Join us for a deep dive into the book of Daniel as bible teacher and author David Hawking explores the powerful vision experienced by Daniel. This episode unravels the layers of the spiritual conflict depicted in Daniel 10, exposing the principalities and powers at play in the heavenly realms. Through meticulous study, Hawking guides listeners in re-discovering the glorified image of Christ and reflects on the profound implications of spiritual warfare on our faith and world affairs.
The Jesus Christ of today is the one Daniel saw in Daniel 10 and the one revealed in Revelation 1. And we should be on our knees in worship and praise of him who is exalted above all. He has a name above every name. And no one deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. Bible says that with the mouth we confess that he’s Lord and with our heart we believe. We also bow the knee to him who is Lord and we give glory to God when we do. Is there that kind of submission in our hearts? Do we really understand who Jesus Christ really is?
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This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher and author David Hawking. On today’s program, we continue in Daniel chapter 10 with a vision of the Messiah. Daniel’s fallen to the ground. He’s stunned, shaken, and completely undone by what he’s just seen. Picture this. A glorious being, clothed in light, speaking like thunder, has appeared before him. But you know something, this is more than just a vision. It’s a revelation of spiritual warfare that’s been happening behind the scenes all along. Well, get ready. Day two of A Vision of the Messiah begins in just a moment. First, here’s David with a quick word.
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Hi, folks. Are you a partner with us at Hope for Today? I sure hope so. This ministry is dedicated to the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. We rely upon the partnerships that we have with listeners just like you to stay on the air as well as on the Internet. God makes it possible for us to bring you sound biblical teaching based on His Word alone through your prayerful and financial support. You can join us in prayer support, and if you so lead, you can give financially as well. Please be a partner when we have serious need. God bless you, and thanks for listening.
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Right now, though, let’s join David for day two of A Vision of the Messiah.
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Okay, back to Daniel 10. So we look at the effect of the vision upon Daniel. Now the encounter with the man clothed in linen. Bible teachers disagree here, and some say the man clothed in linen is an angel because they can’t imagine Christ fighting with the prince of Persia or with the angels or needing the help of Michael. That’s a part of the problem. The encounter with the man clothed in linen, verses 4 to 9. Three things I’d point out to you. One, it reflected the glory of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. I do not agree with those who believe it’s just an exalted angel of some type. I do not believe that at all. I believe this is none other than the pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to Daniel. You know, when I look at this whole thing, we’re talking a tremendous impact. And I’m afraid that we in our culture have Jesus watered down. We see him on the hills of Galilee. We picture him as the baby in Bethlehem. And rightly so, if we’re thinking of the past. If you’re thinking of now, that is not the way Jesus Christ looks. You say, well, I prefer to identify with them that way. That’s a part of our problem in our theology and why our lives are the way they are. You just don’t take and leave him like somebody else. He is the glorified God of the ages. God manifests Himself as Father and Son and Holy Spirit. We’re talking the glorified Jesus Christ. And whenever anybody saw His glory, they didn’t sit around, shake hands, and take, you know, a punch and cookies with Him. It was not fellowship time. It was falling flat on your face, overwhelmed with the awesomeness of the glory of Jesus Christ. We need to restore that to our worship, don’t we? You know that, Christians. That’s what we need more than anything else in this age. We’ve lost a sense of the glory and the greatness and the majesty of Jesus Christ. We’re chums with Him. Listen, He wants to fellowship with us, and I thank God that we have access into the presence of God because of the work of Christ and that He ever lives to intercede for us. But be careful how you treat our Lord. The people who saw Him in all His glory… were just wiped out by the experience and needed his reassurance, fearing for their own lives because of the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ. I think we all need a new understanding of Jesus Christ our Lord. Back to Daniel 10, please, again. It reflected the glory of our resurrected Lord, this encounter with a man clothed in linen. And it also, secondly, resulted in great terror upon the men who were with Daniel at the time, even though they didn’t see it. Whatever happened, whatever manifestation of His presence was there, the Bible says in verse 7, a great terror fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves. Will you turn to Revelation chapter 6? There’s no indication that any of these men with Daniel were believers. Some say it was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That’s not what it says. We don’t know. Being a government official and talking about being in the court with these princes and kings, it is very possible these are political officials who are not believers. Exactly how do unbelievers respond when they see the glory or even a touch of the radiance of our blessed Lord? That’s a very interesting question. Great terror came. In Revelation chapter 6, the Bible says they fled. for their lives. And it’s interesting what we read in Revelation 6, 12, in the tribulation. I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, it was a great earthquake. And the sun became black, a sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it’s shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it’s rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth… including Persian and Babylon of the past as well as kings of the present, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the what? The Lamb, for the great day of His wrath. The tribulation is described as the wrath of Almighty God, and especially the wrath of the Messiah, the Lamb of God. The great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Words that come out of Malachi’s prophecy about the Messiah. Who can stand when He appears? We’re talking him being like a refiner’s fire. Friends, when we talk about Jesus Christ our Lord, it worries me sometimes, and I hope that’s godly concern, but it worries me when I hear us talk. It’s almost as though we want the Jesus we read in the Gospels, and we don’t want any other. My friends, that is not the Jesus Christ of today. The Jesus Christ of today is the one Daniel saw in Daniel 10 and the one revealed in Revelation 1. And we should be on our knees in worship and praise of Him who is exalted above all. He has a name above every name. And no one deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. And the Bible says that with the mouth we confess that He’s Lord. And with our heart we believe. We also bow the knee to him who is Lord, and we give glory to God when we do. Is there that kind of submission in our hearts? Do we really understand who Jesus Christ really is? So important. The third thing I notice is that it remained, this encounter with the man clothed in linen, it remained upon Daniel as an overwhelming vision that weakened him physically. In Daniel chapter 10, verse 8, mind you, he’s an old man. Some people try to write it off for that. But no matter who has seen him, including John, who was also old at the time, it was overwhelming. Verse 8, Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me. He’s exhausted. My vigor, my vitality was turned to frailty in me. I retained no strength, yet I heard the sound of his words.” And while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground. He is wiped out as though he is dead. And that’s the exact same thing we have in Revelation 1, 17. When John saw the same vision, he was wiped out. He said, I became like a dead man. I fell on my face to the ground. Now let’s pick it up at verse 10. We have the explanation of the vision in verse 10. And I’d like you to see just four things in these five verses from verse 10 to 14. One is that this caused Daniel to be afraid. In verse 10 and 11, it’s clear. What happened here caused Daniel to be afraid. In verse 10, he said, It made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. So you can picture, he’s on his knees with the palms of his hands down. He’s starting to sort of pick himself up because he was laying with his face to the ground. A hand touched him, and he started trembling. Wouldn’t you also, if you had seen this vision, and all of a sudden a hand? Can you imagine being touched by the resurrected Lord? Why, that’s even a visible demonstration of his glory, for his presence fills the universe. And the fact that the divine Son of God would somehow touch you in a situation like that. I mean, he’s scared to death. It caused Daniel to be greatly afraid. It’s interesting, verse 11, he said to him, what are the first words that come out of the glorified Christ? What a beautiful thing. Oh, Daniel, man greatly beloved. Is that great? This glorified Son of God from whom people flee, scared of His wrath and His judgment and His glory and majesty who fills the place and blinds people with His glory. Imagine. And while he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Yes, it caused Daniel to be afraid. But it also, secondly, came to Daniel in answer to prayer. That’s interesting. Verse 12, Then he said to me, Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. heard, and I have come because of your words. That reminds us of that wonderful, wonderful passage, Daniel chapter 9, the previous chapter, verses 1 to 23. As Daniel poured out his heart to God, asking for his forgiveness and confessing the sins of the people and begging him to have mercy on the people of Israel, humbling himself before God. And Jesus says to him, you know, from the first day that you set your heart, I was informed that to come to you. I’ve come because of your words. You know, I read that passage, I say, that’s all I need to know. God answers prayer. God answers prayer. Here’s a man who prayed, poured out his heart to God, and the first day that you and I get right with the Lord, the first day we set our hearts to seek the Lord, God will move into our lives in a way we didn’t know before. You wonder sometimes why we take so long The sacrifices of God, David learned, are a broken and a contrite heart. A broken heart God will never despise, Psalm 51. What a delight it is to read this passage and know that God will answer prayer. And he answered the prayer of Daniel. It came to Daniel and answered a prayer. The third thing I’d point out about explaining this vision, it not only caused Daniel to be afraid and came to him and answered a prayer, but it contained a message that was hindered. By a so-called prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now verse 13 is hard. Watch this carefully. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. Look back at verse 2. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning how many weeks? Three full weeks. Same period of time. Daniel’s fasting and prayer to this whole week was finished, and then he had the appearance of the Son of God. He is deeply distressed over what he knows is going to be a terrible period for the people of Israel. Doesn’t know what to do. For 21 days he’s mourning and fasting, and all during that time, the Lord Jesus Christ says… I was being withstood by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for 21 days. You say, wait a minute, he’s the sovereign lord. That’s right, and he allows opposition from the enemy. He could wipe out the enemy, but he allows it for a purpose. Who is the prince of the kingdom of Persia? The princes that are mentioned are evil forces. We are talking about angels that we also call demons and evil spirits. In the hierarchy of Satan’s kingdom, he has leaders who And these leaders are assigned, according to the Bible, to nations of the world. By the way, the Bible says that in the end time, when the battle of Armageddon occurs, that there will be unclean spirits that will influence the kings of the earth to gather against the people of Israel. The devil is focusing on Israel. The devil’s plan is to hurt Israel and the Messiah. That’s clear in the prophecies of the Old Testament as well as the book of Revelation. And some of us don’t understand that in international affairs, there are demons assigned to the political leaders of all of these countries, influencing them how? Primarily to turn their back on Israel. That’s the primary attack of the enemy. And as we watch history unfold, you tell me what’s happening. Who is influencing these national leaders? The princes, the leaders, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the principalities and powers, the spiritual wickedness in high places that Ephesians 6.12 tells us about. And Jesus Christ tolerates it and allows it to exist, that we might know that one of the the understandings of history that’s not in your history books is that there is a great angelic conflict going on all the time. There’s a war in the heavenlies between God’s good angels and Satan’s evil angels, and it is continuing, and it is a battle, and it is a fight that we don’t see. The Bible warns us in Ephesians 6.12, we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. Why do we keep fighting each other? The Bible says we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. Our fight is with the principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Why are we so upset? Bible says, whence come wars and fightings among you? This wisdom’s not from God, the Bible says. It’s devilish. It’s demonic. Demons are instructed by Satan to get us angry at one another, to find reasons why we don’t like each other, and to disagree and cause dissension and suspicion and envy and jealousy. Where is it all coming from? It’s coming from Satan, folks. And we need to understand it and oppose it with the armor of God. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We’re talking spiritual warfare here. And the Lord Jesus Christ tolerated this conflict for 21 days to emphasize to Daniel the seriousness of what is happening. Why was the conflict going on for 21 days? I think it’s absolutely fascinating. When Cyrus took over in 538 BC, he was going to continue the policy that Babylon had had towards the Jews in persecuting them and keeping them in captivity. But as we know, God intervened. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ himself intervened for the protection of his people. And we also know that in the opening days of the reign of Cyrus, which began in 538 BC, he changed his mind and in turn made a policy and a decree to let the Jews go back to their land. Who caused him to do that? The Bible says the king’s heart is in the Lord’s hand and he can turn it however he wants. God Almighty, through His Son, Jesus Christ, in a great struggle with the demonic forces that were assigned to Persia by Satan, go after them. Make them continue to persecute the people of God. And Jesus Christ Himself intervenes. 21 days all the time, Daniel’s on his knees, pouring out his heart, mourning, fasting, doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s just troubled because he heard the vision of persecution and a long period of persecution for the people of Israel. I find this is indeed a remarkable passage and gives us a lot of insight as to what’s really going on. We said the explanation of vision caused Daniel to be afraid. It came to Daniel and answered a prayer. It contained a message that was hindered by a so-called prince of the kingdom of Persia, none other than satanic forces. And the fourth thing is that it concerned a future time. for the people of Israel. The devil’s been trying to interrupt that time. He’s tried to cause persecution of Israel in such a colossal manner, including the Holocaust under Hitler, so that somehow he could thwart the overall purpose of God, which Satan himself knows is coming. We learn in verse 14, “‘Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people.'” nation of Israel, in the latter days. For the vision refers to many days yet to come. The vision will encompass all of history from the time of Daniel, clear to the end of the tribulation period and the setting up of the kingdom of God on earth. It concerned a future time for the people of Israel. Back to verse 13. Michael, who’s the archangel, there’s only one archangel, not two. He’s Michael. And to our JW friends who insist that Jesus is Michael the Archangel, I say to you with as much love but confrontation, you are an abomination to God for your view. I pray that God will open your eyes. Jesus Christ, the man clothed in linen, is not Michael the Archangel, and Daniel 10 proves it. May God help them. He is the living Lord. He is God Almighty in human flesh. We better understand what this passage is saying. Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. You say, why would the Lord need help? Well, you tell me even why he went through the temptation with Satan and why he allowed the angels to come and minister to him. Why? Because he did it for us, that we would learn that God’s… Angels are ministering spirits, says Hebrews 1.14, to help us. The good angels, thank God, are involved in our protection. There’s a host of the angels of God encamped around those who trust in him. Why? Because there’s another host of demons that are trying to wipe you and me out. And I thank God for the good angels. I don’t know how many you need. People sometimes ask me, do you believe in a guardian angel? No, I believe in lots of them. Amen. Some of us need more than others, amen? We get into so much trouble. Thank God there’s a few good angels around to help us in the conflict. It concerned a future time for the people of Israel.
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That’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. We’ll have more teaching from Daniel chapter 10 by David in just a moment. First though, Matt’s here, and we have a special resource offer that you won’t want to miss.
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Amen. Oh man, before I forget, you know, right now, friends, you can get David’s complete audio series through the book of Daniel. This is what we’re sharing currently on radio. The complete series all the way through Daniel, each and every message, just $30 for the full set. It’s powerful verse-by-verse teaching that takes you deep into God’s prophetic plan. It’ll help you save and preserve everything that you’re hearing currently on radio by David from the book of Daniel. To order, call 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also purchase online at davidhawking.org. And if you remember, David mentioned the financial need of this ministry at the start of today’s broadcast. And if God is leading you to help, well, we’d be honored to hear from you. And your gift would be very timely. We do need the help right now. Your gifts don’t just keep a radio program on the air. They help us bring the truth of God’s Word to people who are desperate for answers, searching for hope, and longing for a deeper walk with the Lord. So if God is stirring your heart to give, no matter the amount, Please know that it matters. Write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S, 8P1. To make a contribution by phone, call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And of course, as we’ve mentioned, you can give online securely at davidhawking.org. And thank you. Thank you for standing with us, co-laboring with us in ministry. Let’s get back to David.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thanks for listening to our broadcast today in Chapter 10, The Subject is a Vision of the Messiah. Now, Daniel at age 85 is talking about this vision actually for three chapters. And it began with an encounter with a man clothed in linen. And that brought great terror upon the men who were with Daniel, according to verse 7. And it remained as an overwhelming vision that literally weakened Daniel. This is an amazing prophecy of the Messiah himself. After this, you’ll want to read Revelation 1, which is a vision of the Messiah as well. So there shouldn’t be any doubt about his greatness and his power, what he can do exceeding abundantly above all we could ever ask or think. Now, Daniel’s an old guy. I appreciate that. I’m an old guy too, but I’ll tell you, he understood a lot of things that were given to him, but about the future, not really clearly understood, and he will tell you that. So the vision is going to be quite long and continue through these last three chapters of Daniel. Well, thank you for listening. Don’t forget our Daniel commentary, and you can order your copy. It’s only $20. It’s a big commentary with a great amount of information that we don’t even mention on the air. So, God bless you, and plan to be with us for what will be, I think, maybe a final message on this chapter 10.
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Well, thank you, David. And friend, you can get that commentary on Daniel. It’s titled Daniel Prophecies of the Last Days at davidhawking.org or by calling us at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, Bible 24253. Well, next time on the broadcast, day three of A Vision of the Messiah. Daniel’s strength is gone, but God, God lifts him up with a touch and a message of hope. Well, don’t miss it. Invite a friend to listen along with you for day three of A Vision of the Messiah, right here on Hope for Today.
Join us for a deep dive into the book of Daniel as bible teacher and author David Hawking explores the powerful vision experienced by Daniel. This episode unravels the layers of the spiritual conflict depicted in Daniel 10, exposing the principalities and powers at play in the heavenly realms. Through meticulous study, Hawking guides listeners in re-discovering the glorified image of Christ and reflects on the profound implications of spiritual warfare on our faith and world affairs.
