Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me

This vision occurred in the time of Cyrus, king of Persia. Daniel was mourning and fasting for three weeks and at the end of this, he had a vision of a man. It appeared that the man Daniel saw and then spoke to him, could be an angel. The angel was prevented from speaking to Daniel until Michael came to save him. Michael is referred to as a chief prince, and might be the archangel Michael.So this chapter gives us an impression of the supernatural world beyond our physical world, a world with good and evil angelic beings fighting to carry out and oppose the work of God.



Daniel 10
Vision of the Glorious Man

1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long;[a] and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

4 Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris,[b] 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 8 Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. 9 Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Prophecies Concerning Persia and Greece

10 Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.

12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

15 When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. 16 And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons[c] of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength. 17 For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me.”

18 Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. 19 And he said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”

So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.

The Two Horns - they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the Male Goat is the kingdom of Greece

Daniel had a second vision, this time it was a vision of a ram and goat. The ram had two horns one larger than the other. It seemed that the ram represented a kingdom or empire and subdued other nations. Then a goat destroyed the ram and took over more land and became very powerful. The goat had one horn initially but that was broken and replaced with four horns. Out of the horns, a little one became more powerful than the rest.

The little horn also conquered Jerusalem, the Glorious Land. He is full of pride, exalting himself. He also causes great abomination by trampling on the holy place and removing the daily sacrifices. Then there seems to be an angel asking another angel how long the abomination will last and the answer was 2300 days.

One of the angel seemed to be Gabriel, who then spoke directly to Daniel to tell him that the vision concerns End Times. Whatever numerical calculations are done, the events of this vision have not been fully completed because the End Times is yet to come, hence the Historicist view is wrong. The 2300 days is equivalent to 6.3 years, which is too short, hence it must mean 2300 years - where a day is a year as stated in other parts of Scripture.

The visions are true prophecies since Daniel lived between 600-500 BC. Gabriel revealed the ram as the Media - Persian empire and the goat as the Greek empire which is clearly after Daniel's time. The Greek empire broke into four historically after Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC, well after Daniel's time and also after the time of the exiles in Babylon (some historians claim the prophecies are written by exiles in Babylon are not real prophecies).

The little horn cause abomination and trampled on the holy sanctuary - the Temple in Jerusalem. Many believe this to be Antiochus Epiphanes 215-164BC. However, Rome also ransacked Jerusalem about 70AD and in a sense, the Roman empire is the inheritor of the Greek empire which means Rome could well be the little horn. Hence the 2300 years could still be well into our future generations.



Daniel 8
Vision of a Ram and a Goat

1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me the first time. 2 I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in Shushan, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai. 3 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

5 And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power. 7 And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days;[a] then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright. 19 And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be. 20 The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the male goat is the kingdom[b] of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. 22 As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

23 “And in the latter time of their kingdom,
When the transgressors have reached their fullness,
A king shall arise,
Having fierce features,
Who understands sinister schemes.
24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power;
He shall destroy fearfully,
And shall prosper and thrive;
He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
25 “Through his cunning
He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule;[c]
And he shall exalt himself in his heart.
He shall destroy many in their prosperity.
He shall even rise against the Prince of princes;
But he shall be broken without human means.[d]
26 “And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision,
For it refers to many days in the future.”
27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.

Mordecai in Position of Power in Persian Empire

Mordecai wielded his power for the good of his people. His position cannot be understated as he was effectively governing the whole Persian Empire for the King Ahasuerus. This is an example of the favour of God for His people - after years of captivity in Babylon, they were returned to Judah, and then they received favour from the empire which they lived in.



Esther 10

Mordecai’s Advancement

 1 And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2 Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.[a]

Return from Babylon Commanded by Cyrus, King of Persia

The truly amazing event at the fall of Babylon was that the conqueror Cyrus, king of Persia commanded the release of the Israelites, to return to their homeland and build the Temple. Cyrus was stirred by God and he obeyed the God of Israel in releasing his people. Besides that, the made a public proclamation to glorify the God of Israel, acknowledging that all he had achieved was given to God. As with the exodus from Egypt, Cyrus also ordered a lot of riches to be send back with the returning Israelites.

The gold and silver and other articles that were taken by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple of the LORD, were now ordered by Cyrus to be returned to Israel and to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. So all that were taken were returned to Jerusalem by the hand of God. This is an amazing testimony of God at work in the history of nations.


Ezra 1

End of the Babylonian Captivity

 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
   All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.
7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; 8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Creation of Man - in detail

In the previous article, we saw the creation of Man in Day 6. Here we look into more details of man.

In Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed the man ^[e] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

God gave man the breath of life to make him alive - how intimate is that. There are secular scholars who rationalise that God's Words were written by the Jewish exiles in Babylon or Persia to encourage their people. But numerous scripture passages like the above makes it hard to believe mere mortals can come up with writings like that. Only the Almighty Father can reveal the reality of his relationship with man in such great details.


In the Genesis 2 passage below, it showed that God's plans for man is that he will have fellowship not only with God but also others of his kind. Despite the variety of creatures and despite these creatures were all tame and have obedience to man, God recognized that man is a social creature and need to be with others of the same kind. Perhaps this also means God is a social being, since we are created in His image. This suggest that for us who are children of God, we should always keep in communion and fellowship with Him.




Genesis 2

¹⁸ The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
 ¹⁹ Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
      But for Adam ^[h] no suitable helper was found. ²¹ So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs ^[i] and closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib ^[j] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
 ²³ The man said,
       "This is now bone of my bones
       and flesh of my flesh;
       she shall be called 'woman, ^[k] '
       for she was taken out of man."
 ²⁴ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
 ²⁵ The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.