Daniel 10.13-14.doc

Daniel 10:13-14 Daniel 10:13-The Prince of Persia Opposed the Unidentified Angel Talking to Daniel for Three Weeks Until Michael Came to His Aid Review of Daniel 10:1-12 Daniel 10:1 During Cyrus’s third year, king over Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel who was called by his name Belteshazzar. Specifically this message was truth and concerning a great conflict because he understood this message, yes he possessed understanding concerning this revelation. (Author’s translation) Daniel 10:1 marks a transition from the account of the revelation Daniel received during the first year of Darius the Mede’s reign as king over the Babylonians to the account of the revelation he received during the third year of Cyrus the Persian. The former appears in Daniel chapter nine. This would indicate that Daniel received this revelation from God through an elect angel in 536 B.C. since this was the third year of the reign of Cyrus king of Persia. In Daniel 11:2-12:13, in 536 B.C. Daniel receives his fourth and final prophetic revelation, which concerns itself with the future of the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles. This was the year that the Jewish exiles in Babylon were returning from Babylon and had begun rebuilding the temple. Thus, Israel’s captivity in Babylon had come to an end when Daniel received this revelation from God. He was approximately eighty-four years of age at this time. Daniel tells the reader that he received a message, which he describes as “truth” which refers to truth in an objective sense as revelation of God’s will in relation to Israel, which is concerning the future of Israel from Daniel’s perspective in the sixth century B.C. The prophecy recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13 is truth in the sense that it is prophetic revelation from God regarding His prophetic program for the nation of Israel. This revelation makes clear that Israel will be at war or engaged in armed conflicts until the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which terminates the seventy weeks. The revelation that is presented to the reader in Daniel 11-12 concerns itself with war up to the end of the seventy weeks which culminates in the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. These last two chapters in the book of Daniel reveal that there will be great conflict in the future for Israel during the Times of the Gentiles extending up to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. Daniel was able to tell the reader that this prophetic revelation from God was concerning a great war because this was clear to him from the message which was communicated to him by the unidentified elect angel. Therefore, Daniel understood from this revelation which appears in chapters 11 and 12 that Israel would have no peace but would constantly be at war until the seventy weeks had come to an end. She would have no peace until the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Daniel 10:2 During those days, I myself, Daniel caused myself to enter the state of mourning for three weeks. (Author’s translation) So here in Daniel 10:2, Daniel transitions from employing the third person in the narrative as he did in Daniel 10:1 to using the first person emphasizing that this is his personal account of what he saw and heard when he received this fourth and final prophetic revelation from God concerning the future of the nation of Israel. He says that he caused himself to enter the state of mourning. In Daniel 10:3, he tells the reader that he expressed his sorrow by fasting and by not putting on any ointment for three weeks. The obvious question is why was Daniel causing himself to enter into the state of mourning? As we noted in our study of Daniel 10:1, the Jewish exiles were returning from Babylon to Israel and had begun rebuilding the temple. So why this behavior on the part of this great prophet of God? Was he in mourning because he was interceding for the Jewish exiles who had yet to repent? Was he interceding for them again in prayer? Daniel does not tell us why he was mourning. Therefore, we have to compare Scripture. One reason why he could have been mourning is because many of the Jewish exiles continued to stay in Babylon even though they were free to return to the land of Israel. Daniel had a good reason why he could not return, namely he was a high governmental official in Babylon serving Darius the Mede who served under Cyrus the Persian. Remember during Cyrus’ first year he issued a decree which permitted the Jewish exiles to leave Babylon and return to their homeland (cf. Ezra 1). However, Ezra 2:64 says that only 42,360 returned, which is a rather small number. This same number appears in Nehemiah 7:66. However, it is difficult to understand how this number is reached, since the numbers of people listed in the constituent groups do not add up to 42,360. The list in vv. Ezra 2:3-60 apparently is not intended to be exhaustive, but the basis of the selectivity is unclear. Another reason why Daniel could have been mourning was that he heard of the enemies of the Jews opposing them (cf. Ezra 4:4-5). On the anniversary of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, a new exodus had begun during the first year of Cyrus the Persian, namely the Jewish exiles exodus from Babylon to Israel (Ezra 1). However, it met with great discouragement early on (cf. Ezra 3:12-4:5). The work of rebuilding the temple came to a complete stop because of Israel’s enemies (cf. Ezra 4:24). It would take another two decades before the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem would be completed (Zechariah 4:7). God’s plan was moving according to schedule even though Daniel may not have realized this fact. Daniel 10:3 I never ate expensive choice food or meat. Also, wine never entered into my mouth likewise I never anointed myself with oil until the end of the three weeks. (Author’s translation) Daniel explains what he means in verse 2 that he was mourning. He expressed this morning by never eating choice expensive food or meat, which of course was ceremonially clean according to the dietary laws of the Mosaic Law. He also never drank wine, which was also clean in that it was not dedicated to idols. Lastly, he says he never anointed himself with oil. All of these actions expressed Daniel’s grief. So here in Daniel 10:3, Daniel is telling the reader that he expressed this mourning over these two things by going on a fast for three weeks. He was fasting for three weeks out of concern for his fellow Jewish countrymen and as an expression of seeking God’s will concerning this matter of his people. Daniel 10:4 Then, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month while I myself was beside that great river, namely the Tigris. (Author’s translation) Daniel continues to describe his circumstances when he received his fourth and final prophetic revelation from God concerning the future of the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles. He informs the reader that he was by the banks of the Tigris river, which is located in eastern modern Iraq on the twenty-fourth day of the first month when he received this final revelation from God. “The first month” is a reference to the first month in the Jewish calendar, namely Nisan. Its early name was “Abib.” This month was known was the month of flowers (Nehemiah 2:1) and is the first month of the Jewish sacred year, which corresponds to March and April. The Passover took place on the fourteenth day of this month (Exodus 12:1-11; Leviticus 23:5). Of course, Jesus Christ was crucified on the Passover. Also the Feast of Unleavened Bread took place from the fifteenth day of this month to the twentieth day of this month (Leviticus 23:6-8). On the twenty-first day of this month, Israel observed the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14). So Daniel informs the reader of the exact day in which he received this fourth and final prophetic revelation from God. He does this in order to signify to the reader the significance and importance of this revelation. Daniel might have chosen the month of Nisan as a time for prayer and fasting because Passover, which occurs during this month, was the time of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Thus, Daniel may have associated Israel’s deliverance from Egypt with the present deliverance of the Jewish exiles from Babylon occurring in his day. Daniel says that he was by the banks of the Tigris river, which is located in modern eastern Iraq. The question arises as to why Daniel did not return to Israel with the Jewish exiles from Babylon? He did not return because quite simply he was serving in the city of Babylon under Darius the Mede. If you recall, in Daniel 6:2, Darius established one hundred twenty satraps over the Babylonian kingdom he was ruling in order that they would be in authority over the entire kingdom. Also, out from these men, he appointed three supervisors over the hundred seventeen. Daniel was one of these three. Daniel 6:4 says that Daniel was distinguishing himself above the supervisors as well as satraps because an extraordinary spirit was in him. Consequently, the king intended to establish him over the entire kingdom. Of course Daniel’s fellow satraps conspired to kill him but God delivered him from death. Their conspiracy against Daniel was exposed and the king executed them. Thus, Daniel became the ruler of the satraps. So he remained in Babylon because of his duties. Thus, he mentions his Babylonian name here in Daniel 10:1 as an indication as to where he was located. Also, Daniel could have mentioned his Babylonian name to remind the reader that he who was writing was the same Daniel mentioned earlier in the book that bears his name. Daniel 10:5 While I lifted up my eyes, I then stared as behold there was a certain man dressed in linen. Specifically, his waist was girded with gold from Uphaz. (Author’s translation) Here in verse 5 Daniel begins to describe for the reader a unidentified individual who appeared to him by the banks of the Tigris river during the third year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian. He says that he lifted up his eyes and saw this man, which implies that his eyes were looking downward maybe indicating he was meditating or in prayer to God. Daniel does not tell us what he was doing while by the banks of the Tigris. The interjection hin·nē(h), “behold” draws the attention of the reader in order to mark that what Daniel saw was impressive and astounding to him. Daniel tells the reader that this individual was “dressed in linen,” which consisted of several parts. Daniel hen proceeds to describe specifically this man’s clothing. He first says that his waist was girded with gold from Uphaz. Now many Bible scholars believe that Daniel 10:4-9 is what we call in theology, a “theophany” or “Christophany.” A theophany or Christophany are theological terms used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ. Others interpret this as a vision of an elect angel of God such as Gabriel. However, if one compares the account in Daniel 10:4-11 with the account of the apostle John’s vision of the resurrected, glorified Christ in Revelation 1:13-16, it appears that Daniel saw a vision of the preincarnate Christ. John’s description of the glorified resurrected Christ is similar to Daniel’s description of the supernatural being he saw. Further indicating that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ is the response of Daniel’s friends to this vision, which is similar to the response of those who saw the vision Paul saw of the resurrected Christ at his conversion recorded in Acts 9:1-7. Another indication that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ is that the man he saw could very well be “the Son of Man” in Daniel 7:13. There are those who argue that it is unlikely that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ since they see that this individual was hindered by a prince (fallen angel) of Persia (10:13) and that he needed the help from the arch-angel Michael. But this has problems, since Daniel could have received this vision of Christ, then fell asleep and then was awakened by an elect angel. After the vision recorded in Daniel 10:4-8, Daniel tells the reader in verse 9 that he fell into a deep sleep. Then in verse 10, an elect angel touches him. That this is an angel speaking to Daniel throughout the rest of the chapter is clearly indicated. Therefore, the man who appeared to Daniel in 10:4-7 is not the same individual who woke him up and spoke to him in 10:10-12:4. So Daniel could have very well received a vision of the preincarnate Christ, then fell into a deep sleep but then was awakened by an elect angel. Furthermore, in Daniel 12:6, Daniel says that an unidentified elect angel spoke to the very same man dressed in linen who appeared in Daniel 10:4-7. This man dressed in linen was above the waters of the river. This unidentified elect angel asked this man dressed in linen a question, namely how long it would be until the end of these wondrous events recorded in chapters 10-12. Daniel 12:7 records the man dressed in linen answering the question of this unidentified elect angel. The man dressed in linen possesses a knowledge that transcended that of the other angels such as this unidentified elect angel and he even takes a divine oath. This man dressed in linen has an exalted position above the waters suggesting he is superior to this unidentified elect angel. On the other hand, it could be argued that in Daniel 12 we have a conversation between two elect angels, namely this unidentified elect angel and an unidentified angel. However, the apostle John’s description of Christ in Revelation 1:13-16 is very similar to Daniel’s description in Daniel 10:4-7. The description of the response to Paul’s vision of Christ by his traveling companions in Acts 9:1-7 is similar to the response of Daniel’s companions to the vision he received. Furthermore, in Daniel 10:4-7, Daniel was not describing Gabriel because he had already appeared to Daniel in chapters eight and nine and he did not describe this angel in the same way as he does here in chapter ten. This implies that what Daniel is describing here in Daniel 10:4-9 is not a vision of Gabriel or any other elect angel but someone who is to be distinguished and is distinguished from the angels and is superior to them. Interestingly, the gold belt around the waist of this unidentified man in Daniel 10:5 suggests that this person was a king or a judge since in the ancient world a gold belt was worn by wealthy and royal classes of people. Daniel 10:6 His torso like chrysolite, his face like a glittering appearance, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms as well as his legs like the appearance of polished bronze, and in addition the sound of his words like the sound of a large crowd. (Author’s translation) In Daniel 10:5, Daniel begins to describe for the reader a unidentified individual who appeared to him by the banks of the Tigris river during the third year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian. In this verse, he says that he lifted up his eyes and saw this man, which implies that his eyes were looking downward maybe indicating he was meditating or in prayer to God. Daniel does not tell us what he was doing while by the banks of the Tigris. The interjection hin·nē(h), “behold” in verse 5 draws the attention of the reader in order to mark that what Daniel saw was impressive and astounding to him. Daniel tells the reader that this individual was “dressed in linen,” which consisted of several parts. Daniel then proceeds to describe specifically this man’s clothing at the end of verse 5. He first says that his waist was girded with gold from Uphaz. Now, here in Daniel 10:6, he continues his description of this unidentified man by describing for the reader the appearance of the torso of this man as well as his face, eyes, arms and legs as well as his voice or the sound of this man’s words. He describes this man’s torso as being like chrysolite, his face like a glittering appearance, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the appearance of polished bronze. Lastly, he describes the voice of this mysterious individual as like the sound of a large crowd or multitude. Many Bible scholars believe that Daniel 10:4-7 is what we call in theology, a “theophany” or “Christophany.” A theophany or Christophany are theological terms used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ. Others interpret this as a vision of an elect angel of God such as Gabriel. However, if one compares the account in Daniel 10:4-11 with the account of the apostle John’s vision of the resurrected, glorified Christ in Revelation 1:13-16, it appears that Daniel saw a vision of the preincarnate Christ. John’s description of the glorified resurrected Christ is similar to Daniel’s description of the supernatural being he saw. If we compare Revelation 1:13-16 with Daniel 10:4-7 there are many similarities. John describes Christ as having a robe reaching to the feet and a golden sash girded across His chest. Daniel does not mention these things in the revelation he received from God. However, he does mention that the waist of the man who appeared to him was girded with gold. John says that Christ’s head and hair was white like snow. Daniel does not mention this about the man he saw. John describes Christ’s eyes were like a flame of fire. Daniel says that the eyes of the man he saw were like flaming torches. John says that the legs and feet of Christ were like burnished bronze. Daniel describes the legs of the man he saw as like polished bronze. John says that Christ’s voice was like the sound of many waters whereas Daniel describes the voice of the man who appeared to him as sounding like a large crowd or multitude. John does not describe the torso of Christ in his revelation whereas Daniel says that the torso of the man he saw was like chrysolite. John describes the face of Christ and so does Daniel. The latter describes the man dressed in linen as having a glittering face and the former says that Christ’s face was shining like the sun at full strength. John says that he fell at the feet of Christ like a dead man which is similar to Daniel’s response to the appearance of the man he saw since he says that all his strength left him and he fell into a deep sleep when he heard the sound of this man’s words. Therefore, we can see that when John describes the eyes, legs and voice of Christ they correspond to Daniel’s description of the eyes, legs and voice of the man he saw in his revelation. Further indicating that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ is the response of Daniel’s friends to this vision, which is similar to the response of those who saw the vision Paul saw of the resurrected Christ at his conversion recorded in Acts 9. Another indication that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ is that the man he saw could very well be “the Son of Man” in Daniel 7:13. There are those who argue that it is unlikely that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ since they see that this individual was hindered by a prince (fallen angel) of Persia (10:13) and that he needed the help from the arch-angel Michael. But this has problems, since Daniel could have received this vision of Christ, then fell asleep and then was awakened by an elect angel. After the vision recorded in Daniel 10:4-8, Daniel tells the reader in verse 9 that he fell into a deep sleep. Then in verse 10, an elect angel touches him. That this is an angel speaking to Daniel throughout the rest of the chapter is clearly indicated. Therefore, the man who appeared to Daniel in 10:4-7 is not the same individual who woke him up and spoke to him in 10:10-12:4. So Daniel could have very well received a vision of the preincarnate Christ, then fell into a deep sleep but then was awakened by an elect angel. Furthermore, in Daniel 12:6, Daniel says that an unidentified elect angel spoke to the very same man dressed in linen who appeared in Daniel 10:4-7. This man dressed in linen was above the waters of the river. This unidentified elect angel asked this man dressed in linen a question, namely how long it would be until the end of these wondrous events recorded in chapters 10-12. Daniel 12:7 records the man dressed in linen answering the question of this unidentified elect angel. The man dressed in linen possesses a knowledge that transcended that of the other angels such as this unidentified elect angel and he even takes a divine oath. This man dressed in linen has an exalted position above the waters suggesting he is superior to this unidentified elect angel. On the other hand, it could be argued that in Daniel 12 we have a conversation between two elect angels, namely this unidentified elect angel and an unidentified angel. However, the apostle John’s description of Christ in Revelation 1:13-16 is very similar to Daniel’s description in Daniel 10:4-7. The description of the response to Paul’s vision of Christ by his traveling companions in Acts 9:1-7 is similar to the response of Daniel’s companions to the vision he received. Furthermore, in Daniel 10:4-7, Daniel was not describing Gabriel because he had already appeared to Daniel in chapters eight and nine and he did not describe this angel in the same way as he does here in chapter ten. This implies that what Daniel is describing here in Daniel 10:4-9 is not a vision of Gabriel or any other elect angel but someone who is to be distinguished and is distinguished from the angels and is superior to them. Interestingly, the gold belt around the waist of this unidentified man in Daniel 10:5 suggests that this person was a king or a judge since in the ancient world a gold belt was worn by wealthy and royal classes of people. Daniel 10:7 Now, I myself, Daniel alone saw this revelatory vision while the men who were with me never saw this revelatory vision. However, a great panic fell upon them. In fact, they fled because they were hiding themselves. (Author’s translation) Daniel 10:7 marks a transition from Daniel’s account of the revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ to his account of the affect that this event had on his companions as well as himself. He received this revelatory vision while he was by the banks of the Tigris river during the third year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian who was the ruler of the Medo-Persian Empire at that time. Daniel informs the reader for the first time that he was not alone when he received this revelatory vision. He does not name the individuals with him or how many they were. He only tells the reader that they were men and not women and that there was more than one man with him when all this took place by the banks of the Tigris. Daniel says that he alone saw this revelatory vision while the men with him never saw it. However, he says that even though they did not see this revelatory vision, a great panic fell upon them. In fact, they ran away because they were hiding themselves from the presence of the preincarnate Christ who they could not see. So this tells us that the presence of Christ can cause human beings great fear. This is noted in other passages of Scriptures as well (cf. Genesis 3:8; 28:17; Revelation 6:16). The response of Daniel’s companions parallels the response of those who accompanied Saul to Damascus when he was knocked off his horse by the resurrected Christ recorded in Acts 9:1-7. Like Daniel’s companions, they never saw Christ like Daniel and Saul did. This serves as evidence that Daniel saw the preincarnate Christ rather than an elect angel since both Daniel’s friends and Saul’s friends did not see Christ but both experienced great fear from being in His presence which prompted both to flee in order to hide themselves. The men who were with Saul were unbelievers since they were helping him persecute Christians. Thus, when they were in the presence of Christ, they fled in fear. There is a good chance that the men accompanying Daniel were unbelievers as well because their reaction to the presence of Christ is one of fear as well. In the case with Saul’s companions and Daniel’s companions, they could not see Christ but they could sense His presence. Also, Christ caused Himself to be seen and heard by Saul and Daniel because they were believers and wanted to reveal His glory to these men. Daniel 10:8 Thus, I myself was left alone while staring at this great revelatory vision. However, absolutely no strength was left in me. Also, to my dismay, my facial appearance was transformed into a deathly pale state. Indeed, I retained absolutely no strength. (Author’s translation) After describing the affect this revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ had on the men with him, Daniel describes its affect on himself. Here in verse 8, he begins this description by reiterating that he was left alone while staring at this great revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ. He was alone as a result of his companions fleeing the scene because they were hiding themselves from the presence of the preincarnate Christ who they could not see. He describes this revelatory vision as great because of the physical affect it had on him. He possessed absolutely no muscular strength in his body as a result of coming into contact with the preincarnate Christ. It was also great because it was unique in the sense that it was a revelation of the Son of God. Then, he tells the reader that to his dismay, his facial appearance was transformed into a deathly pale state. The blood drained from his face so that he was deathly pale. This was due to his emotional response to this revelatory vision. No doubt he experienced great fear just as the apostle John did when he saw a vision of the resurrected Christ (cf. Revelation 1:12-20). Daniel 10:8 concludes with Daniel reiterating that he retained absolutely no strength in his physical body as a result of coming into contact with this great revelatory vision. Therefore, Daniel is describing the emotional and physical affects that he experienced as a result of coming into contact with this great revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ. Daniel’s response to coming into contact with the preincarnate Christ should not be considered unusual since he was still a sinner by nature and practice when he comes into the presence of the Lord. Coming into contact with God who is holy produces fear in those who are sinners. Of course, Daniel was a believer but nonetheless his sinful state still caused him to become fearful in the presence of the Holy One. Daniel was totally and completely incapacitated as a result of the Son of God coming into his presence. Daniel’s reaction to this revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ parallels the apostle John’s response to being in the presence of the resurrected, glorified Christ recorded in Revelation 1:12-20. Daniel 10:9 However, despite this, I could hear the sound of his words. In fact, as soon as I myself heard the sound of his words, I myself was then caused to enter the state of being in a deep sleep on my face, yes my face to the ground. (Author’s translation) Daniel continues to describe his account of coming into contact with the preincarnate Christ by informing the reader that despite the fact that he had absolutely no physical strength while staring at this great revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ, he could still hear the words of Christ. He then advances upon this statement by telling the reader that as soon as he heard the words of the preincarnate Christ, he was then caused to enter the state of being in a deep trance-like sleep with his face to the ground. So verse 9 like verse 8 presents the physical affect caused by being in the presence of the preincarnate Christ. His reaction to this revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ parallels the apostle John’s response to being in the presence of the resurrected, glorified Christ (cf. Revelation 1:12-20). Now, if you recall in Daniel 8:18, being in the presence of Gabriel also caused Daniel to enter into a deep sleep. This does not indicate here in Daniel 10 that Daniel came into contact with the elect angel Gabriel. Rather the evidence from the Scriptures would indicate that he had come into contact with preincarnate Christ in Daniel 10:5-9. This is indicated by several factors. If one compares the account in Daniel 10:4-11 with the account of the apostle John’s vision of the resurrected, glorified Christ in Revelation 1:13-16, it appears that Daniel saw a vision of the preincarnate Christ. John’s description of the glorified resurrected Christ is similar to Daniel’s description of the supernatural being he saw. Here in Daniel 10:9, the fact that Daniel’s face is to the ground is an appropriate posture for the sinner saved by grace when in the presence of their Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Daniel’s response parallels Ezekiel’s response when in the presence of God (cf. Ezekiel 1:28; Matthew 17:1-6). His response to coming into contact with the Son of God is be expected since he was still a sinner by nature and practice and God is holy. Coming into contact with God who is holy produces fear in those who are sinners. Of course, Daniel was a believer but nonetheless his sinful state still caused him to become fearful in the presence of the Holy One. Daniel was totally and completely incapacitated as a result of the Son of God coming into his presence. Undoubtedly, the Lord was honoring Daniel’s lifetime of faithfulness to Him by revealing Himself to Daniel in such a manner. This Christophany or Theophany was a reward to Daniel for a lifetime of faithfulness. This is indicated by the unidentified angel telling Daniel that he was held in high esteem by God and the elect angels in Daniel 10:11 and 19. Daniel 10:10 Then, behold, a hand touched me. Next, it set me trembling on my knees and the palms of my hands. (Author’s translation) After falling into a deep sleep with his face to the ground as a result of receiving a revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ, Daniel tells the reader that a hand touched him. Then, it set him trembling on his knees and the palms of his hands. Who does this hand belong to? The individual appears to be an unidentified elect angel of God which is indicated by the conversation between Daniel and this angel recorded in Daniel 10:11-12:13. In these verses, there is no mention of the angel Gabriel who appeared to Daniel in chapters 7, 8 and 9. In fact, in Daniel 8:16, God orders Gabriel by name to interpret the vision He gave Daniel during the third year of Belshazzar’s reign. Then, in Daniel 9:21, Daniel identifies Gabriel as the one whom he saw in the vision recorded in chapter eight which he received during the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede. Therefore, if Gabriel is the one touching Daniel here in Daniel 10:10, we would expect him to identify him by name as he does in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21. However, he does not and there is nothing in Daniel 10:11-12:13 which would suggest Gabriel is speaking to Daniel in this passage and thus would be the one touching Daniel in Daniel 10:10. The hand that touches Daniel does not belong to the man in the revelatory vision recorded in Daniel 10:4-9 whose presence caused Daniel to fall into a deep sleep with his face to the ground. This again is indicated by the fact that the hand belongs to the man speaking to Daniel in the rest of the chapter which makes clear this is an angel. This is indicated by the fact that Daniel 10:11 connects the hand to the individual speaking to Daniel in the rest of the chapter. In verse 11, the text say that “he” spoke to Daniel, which would indicate that this is telling us the hand belongs to the one speaking to Daniel. Therefore, in Daniel 10:10, the unidentified individual who touches Daniel and rouses him from his deep sleep and sets him on his hands and knees is an elect-angel but not Gabriel. Daniel 10:11 Immediately after this, he said, “O Daniel, a precious man. Please understand the message which I myself am about to communicate to you. Therefore, please stand in your place because for your benefit, I have been sent.” Consequently when he communicated this statement for my benefit, I stood shaking. (Author’s translation) Immediately after an unidentified elect angel touched Daniel and set him trembling on his knees and the palms of his hands, this angelic being then spoke to the shaken man of God. This angel communicated to Daniel a commendation as well as a request. He commends Daniel by informing him that he was considered precious by God as well as his fellow elect angels. He then requests that Daniel understand the prophetic message he was about to communicate to him. This prophetic message is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13 and contains revelation regarding God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel. The angel then tells Daniel the reason for his request. Therefore, because this angel wanted Daniel to understand this prophetic message, he wanted him stand up because he was sent to Daniel for his benefit. Daniel then tells the reader that he complied with the angel’s second request and stood up so as to receive this prophetic message. First of all, let’s deal with the commendation. The book of Daniel reveals there were many reasons why God considered Daniel precious in His sight. First of all, he was obedient to His Word even to the point of death. In chapter one, he refused to eat Nebuchadnezzar’s food and drink his wine since this would have made him ceremonially unclean. In chapter six, he was devoted to God in prayer to the point of self-sacrifice. He refused to obey the king’s edict which prohibited the people in his kingdom from praying to their god for a month. Daniel continued to pray three times a day as was his custom despite this edict. He suffered the death penalty but was delivered by God. Connected to this is that those who conspired against Daniel and manipulated Darius to issue this edict could find no fault in Daniel with regards to his position in the government. Thus he had personal integrity. Daniel was also dependent upon God as evidenced by the fact that he and his three friends turned to God in prayer when they were under the sentence of death because Nebuchadnezzar ordered the death of all the wise men since they could not tell him the content of his dream. This dependence demonstrated his humility. In chapter nine, Daniel demonstrates his great love for his fellow Jewish countrymen by interceding in prayer for them to God. The content of his prayer demonstrated that his soul was saturated with the Word of God. Thus, chapter nine again reveals that he was a man of prayer and the Word. Daniel’s prayer was prompted by the revelation God gave Jeremiah, which said that after seventy years in Babylon, God would return the Jews to the land of promise. Daniel immediately entered into prayer that this would take place. Thus, he was praying according to the will of God and was desiring what God wanted. This too is another reason why God considered Daniel precious in His sight. Another reason why God considered Daniel precious in His sight is Daniel’s prayer in chapter nine because it reveals that he was greatly concerned about God’s reputation among the heathen. The destruction of this city and the deportation of the Jews to Babylon has caused the Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God. Thus, Daniel wants God to fulfill his request because he wants the Gentiles to stop blaspheming God because of the sins of the Jews. So Daniel is making this request of God in chapter nine because of His reputation among the nations and not because of any merit on the part of the Jewish exiles. Daniel’s godly character prompted God to immediately send Gabriel to him and give him not only the answer to his prayer but also much more than he asked for. God considered Daniel precious, He loved Daniel because of Daniel’s great love for Him as demonstrated by his obedience to His law. God loved Daniel because of Daniel’s great love for his people as demonstrated by his prayer for them. Thus, God’s great respect for Daniel assured His willingness to answer not only Daniel’s prayer but to provide him with more than he asked for. No doubt, the Lord was honoring Daniel’s lifetime of faithfulness to Him by revealing Himself to Daniel in such a manner. The Christophany or Theophany recorded in Daniel 10:4-9 was a reward to him for a lifetime of faithfulness. This is indicated by the unidentified angel telling Daniel that he was held in high esteem by God and the elect angels in Daniel 10:11 and 19. The angel’s first request in Daniel 10:11 deals with Daniel understanding the prophetic message which is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13 and is first mentioned in Daniel 10:1. When making his second request in Daniel 10:11 that Daniel stand up because for his benefit, he had been sent to him by God, the unidentified angel reveals another role he and his fellow angels fulfill in relation to human beings who are God’s people, namely, communicating revelation of God’s will. The fact that Daniel is shaking while standing when receiving this revelation from God is the direct result of fear from coming into contact with the preincarnate Christ recorded in Daniel 10:4-9 as well as this angelic being. His response to coming into contact with the preincarnate Christ should not be considered unusual since he was still a sinner by nature and practice when he comes into the presence of the Lord who is holy. Coming into contact with God who is holy produces fear in those who are sinners. Of course, Daniel was a believer but nonetheless his sinful state still caused him to become fearful in the presence of the Holy One and this elect angel. Daniel was totally and completely incapacitated as a result of the Son of God coming into his presence and this angelic being. Daniel 10:12 Then, he said to me, “Please do not be terrified, Daniel, because from the first day that you applied your heart in order to understand as well as to humble yourself in the presence of your God, your words were heard. Consequently, I myself have come because of your words.” (Author’s translation) Once Daniel responds to the elect’s angel request to stand up, he proceeds to assure Daniel by requesting that he would no longer be terrified. Of course, Daniel was no doubt terrified of the revelatory vision of the preincarnate Christ as well as the presence of this angelic being. The angel then tells Daniel the reason why he should not be terrified, namely because from the first day that Daniel applied his heart in order to understand as well as to humble himself in the presence of God, his words were heard. Thus, the angel informs Daniel that he had come to visit Daniel because of his words, which is a reference to his prayer. Daniel was not praying with regards to a vision God gave him but rather he was interceding in prayer for the Jews who were not returning from exile as well as praying for the returning Jewish exiles and the opposition they were facing. This helps to understand why the angel said in Daniel 10:12 that Daniel applied his heart in order to understand. He applied his heart to understand because of the failure of many Jews to return to their homeland as well as for those who did return but were experiencing great adversity and persecution in their homeland. It also helps to understand why the angel said that Daniel humbled himself before God. He humbled himself for three weeks for the same reasons he applied his heart to understand. Therefore, Daniel applied his heart to understand God’s will with regards to those Jews who were not returning to their homeland. He was also applying his heart to understand God’s will with regards to those Jews who did return but were facing great adversity and persecution. He humbled himself in the presence of God because of these two situations with his fellow Jews. Daniel was looking for assurance from God that everything would turn out alright for his fellow Jewish countrymen in his day. He was seeking assurance regarding the future of his people. However, God again gave him much more than he asked for since this prophetic message recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13 presents to him the prophetic future of the nation of Israel up to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. Thus, in Daniel 10:12, the expression “your words” which occurs twice in this verse is a reference to Daniel’s prayer with regards to the future of his nation. The Prince of Persia Opposed the Angel Talking to Daniel for Three Weeks Daniel 10:13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” (NASB95) “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬but‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬masculine‭ ‬singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬śǎr‭ (‬שַׂר‭) (‬sar‭)‬,‭ “‬the prince of‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬feminine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬mǎl∙ḵûṯ‭ (‬מַלְכוּת‭) (‬mal-kooth‭)‬,‭ “‬the kingdom of‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬feminine singular proper noun‭ ‬pā·rǎs‭ (‬פָּרַס‭) (‬paw-ras‭´)‬,‭ “‬Persia‭” ‬and then we have the masculine singular qal active participle form of the verb‭ ‬ʿā∙mǎḏ‭ (‬עָמַד‭) (‬aw-mad‭)‬,‭ “‬withstanding‭” ‬which‭ ‬is followed by‭ ‬the‭ ‬preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) ‬which is not‭ ‬translated and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬ně·ḡěḏ‭ (‬נֶגֶד‭) (‬neh‭´‬-ghed‭)‬,‭ ‬and then we have‭ ‬the first person singular pronominal suffix‭ ‬ʾǎnî‭ (‬אֲנִי‭) (‬an-ee‭)‬,‭ “‬me‭” ‬which is followed by the masculine plural cardinal number‭ ‬ʿěś‭·‬rîm‭ (‬עֶשְׂרִים‭) (‬es-reem‭´)‬,‭ ‬and then we have the‭ ‬conjunction‭ ‬wa‭ (‬וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ ‬which is not translated and followed by the‭ ‬singular cardinal number‭ ‬ʾě∙ḥāḏ‭ (‬אֶחָד‭) (‬ekh-aw‭)‬,‭ ‬which altogether are rendered‭ “‬twenty-one‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬yôm‭ (‬יוֹם‭) (‬yome‭)‬,‭ “‬days.‭” wa The conjunction wa means “but” since it is used in an adversative sense meaning that it is introducing a statement which stands in direct contrast to Daniel’s previous statement in verse 12 which records the unidentified elect angel informing Daniel that he had come in response to his prayer for his nation. It is introducing a statement which records this angel also telling Daniel that the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood him for three weeks until one of the chief princes, Michael came to his aid. Therefore, the contrast is between this angel delivering an answer to Daniel’s prayer and not being able to do so immediately because of opposition from the kingdom of darkness, which the prince of the kingdom of Persia was representing. Śǎr The singular form of the noun śǎr means “commander, leader, ruler” referring to an angelic leader or commander who ruled over the kingdom of Persia and who also led an army of non-elect angels who belonged to the kingdom of darkness led by Satan. The construct state of the noun śǎr means that it is governing the noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ, “the kingdom of,” which follows it. The construct state of this word means there is a genitive relation between these two words. The genitive relationship is one of subordination meaning that the noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ specifies that which is subordinated to or under the dominion of the head noun śǎr. This indicates that the non-elect angel of Satan who fought the elect angel who came to serve Daniel was the ruler “over” a kingdom which is identified as Persia. Mǎl∙ḵûṯ The noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ means “kingdom” in the sense of the territorial sphere of authority or control over the inhabitants of a particular group of people. The term refers to the boundaries of this authority and control, which were determined by the extent to which the ruler exercises his authority. Here it refers to the territorial sphere of authority or control of this angelic ruler over the inhabitants of the nation of Persia. This word refers to the fact that this ruler angel who belonged to Satan’s kingdom exercised authority and control over the inhabitants of a land who lived in an area of land which was controlled by Persia. The construct state of the noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ means that it is governing the proper noun pā·rǎs, “Persia” expressing a genitive relation between the two words, which is possession indicating that this kingdom “belongs to” Persia. pā·rǎs The proper noun mā·ḏǎy means “Medes” who were the inhabitants of northwest Iran, southwest of the Caspian Sea and north of the Zagros Mountains. This nation covered the modern province of Azerbaijan and part of Persian Kurdistan. The proper noun pā·rǎs means “Persians” who inhabitant an area which corresponds to the modern state of Iran. They were actually a vast collection of states and kingdoms reaching from the shores of Asia Minor in the west to the Indus River Valley in the east. It reached northward to southern Russia and in the south included Egypt and the regions bordering the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. ʿā∙mǎḏ The verb ʿā∙mǎḏ means “to stand” in the sense of maintaining a particular attitude and action with regards to another. Here it is employed with the preposition lĕ, which is a marker of opposition. Together, they indicate that the angelic ruler angel over the kingdom of Persia who belonged to Satan’s kingdom “stood against” the elect angel who came to deliver God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer. The qal stem of the verb is stative expressing the state of the non-elect angel standing against the elect angel who came to deliver God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer for his people, the Jews. The participle form of this verb is functioning as a predicate adjective meaning that is making an assertion that this non-elect ruler angel over the kingdom of Persia withstood the elect angel who served God by delivering God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer. l něḡ·diʹ y The noun ně·ḡěḏ means “that which is opposite” and prefixed to it is the preposition lĕ, which is functioning as a marker of opposition. Together, they indicate that the angelic ruler over the kingdom of Persia stood “opposed” or “against” the elect angel who came to give Daniel an answer to his prayer for his people. The construct state of this noun ně·ḡěḏ means that it is governing the word which follows it which is the first person singular pronominal suffix ʾǎnî, which means “me” referring of course to the unidentified elect angel who served God by delivering His answer to Daniel’s prayer for his people, Israel. The construct state indicates a genitive relation between these two words which is a objective genitive meaning that the pronominal suffix is receiving the verbal action implied by the noun ně·ḡěḏ. ʿěś·rîmʹ w ʾě·ḥāḏʹ yômʹ The cardinal number ʿěś·rîm means “twenty” and the conjunction wa connects it to the cardinal number ʾě∙ḥāḏ, which means “one.” Thus, together these three words mean “twenty-one.” The noun yôm is in the plural and means “days” referring to a unit of time reckoned from sunset to the next sunset, including two or more segments (morning and evening) about 24 hours. Therefore, the angelic ruler of the Persian kingdom stood opposed to the unidentified elect angel who came to give God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer for twenty-one days or in other words, three weeks, which according to Daniel 10:2 was the length of time Daniel was in a state or mourning over his nation Israel. Michael Came to the Angel’s Aid Daniel 10:13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” (NASB95) “Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬then‭” ‬which is followed‭ ‬by the‭ ‬interjection‭ ‬hin·nē(h‭) (‬הִנֵּה‭) (‬hin-nay‭´)‬,‭ “‬behold‭” ‬and then we have the masculine singular proper name‭ ‬mî·ḵā·ʾēl‭ (‬מִיכָאֵל‭) (‬me-kaw-ale‭´)‬,‭ “‬Michael‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬singular‭ ‬construct form of the‭ ‬cardinal number‭ ‬ʾě∙ḥāḏ‭ (‬אֶחָד‭) (‬ekh-aw‭)‬,‭ “‬one of‭” ‬and then we have the articular‭ ‬masculine‭ ‬plural construct form of the noun‭ ‬śǎr‭ (‬שַׂר‭) (‬sar‭)‬,‭ “‬the‭” ‬and then we have the articular‭ ‬masculine‭ ‬plural‭ ‬form of the adjective‭ ‬ri(ʾ‭)·‬šôn‭ (‬רִאשׁוֹן‭) (‬ree-shone‭´)‬,‭ “‬chief‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬masculine‭ ‬singular qal active‭ ‬perfect form of‭ ‬the verb‭ ‬bô(ʾ‭) (‬בּוֹא‭) (‬bo‭)‬,‭ “‬came‭” ‬which is‭ ‬followed by the preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the qal active infinitive form of the verb‭ ‬ʿā·zǎr‭ (‬עָזַר‭) (‬aw-zar‭´)‬,‭ “‬help‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬first person singular pronominal suffix‭ ‬ʾǎnî‭ (‬אֲנִי‭) (‬an-ee‭)‬,‭ “‬me.‭” wa The conjunction wa means “then” since it is functioning as a marker of a sequence of closely related events. This means that it is introducing a statement that marks the next event that took place after the three weeks in which the angelic ruler of the Persian kingdom stood opposing the elect angel sent by God to deliver to Daniel an answer to his prayer for his people, Israel. The conjunction wa introduces a statement which records this elect angel informing Daniel that one of the chief rulers of the elect angels, who is Michael, came to his aid. Therefore, this conjunction is marking this event as taking place after the three weeks in which this elect angel fought against the angelic ruler of Persia who belonged to Satan’s kingdom. hin·nē(h) The interjection hin·nē(h) means “behold” since it is used as a discourse marker to introduce a description of what happened to this elect who was serving God and Daniel after the three weeks of fighting against the angelic ruler of Persia who belonged to Satan’s kingdom, implying emphasis. Here the word is used to introduce with emphasis a description of Michael, one of the archangel in God’s kingdom coming to the aid of the elect angel fighting this ruler of Persia who belonged to Satan’s kingdom. It is designed to draw the attention of Daniel and the reader in order to mark that what this elect angel experienced was impressive and astounding to him. It denotes that it was impressive and astounding to this elect angel that the archangel Michael personally came to his aid to fight the ruler of Persia who belonged to Satan’s kingdom. mî·ḵā·ʾēl The proper name mî·ḵā·ʾēl means “who is like God?” and poses a rhetorical and negative question, one demanding a negative answer meaning “who is like the God? No one! This is significant for this angel’s very name and presence stands as a rebuke and refutation to Satan’s boast in Isaiah 14:14b, “I will make myself like the most High,” i.e., “I will be like God.” Michael, the archangel, is the guardian of the nation of Israel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9). ʾǎ·ḥǎḏʹ hǎ hā ri(ʾ)·šō·nîmʹ śā·rîmʹ This time the noun śǎr is in the plural and means “rulers, leaders, commanders” referring to the elect angel Michael’s position of authority over the elect angels of God. The articular construction of this noun is functioning as a possessive pronoun meaning “our” indicating that this elect angel speaking to Daniel is describing Michael as one of “our” chief rulers. The cardinal number ʾě∙ḥāḏ means “one” and its construct state meaning that it is governing the noun śǎr and is expressing a genitive relation with this word, which is a genitive of number meaning it indicates how many there are of the construct term. So Michael is described as “one of our chief rulers.” The articular plural form of the adjective ri(ʾ)·šôn functions as a substantive and means “the head, the chief” describing Michael as one of the “chief” or “head” rulers of the elect angels of God. It describes him as one of the supreme commanders of God’s army of elect angels. The articular construction of this word is a substantiver meaning it is converting this adjective into a noun. It also indicates that the word expresses a superlative idea. bô(ʾ) The verb bô(ʾ) means “to come, travel” referring to linear movement in space to a particular reference point. It used of Michael “coming” or “traveling” to the place that the angel speaking to Daniel was located when the angelic ruler of the Persian kingdom stood opposing him. The qal stem is expressing the fact that Michael performed the action of this verb. The perfect conjugation of this verb is constative describing in summary fashion this action on the part of Michael on behalf of the angel speaking to Daniel. ʿā·zǎr The verb ʿā·zǎr means “to help” since it pertains to giving aid and assistance to someone. Thus, it refers to Michael coming to aid the angel speaking to Daniel when he was confronted by one of Satan’s commanders who ruled over the kingdom of Persia for him. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of this verb and governs it. Together, they are used in a complementary sense meaning that they complete the meaning of the verb bô(ʾ), which would not make sense without this verb. The qal stem of the verb is fientive expressing the action of Michael coming to the aid of the angel speaking to Daniel when he was opposed by one of Satan’s commanders who ruled over the Persian kingdom for him. ʾǎnî The first person singular pronominal suffix ʾǎnî means “me” referring of course to the angel speaking to Daniel who came to give him God’s answer to his prayer for his people Israel. The Kings of Persia Daniel 10:13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” (NASB95) “For I had been left there with the kings of Persia” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬for,‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬first person singular‭ ‬independent personal pronoun‭ ‬ʾǎnî‭ (‬אֲנִי‭) (‬an-ee‭)‬,‭ “‬I‭” ‬and then we have the first person singular niphal passive perfect form of the verb‭ ‬yā·ṯǎr‭ (‬יָתַר‭) (‬yaw-thar‭´)‬,‭ “‬had been left‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬adverb‭ ‬šām‭ (‬שָׁם‭) (‬shawm‭)‬,‭ “‬there‭” ‬and then we have‭ ‬the preposition‭ ‬ʾē·ṣěl‭ (‬אֵצֶל‭) (‬ay‭´‬-tsel‭)‬,‭ “‬with‭” ‬and‭ ‬its object is the‭ ‬masculine‭ ‬plural construct‭ ‬form of‭ ‬the noun‭ ‬mě∙lěḵ‭ (‬מֶלֶךְ‭) (‬meh-lek‭)‬,‭ “‬the kings of‭” ‬which‭ ‬is followed by the‭ ‬feminine‭ ‬plural‭ ‬proper noun‭ ‬pā·rǎs‭ (‬פָּרַס‭) (‬paw-ras‭´)‬,‭ “‬Persia.‭” wa This time the conjunction wa means “because” since it is functioning as a marker of cause meaning it is introducing a statement which presents the reason for the previous statement that one of the archangels of God, Michael came to the aid of the angel who was speaking to Daniel. It is introducing a statement which records this angel speaking to Daniel telling him that he was left alone opposing the kings of Persia. Therefore, this conjunction denotes Michael came to help this angel speaking to Daniel “because” he was left alone opposing the kings who ruled over Persia. ʾǎnî The independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî means “I myself” and functions as the subject of the yā·ṯǎr, “had been left” meaning that it is performing the action of this verb. It is employed for emphasis, stressing with Daniel and the reader that this angel speaking to Daniel was left alone to fight the rulers of Persia. yā·ṯǎr The verb yā·ṯǎr means “to be left” since it pertains to causing someone to be allowed to remain in a specific condition. Here it refers to the angel speaking to Daniel as being “left” to oppose alone the non-elect angels who ruled over Persia along with their ruler. The niphal stem of the verb is a passive niphal meaning that the subject is acted upon by an expressed or unexpressed agency. Here it denotes the angel speaking with Daniel as the subject receiving the action of being left alone to oppose the non-elect angels who ruled over Persia as well as their ruler. The unexpressed agency is God who ordered this angel to deliver His answer to Daniel’s prayer on behalf of the nation of Israel. The perfect conjugation of this verb is stative expressing the state of this angel being left alone to oppose the kings of Persia and their ruler. šām The adverb šām means “there” referring to Persia since this angel speaking to Daniel was fighting with the non-elect angels of Satan who ruled over the kingdom of Persia. mǎl·ḵêʹ  p̄ā·rāsʹ The noun mě∙lěḵ is in the plural and means “kings.” It is in the construct state meaning that it is governing the proper noun pā·rǎs, “Persia,” which follows it. It also expresses a genitive relation which is a genitive of subordination meaning that the noun mě∙lěḵ specifies that which is subordinated to or under the dominion of the head noun śǎr. This indicates that the angel speaking to Daniel who was aided by Michael was left with the kings who ruled over Persia. The noun mě∙lěḵ is also the object of the preposition ʾē·ṣěl, which is a marker of opposition indicating that the angel speaking to Daniel and who was helped by Michael, the arch-angel of God, “opposed” the angelic kings over Persia, who belonged to Satan’s kingdom. Translation of Daniel 10:13 Daniel 10:13 “But the ruler over the Persian kingdom stood opposing me twenty-one days. Then, behold, Michael, one of our chief rulers came to help me because I myself was left there opposing the kings ruling over Persia.” Exposition of Daniel 10:13 The unidentified elect angel speaking with Daniel and who came to give to him God’s answer to his prayer on behalf of Israel lifts the veil over the activities among the angels of God and Satan. He informs Daniel that the ruler over the Persian kingdom stood opposing him for three weeks, which according to Daniel 10:2 was the amount of time Daniel spent mourning over his people the Jews. As we noted many were not returning to their homeland from Babylon while those who did return were facing stiff opposition. So Daniel 10:13 presents a contrast between this angel delivering an answer to Daniel’s prayer and not being able to do so immediately because of opposition from the kingdom of darkness, which the prince of the kingdom of Persia was representing. That “the ruler over the Persian kingdom” is a non-elect angel of Satan is indicated by a couple of factors. First, a human ruler would have absolutely no ability whatsoever to defeat an elect angel in combat since angels are a higher creation than mankind and have superior abilities to that of mankind. The elect angel who came to deliver an answer to the prayer of Daniel fought this ruler over the kingdom of Persia. The human ruler over the kingdom of Persia in Daniel’s day would have no chance in combat against an elect angel like the one who came to serve Daniel. That this ruler over the kingdom of Persia is a non-elect angel who belongs to Satan’s kingdom is clearly indicated by the fact that he opposes the angel who came to deliver God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer. “The ruler over the Persian kingdom” was delegated authority over the Persian kingdom by Satan. The Persian kingdom covered the modern province of Azerbaijan and part of Persian Kurdistan. This angelic ruler of Satan ruled over the inhabitants of Persia, which corresponds to the modern state of Iran. Persia was actually a vast collection of states and kingdoms reaching from the shores of Asia Minor in the west to the Indus River Valley in the east. It reached northward to southern Russia and in the south included Egypt and the regions bordering the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. When Daniel received this visit from this unidentified elect angel as recorded in Daniel chapter ten, Persia was the superpower of the world. They had defeated Babylon and were now a world-wide empire, which was according to the prophecies recorded in Daniel chapters two and seven. Thus, the angelic ruler who opposed this elect angel attempting to give Daniel God’s answer to his prayer for Israel was delegated authority by Satan to rule over the Persian kingdom. The angel speaking with Daniel then tells him something that was very impressive and astounding to this angel, namely one of the archangels of God came to his aid. Michael’s name means “who is like God?” and poses a rhetorical and negative question, one demanding a negative answer meaning “who is like the God?” No one! This is significant for this angel’s very name and presence stands as a rebuke and refutation to Satan’s boast in Isaiah 14:14b, “I will make myself like the most High,” i.e., “I will be like God.” Michael, the archangel, is the guardian of the nation of Israel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9). In Daniel 12:1 he is called the great prince and in Jude 9 he is “the archangel,” i.e., first or chief of the angels. He fought with Satan over the body of Moses (Jude 9; 2 Peter 2:11). Jude 5-9 reveals that even Michael the elect angel respects the authority of Satan who exercises temporary authority over the earth. Now, if Michael the elect angel respects the authority of the author of evil, Satan himself, how much more should Christians obey the governmental authorities in their own nation, no matter how corrupt or evil? Michael defends the Jews in the tribulation from the wrath of Satan (Revelation 12:7). In Revelation 12:1-8, we read of “Michael and his angels,” i.e. those under his authority, thus, it appears that Michael became the chief commander and leader of the holy angels after Satan’s fall. During the midway point of Daniel’s seventieth week, Michael the archangel and his legions of elect-angels will expel Satan and his legions from heaven (Rev. 12:7). Satan and the fallen angels defeat in heaven and permanent expulsion from heaven commences the worst period in all of human history and the war to end all wars. Michael and the elect angels who number two-thirds of the angels that were created overwhelm Satan and his angels who number one-third of the angels created by the Lord because of a simple spiritual principle: Victory or defeat in angelic warfare is gained by the application of power and the withdrawal of the inferior force (Invisible War, Barnhouse). The reason why Michael came to the aid of the elect angel who came to give God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer is that this angel was left alone opposing the kings who ruled Persia and who obviously were under the authority of the fallen angel who is described as “the ruler over the Persian kingdom.” Thus, the angel speaking with Daniel is revealing to him that Michael was sent by God to come to his aid because he was left alone fighting with not only the ruler over the Persian kingdom but also the kings who were under the authority of the ruler of the Persian kingdom. Daniel 10:13 as well as 20-21 teach the principle that the elect-angels are involved in spiritual combat with the non-elect or fallen angels but this passage also teaches that the elect-angels render service to believers. Here in these verses we have the veil lifted with regards to this angelic conflict. The words of this angel reveal the reality of the angelic battle that is raging all around us here on planet earth, in the earth’s atmosphere and in the stellar universe. Here the Word of God gives us information regarding this angelic battle between the forces of Satan and the forces of God. The Bible teaches that angels do not die and nor does their number increase or decrease (Lu. 20:36). There are different ranks of angels (Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:16). The angels were created in a hierarchy because they are called “archangels” (1 Th. 4:16). The prefix arch means “one in priority or rank.” A hierarchy is a system with the different levels of authority. The ruler over the Persian kingdom and the kings who were subordinate to him were opposing this one elect angel. Thus, God sends Michael to come to help him. This angelic ruler from the kingdom of darkness was preventing this elect angel from delivering to Daniel God’s answer to his prayer for Israel. This angelic dictator over the nation of Persia did not want information to get to Daniel regarding the future of both Persia and Greece. More importantly, this fallen angel that withstood the elect-angel did not want presented to Daniel the future of the nation of Israel. The kingdom of darkness has waged war against the nation of Israel from its inception. Anti-Semitism originates not with humanity but with Satan and the kingdom of darkness. They promote anti-Semitism. Why? Satan does not want the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill the four unconditional covenants to Israel in order that he might say that God doesn’t keep His promises to His people and thus discredit God. Satan also wants to prevent the millennial reign and Christ ruling bodily in and through Israel, with Israel as head of the nations. In Daniel’s day they promoted anti-Jewish sentiment because the Messiah who would destroy the works of the devil would be a Jew. This information regarding the future of Israel, Greece and Persia is finally revealed to Daniel by the elect angel twenty-one days after the angel was dispatched from the throne room of God. This information regarding the future of these three nations is revealed in Daniel 11. If it were not for Michael who defends Israel, this unidentified elect angel would never have reached Daniel. Michael’s responsibility regarding the human race is to protect and defend the nation of Israel from the attacks of Satan’s military commanders. Now, Michael was able to defeat the prince of Persia because of one simple principle: Victory or defeat in angelic warfare is gained by the application of power and the withdrawal of the inferior force. So we have here in Daniel 10:13 God delivering a message about the future of Israel, Greece and Persia through an angel of lower rank than the Prince of Persia who represented Satan’s forces. We might say that the angel God sent was a lieutenant in His military. As soon as he was opposed by an angel being with greater rank and power from the forces of Satan, he was stopped at once. He could not go on with his mighty ministry on behalf of Daniel until there was intervention by God Himself. God then sent a still higher elect-angel to relieve this lieutenant from his struggle with superior adverse powers, thus permitting him to complete his mission to Daniel. There is a principle here that I want to note regarding angelic warfare. It appears that angels of every rank in both camps are constantly at war with each other in the invisible realm…we know this because the human governments throughout the world are in a constant stay of upheaval and war and the angels rule over these nations. So the conflict between nations is a reflection of the invisible angelic battle that is being waged throughout the first and second heavens. Now there is no question that these spiritual beings which we call angels cannot die. So how does one achieve victory in the angelic realm if they cannot kill each other? As we noted earlier, victory or defeat in angelic warfare is gained by the application of power and the withdrawal of the inferior force. The Scriptures teach clearly that the Christian is living in enemy territory, which is the cosmic system of Satan. Satan runs this world and deceives it. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (NASB95) Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (NASB95) In his temptation of Christ, Satan declared, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:5). Of course, God is sovereign and omnipotent, but in accord with God’s eternal purposes, the Bible does teach us that this present world is Satan’s domain and under his authority. Thus, the Lord frequently spoke of Satan as the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), and Paul likewise asserts the same truth (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 6:12; 1 John 5:19). The fact that Satan is the god of this world and has delegated authority to other fallen angels to rule over the various nations of the earth indicates that Satan influences the human rulers and governments of planet earth. Thus, God the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul in First Timothy 2:1-8 commands Christians to pray for human governmental rulers. Daniel chapter ten reveals the relationship between the believer’s prayers and angelic warfare. Daniel did not receive an answer to his prayer immediately. He had to wait three weeks until the elect angel delivering God’s answer to his prayer received help from the archangel, Michael. The answer to Daniel’s prayer which is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:7, presents information regarding the future of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles and specifically in relation to the nations of Persia and Greece. No wonder the non-elect angels under Satan who ruled these two nations did not want this information to get to the human race through Daniel who would publish this information, which is now in the book of Daniel. So Daniel’s prayer for the nation of Israel was a threat to the kingdom of darkness. Furthermore, Daniel 10:13 also teaches that because the fallen angels can cause a delayed response to a believer’s prayer, the believer should persevere and continue in prayer until they receive an answer. There may be evil spiritual forces hindering a prompt response from God to the believer’s prayer requests. Daniel kept praying for three weeks until he received an answer to his prayer request. One of the characteristics of a productive prayer life is perseverance (Matt. 26:39-44; Luke 11:9-10; 18:1-8; 21:36; Rom. 12:12; 15:30; Acts 1:14; 6:4; 12:5; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 5:5; 2 Tim. 1:3; Col. 1:9; 4:2, 12; Heb. 10:22). Perseverance is steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, and a state. It suggests steadfast and long continued activity in spite of difficulties. Our prayer life should not waver due to distractions, obstacles, or adversities that arise during the course of our day. If we wait until whatever situation keeping us from prayer subsides, we will be waiting the rest of our lives. Something will always attempt to prevent a believer from engaging in an intimate time with God. The Father will grant the Christian their prayer requests when they persevere in their prayers, since perseverance in prayer is a manifestation of one’s faith and absolute trust and confidence in the Father to grant one’s requests. The parable in Luke 18:1-8 illustrates this principle perfectly. Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3 There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ 4 For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ 6 And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge said 7 now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (NASB95) Excursus: Ephesians 6:12 Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NASB95) “For” is the adverbial causal use of the conjunction hoti. The conjunction hoti is introducing an adverbial subordinate (hypotactic) causal clause. It is employed here with the indicative mood of the verb eimi here in Ephesians 6:12 to form a dependent adverbial causal clause. This dependent adverbial causal clause gives the “reason” for the commands in Ephesians 6:10-11. The conjunction hoti can therefore be translated either “because” or “for.” We will choose the former. “Our” is the dative second personal plural form of the personal pronoun humeis, which is humin. Some of the ancient manuscripts have the first person plural form of the word here in Ephesians 6:12 but the oldest and most reliable manuscripts contain the second person plural form. In Ephesians 6:12, there is a corruption (meaning changed by the copier of the manuscript) in the major codices Sinaiticus (01A), Alexandrinus (02A) and majuscule (06D). The reading of the original copier appears in the major codice Vaticanus (03B) and majuscules (06D, 010F, 012G, 044) and in the Egyptian papyri p46. Thus, we can conclude because of the preponderance of manuscript evidence that the second person plural form is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Humin is an ethical dative meaning it indicates the person (in context the Ephesian believers) whose feelings or viewpoint are intimately tied to the action (or state) of the verb. Instead of to, paraphrase the personal noun in the dative with as far as I am concerned (or you, he, she, etc.), as I look at it, or in my opinion. One might call this the existential dative or dative of opinion, in that it speaks of something that is true (or ought to be true) only with reference to the one whose identity (either via noun or pronoun) is put in the dative. Thus, it does not speak of absolutes but of a particular point of view. The ethical dative substantive humin speaks from the believer’s perspective as to why he should obey the commands of Ephesians 6:10-11. Therefore, we will translate humin, “as far as all of you are concerned.” “Struggle”: (1) Nominative feminine singular definite article he (2) Nominative feminine singular form of the noun pale. The context indicates that the definite article functions here as a possessive pronoun meaning “your.” The noun pale is a “hapax legomenon” meaning that it only appears only once in the Greek New Testament, namely, here in Ephesians 6:12. The noun pale refers to an intense struggle or fight. It is used in the context of Paul’s Roman military analogy of the believer’s spiritual armor and thus refers to the believer’s spiritual conflict or combat with the kingdom of darkness. The word is used for the sport of wrestling in the ancient world but Paul is not using it in the context of wrestling but rather within the context of a Roman military analogy for the believer’s spiritual armor. Thus, the word is used metaphorically here in Ephesians 6:12 for the believer’s “spiritual combat” with the military might of the kingdom of darkness led by Satan. Every believer in the church age has been enlisted as a soldier of Christ Jesus in order to engage in spiritual combat with the kingdom of darkness with the ultimate objective being the glorification of God in the angelic conflict. The believer must be trained by the pastor-teacher who is the Church Age believer’s DI (Drill Instructor) before being entered into spiritual combat. Just like a DI in the military must be repetitive in training soldiers in military tactics for war so the pastor-teacher must be repetitive in his communication of the mystery doctrine for the church age in order to prepare the believer for spiritual combat. The pastor-teacher must be repetitive in his communication of the mystery doctrine for the church age in order that the believer will automatically perform professionally under pressure and adversity while engaging in spiritual combat. God the Holy Spirit is the believer’s CO (Commanding Officer) in spiritual combat. Spiritual victory is dependent upon the ministry of God the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27). God the Holy Spirit provides the spiritual energy for living the spiritual life and not human power or ability. God the Holy Spirit indwells the body of every church age believer (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16). The local assembly where doctrine or the believer’s written orders are communicated by the pastor-teacher, i.e., the spiritual DI is the believer’s spiritual combat unit (Phil. 1:27-30). The believer cannot properly execute his orders without functioning in his spiritual gift in the local assembly, the believer’s spiritual combat unit. Every believer has been assigned to a spiritual combat unit or local assembly (1 Peter 5:1-3; Heb. 10:25). Spiritual combat demands teamwork in the local assembly as the local assembly supports the communication of doctrine. The Lord has given the believer spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11, 14-17), and spiritual weapons to fight this spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). The mystery doctrine for the church age is the believer’s written orders (Romans 16:25-26; 1 Corinthians 2:7; 4:1; 15:51-52; Ephesians 1:9; 3:1-6; 3:8-9; 5:28-32; 6:19; Colossians 1:25-27; 2:1-2; 4:2-3; 1 Timothy 3:16). The military of the kingdom of darkness led by Satan is the believer’s enemy, who employs intimidation tactics such as fear, worry and anxiety to get the believer to go AWOL (Absent without official leave) from his duties as a soldier of Christ Jesus. The battleground for this spiritual combat is the human soul! “Not” is the emphatic objective negative particle ouk, which negates emphatically the concept that the believer’s spiritual combat is with human beings. “Against flesh and blood”: (1) Preposition pros, “against” (2) Accusative neuter singular noun haima, “blood” (2) Connective use of the conjunction kai, “and” (3) Accusative feminine singular form of the noun sarx, which is sarka, “flesh.” The preposition pros plus the accusative case functions as a marker of opposition. The expression haima kai sarka, “blood and flesh” is a figure of speech called the “synecdoche of the part” “blood and flesh” is put for the human nature in contrast to the wicked spiritual beings, namely, the fallen angels led by Satan. The believer’s true enemy is not human beings but rather Satan and the fallen angels who have deceived the entire human race to follow in their rebellion against God. We also have another figure of speech here in Ephesians 6:12 called “anaphora” where we have the repetition of the preposition pros before succeeding words and clauses that presents the military hierarchy in Satan’s kingdom. The word is repeated by Paul in the next four prepositional phrases that are contained in Ephesians 6:12. This figure emphasizes the fact that the believer’s true enemy is emphatically not the human race but rather those fallen angels led by Satan who deceive the entire human race. “But” is the strong adversative conjunction alla, which introduces a “strong contrast” with the preceding adverbial causal clause, “because as far as all of you are concerned your combat is emphatically not against humanity.” Ephesians 6:12 reveals the fact that angels have ranks. Satan has governmental organization or hierarchy patterned after God since he mimics God and he has a military. Although Satan had instigated revolution against God in heaven, he recognizes the importance of discipline and order. Patterned after the divine system, Satan divided his demons into officer personnel all the way down to the rank and file. Much of what the Bible has to say about angels, holy and fallen, is couched in military language and terminology. Among the military terms used to describe angelic groupings are the words “hosts” (1 Kng.22:19; Neh.9:6; Ps.103:21; 148:2; Dan.8:10; cf. Lk.2:13), “army” (Lk.2:13; Rev.19:9), “legion” (Matt.26:53; Mk.5:9; Lk.8:30), and “band” (Ps.78:49). This is not surprising when one considers that there are no non-adult angels and they never grow, so that there is no reason why every male angel would not be permanently capable of military-like functions (and so be permanently organized into military formations, at least for the duration of the devil's rebellion). Just as the Israelite assembly was, when “numbered,” a warrior assembly (Num. chap.1-2; cf. Deut.1:15), so it is only natural for the angels to be characterized in the same way. For not only is God the Lord of the armies of Israel (Josh.5:13-15; 1Sam.17:45) and King of the nations (Job 12:23; Jer.18:7-10), but He is also “Lord of Hosts,” that is, commander of the angelic armies (e.g., Ps.84:3; Is.6:5; Am.5:14-16; Zech.1:3-17): One of the ways in which Satan built a following in his attempted coup d'état   against the Lord God was by promising his potential followers a share in his rule. We may therefore conclude that a significant inflation of ranks and ranking officers in the devil's hierarchy partly as a result of Satan's need to reward powerful and influential members of his following with suitable rewards. Since his successful (though temporary) usurping of the rulership of the planet away from mankind at the fall, the devil also seems to have divided up earth as conquered territory among his subordinates. When we hear in the book of Daniel (Dan.10:13, 20) about “the prince of Greece” and “the prince of Persia,” clear references in the context to adversarial angelic beings, we are doubtless dealing with tangible rewards given by Satan to some of his more prominent officers. Thus the kingdoms and territories of this kosmos have been divided up by Satan and portioned out to his minions in a highly political and therefore less than perfect way for the prosecution of his ends. Retention and degree of domination over individual areas of the globe will then be dependent on a number of factors, not the least of which will be the ability, resourcefulness and determination of the devil's followers. That is why Satan's statement to Christ to the effect that all the kingdoms of the world have been "handed over" to him and that he is free to give them to whomever he wishes (Matt.4:8-9; Lk.4:5-7) is, like so many of the devil's lies, in some sense true (though in its totality it is a clever lie): Adam's fall did indeed leave the door open for Satan to usurp Man's God-given rule over the earth, and the devil has done so to a large degree, so much so that our Lord would call him "the prince of this world" (kosmos: Jn.12:31; cf. 2 Corinthians4:4). However, the degree to which the devil is actually able to exercise this rule is far from absolute. For it is limited by the sovereign and overruling will of God, the free will of mankind (ever protected by God through various grace means), and by the imperfections of the devil, his followers, and their overall organization, tactics and strategy. Created perfect by a perfect God, the devil and his angels have corrupted themselves through rebellion against God. The arrogance, jealousy and envy under the influence of which they are now operating (to name but a few of the sinful trends manifest in their collective behavior), make for serious imperfections in their organization, tactics and strategy. Although the Bible’s revelation on the organization of angels is very small, it does provide believers with enough information to demonstrate that there is organization in the angelic realm. The angels both elect and non-elect appear to be organized into various ranks and orders and positions. This is suggested by the fact that Michael is called the Archangel or chief angel (Jude 9). Then, in Daniel 10:13 he is called one of the chief princes. Other ranks and orders are suggested by the terms used of angels in Ephesians 3:10; 6:12, and 1 Peter 3:22. The Scriptures speak of the “assembly” and “council” of the angels (Ps. 89:5, 7), of their organization for battle (Rev. 12:7), and of a king over the demons (9:11). The angels are also given governmental classifications, which indicate organization and ranking (Ephesians 3:10, elect angels; and 6:12, non-elect angels). Unquestionably God has organized the elect angels and Satan has organized the evil angels. A very important practical point emerges from this. Angels are organized; demons are organized; yet Christians, individually and in groups, often feel that it is unnecessary that they be organized. Now, there were originally nine divisions in the angelic order of battle. How do we know? In eternity past, Satan possessed the highest rank among the angels as the guardian cherub. He was adorned with nine jewels according to Ezekiel 28:13. These nine jewels are comparable to the twelve jewels found on the breastplate of the high priest of Israel, where each jewel represented one of the twelve tribes liable for military service (Exodus 28:15-21). Satan in eternity past before his rebellion was the high priest of God ruling over these nine divisions or tribes of angels just as the high priest in Israel presided over the twelve tribes of Israel. Remember three tribes surrounded the Tabernacle on all four sides in battle array. Revelation 12:4 says that one third of the angels fell, that means three angelic divisions in the Lord’s military rebelled. These 3 angelic divisions are arranged in rank, thus mimicking God. Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NASB95) Paul speaks of a Satanic order of battle in Ephesians 6:12: (1) “Rulers” (2) “Powers” (3) “World-forces” (4) “Spiritual forces of wickedness.” “Order of Battle” is a military term generally used to denote the force structure of a particular combatant in any given military campaign. The term is appropriate for our discussion of the devil's forces, given that angels are organized into “hosts” (i.e., “armies,” the Hebrew word abj, tsabha': compare Judg.9:29 with 1 Kng.22:19), and that God's angelic forces will one day “do battle” with and defeat Satan's forces (Rev.12:7-17). The devil was originally a cherub, first in rank among the elect angels, and second only to the theophanic manifestation of the second Person of the Trinity, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ appearing as the Angel of the Lord. In God's system, the four cherubs who continually attend God have now replaced Satan. In his own system, the devil represents himself as being God. This is clear from all his words and deeds, from his original coup d’état which attempted to replace God, to his present representation of himself as the god of this world (2 Corinthians4:4; cf. Jn.12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Ephesians2:2), to his predicted appointment of the antichrist, the beast who will temporarily rule the earth representing himself to be God (2 Thes.2:4; cf. Ezek.28:2). In terms of his followers, the devil is very clearly “the ruler of the demons” (Matt.12:24), and “father” of those who reject the truth of our heavenly Father (Jn.8:44). Satan, it seems, always has a headquarters on earth and in circa 67 A.D., that headquarters was in Pergamum (Rev.2:13). We might have expected Rome, but when one considers first century Pergamum's prominence as a site of emperor-worship as well as pagan idolatry, the choice is more understandable. The devil's power over humanity stems almost exclusively from influencing human behavior. The key to his success has always been and will continue to be the especially deadly combination of worship of himself (all false religion) coupled with the worship of live human beings (to culminate in antichrist). Scripture is not specific about previous satanic headquarters (Babylon at the time of the tower of Babel seems a likely guess), and we can only conjecture about the centuries since, but suffice it to say that wherever men are worshiped as gods and the spirit of idolatry runs high in any of its forms (Ephesians5:5; Colossians3:5), the devil is likely to be near. As we noted Satan is a cherub (Ezek. 28:14). There are cherubim (Ezek. 10:21; Gen. 3:24), which are four winged angels who are lower in rank to the seraphim (Isa. 6:2; Rev. 4:8), which are six winged angels. Wings are indicative of their rank. Most angels are rank and file and do not have wings. The preincarnate Christ as we noted created Angels. Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. (NASB95) “Thrones” is the noun thronos, which does not refer to a particular rank of angels but rather simply to a “position of authority” that the arche, “rulers” possess. “Dominions” is the noun kuriotes, which refers to the “dominion or jurisdiction”, exercised by one who is in a ruling position, namely, the exousia, “powers” and does not refer to a particular rank of angels. “Rulers” is the noun arche and refers to the highest rank of angels in the Satanic order of battle and hold positions of authority (“thrones”) in the Satanic kingdom and are subordinate to only Satan himself. The fact that the noun arche means, “one who possesses the highest ranking authority” eliminates the idea that the nouns thronos, “dominions” and kuriotes, “dominions” in Colossians 1:16 are referring to a higher rank of angels than the group designated by the name arche, “rulers.” “Authorities” is the noun exousia and refers to the rank of fallen angels who have been given by Satan “dominions” and are subordinate only to the arche, “rulers” and Satan himself. Satanic Order of Battle: (1) Satan (2) Rulers (3) Powers (4) World Forces (5) Spiritual forces of wickedness. “Against the rulers”: (1) Preposition pros, “against” (2) Accusative feminine plural definite article tas, “the” (3) Accusative feminine plural form of the noun arche, which is archas, “rulers.” The preposition pros plus the accusative case functions as a marker of opposition and is correctly translated “against,” in the sense of being “face to face with in spiritual warfare and conflict and confrontation” until the end of the believer’s life or until the Rapture. “Rulers” is the Greek noun arche, “position of power, office, official post, position of celestial power.” The noun arche always signifies “primacy,” whether in time, “beginning,” or in rank, “power, dominion, office,” thus, the meaning of foremost or highest rank is found alongside the temporal meaning of the word. Arche connotes the highest in authority and rank and was a word used in the ancient world of “angelic and demonic powers, since they were thought of” by the ancients “as having a political organization.” The meaning of “highest rank” is used in the Greek New Testament for both the human and angelic realm. In Ephesians 6:12 it connotes the highest rank and authority in the angelic realm. “Rulers” is the noun arche and refers to the highest rank of angels in the Satanic table of organization who hold positions of authority (“thrones”) in the Satanic kingdom and are subordinate to only Satan himself. The title arche signifies the highest rank in the demonic army and is comparable to our four star commanding generals. By interpretation, this term refers to the highest order of demons in Satan’s Table of Organization. These top-echelon commanders are the elite of the fallen angels, the equivalent of the archangels among the heavenly host. These angels hold top-ranking positions in his government. They are the archangels like Michael who is the archangel or prince over Israel and are control and manipulate human governments on planet earth. They are kings over the various kingdoms or countries on planet earth (cf. Daniel 10:13) and are subordinate only to Satan. These angels are heads of Satan’s worldwide network for administering his “kingdom of this world” (Rev. 11:15). Therefore, archangels and the “rulers” of Ephesians 6:12 are one in the same. The angelos, “angels” suffix is left out here because it would be redundant. Paul has already indicated that he is speaking of the fallen angels since he has already stated that the church’s combat is not with humanity. The Lord Jesus Christ created these “rulers.” He has defeated them through His death (Colossians 2:15). The impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union has now be awarded the highest rank in the cosmos, kurios, “Lord” of history and victor in the angelic conflict and as a result He is seated above all the “rulers” of Satan’s cosmic hierarchy (Colossians 2:9-10; Ephesians 1:18-23). These fallen angels who are subordinate only to Satan do not possess the power to separate the believer from the love of God because the believer is eternally united with Christ and thus has been identified with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and present session at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:38-39). The Lord Jesus Christ at the end of human history will finally annihilate these demonic rulers (1 Corinthians 15:22-25). Therefore, these “rulers” in Satan’s kingdom are now stridently opposed to the church of Jesus Christ. “Against the powers”: (1) Preposition pros, “against” (2) Accusative feminine plural definite article tas, “the” (3) Accusative feminine plural form of the noun exousia, which is exousias, “powers.” The preposition pros plus the accusative case functions as a marker of opposition and is correctly translated “against,” in the sense of being “face to face with in spiritual warfare and conflict and confrontation” until the end of the believer’s life or until the Rapture. “Powers” is the Greek noun exousia, “delegated authority, authoritative position, and office of state, official power, head of state.” The word is used of both men and angels. The noun exousia when used in relation to the Satanic order of battle is always listed after the noun arche, “rulers” (Colossians 1:16; 2:10, 15; Ephesians 1:21; 3:10). The noun exousia refers to the rank of fallen angels who have been given by Satan “dominions” and are subordinate only to the arche, “rulers” and Satan himself. They do the bidding of the “rulers,” and are subordinate to them and are always mentioned with other demonic officials but never alone. They are a lower rank than the archangels or the rulers as their name implies but they are invested with significant spheres of operational authority. We may take them as high-level commanders, subordinate to the archangels but with significant numbers of subordinates of their own.   The preincarnate Christ created not only the “rulers” but also this next rank of angels, namely, the exousia, “authorities.” The impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union has now be awarded the highest rank in the cosmos, kurios, “Lord” of history and victor in the angelic conflict and as a result He is seated not only above all the “rulers” of Satan’s cosmic hierarchy but also the “authorities” who are next in rank to the “rulers.” Not only has the Lord Jesus Christ defeated the “rulers” through His death but also the “authorities.” The multi-faceted wisdom of God is being made known through the church to the “rulers” and “authorities.” (Ephesians 3:1-12) Once again, we have in Ephesians 6:12 the categorical use of the definite article that precedes the noun exousias, “authorities.” The article serves to distinguish this particular “category” or “rank” of fallen angels who have been delegated authority by Satan from the others and are subordinate to the tas archas, “the rulers” that are also listed here in Ephesians 6:12. “Against the world forces of this darkness”: (1) Preposition pros, “against” (2) Accusative masculine plural definite article tous, “the” (2) Accusative masculine plural form of the noun kosmokrator, which is kosmokratoras, “world forces” (3) Genitive neuter singular definite article tou, “of” (4) Genitive neuter singular form of the noun skotos, which is skotous, “darkness.” (5) Genitive neuter singular form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos, which is toutou, “this.” Once again, we have the preposition pros with the accusative case functioning as a marker of opposition and is correctly translated “against.” It means “against” in the sense of being “face to face with in spiritual warfare and conflict and confrontation” until the end of the believer’s life or until the Rapture. “World-forces” is the noun kosmokrator, “world-ruler.” The noun kosmokrator was associated with astrology in classical Greek and it was only used later in relation to the gods and political rulers. It is a “hapax legomenon” meaning it appears only once in the Greek New Testament in Ephesians 6:12 and does not appear in the LXX. The noun kosmokrator is a compound word composed of the noun kosmos, “world” and the verb krateo, “to take into one’s possession,” thus it means literally, “world-ruler.” This word expresses the power or authority, which the fallen angels exercise over the cosmic system. These angels are subordinate directly to the exousia, “authorities” and carry out their orders and are more than likely they are behind the miracles and other satanic demonstrations of power (cf. Rev. 13:13). Once again, we have in Ephesians 6:12 the categorical use of the definite article that precedes the noun exousias, “authorities.” The article serves to distinguish this particular “category” or “rank” of fallen angels who have been delegated authority by Satan from the others and are subordinate to the tas archas, “the rulers,” tas exousias, “the authorities” that are listed before it in Ephesians 6:12. The noun skotos is employed here in Ephesians 6:12 in a figurative sense referring to the “spiritual darkness” that is result of the absence of the knowledge of God and as a result disobedience to His will. As we noted in our study of Genesis 1:2, darkness in the Bible is associated with evil and the kingdom of darkness. Darkness is symbolic of evil. Darkness in Scripture often relates to the absence of divine viewpoint and thus the absence of the presence of God (Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:13; 1 John 1:5; 2:10-11; Jude 6). In Ephesians 6:12, the definite article tes is employed with the abstract noun skotous, “darkness.” Abstract nouns by their very nature focus on a quality. However, when such a noun is articular, that quality is “tightened up,” as it were, defined more closely, distinguished from other notions. The article with an abstract noun particularizes a general quality. The article with abstract nouns often has a certain affinity with articular generic nouns in that both focus on traits and qualities. The article emphasizes the qualities and traits of the tous kosmokratoras, “world-rulers” who are totally antagonistic towards God and disobedient to His will. The articular noun tous skotous, “darkness” functions grammatically as a genitive of product meaning that it is the product of the noun tous kosmokratoras, “the world-rulers” to which it stands related. Thus, tous kosmokratoras, “the world-rulers” are the ones who “produce” the spiritual darkness that enshrouds the entire world. We also have here in Ephesians 6:12 the immediate use of the demonstrative pronoun houtos referring to something that is near in the apostle Paul’s though process, namely, the cosmic system of Satan. “Against the spiritual forces”: (1) Preposition pros, “against” (2) Accusative neuter singular definite article ta, “the” (3) Accusative neuter singular form the adjective pneumatikos, which is pneumatika, “spiritual forces.” The adjective pneumatikos is used with reference to many things in the Greek New Testament such as “spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1), resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:44), and “spiritual matters” (Romans 15:27) to just name a few. In Ephesians 6:12, the articular adjective ta pneumatika is used substantively referring to the rank and file angels in Satan’s military and means, “spiritual forces.” This is the only place in the Greek New Testament that pneumatika is used with reference to the fallen angels. These rank and file angels are also known in Scripture by a variety of names such as: (1) “Demons” (Lev. 17:7; Mt. 9:34). (2) “Evil spirits” (Lk. 7:21; Acts 19:13). (3) “Unclean spirits” (Mt. 10:1; Mk. 1:27). (4) “Devils” (Jn. 6:70). Once again, we have in Ephesians 6:12 the categorical use of the definite article that precedes the noun pneumatika, “spiritual forces.” The article serves to distinguish this particular “category” or “rank” of fallen angels who have been delegated authority by Satan from the others and are subordinate to the tas archas, “the rulers,” tas exousias, “the authorities” and kosmokratoras, “world-rulers” that are listed before it in Ephesians 6:12. “Of wickedness”: (4) Genitive feminine singular definite article tes, “the” (5) Genitive feminine singular form of the noun poneria, which is ponerias, “wickedness.” The noun poneria appears only seven times in the Greek New Testament (Mt. 22:18; Mk. 7:22; Lk. 11:39; Acts 3:26; Romans 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:8; Ephesians 6:12). The noun poneria is used here in Ephesians 6:12 with reference to the ungodly actions of these rank and file angels, which are in opposition to the will of God and who carry out the desires of Satan and his generals. The articular noun tes ponerias, “of wickedness” functions grammatically as a genitive of quality or attributive genitive meaning that the genitive substantive tes ponerias specifies an attribute or innate quality of the head substantive ta pneumatika, “spiritual forces.” It is similar to a simple adjective in its semantic force, though more emphatic: it “expresses quality like an adjective indeed, but with more sharpness and distinctness.” It is more emphatic than a regular adjective would be. The definite article tes is employed with the abstract noun ponerias. Abstract nouns by their very nature focus on a quality. However, when such a noun is articular, that quality is “tightened up,” as it were, defined more closely, distinguished from other notions. The article with an abstract noun particularizes a general quality. The article with abstract nouns often has a certain affinity with articular generic nouns in that both focus on traits and qualities. The article emphasizes the qualities and traits of these rank and file angels who execute the orders of their superiors. “In the heavenly places:” (6) Preposition en, “in” (7) Locative (of place) neuter plural definite article tois, “the” (8) Locative (of place) neuter plural form of the adjective epouranios, which is epouraniois, “heavenlies.” This prepositional phrase designates the location of these rank and file angels. It indicates the “location” of the base of operations and activities of these rank and file angels. The definite article tois preceding the noun epouraniois simply identifies that the noun as well known to Paul’s readers. The base of operations of the fallen angels and their activities take place in the earth’s atmosphere as well as the stellar universe. We noted this in our study of Genesis 1:6-8 where after the second day of restoration, the Lord did “not” designate the restoration of the earth’s atmosphere as tov, “good,” or more accurately, “perfect.” Genesis 1:6 Next, God commanded, “let there be an atmosphere in the middle of the waters, and let it be a cause of division between waters from waters.’ 7 Consequently, God restored the atmosphere and thus caused a division between the waters, which were below the atmosphere and the waters, which were above the atmosphere, thus it came to pass as previously described. 8 And then, concerning the atmosphere, God designated the name “heavens,” and so it was evening and so it was morning, the second day. (Author’s translation) Notice that God does “not” say that after restoring the atmosphere that it was tov, “good,” or more accurately, “perfect” as He did after the restoration of light to the creation. The reason for this omission is that Satan and the fallen angels inhabit the earth’s atmosphere (Ephesians 2:1-2). Fallen angels also have access to the third heaven where the Supreme Court of heaven resides and is convened 24/7 according to a comparison of Scripture with Scripture (Job 1:6). Satan has access to heaven and accuses believers before the throne of God (Zechariah 3:1-7; Job 1-2; Revelation 12:10). The Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father as the believer’s advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2). The Bible teaches that during the midway point of Daniel’s 70th week that Michael and the elect angels of God and defeat Satan and his armies and throw them out of heaven. Thus, the fallen angels must have access to the third heaven in order to be thrown out of it. Revelation 12:10 clearly indicates that Satan has access to the throne room of God in the third heaven since it states that he accuses believers day and night. Satan and his legions hate the church because she is the Body of Christ. She is the future bride of Christ. She is in union with Christ. She is positionally higher than the angels including Satan as a result of this union. She will soon rule unseat the fallen angels from their present positions of authority and rule with Christ for a 1000 years during the millennium (1 Corinthians 6:3). Thus, Satan wars against the church and he does this by deceiving her. He does not want the church to recognize her authority she has because of her union with Christ. He does not want the church to be cognizant of the fact that she has the power to defeat him. Victory or defeat is gained by the application of power and the withdrawal of the inferior force. When we apply the Word of God, which is alive and powerful, then Satan and his armies will withdraw because though powerful, their power is inferior to God’s Word. This is illustrated by the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union when confronted by Satan in spiritual combat (Luke 4:1-13). Satan does not want the church to comprehend the fact that she already has the victory because of union with Christ and our identification with Him in His death, burial, resurrection and session. This is why the kingdom of darkness attacks the veracity of the Word of God. They attack the communication of the Word of God and its communicators…and those who support the communication of the Word of God. The communication of the Word of God is attacked simply because it is the only means by which the church can gain knowledge of all that God has done for her through the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowledge of God’s Word is power and the application of that power spells defeat for Satan and his legions of angels. So Satan and his armies control the world system. They are involved in all the governments of the world. They promote religion, which as we noted is totally antithetical to Biblical Christianity. So Satan has governmental organization or hierarchy patterned after God since he mimics God and he has a military. Although Satan had instigated revolution against God in heaven, he recognizes the importance of discipline and order. Patterned after the divine system, Satan divided his demons into officer personnel all the way down to the rank and file. Much of what the Bible has to say about angels, holy and fallen, is couched in military language and terminology. Among the military terms used to describe angelic groupings are the words “hosts” (1 Kng.22:19; Neh.9:6; Ps.103:21; 148:2; Dan.8:10; cf. Lk.2:13), “army” (Lk.2:13; Rev.19:9), “legion” (Matt.26:53; Mk.5:9; Lk.8:30), and “band” (Ps.78:49). The base of operations of the fallen angels and their activities take place in the earth’s atmosphere as well as the stellar universe. We noted this in Genesis 1:6-8 where after the second day of restoration, the Lord did “not” designate the restoration of the earth’s atmosphere as tov, “good,” or more accurately, “perfect.” The reason for this omission is that Satan and the fallen angels inhabit the earth’s atmosphere (Ephesians 2:1-2). Fallen angels also have access to the third heaven where the Supreme Court of heaven resides and is convened 24/7 according to a comparison of Scripture with Scripture. Satan has access to heaven and accuses believers before the throne of God (Zechariah 3:1-7; Job 1-2) but the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father as the believer’s advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). Excursus: Prayer and Spiritual Combat Prayer is an essential part of experiencing victory in spiritual combat with the kingdom of darkness and Satan. The Church-Age is the intensified stage of the angelic conflict, which we are engaged in now. Today, more than ever, prayer brings glory to God and magnifies God’s perfect character and integrity, which is constantly being attacked and maligned by Satan and the kingdom of darkness. The angelic conflict, therefore, is a spiritual war that is taking place between God and His elect angels and Satan and his fallen angels. It is essentially the kingdom of God against the kingdom of darkness. This spiritual war is invisible and, therefore, requires divine power for every believer to be equipped to fight. Prayer is one of the weapons that God the Father provided for the Church-Age believer in eternity past to fight this invisible warfare (Eph6:18). The Church-Age believer is in the midst of spiritual warfare with the kingdom of darkness (Eph 6:12-16; Phi 1:27-30). The Scriptures describe the believer as a “soldier” (1 Co 9:7; Phi 2:25; 2 Ti 3-4). The battleground for this spiritual warfare is the believer’s soul (Rom 7:23; Gal 5:17). 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (NASB95) The intelligence apparatus of a nation plays a vital part in modern warfare. Unless we know who our enemy is, where he is, and what he can do, we will have a difficult time defeating him. The leader of the Church’s great invisible enemy is, of course, Satan, whose name means adversary because he is the enemy of God. He is also called the “tempter” in Matthew 4:3 and the “murderer” in John 8:44. He is compared to a lion in 1 Peter 5:8, a serpent in Genesis 3:1 and Revelation 12:9, and an angel of light in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, he is called “the god of this age.” We, therefore, should not be ignorant of his power over this world, nor of his schemes and devices (2 Co 2:11). After all, we are living, each and every day, in enemy territory. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (NASB95) The believer has, in fact, three great enemies according to the Scriptures: (1) the indwelling Adamic sin nature and all its corrupting power and life-dominating patterns (Rom 7:15; 8:4-8, 13; Gal 5:16-26), (2) Satan, our chief adversary, the devil (1 Pe 5:8-9; Eph 6:12; John 16:11; Col 2:15; 1 John 2:13-14), and (3) the world, a system and arrangement of the affairs of men and government under the control of the evil one and opposed to God and His purposes for man (John 16:33; 1 Jo 5:4; Eph 2:2). The spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary was a great strategic victory over these three great enemies of mankind (John 12:31; 16:8-11; Col 2:15; Heb 2:14). Our Lord’s strategic victory paved the way for other tactical victories by Church-Age believers. Strategic action is designed to strike an enemy at the source of his military, economic, or political power and is intended to render the enemy incapable of making war. The impeccable incarnate Son of God performed a strategic action at the cross when He died a substitutionary spiritual death for all mankind. This strategic action destroyed the works of the devil and rendered inoperable the great power he uses against humanity, which is the fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15). It also destroyed Satan’s argument against God at his appeal trial, which stated that God was unfair and did not love His creatures because God sentenced him and his angels to the Lake of Fire (Mat 25:41). Tactical action involves actions of less magnitude or at a shorter distance from a base of operations than those of strategy and is related to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose. Every believer is a strategic winner “positionally” through his union with Christ. By “positionally,” I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised, and seated with Christ. However, few become tactical winners by exploiting their union with Christ and experiencing victory over Satan and the kingdom of darkness. The believer achieves tactical victories by appropriating, through faith, the strategic victory that God won through Christ’s death, resurrection, and session. Satan and the kingdom of darkness can easily destroy the believer if the believer is left to his own devices, using his own human power. But God provides the believer the power to overcome his spiritual adversary, Satan, and the kingdom of darkness. This power comes from the Word of God and prayer. 1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. (NASB95) The kingdom of darkness employs fear and intimidation tactics to get the believer to go AWOL (absent without official leave) from the plan of God (Phi 1:28; 1 Pe 5:1-9; Heb. 2:14-15). Fear is a contradiction to the believer’s spiritual life, which should be a lifestyle of power, love, and discipline (2 Ti 1:7). Never before in history has so much power been made available to believers. Therefore, there is no excuse for any believer to become a permanent casualty in this war. Any believer, who goes AWOL and succumbs to fear and worry, does not trust God and does not believe that God will support him through times of adversity. This type of believer, therefore, will become a spiritual casualty in this spiritual war. This is precisely the reason for Peter’s command in 1 Peter 5:7-9. In Ephesians 6:13-18, the Apostle Paul employed a military analogy in order to describe the believer’s spiritual armor and weapons, which enables him to effectively engage Satan and the kingdom of darkness in spiritual combat. Military illustrations were favorites of Paul in explaining certain spiritual principles (2 Co 10:4; 1 Ti 6:12; 2 Ti 2:3; 4:7). Ephesians 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. (NASB95) In Ephesians 6:14-17, we are given a list of the five items that compose “the full armor of God”: (1) the “belt of truth,” (2) the “breastplate of righteousness,” (3) the “Gospel of peace,” (4) the “shield of faith,” and (5) the “helmet of salvation.” Notice that all of these five items in Ephesians 6:14-17 are for defensive purposes. The offensive weapons for the Christian soldier are also mentioned in Ephesians 6:17-18. They are “the Word of God” and “prayer.” Paul not only considered the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, an effective means to engage the enemy in spiritual combat, but he also considered prayer a spiritual offensive weapon. These two offensive weapons are to work in conjunction with each other. The Word of God and prayer work together, since prayer is only effective and productive if it is in accordance with the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God! There are two commands and six prepositional phrases contained in Ephesians 6:18. Each prepositional phrase describes a different aspect to the prayer that the Ephesian believers were to offer up to the Father. These prepositional phrases describe the details of their prayer, essentially the means by which they were to pray, when they were to pray, where they were to pray, and in what sphere they were to pray. The phrases also describe the purpose for their prayer, how to conduct their prayer, and who to pray for. Let us start with the first prepositional phrase. “With,” in Ephesians 6:18, is the preposition dia, which is employed with the genitive case of the nouns proseuche, “prayer,” and deesis, “petition,” as a marker of means indicating the means by which the verbal action explicit in the verb proseuchomai, “pray,” is accomplished. This prepositional phrase answers the question, “How the Ephesian believers were to pray?” “Prayer” is the genitive form of the noun proseuche, which is used of reverential prayer in the presence of the Father. Proseuche speaks of prayer in the general sense of speaking face to face or in the presence of the Father to worship and adore Him. The basic meaning of the word views the prayer of the believer from the standpoint of speaking face to face with the Father in worship and dependence, thus acknowledging Him as all-sufficient and the believer as insufficient. Therefore, the first step to experiencing victory in spiritual combat through prayer is worshipping God for who and what He is. When the believer offers up praise, thanksgiving, petitions, and intercessions to the Father, he demonstrates his total and absolute dependence upon Him to meet his every need, whether spiritual or material, and thus worships Him and fulfills step one in Ephesians 6:18. “Petition” is the noun deesis, which, in context, refers to making a petition or prayer for a specific need, whether spiritual or material, which is in accordance with the will of the Father. “All” is the adjective pas, which is used in a “distributive” sense to mean, “every kind” in a particular class. Thus, Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to offer up prayers to the Father by means of “every kind of” reverential specific detailed prayer request in the presence of the Father. “Pray” is the verb proseuchomai, which is a compound verb that is composed of the preposition pros, which means, “face to face with,” and the verb euchomai, which means, “to request.” Thus, the verb literally means, “to make a request face to face with deity.” Both the verb proseuchomai and its cognate noun proseuche refer to prayer with no indication of its content, essentially a general prayer. The noun deesis, on the other hand, refers specifically to either petitionary prayer or intercessory prayer. In Ephesians 6:18, the verb proseuchomai does refer to intercessory prayer to the Father on behalf of other believers, but without reference to the fact that it is intercessory. The word functions as an imperatival participle, meaning it expresses a command. The present tense of the verb is a “customary” present, which indicates that this is a character building command to the effect of “make this your habit” or “train yourself in this.” Proseuchomai in Ephesians 6:18, therefore, should not be translated simply “pray,” but rather “all of you make it your habit to pray,” since this translation brings out the idea behind the customary present imperatival participle. The second prepositional phrase describes “when” the Ephesian believers were to pray. “At all times” is composed of the preposition en and the adjective pas, which modifies the noun kairos. The preposition en is employed with the dative of time kairo and functions as a marker of time indicating the point of time overlapping other points of time that the Ephesian believers were to pray. The noun kairos is used often in a temporal sense in the Greek New Testament for a “distinct point in time” and, in Ephesians 6:18, it means, “opportunity.” It is modified by the attributive adjective pas, which is used again in a “distributive” sense, meaning, “each and every.” Thus, the Ephesian believers were to make it their habit to pray “at each and every opportunity.” So, Paul was saying in Ephesians 6:18, with this prepositional phrase, that by means of every kind of specific reverential prayer request, all of you make it your habit to pray “at each and every opportunity.” The second person plural form of the verb proseuchomai, “all of you make it a habit to pray,” clearly indicates that Paul was addressing this command to the Ephesian believers as a corporate unit. The local assembly experiences spiritual victory as a corporate unit in spiritual combat by praying as a corporate unit for each other. If the local assembly has divisions and is not praying for each other, it will suffer defeat at the hands of Satan and the kingdom of darkness in spiritual combat and will lose its witness in the world. A local assembly that does not pray for each other is not operating in the love of God and, thus, is not in fellowship with the Spirit, since obedience to the Spirit reproduces the love of God, which expresses itself through prayer for one’s fellow believer. Functioning according to the love of God produces unity and is accomplished through obedience to the Lord’s command to love one another as He loves us, and which love expresses itself in intercessory prayer for others. The local assembly experiences victory over the kingdom of darkness in spiritual combat by being obedient as a corporate unit to the Father’s will, as it is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word, and which obedience reproduces the love of God and expresses itself through prayer for one’s fellow believer. Therefore, Paul issued the first command to the Ephesian believers, namely, to preserve the unity of the Spirit in Ephesians 4. The third prepositional phrase, in Ephesians 6:18, describes “the sphere” or “attitude,” in which the Ephesian believers were to pray. “In the Spirit” is composed of the preposition en and the noun pneuma. The noun pneuma refers to God the Holy Spirit. The preposition en is a marker of sphere and denotes the sphere in which the believer was to pray, namely, “in the sphere” of fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the prepositional phrase is translated, en pneumati, “in fellowship with the Spirit.” The believer experiences fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit by being obedient to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God. Since effective prayer demands praying according to the Father’s will (1 Jo 5:14-15); it is imperative that the believer be in fellowship with the Spirit (1 Jo 1:9). Thus far, we noted the first command to the Ephesians and three of the five prepositional phrases contained in Ephesians 6:18. The word “and,” in Ephesians 6:18, will lead us into the fourth prepositional phrase. “And” here is the transitional use of the coordinating conjunction kai, meaning that it marks a “transition” from the previous command to a new command, but is related to the previous command of making it a habit to pray by means of every kind of specific detailed reverential prayer request. Therefore, the word means, “now.” The fourth prepositional phrase contained in Ephesians 6:18 presents the “purpose” for the Ephesian believers to pray. “With this in view” contains the preposition eis and the intensive personal pronoun autos. The preposition eis is a marker of purpose and the intensive pronoun autos directs attention to a certain thing to the exclusion of others so that it has a demonstrative force to it. This prepositional phrase indicates the “goal” or “purpose” of the Ephesian believers to pray. Therefore, we can translate the prepositional phrase, eis auto, “for this very purpose.” The second command issued in Ephesians 6:18 is “be on the alert,” which is the verb, agrupneo, and means, “to keep alert.” Thus, the phrase denotes the concept of watchfulness in prayer for oneself and for fellow Christian soldiers. Paul issued the same command to the Colossian Church. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. (NASB95) The verb agrupneo functions as an imperatival participle expressing a command to the Ephesian believers to pray for each other. The present tense of the word is a “customary” present indicating that this is a command for continued action for action that may or may not have already been going on. It is a character building command to the effect of “make this your habit” or “train yourself in this,” etc. The fifth prepositional phrase contained in Ephesians 6:18 presents “how” the Ephesian believers should stay alert in prayer. In the original text, the phrase “with all perseverance and petition” contains the preposition en, which is followed by the adjective pas and the noun proskarteresis. This phrase is followed by the conjunction kai, translated “and,” and the noun deesis, translated “petition.” The preposition en is employed with the two dative instrumentals of manner, proskarteresis and deesis, and is used to denote the “manner” in which the Ephesian believers were to stay alert in prayer for all believers. The translated word “perseverance” is the manner in which the Ephesian believers were to stay alert. As we noted earlier in our study of Ephesians 6:18, “petition” is the noun deesis, which actually means, “specific detailed request.” “All” is the adjective pas, which is used once again in a “distributive” sense to mean, “every kind” in a particular class. Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to stay alert in their prayer with “every kind of” specific persistent prayer request. The sixth and final prepositional phrase contained in Ephesians 6:18, which completes the verse, tells us on “whose behalf” the Ephesian believers were to make it a habit to stay alert in prayer with every kind of persistent specific detailed prayer request. “For all the saints” is composed of the preposition peri, which is followed by the adjective pas and the articular form of the adjective hagios, translated “the saints.” The preposition peri is employed with the adjective hagios to denote reference and should be translated, “with regards to.” The Ephesian believers were to make it a habit to stay alert in prayer with every kind of persistent specific prayer request “with regards to” all believers, since all believers are fellow soldiers who fight for the same Sovereign, the Lord Jesus, and have the same common enemy, Satan. “All” is that familiar adjective pas, which is used in a “distributive” sense to mean, “each and every” one in a group. The Ephesian believers were to make it a habit to stay alert in prayer with every kind of persistent specific prayer request with regards to “each and every one” of the saints. “Saints” is the noun hagios, which functions in Ephesians 6:18 as a technical term describing all believers without exception or distinction, who at the moment of salvation are placed in union with Christ and made members of His body and royal family through the Baptism of the Spirit in order to love and serve God and all members of His royal family. Therefore, the message communicated in Ephesians 6:18 is that we are obligated to pray for all believers and, if operating in the love of God, we will want to pray for all believers. The Scriptures commanded the Ephesian believers to make it a habit to stay alert in prayer with every kind of persistent specific prayer request with regards to all believers. Excursus: Prayer in Relation to Human Governmental Rulers In 1 Timothy 2:1, Paul urgently requests that corporate prayer be made by the Ephesians on behalf of all unregenerate humanity. 1 Timothy 2:1 Therefore, based upon my previous statements, I first of all urgently request specific detailed requests, reverential prayers, intercessory prayers, thanksgivings be regularly offered up on behalf of all people. (Author’s translation) The adverb protos, “first” emphasizes the urgency and priority of prayer for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ based upon Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 1:12-17. The emphasis is not on prayer in general but rather the content of the prayer in the sense that the Ephesians are to pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It stresses that of all that Paul will be commanding of the Ephesians, the command to pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ to receive eternal life is the most important. Though the other commands and prohibitions in this epistle are directly related to promoting the spiritual growth of the members of the body of Christ in Ephesus and are critical for the spiritual growth of the church, these are not more important. Rather, the salvation of lost sinners is the most important. Spiritual growth is important but not as important as saving the sinner from eternal condemnation since the sinner is not saved from eternal condemnation then they can never grow up spiritually. This is why Paul mentions first in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God desires all men to be saved and then he says that the Father desires that they come to an epignosis, “experiential” knowledge of the truth, which can only take until one is first saved. The adjective pas, “all” refers to the rest of the commands and prohibitions that appear in 1 Timothy. The word is a partitive genitive meaning that the word denotes whole of which the adverb protos is a part. This indicates that this urgent request to pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be saved, which is the Father’s will is, the most important of all the commands and prohibitions that are mentioned throughout this epistle. “Specific detailed requests” is the noun deesis which refers to intercessory prayer and specifically to specific detailed requests offered up to the Father by the Ephesians on behalf of all people to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ for eternal salvation. It denotes an urgent of the Father by the Ephesians in prayer for sinful humanity who are in need of eternal salvation. “Reverential prayers” is the pronoun proseuche, which refers to intercessory prayer offered up to the Father on behalf of all people but from the perspective that it is an expression of worshipping God and dependence upon Him. It denotes entering into the presence of the Father in order to offer up intercessory prayer for all people but as an act of worship and dependence upon Him to save sinners. When the believer offers up intercessions on behalf of the unbeliever, He is acknowledging to the Father his total and absolute dependence upon Him to meet this need of the unbeliever and is thus worshipping Him. Proseuche emphasizes the worshipful attitude of the believer who depends upon God to meet his needs through prayer and specifically the need to save the unbeliever through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. “Intercessory prayers” is the noun enteuxis, which refers to intercessory prayer or in other words, prayer on behalf of another, which in our context is for all people to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to delivered from eternal condemnation and receive eternal life. This word expresses urgency and boldness (Trench). These three words look at intercessory prayer for the unsaved from different perspectives. Deesis looks at intercessory prayer for all people from the perspective in the sense that it should involve specific detail requests. Proseuche looks at these intercessory prayers from the perspective that they are an expression of worshipping the Father and are an expression of dependence upon Him to save the sinner. Lastly, enteuxis looks at these prayers from the perspective that they are intercessory or on behalf of others. “Thanksgivings” is the noun eucharistia which refers to the Ephesians thanking the Father for all people since the entire human race was created in the image of God even though that image has been marred by sin. “Be regularly offered up on behalf of all people” indicates that Paul wants the Ephesians to “regularly” or “make it a habit of” offering up intercessory prayer to the Father for all of unregenerate humanity since the Father desires all of unregenerate humanity to be saved. All of unregenerate humanity is to benefit from the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians. In 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul specifies on whose behalf he wants the Ephesians to intercede in prayer to the Father. In verse 1, he simply requests corporate intercessory prayer in a general sense meaning that he wants the Ephesians to intercede in prayer for all people. But here in verse 2, he is specific in the sense that he identifies specific individuals in Roman society on whose behalf he wants them to intercede in prayer to the Father. 1 Timothy 2:2 on behalf of kings as well as each and every one of those individuals who are in authority in order that we may continue to live a peaceful and tranquil life with absolute godliness as well as dignity. (Author’s translation) “On behalf of kings” refers to all those individuals who are governmental leaders. It not only refers to the Roman Emperor Nero but all those who governed the provinces that were under his authority. So Paul is not only calling the Ephesians to intercede in prayer for Nero but also those rulers who governed the various provinces of the Empire under his authority. He wants the Ephesians to pray that these rulers would be exposed to the gospel for their salvation. Also, he wants them to pray for these rulers in order to protect them from the attacks of Satan and the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, Paul is urgently requesting that the Ephesians intercede in prayer to the Father “on behalf of” the Roman governmental rulers. These rulers are to benefit from the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians. “Each and every one of those individuals who are in authority” refers to those individuals in the Roman government who formed the Emperor’s consortium, which would include the Praefect of the Praetorian Guard as well as magistrates and proconsuls in the various cities and provinces in the Empire. Thus, Paul is urgently requesting that the Ephesians intercede in prayer on behalf of all those who exist in a state of holding a position of authority in the Roman government. The clause “in order that we may continue to live a peaceful and tranquil life” presents the purpose for Paul’s request that the Ephesians offer up intercessory prayer for kings and all in authority. This purpose clause refers to the lifestyle of those belonging to the Christian church who are sons of God and in union with Christ. Thus, Paul is requesting intercessory prayer from the Ephesians for all those in authority in order that they may conduct their lives in a tranquil and peaceful manner. Historically, at the time of writing the Christian community was living relatively peaceful and quiet manner relation to the Roman government and Paul wants this to continue by means of the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians. This purpose clause refers to the activities and affairs and daily functions of everyday human life in the Christian community. It speaks of the tranquil and peaceful coexistence or conditions with respect to the Roman government and the Christian community. It also speaks of the quietness of soul as a result of the peaceful political situation in the Roman Empire or the peaceful coexistence between the Roman government and the Christian community. The Christian community is to pray for the Roman government in order that they might provide them with freedom to proclaim the gospel throughout the empire unhindered. “With absolute godliness as well as dignity” refers to the manner in which the Ephesian Christians were to conduct themselves in relation to Roman society. “Godliness” is the worship of God through one’s conduct that is based upon knowledge of and faith in the Word of God resulting in obedience to God’s Word, which reveals His character, ways and will. The attitude of the Christian must be based upon knowledge of and faith in God’s Word. This will result in conduct that is in obedience to God and therefore honors God and is an act of worshipping Him. It refers to proper Christian attitude and conduct that is produced by the Holy Spirit as a result of exercising faith in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Word of God. Therefore, the word speaks of the Christian experiencing their sanctification and their deliverance from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system. It is thinking according to God’s Word and conducting one’s life according to God’s Word, which reveals God’s will, character and nature and ways. It denotes by the power of the Holy Spirit the Christian is conforming their thinking and conduct according to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. It means that the Christian is conforming their attitude and conduct to the will of the Father as a result of faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Father’s will. The Christian’s faith in the Word of God appropriates the power of the Holy Spirit resulting in conformity of their attitude and conduct to the will of the Father, which is revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God. This constitutes worshipping God. “Dignity” refers to conduct that is worthy of honor, reverence and respect by others. Therefore, the term speaks of the Christian’s conduct as worthy of honor, reverence and respect by the community in which the Christian lives. It refers to the way Christians project themselves in the communities that they live and work in. Thus, it is related to the Christian’s royal ambassadorship. “Absolute” indicates that Paul wants the Ephesians to perfectly embody godliness and dignity in their communities before the unsaved and in relation to the civil authorities. In verse 3, the apostle Paul points out to the Ephesians that it is according to the Father’s will that they intercede in prayer for the entire human race. 1 Timothy 2:3 This is, as an eternal spiritual truth noble as well as pleasingly acceptable in the judgment of God the Father, our Savior. (Author’s translation) This verse teaches that the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of all people is according to the Father’s will. The immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos, “this” refers to Paul’s urgent request in verse 1 that the Ephesians intercede in prayer to the Father on behalf of all people. This is indicated by Paul’s statement in verse 4 where he teaches that the Father desires all people to be saved and to come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. His statement in verse 5 is further indication since he teaches that there is one God and one intermediary between God and the human race, namely Jesus Christ. Then, in verse 6, the apostle teaches that Jesus Christ gave Himself as a ransom for the entire human race. “Noble” is the adjective kalos indicating that from the Father’s perspective, the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of all of sinful humanity possesses an outstanding quality and great importance, which is superior to all others. Here it describes the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of the entire human race that is enslaved to sin and Satan as of the utmost importance to the Father since He desires all men to be saved and come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. The word speaks of the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of the human race as of the utmost importance or the most important thing that they could do in life. “Pleasingly acceptable” is the adjective apodektos which indicates that the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of the entire human race is “pleasing in view of its being acceptable” to the Father since He desires all men to be saved and come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. The noun theos, “God the Father” refers to the Father and not the Son since Paul is speaking in the context of urgently requesting that the Ephesians pray for all people and the Scriptures teach that all prayer by the Christian is to be addressed to the Father and not Jesus Christ, His Son (Luke 11:1-2). “Savior” is the noun soter emphasizing that God the Father is the member of the Trinity who initiated salvation and is its source. He is the Savior or Deliverer of the human race in a seven-fold sense: (1) Deliverer or Savior from personal sins. (2) Deliverer or Savior from old sin nature (3) Deliverer or Savior from Satan and his cosmic system. (4) Deliverer or Savior from spiritual and physical death (5) Deliverer or Savior from eternal condemnation. (6) Deliverer or Savior from self. (7) Deliverer or Savior from condemnation from the Law. The Father is the Christian’s deliverer in all these areas and not just the Lord Jesus Christ since it was according to the Father’s plan in eternity past that the Son was sent into the world to save sinners in the first place (See John 3:16-18; Ephesians 1:1-14). The Son carried out or executed the Father’s plan to save sinful mankind. So we can see that Paul is teaching or reminding the Ephesians that interceding in prayer for all people is according to the Father’s will. The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:4 teaches that it is according to the Father’s will that the Ephesians intercede in prayer for the entire human race because He desires all men to be saved and come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4 who, as an eternal spiritual truth desires each and every member of the human race to be saved as well as to enter into knowing experientially the truth. (Author’s translation) “Who, as an eternal spiritual truth desires each and every member of the human raced to be saved” is a relative pronoun clause that is connected to verse 3, which itself is connected to verse 1. It reveals that the reason why intercessory prayer for each and every member of the human race is noble and pleasingly acceptable to the Father is that He desires each and every member of the human race to be saved. The expression πάντας ἀνθρώπους, “each and every member of the human race” in verse 4 is picked up from verse 1 where it mean the same thing. Thus, as we noted in verse 1 Paul taught that it is the Father’s will that the Ephesians intercede in prayer for all people or each and every member of the human race. Now in verse 4 he teaches that the Father wants the Ephesians to do this because it is His will that each and every member of the human race be saved and to come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. This expression refers to “common” or “universal grace.” God the Holy Spirit, in common or universal grace, makes the Gospel understandable to unbelievers, so that they may make a decision to either accept or reject Jesus Christ as Savior. When Paul says that the Father desires each and every member of the human race to be saved does not imply that all will be saved automatically. Rather, he is simply teaching that the Father desires this to be the case and made it possible by making salvation possible for everyone through the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. The offer salvation is made possible to every member of the human race because the Father’s Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for each and every member of the human race. The fact that the sinner has to make a volitional decision in relation to this offer is clearly taught by Paul in Romans 3:21-5:1 and many other passages such as Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16 and John 3:16-17 just to name a few. “To be saved” speaks of the act of the Father delivering each and every member of the human race without exception from personal sin, the sin nature, Satan, his cosmic system, condemnation from the Law, spiritual and physical death and eternal condemnation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. This statement in 1 Timothy 2:4 teaches the “unlimited” atonement and refutes those who adhere to a “limited” atonement. The latter is a false doctrine that is actually an attack instigated by Satan upon the integrity of God. The “limited” atonement doctrine contends that Christ died for only the elect or in other words, believers whereas the “unlimited” atonement contends that Christ died for “all” men, all-inclusive, without exception and thus “without racial, sexual or social distinction.” This doctrine states that Jesus Christ died for every sin committed by every single member of the human race-past, present and future (John 1:29; Rom. 5:6-8; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2). “As well as to enter into knowing experientially the truth” presents an additional desire of the Father with respect to each and every member of the human race. It indicates that in addition to desiring each and every member of the human race to be saved, God the Father desires all of them to come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. This statement speaks of the Christian after his conversion personally encountering through the process of fellowship the truth, i.e. the mind of Christ as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture and prayer and being affected by this encounter with the mind of Christ. Fellowship with God is experienced by obeying the Father’s will as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. This encounter results in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ. “The truth” refers to the revelation of the Father’s character, ways and will. Therefore, the word refers to the truth of God in an objective sense as a body of knowledge containing the revelation of God’s character and nature, His ways and His will for His children. Therefore, truth is used with respect to the Christian’s post-conversion experience. So in addition to the Father desiring all men to be saved He also desires that after becoming Christians, they come to an experiential knowledge of the truth, i.e. the Word of God. The Father wants each of His children to personally encounter through the process of fellowship the mind of Christ as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture and prayer and to be affected by this encounter with the mind of Christ. Fellowship with God is experienced by obeying the Father’s will as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. This encounter results in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ. Thus, when Paul says that the Father desires that people come to an experiential knowledge of the truth after conversion, he is rebuking certain pastors in Ephesus, who he does not identify except for Alexander and Hymenaeus, for not communicating his gospel. His gospel would produce in the church an experiential knowledge of the truth. The apostle Paul in verse 5 teaches that there is one God and intermediary between God and the human race, namely the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 For you see there does exist, as an eternal spiritual truth only one God. Also, there does exist, as an eternal spiritual truth only one intermediary between God the Father and the human race, a human being namely Christ, who is Jesus. (Author’s translation) The apostle Paul in verses 5 and 6 presents additional reasons why the Ephesians should intercede in prayer for each and every member of the human race. In verse 4, we noted that they should do so because it is the Father’s will that each member of the human race be saved and to enter into knowing the truth experientially. The second reason that Paul presents in 5a is that there is one God. In other words, they should pray for all people “because” the entire human race is under the authority of God in the sense that He is their Creator, Judge and Savior. The third reason follows in 5b-6, namely they should intercede in prayer for each and every member of the human race “because” there is one intermediary between God and the human race, the man Christ Jesus. In other words, they should pray for the entire human race “because” the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ is the intermediary between a holy God and sinful humanity who gave Himself as a ransom for the entire human race. Therefore, Paul is teaching the Ephesians that interceding in prayer for each and every member of the human race is not only in accordance with the Father’s will but also in accordance with the fact that God is the creator of all people and the judge of all people and the Savior of all people. In addition intercessory prayer for all men is in accordance with the purpose of Jesus Christ’s substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross. These substitutionary deaths have made Him the intermediary between a holy God and sinful humanity. “There does exist, as an eternal spiritual truth only one God” is designed to refute those pastors in Ephesus who were following the teaching of the Judaizers who were of the conviction that only Israel was worthy of the kingdom of God. They excluded the Gentiles from the kingdom of God. These pastors who he does not identify (except for Alexander and Hymenaeus) sought to be teachers of the Law and were occupied with Jewish myths and useless genealogies of the Old Testament and were misinterpreting these genealogies and misusing the Ten Commandments. The apostle is arguing in 1 Timothy 2:1-7 much as he did in Romans 3:29-30 that the offer of salvation is presented by God through the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles since God is the Creator, Judge and Savior of both groups. This would refute the sectarian spirit of the Judaizers and these pastors who followed their teaching. He is arguing as he did in Romans that justification is not by the works of the Law or meritorious acts based upon obedience to the Law but rather through faith alone in Christ alone. The entire human race benefits from the gospel. If obedience to the Law were the basis for justification, then only Israel would benefit since they alone and not the Gentiles received the Law. However, God is the God of both groups. The expression “only one intermediary between God the Father and the human race” speaks of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Father’s delegate or representative to the entire human race while at the same time He represents the entire human race before the Father. He can do so because He is both God and man. Thus, this term implies that Jesus of Nazareth is God. It also alludes to the doctrine of reconciliation, which is a peace treaty between a holy God and sinful humanity that is the direct result of the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the Cross since it propitiated the holiness of God that expresses itself in righteous indignation against sin and sinners. “A human being namely Christ, who is Jesus” teaches that the Son of God through His sinless humanity suffered a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross in order to reconcile a holy God with sinful humanity. By emphasizing the humanity of Christ, Paul is not saying that He is not God but rather is emphasizing that the Son of God, through His sinless human nature reconciled the human race to the Father through His spiritual and physical deaths on the cross. The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:6 teaches that Christ Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for each and every member of the human race revealing the Father’s purpose to save the entire human race at the appointed time. 1 Timothy 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom on behalf of each and every one as a substitute, the testimony at His appointed time. (Author’s translation) This verse continues Paul’s thought from verse 5 by teaching that Christ Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for each and every member of the human race revealing the Father’s purpose to save the entire human race at the Father’s appointed time. In verses 5 and 6, Paul presents additional reasons why the Ephesians should intercede in prayer for each and every member of the human race. In verse 4, we noted that they should do so because it is the Father’s will that each member of the human race be saved and to enter into knowing the truth experientially. The second reason in 5a is that there is one God. In other words, they should pray for all people “because” the entire human race is under the authority of God in the sense that He is their Creator, Judge and Savior. The third reason follows in 5b-6, namely they should intercede in prayer for each and every member of the human race because there is one intermediary between God and the human race, the man Christ Jesus. In other words, they should pray for the entire human race because the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ is the intermediary between a holy God and sinful humanity who gave Himself as a ransom for the entire human race. Now, in verse 6, he teaches that Jesus Christ dedicated Himself to the specific purpose of canceling the sin debt of each and every member of the human race. “Who gave Himself as a ransom” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ dedicating Himself to the specific purpose of canceling the sin debt of the entire human race. It denotes that the Lord dedicated Himself to the Father’s will in order to provide the offer of salvation for the entire human race. It also indicates that the Lord dedicated Himself to deliver the human race from the sin nature, personal sins, spiritual and physical death, condemnation from the Law, Satan and his cosmic system and eternal condemnation. It emphasizes the voluntary nature of Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross. Our Lord’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross were “voluntary” in that He “chose” to suffer these deaths in order to solve the human race’s problem with sin. He also chose to suffer in order to accomplish the Father’s will and provide salvation for the entire human race. These deaths were also self-sacrificial in nature in that the Lord was willing to deny self in order to serve the Father and the human race and come to the aid of the human race to deal with their sin problem. The noun antilutron, “as a ransom” describes Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross as a substitutionary ransom for the benefit of each and every member of the human race. These unique substitutionary deaths redeemed the entire human race out from the slave market of sin in which they were born physically alive but spiritually dead. “Redemption” refers to that aspect of Christ’s finished work on the Cross-that “purchased” all of humanity out of the slave market of sin. It is appropriated through the non-meritorious decision to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Redemption is one of the three major doctrines of Soteriology: (1) Redemption: inward (2) Reconciliation: manward (3) Propitiation: Godward. Redemption results in the forgiveness of sins (Isa. 44:22; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:12-15). It is the basis of justification (Rom. 3:24). It delivers from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13; 4:4-6). Redemption is the basis for sanctification (Eph. 5:25-27). It is the basis for the eternal inheritance of the believer (Heb. 9:15). Redemption is the basis for the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict (Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:14-15). Redemption of the soul in salvation leads to redemption of the body in resurrection (Eph. 1:14). Redemption is the ultimate status of regenerated human beings forever (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30). “Ransom” denotes that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the entire human race. The Lord Jesus Christ is mankind’s Kinsman-Redeemer. The Lord is the Redeemer of Israel (Ps. 78:35; Isa. 43:14; 44:24; 49:7; 54:5, 8; 60:16). He is redeemer of the Church (1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7, 14; Col. 1:14; Titus 2:14). A Kinsman-Redeemer must be related to the one who is being redeemed and must be able to afford the ransom price and thus fulfill its righteous demands. Our Lord fulfilled this in His incarnation by becoming true humanity. As our Kinsman-Redeemer, our Lord had to be like us. The second Person of the Trinity became a man (John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 1:1). The Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only Redeemer of mankind and the only sacrifice that God will accept (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:6). He is the only one qualified to be mankind’s Redeemer due to the fact that He is impeccable (1 Pet. 1:19). “On behalf of each and every one as a substitute” emphasizes that Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths were universal in that they were for the benefit of each and every member of the human race and not just the elect. Of course, not every one will receive eternal salvation since many will reject Jesus Christ as their Savior. It not only marks each and every member of the human race-past, present and future, as “benefited” by the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the Cross but also it denotes the Lord died as their “substitute” as well. So this prepositional phrase teaches the “unlimited” or “universal” atonement and refutes those who adhere to a “limited” atonement. The latter is a false doctrine that is actually an attack instigated by Satan upon the integrity of God. The “limited” atonement doctrine contends that Christ died for only the elect or in other words, believers whereas the “unlimited” or “universal” atonement contends that Christ died for “all” men, all-inclusive, without exception and thus “without racial, sexual or social distinction.” This doctrine states that Jesus Christ died for every sin committed by every single member of the human race-past, present and future (John 1:29; Rom. 5:6-8; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2). “The testimony” refers to the voluntary, substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross, which redeemed the entire human race out of the slave market of sin in which all were born physically alive yet spiritually dead. Supporting this interpretation is the dative expression καιροῖς ἰδίοις that follows the word, which denotes a point of time. Thus, the plural form of this dative expression is idiomatic in that it is equivalent to the singular denoting a particular point of time. “At His appointed time” refers to the moment in history at Calvary two thousand years ago when Jesus Christ suffered a voluntary, substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross for the entire human race. In 1 Timothy 2:7, the apostle Paul writes that the Lord appointed him as a herald as well as an apostle for the express purpose of proclaiming Christ’s redemptive work on behalf of all mankind. He makes an emphatic declaration of truthfulness that he was also appointed to be a teacher of the Gentiles by means of doctrine, which is truth. 1 Timothy 2:7 For this express purpose I myself was appointed a herald as well as an apostle-I am speaking the truth, I am by no means lying-teaching the Gentiles by means of doctrine, which is truth. (Author’s translation) This statement teaches that Paul was appointed to the ministry by the Lord Jesus for the express purpose of communicating His redemptive work on the cross behalf of each and every member of the human race. It answers the question as to “why’ Paul was appointed as a herald, apostle and teacher of the Gentiles. Namely, he was appointed “in order to” proclaim Christ’s redemptive work for all mankind or “for the purpose of” proclaiming to the entire human race Christ’s redemptive work on their behalf. “I myself” emphasizes a contrast between Paul and those unidentified pastors in Ephesus who rejected His gospel and apostolic authority by adhering to the teaching of the Judaizers and as a result sought to be teachers of the Law emphasizing obedience to the Ten Commandments. Thus, this word is emphasizing Paul’s authority to proclaim the gospel about Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on the cross for the entire human race. It is also emphasizing his authority as an apostle to the Gentiles and that he is a teacher of the Gentiles. This is to refute those pastors in Ephesus who rejected his gospel and thus his authority by adhering to the Judaizers’ teaching which excluded the Gentiles from salvation. “Was appointed” is the verb tithemi, which is used here of the Lord Jesus Christ appointing Paul to be a preacher of the gospel, an apostle to the Gentiles and their teacher. The noun kerux, “a herald” along with apostolos, “an apostle” and didaskalos, “teaching” describe Paul’s ministry from different perspectives and are thus not mutually exclusive and do not represent different offices. This is indicated by the fact that everywhere in Paul’s letters to the churches he views his apostleship as encompassing the tasks of proclaiming as a herald the gospel to the unsaved and teaching regenerate Gentiles. Only here in 1 Timothy 2:7 and in 2 Timothy 1:11 does Paul refer to himself with all three of these terms together whereas in the other letters he does use all three of himself (Knight, page 125). The first speaks of Paul’s ministry as that of being a herald of Jesus Christ. The second speaks of his ministry from the perspective that he is an authoritative spokesman and witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The third describes his ministry as that of educating others through the Word of God as to the character and nature of the Lord and His ways and will. “A herald” speaks of Paul’s ministry in relation to the unsaved since didaskalos is used exclusively by Paul in his writings of a gift given to the church (1 Corinthians 12:28, 29; Ephesians 4:11). This would indicate a contrast with kerux implying that the word is used in relation to the unsaved. Apostolos combines the two ideas emphasizing that Paul is the Lord Jesus Christ’s authoritative messenger to both the unsaved and the saved. “A herald” speaks of Paul’s ministry in relation to the unsaved and means “herald.” It denotes that he was appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as His messenger or envoy to proclaim the gospel to sinful humanity. It denotes that Paul was simply a messenger of Jesus Christ who was his sovereign authority. It also indicates that Paul’s gospel message (Romans 1:16) was absolutely essential for the unsaved since faith in the message would save them from sin, Satan and his cosmic system, spiritual and physical death, condemnation from the Law and eternal condemnation. This term also implies that Paul’s gospel message did not express his own views but that he was a spokesman for his master, Jesus Christ. It indicates that Paul was commissioned by the Lord to deliver the gospel message and nothing else. It means that Paul stuck exactly to the words given to him by the Lord and the orders of his master, Jesus Christ. The word also indicates that Paul was under the protection of the Lord Jesus Christ, his sovereign. Indeed, any action taken against Paul would bring down the wrath of the Lord since the former is under His protection. The term speaks of the fact that Paul was dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ. “Apostle” refers to the office of an apostle, which was given by the Lord Jesus Christ to only thirteen men. Paul replaced Judas Iscariot. In our passage, the term refers to the temporary spiritual gift of apostleship that held maximum authority in the church. This gift was given to only twelve men and existed exclusively during the pre-canon period of the church age and is no longer existent today since all twelve men have died and went home to be with the Lord (See Matthew 10:2-4). “I am speaking the truth, I am by no means lying” is an emphatic declaration of truthfulness by Paul. It emphasizes his faithfulness in fulfilling the responsibilities that the Lord gave him with respect to the church in contrast to the apostate pastors in Ephesus who were not faithful. “Teaching the Gentiles by means of doctrine, which is truth” is used with reference to regenerate Gentiles. It describes Paul’s ministry as that of educating Gentile believers through the Word of God as to the character and nature of the Lord and His ways and will. “The Gentiles” refers to the Gentile churches in the Roman Empire, which Paul established and taught the Word of God. The word is used often by Paul in his writings with respect to those churches that he established and taught that were Gentile in racial background (Romans 1:5, 13; 4:17, 18; 9:24, 30; 10:19; 11:11, 12, 13; 15:9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 27; 16:4, 26; Ephesians 3:1, 6, 8; Colossians 1:27). Ethnos does not speak of heathen Gentiles since didaskalos is used by Paul of a gift that is given to the church. “By means of doctrine which is truth” indicates that the apostle Paul taught the Gentile churches, which he established by means of doctrine (that which the church believes), which is truth in contrast to certain pastors in Ephesus who were not doing so. Paul is thus not teaching the Gentile churches with his faithfulness or truthfulness but rather by means of doctrine, which is truth. “Doctrine” and “truth” are synonymous for the gospel and speak of it from different perspectives. The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:8 makes a statement that is based upon an inference from his teaching in 1 Timothy 2:1-7. In this inferential statement he expresses his desire that the Ephesians intercede in prayer for all people in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger and disputes. 1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore, I myself always want the men in each and every place to make it a habit of occupying themselves with praying by making it a habit of lifting up holy hands apart from anger as well as dissension. (Author’s translation) The statement in verse 8 is the direct result of an inference from Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 2:1-7. Therefore, Paul desire that the Ephesians intercede in prayer to the Father for all people is inferred from his statements in 1 Timothy 2:1-7. He is saying that based upon my statements in verses 1-7, I want you Ephesians to intercede in prayer in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. “I myself always want” parallels 1 Timothy 2:1 and is expressing urgency. There is a sense of urgency that Paul wants to convey to the Ephesians since the Father’s desire and will is that all people get saved and enter into an experiential knowledge of the truth after conversion. It expresses an apostolic order to the Ephesians to intercede in prayer to the Father on behalf of the entire human race. It emphasizes Paul’s apostolic authority with his readers. “The men” refers to the Christian men in Ephesus as opposed to the Christian women. Paul addresses the men here and not the women since they are to lead the church (1 Timothy 1:12; 3:2, 5; 4:11-16; 5:17). In verses 9-12, he gives specific instruction to the Christian women in Ephesus as to how they were to conduct themselves and their role and function in the church. Therefore, by addressing the men specifically in Ephesus here in 1 Timothy 2:8 he wants them to lead the prayer meetings in every home and school room that they meet in for worship services. “In each and every place” denotes the various geographical regions throughout the city of Ephesus and its surrounding areas where Christian men reside. In other words it denotes any place in and around the city of Ephesus. He is speaking directly to the Ephesians and thus he is calling for prayer for all people by Christians throughout the world. It is emphasizing the totality of Christian men who resided in and around the city of Ephesus. “To make it a habit of occupying themselves with praying” refers to the corporate intercessory prayer by the Christian men in Ephesus on behalf of the unsaved of the human race. It teaches that the Christian men in each and every geographical area in and around the city of Ephesus were to make it a habit of interceding in prayer to the Father for the unsaved in their particular geographical area. It indicates that Paul is ordering the Ephesian men to make it a habit of occupying themselves with intercessory prayer for the unsaved in and around Ephesus and the world. It emphasizes that corporate intercessory prayer for the unsaved in their areas was a priority. Some expositors have verse 8 as beginning the second paragraph even though it mentions prayer. They believe that this verse is connected to verses 9-15, which address the conduct of women in contrast with the men whose conduct he mentions in verse 8. However, the grammar of verse 8 makes clear that his statement in verse 8 summarizes his thoughts in the first seven verses of the chapter. In verse 8 he opens the verse with the inferential conjunction oun, which introduces a statement that summarizes verses 1-7. Therefore, verse 8 is connected to verses 1-7 since it summarizes these verses. But it is clear that Paul is addressing the conduct of men in verse 8, which stands in contrast to his comments regarding the conduct of women in the church for the rest of the chapter. Thus, verse 8 not only closes the first paragraph but it also introduces the second because it is dealing with the conduct of men in conjunction with the conduct of the women in the congregation. Daniel 10:14-The Elect Angel Came to Give Daniel Knowledge of the Future of His People Israel in the Latter Days The Purpose of the Angel’s Visit Daniel 10:14 Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.” (NASB95) “Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬now‭” ‬which is followed by the first person singular qal active‭ ‬perfect form of the verb‭ ‬bô(ʾ‭) (‬בּוֹא‭) (‬bo‭)‬,‭ “‬I have come‭” ‬which is‭ ‬followed by the‭ ‬preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬on‭” ‬and its object is the‭ ‬hiphil active‭ ‬infinitive construct‭ ‬form‭ ‬of the verb‭ ‬bîn‭ (‬בִּין‭) (‬bene‭)‬,‭ “‬give an understanding of‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬second person masculine singular independent personal pronoun‭ ‬ʾǎt·tā(h‭) (‬אַתָּה‭)‬,‭ “‬you‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬object marker‭ ‬ʾēṯ‭ (‬אֵת‭) (‬ayth‭)‬,‭ ‬which is not translated‭ ‬and followed‭ ‬by the relative particle‭ ‬ʾǎšěr‭ (‬אֲשֶׁר‭) (‬ash-er‭)‬,‭ “‬what‭” ‬and then we have the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb‭ ‬qā·rā(h‭) (‬קָרָה‭) (‬kaw-raw‭´)‬,‭ “‬will happen‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬but this time‭ ‬its object‭ ‬is the‭ ‬masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬ʿǎm‭ (‬עַם‭) (‬am‭)‬,‭ “‬the people‭” ‬which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix‭ ‬ʾǎt·tā(h‭) (‬אַתָּה‭)‬,‭ “‬your‭” ‬and then we‭ ‬have the‭ ‬preposition‭ ‬bĕ‭ (‬בְּ‭) (‬beh‭)‬,‭ “‬in‭” ‬and its object is the feminine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬ʾǎ·ḥǎrîṯ‭ (‬אַחֲרִית‭) (‬akh-ar-eeth‭´)‬,‭ “‬latter‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬articular masculine‭ ‬plural‭ ‬form of the noun‭ ‬yôm‭ (‬יוֹם‭) (‬yome‭)‬,‭ “‬days.‭” wa This time the conjunction wa means “now” since it is used to mark a transition. It is marking a transition from the unidentified elect angel’s account of his confrontation with some non-elect angels of Satan who ruled over the Persian kingdom as recorded in Daniel 10:13 to his communication of revelation from God regarding the future of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles. bô(ʾ) The verb bô(ʾ) means “to come, travel” referring to linear movement in space to a particular reference point. It used of this unidentified elect angel “coming” or “traveling” to the banks of the Tigris river where Daniel was located geographically. The qal stem is expressing an action which in our context is this unidentified angel performing the action of this verb of traveling to Daniel’s location on planet earth. The perfect conjugation of this verb is constative describing in summary fashion this action on the part of this angelic being. bîn The verb bîn means “to understand, to have knowledge of a particular subject” and is used with reference to God’s will in regards to the future of the nation of Israel. This indicates that the purpose of this angel’s visit was to give Daniel understanding regarding God’s will for the future of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles and following it. The hiphil stem of the verb bîn is factitive indicating that the purpose of this elect angel’s visit was to cause Daniel to enter the state of understanding God’s will for the future of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of this verb bîn and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose expressing the purpose for the elect angel visiting Daniel on planet earth. He was sent by God in order to give Daniel understanding with regards to the Father’s will for the future of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles and following it. ʾǎt·tā(h) The second person masculine singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎt·tā(h) means “you” referring of course to Daniel. It is functioning as an indirect object meaning that it is receiving the direct object of the verb bîn, which is the direct object clause ʾǎšěr   yiq·rā(h)ʹ l ḵāʹ ʿǎm b hǎʾǎ·ḥǎrîṯʹ yā·mîmʹ (אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרָ֥ה לְעַמְּךָ֖‮ ‬בְּאַחֲרִ֣ית‭)‬,‭ “‬what will happen to your‭ ‬people in the latter days.‭” ʾǎšěr The relative particle ʾǎšěr means “that” referring to various events taking place in history from the time Daniel received this revelation from this angel until the end of the seventieth week. This relative pronoun is kataphoric meaning it is pointing forward and introducing the direct object clause yiq·rā(h)ʹ l ḵāʹ ʿǎm b hǎ ʾǎ·ḥǎrîṯʹ yā·mîmʹ (יִקְרָ֥ה לְעַמְּךָ֖‮ ‬בְּאַחֲרִ֣ית‭)‬,‭ “‬will happen to your people in the latter days.‭” ‬This means that this clause is receiving the action of the verb‭ ‬bîn.‭ ‬That this clause is the direct object of the verb‭ ‬bîn‭ ‬is indicating by the‭ ‬object marker‭ ‬ʾēṯ,‭ ‬which marks this clause as the direct object. qā·rā(h) The verb qā·rā(h) means “to happen, to take place” since it pertains to an event or events occurring as an extension of approaching and encountering an object in linear motion. Here it refers to certain events taking place for the benefit of the Jewish people with the implication of the Jewish people encountering these events. The qal stem of this verb is fientive expressing the fact that certain events will perform the action of taking place in history. The imperfect conjugation refers to a completed action as part of a temporal sequence. It is expressing these events as taking place in the future from the perspective of Daniel in the sixth century B.C. l ḵāʹ ʿǎm The noun ʿǎm is in the singular and means “people” in the sense of a large group based on various cultural, physical and geographical ties. It refers to a large group that is larger than a tribe or clan but smaller than a race. This word speaks of a national entity and specifically the nation of Israel. This noun is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix ʾǎt·tā(h), which means “your” referring to Daniel and is functioning as a possessive personal pronoun. The noun ʿǎm is the object of the preposition lĕ which means “for the benefit of” since it is functioning a marker of advantage indicating that these events which would take place in the future during the times of the Gentiles and following it were “for the benefit of” the Jewish people since some of the events presented by the angel in Daniel 11:2-12:13 benefit the Jewish people such as the resurrection to everlasting life of some Jews. However, it could easily be interpreted as a marker of disadvantage meaning that these events were “to the detriment of” the Jews or would be “against” them. Many of these events are the result of God judging the Jewish people or putting her through adversity in the form of underserved suffering for blessing such as the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes IV. Or we could interpret both ideas as being in view indicating that these events which will take place during the latter days are “to the detriment and for the benefit of” the Jewish people since the events recorded in this prophecy in Daniel 11:2-12:13 both benefit the Jews and do not. One could also take this decision out of the equation by interpreting it as a marker of reference. b hǎ ʾǎ·ḥǎrîṯʹ yā·mîmʹ The noun ʾǎ·ḥǎrîṯ means “the end, the latter time, the latter end, later in time” since it refers to the last point of a period of time. The construct state of the noun means that it is governing the noun yôm, “days” which follows it and is expressing a genitive relation between these two words, which is possession indicating that these days “belong to” or are “related to” the latter time or the end. The noun yôm is in the plural and means “days.” The articular construction of this noun denotes the distinctiveness of these days in that they pertain to Israel’s future. The noun ʾǎ·ḥǎrîṯ is also the object of the preposition bĕ, which means “during” since it is a marker of an extent of time within a larger unit indicating that this elect angel is telling Daniel that he is about to cause him to know what will take place “during” the latter days. The Revelation Pertains to the Future Daniel 10:14 Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.” (NASB95) “For the vision pertains to the days yet future” is composed of the conjunction kî (כִּי‭) (‬kee‭)‬,‭ “‬because‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬adverb of time‭ ‬ʿôḏ‭ (‬עוֹד‭) (‬ode‭)‬,‭ “‬yet‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬masculine singular form of the noun‭ ‬ḥā·zôn‭ (‬חָזוֹן‭) (‬khaw-zone‭´)‬,‭ “‬the vision‭” ‬and then we have the‭ ‬preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬but this time‭ ‬its‭ ‬object‭ ‬is the‭ ‬articular masculine‭ ‬plural‭ ‬form of the noun‭ ‬yôm‭ (‬יוֹם‭) (‬yome‭)‬,‭ “‬the days.‭” kî The conjunction kî is a marker of causation meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents an explanation for the expression “the latter days.” It pertains to the latter days “because” it pertains to the future of Israel. ʿôḏ The adverb ʿôḏ is a constituent adverb which has to do with duration or continuation in a temporal sense. Here the word has a temporal sense and should be rendered “future” since it pertains to what is going to happen in history from Daniel’s perspective in the sixth century B.C. Therefore, the elect angel is telling Daniel that this revelation he is about to communicate to him pertains to “future” days. ḥā·zôn The noun ḥā∙zôn means “revelation” since it refers to the revelation this unidentified elect angel communicated to Daniel regarding Israel’s future during the times of the Gentiles and following the times of the Gentiles and is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13. l ǎ yā·mîmʹʿôḏʹ   The noun yôm is in the plural and means “days” and is the object of the preposition lĕ, which is a marker of possession meaning that the vision “belongs to” or “pertains to” the future. The articular construction of this noun is anaphoric indicating that the word appeared in the previous clause and retains the same referent and meaning here in this final clause of the sentence. Translation of Daniel 10:14 Daniel 10:14 “Now, I have come in order to cause you to understand what will take place for and against your people during the latter days because the revelation pertains to these future days.” Exposition of Daniel 10:14 The unidentified elect angel transitions from giving his account of his confrontation with some of Satan’s angels who ruled over the Persian Empire at that particular time in history to communicating to Daniel the revelation of God’s will for the future of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles and after it. The angel informs Daniel that he had come to planet earth in order to cause him to understand what will take place for and against his people during the latter days. He then explains what he means by “the latter days” by telling Daniel that this revelation which he was about to communicate to him pertains to these days as in the future. “The revelation” is referring to what this angel communicated to Daniel as recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13. It is a revelation of the Father’s will for the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles as well as after the completion of the times of the Gentiles which ends with the Second Advent of Christ which brings to an end the seventy weeks. In relation to Israel, the times of the Gentiles will be marked by war until “the Prince of Peace” returns to earth at His Second Advent. The revelation communicated by the angel to Daniel and recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13 makes clear that Israel will not only face terrible adversity and persecution but will also experience a great deliverance from her enemies with Michael playing a part in this deliverance. These chapters tell us that regenerate Israel will be raised from the dead which will take place at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. It also promises blessing to those in Israel who survive the great tribulation occurring during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s seventieth week. Those who survive will experience Christ’s millennial kingdom. The expression “the latter days” appears in Daniel 2:28 and has the same meaning here in Daniel 10:14. In the former, this expression “the latter days” described Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which Daniel reveals to the reader and interprets as recorded in Daniel 2:31-45. This pericope describes four successive major world empires, which are first Babylon, then followed by Media-Persia, which will be followed by Greece and then Rome. It also reveals that the Second Advent of Christ will destroy these empires. Lastly, it speaks of the millennial reign of Christ. Therefore, “the latter days” refers to an extended period of time which begins with Nebuchadnezzar sacking Jerusalem in 605 B.C. culminating in the Second Advent of Christ and His subsequent millennial reign. Here in Daniel 10:14, the expression “the latter days” is used to describe the revelation which this elect angel communicated to Daniel as recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:13. Daniel 11:2-45 records the activities of the Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Roman Empire and final stage of the Roman Empire under Antichrist. These activities are in relation to Israel during the times of the Gentiles. Daniel 12:1-13 speaks of events taking place during Daniel’s seventieth week and specifically the last three and a half years of the seventieth week. Also it speaks of events taking place at the Second Advent of Christ such as the resurrection of regenerate Israel as well as events pertaining to Christ’s subsequent millennial reign. Therefore, Daniel 11:2-12:13 indicates that “the latter days” refers to an extended period of time which begins with Alexander the Great and his Greek Empire defeating the Persian Empire and ends with the Second Advent of Christ followed by His subsequent millennial reign. If you notice in Daniel 2:28 “the latter days” begins in 605 B.C. with Nebuchadnezzar’s sacking of Jerusalem whereas in Daniel 10:14 it begins with Alexander defeating the Persian Empire. The reason for the different starting points is obvious. God’s plan for Babylon was yet future in Daniel 2:28 whereas in Daniel 10:14 it was already accomplished in history. God’s will for bringing an end to Persia as a world-empire and having Greece become one was yet to be accomplished in history when this angel came to visit Daniel in Daniel 10:14. The revelation God gave Daniel in chapter two concerned itself with the Times of the Gentiles as well as the Second Advent of Christ. It also spoke of Christ’s millennial kingdom. Then, in chapter seven, more information is given to Daniel regarding all these things. Next, in chapter nine, even more details are given to Daniel with regards to the events pertaining to the Times of the Gentiles. Now, even great information is given to Daniel regarding Israel during the Times of the Gentiles. Chapter two speaks of the Times of the Gentles, the Second Advent of Christ and His millennial reign. Chapter seven does so as well but with much greater detail. Chapter nine gives us even more specifics with regards to the Times of the Gentiles and what momentous events will take place during this time. Now, Daniel chapters eleven and twelve provide even greater details with regards to what events will take place during the Times of the Gentiles as well as what will take place at the Second Advent of Christ such as the resurrection of regenerate Israel. Chapter twelve also speaks of the Second Advent as well as the millennial kingdom. Altogether, chapters two, seven, nine, eleven and twelve give us a full picture of the Times of the Gentiles, the Second Advent of Christ and His millennial kingdom. Unger commenting on the expression “the latter days” writes “That temporal clause comprehends the complete panorama of Israelite history, culminating in the final chapter of the seventieth week (of years; 9:27) and climaxing in the second advent of Christ (2:35; 7:14) and the establishment of Israel in her long-promised Davidic-Messianic earthly kingdom (7:27; 12:9-13).” Unger, Merrill F., Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament; pages 1675; Tyndale Theological Seminary Published by AMG Publishers, 2002. Just as the phrase “your people” in Daniel 9:24 is a reference to the nation of Israel and thus excluded the church being related in any way to the seventy weeks prophecy so “your people” in Daniel 10:14 is a reference to Israel and excludes the church being related in any way to the prophecy recorded in Daniel 11-12. PAGE 47 ã2014 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries