A.                The name “Daniel” means “God is my Judge.”  The book records the times from the first exile of the Jews in 605 B.C. until the third year of Cyrus in 536/7 B.C.  It covers the entirety of their exile from 605 B.C. until Cyrus’ decree in 537 B.C. concerning the Israelites to return to their land under the leadership of Zerubbabel. Thus, Daniel speaks to those generations in which God is revealing Himself to the nations as a judge and gives us a glimpse of God’s discipline process to purify His people as well as His faithfulness to judge those who oppose His sovereign purposes.  

B.                 The book of Daniel consists of twelve chapters.  These chapters are not in chronological order and are divided into two sections based on the content. 

1.                  The Palace Years of Daniel’s Life - Six Historical stories (1:1–6:28). The first section of Daniel is historical and chronological. These chapters highlight six stories which speak to specific issues needed to prepare the Church in the End-Times – 1) how the heart is prepared and sustained in the hour of crisis, 2) the revelations of God which sustain the heart in the day of suffering and tribulation, 3) how God deals with wicked kings and rulers on the earth, and 4) how God delivers His people who are faithful to Him.

2.                  Four Prophetic Visions of the End-Times (7:1-12:13). Daniel sets forth four visions over a seventeen year period relating to Israel, the nations, the Messiah, the purification of the saints at the hands of a wicked ruler, and the ushering in of the everlasting kingdom by the Son of Man. 

A.                Daniel receives his fourth and final vision during the third year of Cyrus in 536 B.C. It is interesting to note that Daniel’s life was threatened with the lion’s den just prior to the reception of this final and exhaustive vision of the end.

B.                 At the opening of the chapter we find Daniel mourning with fasting and prayer for three full weeks during the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. Daniel’s mourning seems unjustified in light of the Passover celebration and Cyrus’ recent decree in 537 B.C. that allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. However, Ezra 4:24 tells us that in 536 B.C. the foundation was laid but the work on the Temple had ceased due to the great difficulty and adversity from the surrounding peoples. The work would not begin until the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah in 520BC. 

C.                 In fact, Daniel’s third vision in Dan. 9 pointed out that Israel has not dealt with the core problem that led them to go into exile. While cured of blatant idolatry in the Babylonian exile, they have yet to truly turn to the Lord with all their hearts. In fact when their Prince comes, Israel will cut Him off. They will reject and kill their Messiah. A deep issue has to be exposed. In this vision God reveals what context at the end of the age it will take to once and for all-time turn Israel’s heart back to Yahweh. 

D.                On the twenty first day of his fasting and prayer, Daniel receives a vision of a glorious messenger clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold, 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. This angelic messenger has a similar description to the mighty angel in Rev. 10. See Ex. 14:19-20, 23:20-22; 1 Chron. 21:12-30; Rev. 15:5-8, 18:1, 19:17, 20:1-3 for other portraits of angels with great amounts of authority and glory.

A.                From the beginning in verse one Daniel tells us that the vision was true and that he understood both the vision and its message. The first three visions give no statement of resolve. He leaves the first vision troubled, the second sick without understanding, and the third silent. However, the fourth leaves Daniel quite clear. Daniel tips us off to know that this vision is of great importance. However, he also testifies that the vision is one of great conflict and warfare. The phrase “but the appointed time was long”  is a difficult phrase in Hebrew to translate. Sometimes it is translated “great warfare,” “great task,” or “involved great suffering.” The period in view is to be an extended time of great conflict and trouble for God’s people.

B.                 Deep Sleep on My Face, with My Face to the Ground – Daniel is left from the vision with no strength. His vigor turned to frailty as he lay prostrate on the ground. At first glance one is tempted to assume the weakness is merely a result of his interaction with the heavenly messenger. Often times in the Bible the prophet is left without strength on the ground after an encounter with an angelic being (Dan. 8:15-18; Rev. 19:10, 22:8-9). However, Daniel himself reveals in Dan. 10:16 that his strength is gone due to the vision and the words of the vision leaving him in a deep state of sorrow. He is left overwhelmed with sorrows and the whole event caused the others with Daniel to flee in terror. 

And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons 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. (Dan. 10:16)

Luke 22:45-46 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation." 

C.                 This is the most detailed revelation in the Old Testament concerning the drama and culmination of the end of the age and the salvation of Israel. Daniel receives detailed revelation of a 3 ½ year period in which the Bible calls Jacob’s Trouble in which the saints will be refined through severe persecution. A world ruler will persecute Jerusalem, the saints will be worn down and purified, God will unleash His judgments, and Jesus will return to set up His everlasting Kingdom on earth. 

D.                God will chastise Israel by gathering them to their nation (Hos. 11:10), assembling the nations against her under the leadership of a demonized world ruler empowered by Satan. This leader will do miracles, signs and wonders and stand in the Holy Place, and claiming to be God, he will deceive the nations. He will worship the god of fortresses and usher in a time of rule and oppression like no other time in human history. Dominance and oppression will characterize his three and a half year rule. The saints will be persecuted, the nations will gather against Jerusalem, God will unleash His judgments, and Jesus will return to set up His everlasting Kingdom on earth. The prophets who saw this period trembled because of its severity.

1.                  My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words. (Jer. 23:9)

2.                  "For thus says the LORD: 'We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale? 7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. (Jer. 30:5-7)

3.                  When I heard, my body trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered my bones; And I trembled in myself, That I might rest in the day of trouble. When he comes up to the people, He will invade them with his troops. (Hab. 3:16)

4.                  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. (Dan. 10:11) . . . And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons 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. (Dan. 10:16)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.                Daniel sees the drama at the end of the age and is undone. Daniel in his mid-eighties is left shaken by few things. He has survived death decrees, evil tyrants, the transition of empires, and a lion’s den but is left distressed and overwhelmed by sorrow from the vision. We must take note.  If Daniel needed divine intervention to receive the vision, how much more will we need divine intervention to live through the vision?

B.                 Daniel 10 is the preparation of Daniel for the reception of the revelation in chapters 11 & 12. Daniel is completely unable to process the weighty and severe information concerning the end of the age context. It will take divine intervention for him to perceive and assimilate the truth of chapters 11 and 12.  

C.                 Four realities in this chapter served to strengthen Daniel for understanding and assimilating the truth of the end time vision. These same four realities will serve to strengthen our hearts to move beyond fear and offense into fervent sustained love and understanding. 

A.                From his early days Daniel embraced a lifestyle of prayer (Dan. 6:10) and fasting (Dan. 1:8). Fasting reminds us that one’s spirit, soul, and body is connected and cannot be separated. Humans are physical beings forever. We are not trying to escape our bodies. As Christians we look forward to the day when our bodies will be resurrected in glory. 

B.                 Fasting quickens our spiritual appetites, sharpens our spiritual discernment, combats our trust in our own strength, and weakens the cravings of our flesh. Overeating and overindulgence causes the spirit to grow dim and dull. Spiritual sharpness is diminished, and spiritual discernment wanes (i.e. what you watch on television). Daniel wanted his spiritual discernment to be strong as he entered his Babylonian enslavement. He needed all of his spiritual wits about him in such a Yahweh absent culture.

C.                 The first act that brings strengthening can only be chosen by Daniel through voluntary weakness. This seems like a contradiction. How can one be strengthened through weakness? In an hour when God is reducing the strength of the nations to nothing, fasting and prayer sets our hearts towards understanding in a posture of humility. 

For the day of the LORD of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up -- And it shall be brought low -- (Is. 2:12)

The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day, (Is. 2:17)

In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds In which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty In My holy mountain. 12 I will leave in your midst A meek and humble people, And they shall trust in the name of the LORD. (Zeph 3:11-12)

D.                The posture of humility guards our hearts from offense and puts us in a position to receive understanding. When we do not understand God’s actions and are left distressed, the flesh moves us to rise up in offense and ask, “How can God do this? I thought you were just? Why do you get to decide? Why do you lead the way you do? It is much easier to accuse God from a place of strength. Whereas, fasting and prayer sets us in a place of voluntary weakness where we cast ourselves upon God alone. We may not fully understand, but we refuse to accuse. Rather, we seek for understanding in the context of worship. 

E.                 We alone must initiate the first strengthening, and it is the key to receiving the other three, of which only God can provide. Fasting and prayer is the doorway and the escort into the final three pathways for divine strength. The messenger clearly states he has come because of Daniel’s words in prayer. The angel also identifies Daniel’s prayer and fasting as that of humbling himself.

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. (Dan. 10:12)

F.                  Hear Jesus’ last words of the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13. We find his pastoral exhortations necessary to walk victorious at the end of the age scenario. 

Mark 13:32-37 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. 34 It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning --   36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!" 

G.                Pray and Fasting while physically weakening one’s body, expands the heart to receive God’s revelation and breaks off spiritual dullness. In fasting and prayer the spirit is sharpened and focused on the things of God. A sensitivity to the things of God arises and lifts the soul into God whereby we are able to resist the assaults of the enemy.    Here are two examples of this from Jesus.

1.                  The Temptation of Jesus. Jesus prepares to bind the strongman by entering into a season of fasting where He embraces the wisdom of Deut. 8:3.

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. (Deut. 8:3)

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" (Luke 4:1-4)

2.                  The Garden of Gethsemane – Verse 45 tells us that the disciples’ hearts were weighed down from sorrow causing them to sleep in an hour when they needed to be spiritually sharp and physically awake. Jesus exhorts his disciples to pray that they might not enter into temptation. 

Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.   45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation." (Luke 22:39-46) 

H.                Fasting tenderizes our hearts, softens us to the ways of God, and sharpens our discernment to recognize the difference between the holy and the unholy. In fasting we refuse to satisfy our souls with our usual comforts which drain our strength and hinder us from moving forward in the grace of God. Fasting is the great detox of our soul. We starve ourselves from our usual spiritual dietary poisons, and as we give ourselves to fasting, God increases true spiritual hunger and expands our capacity for intimacy, revelation, and spiritual discernment.

1.                  In fasting we embrace voluntary weakness in order to embrace God’s strength as our solution. Increasing our spiritual clout before others is not the purpose of fasting. In fasting, we place ourselves weak before God asking for a break through in His strength. His strength becomes our true hope and ultimate solution to our problems.

2.                  Quote from Mike Bickle - Fasting is essential to the Christian life and is not optional if we want to experience the fullness of the grace of God. It is absolutely mandatory for wholeheartedness. We cannot face the crisis that is coming to our nation and to the earth without the protection of wholeheartedness expressed by a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. The grace of wholeheartedness makes us a gift. A gift of God to one another, a gift of God to the city we live in and a gift of God to unbelievers. Though fasting is an odd message in America, where self-indulgence is nearly esteemed as a virtue, it is a familiar message through the Word of God. The grace for fasting is available to everyone. We begin by asking the Lord for this grace. We ask Him to help us desire it. We start off with fasting-prayer 101, which is “Lord, make me want to want to fast.” The Lord esteems this kind of prayer as valid and if we continue to pursue Him in it, we will desire to fast. We pray for His strength and His grace in fasting, and He really does cultivate it within us.

I.                   My Dream Concerning Fasting and Fasting Teams. We see in the life of Jesus an embracing of voluntary fasting in order that He might have discernment in the day of severe affliction.  God is going to make fasting front and center again in the Body of Christ. We will embrace a lifestyle of voluntary fasting in order to provide leadership in a day when involuntary fasting abounds.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Is. 7:14-15)

It shall be in that day That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; 22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, That he will eat curds; For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land. 23 It shall happen in that day, That wherever there could be a thousand vines Worth a thousand shekels of silver, It will be for briers and thorns. (Is. 7:21-23)

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