you. When he got through speaking these words, Daniel says, I stood up shaking. And he said, don’t be afraid. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to chasten yourself before your God, your words were heard. It’s interesting. The whole three-week fast, for the most part, was unnecessary because God heard him on the very first day. And he says, and I am come because of your words. Now, the natural thought that comes to mind is, okay, where have you been? He continues to explain. I was sent to you on day one, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for 21 days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I was held up there with the kings of Persia. Now, this is incredible. This prophecy is not about the spirit world. It’s about what’s going to befall Israel in the latter days. But almost like a throwaway line, Daniel includes the angel’s explanation for why he was late. And it forces us to rethink some of our assumptions about the spirit world. Angels of God are all powerful, right? They can do whatever they want to, right? Wrong. Wrong. This incredibly powerful being had to fight his way in to speak with Daniel. He had to fight for three weeks to break through, and he had to have help from another angel whose name was Michael. Who was he fighting with? Well, Prince of Persia. Okay, who is this Prince of Persia? And who are these kings of Persia that when this angel was sent on his way to Daniel, had to fight his way through these kings or princes to get there? Who are they? Well, it’s plain enough they aren’t men, because if they were men, by the mere sight of a creature like this would have turned their knees to jelly and their bowels to water. He was fighting with creatures that were as powerful as he was. How do they fight? I don’t know. I sort of imagined laser swords, these guys going back and forth and tearing up the landscape. There was a real fight going on. And the outcome, I gather, would have been in doubt if it hadn’t been for the extra help that was sent to him. The implication of this passage is that it was a territorial fight. Did you notice it identifies this being he’s fighting with as the prince of Persia? Persia was a general geographical location. Babylon was a city that existed in that geographical location. It’s almost as though there’s a territorial jurisdiction that this prince of Persia said, this is my turf, get out of here. Well, that’s where Daniel was. If he’d been in Jerusalem, there would have been no problem getting to him at all. But he wasn’t. He was in Babylon. And there was a prince over this geography, and he did his best to keep this angel that made its way to Daniel out of the territory. Well, Daniel says, When he had spoken these words to me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. I couldn’t even speak. And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. It sounds like there might have been another creature with him. He says, Then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with you, my Lord? For as for me, straightway there is no strength in me. I don’t even have breath. Then there came again one and touched me, one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me and said, O man greatly beloved. That’s a wonderful, encouraging thing to hear. Here’s this great angelic being comes to you because you prayed and says, you know, you’re a man greatly loved of God. Don’t be afraid. Peace be unto you. Be strong. Come on, be strong. When he had spoken to me, I was strengthened. And I said, well, you go ahead and speak, for you have strengthened me. Then he answered. He said, do you know why I have come to you? Because now I’m going to have to return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I’m gone forth, lo, the prince of Grisha shall come. Good grief. He had to fight his way in, and now he’s going to have to fight his way out. He says, the prince of Grecia shall come, and I’m going to show you what’s noted in the Scripture of truth, and there is no one that holds with me in these things except Michael, your prince. What do you mean by that? Well, apparently Michael elsewhere is called the prince that stands for the people of Israel. Daniel was an Israelite. Michael was his prince. You know, we hear a lot about guardian angels from time to time, and it does seem that there is something to it. It seems like there are angels that have to do with places and people and circumstances, and we get these little hints tossed away in the Bible. Don’t you wish there was a book somewhere that just laid it all out so you could read the story of what that spirit world is like? Why isn’t it there? I guess it’s not there because God doesn’t think we need it. He wants us to focus on what we’re doing. pay attention to what we’re doing, where we are, and how we live our lives. And, incidentally, we get glimpses of this kind of thing. So, this great angel, who apparently was Gabriel, had to fight his way in, and now he’s going to have to fight his way out. Apparently, Michael had come to his aid and was keeping the opposition busy while Gabriel did his work. But there was another great prince on his way from Greece, and they were going to have to fight that one as well. So, Gabriel had to give his message and get back out to carry his burden in the fight. You would never imagine it, would you, lying in the shade of a tree on a clear, warm spring day, that there’s another world around you, that there might be great princes that dominate different parts of this earth, some loyal to God and some not. These are the forces of good and evil that are at war in the world. And apparently God has shielded us from that world for the most part, while it still has an influence. It is odd that the real point in the messenger coming to Daniel had nothing to do with this. He came to deliver the incredible prophecy of Daniel 11 and 12. And almost like a throwaway line. He gave us a glimpse of this incredible spirit world. It’s kind of frightening to think about. Once you understand the language, there are really some other passages of Scripture that take on a whole new meaning in the light of this knowledge of a spirit world.
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I’ll talk about a couple of those when I come back. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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Once you realize the language that the Bible speaks of a prince of Persia and a prince of Grisha, which are not human beings but are spirit beings that have some kind of control over, influence over a geographical area, it makes you wonder, are there others? Are there princes that have to do with other parts of the landscape? Well, there’s a fascinating prophecy in Isaiah 14 that illustrates what I’m talking about. Looking far into the future, after Israel has been rescued from a future captivity, the prophet has this to say, It shall come to pass, in the day that the Lord shall give you rest from your sorrow and from your fear, and from the hard bondage wherein to you were made to serve in captivity, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, And you will say, how has the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased? Now the question becomes, is he talking about the king of Babylon, the man? Or the king of the Babylon, the spirit? Or is he talking about both of them? Well, he continues and says, The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted. No one stops it. He says, the whole earth is at rest. We’re looking way down in the future when a lot of this garbage has been put to a stop and when those who are destroying the earth have themselves been destroyed. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet. They break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at you and the cedars of Lebanon say, hey, since you’re laid down, nobody’s come up here with an axe. Hell from beneath is moved for you to meet you at your coming. So this guy, whoever he is, is on his way down. It stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations, and they shall speak and say to you, Oh, really, have you become as weak as we are? Are you become like us? This is great poetry because it gives you this visual imagery of the king of Babylon who goes down to hell. And as he comes down there, all these other kings that he has dominated and conquered all those years say, Well, look who’s here. But a little later in the same chapter, verse 12, he says, How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down, which did weaken the nations? For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. A lot of scholars look at this and see Satan, one of the original archangels that rebelled against God. The language certainly seems to transcend anything a human being might attempt to do, for this one has challenged God himself. It makes you wonder a little at Jesus’ words and his remarks to his disciples. They had been out on a special mission and had been very successful while they were out there, and they came back rejoicing, as they put it, that even the demons were subject to them, that they could cast demons out of people and they had to leave. And Jesus said to them, I beheld Satan like lightning fall from heaven. Well, that seems to be a reference back to Isaiah, Isaiah 14, verse 12, where he says, How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? And the idea is that at one time there might have been three great archangels near the throne of God, Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. But Lucifer was cut down. He was cast down. And Jesus said, I saw it. I saw him fall like lightning from heaven. I’m going to give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And one wonders if in speaking of serpents and scorpions, Jesus was speaking of the powers of darkness rather than snakes and insects. Well, Isaiah 14 is often considered one of those passages of Scripture that points at the devil and his origins. But what’s interesting is he’s called the king of Babylon. The same language, almost, with the prince of Persia. But there’s more. There’s another passage in Ezekiel, the 28th chapter. This time, Ezekiel says, “…the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre,” Thus saith the Lord God, because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a God. I sit in the seat of God in the midst of the seas. But you’re a man and not God, though you have set your heart as the heart of God. It’s odd, down through history, how many of the kings of this world have set themselves up as gods. We speak of the divine right of kings. The whole idea and the origins of kings are that they act in the place of God. The prophecies look forward to the future, and they talk of one who is going to set himself up like he was God and attempt to rule this world as God before the return of Christ. But this one, as we start off with this prophecy, is a man. He is a man who thinks he is a God. He continues speaking to this one, and he says, Behold, you are wiser than Daniel. There is no secret they can hide from you. With your wisdom and your understanding, you have gotten yourself riches. You have gotten gold and silver into your treasures. By your great wisdom and by your traffic have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches. Now, just to pause for a moment, the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast was a major trading center. It was at the heart of an ancient empire. They were the bankers. They were the people who had the silver, the gold, the ships. They were able to control trade throughout the Mediterranean. They were very big at the time. In verse 6, he says, “…therefore thus saith the Lord God, because you have set your heart as the heart of God.” Therefore I’m going to bring strangers upon you, the terrible of the nations, and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom. They’ll defile your brightness. They shall bring you down to the pit, and you shall die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Are you going to say before the man that kills you, I’m God? A man’s going to be standing there with a sword to your throat, ready to cut your throat and to spill your blood. You’re going to tell that man, I’m God. You’re going to be a man and know God. in the hand of him that kills you. You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken, it saith the Lord God. Well, so far so good. We’re talking about a man, prince of Tyre, ruler of Tyre, the big shot, the man in charge, the man who controlled that entire part of the world for trade. But the prophecy is not finished. Notice the shift that takes place between verse 10 and verse 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre and say to him. Now notice, we’ve shifted for some reason from prince of Tyre to king of Tyre. And say this to the king of Tyre. Thus saith the Lord God, you seal up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden, the garden of God. Now, wait a minute. Eden, the garden of God, had long since been destroyed by Noah’s flood. It no longer existed. And here he is saying to one called the king of Babylon, or king of Tyre, you actually were in the garden of God. Who was there? Adam and Eve and a serpent. You have been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. The sardius, topaz, and diamond, the beryl, onyx, and jasper, and the sapphire, the emerald, carbuncle, and gold. The workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. Interesting, he said, almost as though he had musical instruments built in. This is not a man. This is a creature unlike anything you and I have ever seen, perhaps not entirely unlike the one that appeared to Daniel. You, he said, are the anointed cherub that covers, and I have set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God. You have walked up and down in the midst of the precious stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created until iniquity was found in you. Now, mind you, this is a created being. God doesn’t speak of humans in this way. For us, he would speak of our being formed in the womb or of the day we were born, but not this one. From the day you were created. And he says, you were one of the anointed cherubs that covered the very throne of God. If you remember, if you’ve read the Bible, you’ll know that in the tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant. And over the Ark of the Covenant, there were two cherubims with wings overshadowing the cover of the Ark. They represented the two cherubs, one on each side of the throne of God. And the implication is, originally, one of these is the being that is now called the King of Tyre. I’ll have more when I come back after these words.
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For a free copy of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only. And request the program titled, Try the Spirits, number four. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Well, we’ve learned that the cities of Babylon and Tyre had not only human kings, but spirit princes as well.
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Michael, the archangel, seems to have been the prince over the people of Israel. Gabriel seems to have been more of a messenger. We know there was a prince of Persia and a prince of Grisha that were able to fight on equal terms with these archangels. A few generations ago, a German scholar coined the term zeitgeists. It means literally the spirit of the age, and he noticed, as you may see it yourself, the different ages in history seem to be dominated by a different spirit from what other ages are. We’ve seen, in fact, a great shift in the zeitgeist with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the spectacular failure of Marxism. There was a sea change in the world about that time. Make no mistake about it. There is a spirit world that exists right alongside our own. It’s a spirit world that ebbs and flows and apparently has its own conflicts and its dominant spirits at one time or another. Also, make no mistake about this. It’s dangerous in the extreme to dabble with that world, to invite spirits across that barrier and into our world. There’s a curiosity about that world on our part that’s not healthy. There is a better than average chance that your children have played around with it at some level because they talk about it a lot, you know, after school and their get-togethers. They like to tell ghost stories. They like to play with Ouija board and things like that to try to foretell the future. Children need to be warned that there is a spirit world and that it’s dangerous to fool with it. But sooner or later, you or your children may encounter spirits or a spiritual influence at some level. How would you know if this spiritual manifestation is of God or of some other prince? The Apostle John wrote about this spirit world. In 1 John 4, 1, he said, Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they’re of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Okay, there are different kinds of spirits out there. We can try them. Who are they? Where are they? How can you know who is who? John addressed the heresy of his own day by saying, this is how you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. The heresy he was dealing with were people who said, well, Jesus didn’t really come in the flesh. He was just a manifestation. Our problem is that the devil is a liar. He wants to keep him from crossing his fingers behind his back and making the same confession. We need more than this for our generation, and there is more than this for us. In Isaiah 8 and verse 19, we’re warned, When they say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, unto wizards that peep and mutter. Shouldn’t a people seek to their God? Should the living seek to the dead? No. Look to the law and the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it’s because there is no light in them. So we have our test, a test that’s good for any generation at any time. That if you’ve got somebody suggesting, let’s listen to familiar spirits, the spirit world is here, let’s listen, or to wizards that peep and mutter. You hear them saying things and you’re not quite sure what they’re saying. Here’s your test. Here’s what you look to. To the law, number one, and the testimony. Now we know what the law is, but what specifically is the testimony? Well, Moses was told that he should put into the Ark, as God said in Exodus 25, 16, put into the Ark the testimony which I will give you. This is why the Ark of the Covenant was first called the Ark of the Testimony, because it contained the testimony of God. Well, what was that testimony? Well, folks, the only thing that was in the Ark that could qualify is the Ten Commandments. So if this spirit that has intruded into our world does not speak according to the Ten Commandments, it’s a wrong spirit. And if you listen, you’re a loser. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart reminding you, don’t let yourself get taken in by some familiar spirit.
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You were born to win. The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560 White House, Texas 75791. You may call us at 1 888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net Stay in touch with the new Born to Win with Ronald L. Dart app.
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