Daniel - Historian of the Future

Week 13 - Angels

Daniel 10:1 - 11:2

In this prelude to the future history of Israel under the Greeks, we get a brief glimpse into another world. There are mysterious and intriguing references to things like the "Book of Truth".

10:1 "... for there is need of understanding in a vision." Isn't that the truth!
10:3 Daniel is fasting. "Desirable bread" - No dessert, no meat, no wine. Fruits, vegetables and water. (Did they have safe drinking water?)
10:7 "The men that were with me saw it not." The ability to see angels is a gift. 2 Kings 6:17 Acts 9:1-9
10:10 Daniel only manages hands and knees at first.
10:11 Finally, Daniel stands upright.
10:12 Fear not. Angels, and the glorified LORD Himself, always need to say that, as they are terrifying to us - even when those like Daniel who have talked to them before. Luke 1:13 Luke 1:30 Luke 2:10 Matthew 28:5 Revelation 1:17
10:13 It took Gabriel 21 days to get there due to opposition from the enemy. Angels take time to travel. And Daniels perseverence in prayer enabled Gabriel to finally arrive.
10:14 The future history coming up next is for "thy people", i.e. Israel, in the "latter days". It is for a time yet to come ("days").
10:20 "Prince of the Persian ... Prince of Greece." We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Ephesian 6:12
10:21 The Book of Truth - not the Bible, unless you want to stake out a time loop theory.
11:1 The angel Michael works to protect Israel. Sometimes this means working with Gabriel to fight demonic influence in Pagan nations. From Gabriels lament, we can gather that the war for Earth is challenging and difficult for the angels.
11:2 Four more kings of Persia, the last stirring up all against the Greeks.

The Last Kings of Persia

Cyrus 559 - 530 BC - issued the decree to return the gods captured by Babylon to their home cities, ending the 70 year captivity. (See Ezra 7:15 - the Persians thought of the God of Israel, like all the other gods, as living in their home city of Jerusalem.)

According to the Midrash, while Cyrus and the Darius of Daniel 6 are killing Belshazzar and his drunken nobles, a young girl named Vashti, daughter of Belshazzar runs to her fathers quarters, and is captured by a young soldier who will become Darius I. He gives her to his young son, Ahasuerus as a wife. This would make Vashti about 15 years older than Ahasuerus, and while a 50 year old can be stunning, I'm not sure I buy the story.

Ezra 4:1-24

Ahasuerus/Cambyses 529 - 522 BC
Artaxerces/Pseudo Smerdis 522 - 521
Darius I, son of Hystaspes 521 - 485 BC
Ahasuerus/Xerces 485 - 465 BC - Son of Darius Hystaspes. Xerces is around 36 when he takes the throne, and the events of Esther transpire. The vast wealth of Xerces (see Esther 1) enables him to mount vast and well equipped armies. During his reign, the Greeks rebel against a corrupt satrap in Greece. Xerces "stirs up all" against the Greeks in an overreaction, invades Greece with a huge army and Navy, and is ignominiously defeated by land and by sea. This seals the doom of the Persian Empire, and his successors are ignored by Daniel 11.
Artaxerces, son of Xerces 465 - 424 BC - issues the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in 457 BC (or 458 - see Ezra 7:7-8).