Creator, Father, King #149

We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

AS HUMANS, WE ARE often bound by our five senses—sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. But God calls us to live by faith and believe in things that our senses can’t detect. Occasionally, he’ll give us a glimpse into that realm. Case in point: Daniel 7–12.

These chapters in the book of Daniel describe a series of remarkable visions that foretold the future rise and fall of various empires in striking detail. Amid these prophetic revelations, God unveiled to Daniel the constant—yet unseen—supernatural activity that accompanied these seismic world events. In Daniel 10:12-14, for instance, a magnificent angel visits Daniel with a stunning message:

I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.

Talk about a backstage pass to the spirit realm!

What’s It Mean?

The instability of the world around him was greatly troubling to Daniel (Daniel 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9) and his fellow exiles. God gave Daniel his visions to reassure his persecuted people that the Lord was still sovereignly in control.

He also wanted Daniel—and us—to know that there’s far more to life than meets the eye. In addition to the physical element of life that we experience every day, there is an unseen spiritual dimension too.

Read today’s verse again. Spiritual warfare is real. It was raging in Daniel’s day, and it’s still happening today. Our true enemy—the devil and his spiritual forces of evil—consistently wage war against God’s saints.

But Satan is a defeated enemy. God—described as the “Ancient of Days” in Daniel 7:9 (ESV)—is enthroned in heaven, already triumphant. One day, Jesus, the “son of man” (Daniel 7:13), will return to earth to claim this victory and inaugurate his eternal Kingdom (Daniel 7:14). Until then, we fight our enemy with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) and “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion” (Ephesians 6:18).

This is how we win at spiritual warfare!

Now What?

Read Daniel 7–12 to see how God remarkably predicted world events in Daniel’s day before fulfilling them in the centuries to come.

Did You Know?

Both angels specifically named in the Bible—Gabriel and Michael—are mentioned in Daniel.