Atlantic Lyman conf.1972-02 Studies in Daniel 10 — Joseph Balsan

Important prayer. Our gracious God and Father, we bow before thee tonight in the worthy name of thy son the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee that it's our privilege to come before thee on behalf of this meeting that is before us.

We thank thee that thou dost give us the privilege of gathering together in peace and quietness in this way. We thank thee that our lot is cast in a land like this. We pray that thou will remember those who are in authority over us, that thou will give them help in these critical and difficult times to guide this great nation right.

We thank thee also for thy word which thou has given to us. And father we do pray that as we open it that thou will speak to us and that thou will instruct us in those things which are to come. And that all may indeed arouse within our hearts a desire for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That we may indeed see him face to face, the one who loved us and gave himself for us by his death on Calvary's cross. We thank thee that he put away sin and we thank thee that he is our redeemer. We thank thee our father for those who have been sick and have been in a measure recovered and restored.

We pray for those who are still sick. We think of our sister Viola in Council Bluffs, our sister Cattock, and our sister Millie in Des Moines. We think also of Dick Wood in Cedar Rapids. And father we think of our brother Guy Briggs down there in Oak, Red Oak.

And we pray for them and for each and every one else who is on a bed of illness that thou will graciously heal, that thou will strengthen, that thou will restore. We thank thee that thou knowest our frames and thou art still the great physician.

And so we pray that thou will graciously undertake for thy people. And we ask that thou will be near to those who care for these and who are vitally related to them by the tithes of nature. And we ask that they might be encouraged and sustained in heart and mind.

We commend ourselves to thee now and we pray that thou will open thy word to us and give help in speaking. Reduce the adversary and if any should be amongst us tonight unsaved, we pray that thy Holy Spirit will speak to them in the Savior's name.

Daniel's Vision and the Prophecy of the Latter Days

Let us open our Bibles to Daniel chapter 10. Shall we? Daniel chapter 10 and verse 1. Daniel 10 and verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar.

And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long. And he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel, then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz.

His body also was like the barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polish brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

Yet heard I the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. And behold, a hand touched me which set me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands, and he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the word that I speak unto thee, and stand upright.

For unto thee am I now sent, and when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days.

And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb, and behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.

For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord? For as for me, straightway there remain no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.

And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, Let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come.

But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth, and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. May the Lord bless to us the reading of his word. Now we come tonight to what we might call the last prophecy that we have in this book of Daniel, because the last prophecy is the theme, you might say, of the last three chapters of this book of Daniel, the 10th, the 11th, and the 12th chapters of the book of Daniel.

Daniel 10–12 and the Final Prophecy

In the 10th chapter of the book of Daniel, we have the circumstances which we are going to speak about tonight, the circumstances in which Daniel received this last prophecy, and then in the 11th chapter of Daniel, we have brought before us the history, you might say, of the Grecian Empire and the conflict between two parts of that empire, which we saw was divided into four parts, as we saw in this vision and also in this vision.

It was divided into four parts, and two of these parts of this empire are very prominent and will again exist in the last days in the time of the end. And those, of course, are the kings of the north and the kings of the south, of whom we will be speaking tomorrow night.

And we have the first 35 verses of the 11th chapter brings before us that which is past, although in Daniel's time, of course, it was all future, but now it is past. And then from the 36th verse to the end of the chapter, and also into the 12th chapter, we have the Antichrist brought before us, the last great battle, and also the tribulation that Israel is going to pass through.

So that in the last three chapters, we have brought before us a connected prophecy that is brought before us, the last prophecy in the book of Daniel. Now, for the sake of those who perhaps weren't here, just very briefly, as you notice, this is the outline of the book of the Daniel the prophet, a title that our Lord Jesus himself gave to this man.

He called him Daniel the prophet. And we saw that this book is divided into two parts. The first six chapters of this book, which bring before us the historical account, you might say, historical incidents that are brought before us that Daniel and his companions experienced.

And the last six chapters bring before us the prophecies that Daniel had. And so this chart, vertically, is divided in the first six chapters historical, and the last six chapters prophetical. Although the historical parts, as I'll point out in a moment, are also typical, and therefore prophetical, of what is to come to pass.

Horizontally, we saw that chapter one stands by itself, and it brings before us those four lads who were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar. And there in Babylon, they had to make a decision as to whether they were going to be carried away by the idolatry and the heathen practices of Nebuchadnezzar, or whether they were going to stand for God.

Separated from all their loved ones, separated from their home, separated from the temple which was about to be destroyed, and separated from the sacrificial system. And yet we find those four young men stood for God, and the result was that to them God gave wisdom, excelling all the wisdom of the magicians, the wise men, and the astrologers.

And God also made known to Daniel his secrets. And then in the second chapter, we have the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had of the image of the various metals, the head of gold, the breast and the arms of silver, the thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet and the ten toes of iron and clay.

And he saw a stone cut out without hands fall from above from heaven, and smite that image on the toes, and break it to pieces, grind it to powder. The wind came and took it all away, and that stone, of course, became a great mountain, and it filled the whole earth.

And in this, Daniel's interpretation was that there would be four great world kingdoms, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. And the last form of that Roman empire would be a ten-kingdomed empire, and in the days of those ten kings, why God himself would bring in a kingdom, which would do away with all these kingdoms, and it would fill the whole earth.

And of course, that stone, we're not left in doubt as to what that is, and that is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the setting up of his kingdom. Now you notice that horizontally, all this above this blue line is all history.

It's all past in the day in which we live. This is all past. And then, of course, in this blue parenthesis here, this is something that Daniel did not see, and this is the present age in which we live, and we're from the cross to the rapture, the revelation of the mystery, a dateless parenthesis in God's great plan, in which God is calling out the church.

And then, of course, this is all future below the blue line, and we see the revived Roman empire in the time of the end. And then we saw how Nebuchadnezzar made the image how there were those who refused to bow, three men.

They were cast into the burning fiery furnace. The Lord was with them and preserved them. And this picture is how in the tribulation period, the Gentiles are going to, the Gentile leader is going to set up the image, and all will have to worship or be cast into great trial and tribulation, and there will be a faithful remnant in the time of the end who will refuse.

And so there we see in these four chapters here, we see some of the characteristics of Gentile dominion. First of all, the worship of the image. Then, of course, mankind turning to the beast, forgetting God, and God transforming and saving Nebuchadnezzar.

Then we have the destruction of Babylon, picturing for us the impiety, and also the doom of the Gentile power in the time of the end, and Daniel preserved in the lion's den pictures for us the people of Israel who will stand true to the Lord, being preserved in the tribulation period.

The Four Empires and the Antichrist

And then in the last six chapters, we have the prophecies, and we saw that Daniel himself had a vision of those four empires, but he didn't see them as a great image of a man, he saw them as beast. And one added feature that amongst those ten kings, there would rise one who would be the leader, and this Roman little horn who will be the leader of that confederacy.

A superman, a brilliant man, a genius. And then we saw in the eighth chapter how he takes the Medo-Persian empire and the Grecian empire, which destroyed the Medo-Persian, and then the Grecian empire destroyed, or the king, Alexander, dying, and his kingdom divided into four parts, and then one of those parts, the little horn, of course, the king of the north, and he pictures for us the great enemy of Israel, who will be in the tribulation period, and the one against whom they will need protection.

And then last night we were speaking of the prophecy of 70 weeks. We saw how that Daniel was given the prophecy of 70 weeks of years in which God would make an end of their sins, God would bring in everlasting righteousness, God would anoint the most holy.

In other words, from the time of their captivity to the time of the reign of Christ. And we saw how that 70 weeks are broken up into three distinct parts. The first seven weeks were 49 years in which the temple was, in which Jerusalem was to be rebuilt, and then 434 years, or 62 weeks, which would end in the crucifixion of the Messiah, who would then be cut off and have nothing.

And, of course, when that happened, God cut off his dealings with his people. God's clock of prophecy stopped, and it's been stopped ever since. You and I don't read about the church in the book of Daniel.

You and I don't read about the history of Christendom in the book of Daniel. This is all something that Daniel did not see. In fact, it is something that is not made known to us in the Old Testament at all.

The Church as the Mystery in God's Prophetic Plan

The clock of prophecy is stopped, and God began a new thing after they crucified the Messiah. He began to form a church. And from Jew and Gentile, he is calling people to Christ. And those who come to Christ and are saved and forgiven are brought by the Spirit of God into the church.

And that's what God is doing at the present time. The 15th chapter of Acts tells us that God is visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And as we notice here, we have the word mystery here.

The revelation of the mystery. Now, that means a secret. God had a secret in his heart from before the foundation of the world that he was going to have a people for heaven. And so the time came when Israel rejected the Messiah, and at the end of 62 weeks, 69 weeks, 483 years, God's clock of prophecy stopped.

And for the last 1900 years, why the church is being called. The church is being formed the church means called out one. They are those who are called out of the world by means of the preaching of the gospel.

And those who hear that call and come to Christ and accept him as he says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. While they come to Christ, they obtain rest, and they are brought into that church.

And just as this church is a mystery, the end of this church is also a mystery. In the 15th chapter of first Corinthians, Paul says, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. I show you a secret.

We shall not all sleep. And you don't find anything about this secret rapture in the Old Testament. You find pictures of it, but you don't find any mention of it. You don't find any prophecy about it.

We find all kinds of prophecies in the Old Testament about the second coming of Christ to earth. And that's what we're speaking about in Daniel. The stone falling from heaven is the second coming of Christ to earth.

But that is not the mystery. That is not the rapture. The rapture is a mystery. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord.

And so the church is a mystery. It's a secret. And it's shown by this parenthesis. Daniel didn't know anything about this. Daniel didn't say a word about this. And if we were to raise this chart and take this line and put it right here, why you notice the legs, of course, would be brought together and everything would be brought together.

And that's all Daniel saw. By means of this parenthesis, we show what God is doing at the present time. And it's only after this plan of God is complete, when the church is complete, and the Lord Jesus takes out of this world those who are his, it is only then that this time of the end that you notice in every one of these stages, the time of the end, it is only then that that is going to come into existence.

The Seventieth Week and Israel's Tribulation

And then the last week of those 70 weeks, the last seven years, what is known as the time of Jacob's trouble, you find that in Jeremiah chapter 30 here in verse 7, and the great tribulation, which is the last three and a half years of this tribulation period, when the beast, the political head, puts up an image in the Jewish temple and with his ally, the Antichrist, of whom we will be speaking tomorrow night, why they will force the Jewish people to worship.

But there will be the remnant, like Daniel and his three companions, who will refuse and will escape and will stay true to the Lord. So, tonight we come to chapter 10, the circumstances in which Daniel received his last prophecy.

Daniel 10 and the Reality of the Unseen World

And you know, this chapter, perhaps, is one of the profoundest revelations of what the unseen world is that we have in the Bible. You know, that's the wonderful thing about the Bible. The Bible not only talks about the past, and it not only talks about the present, and it not only talks about the future, but the Bible talks about the unseen world, as well as the seen world.

In other words, there are many people today who go to mediums, and they go to spiritists to try and get in contact with the dead. There are many people today who are following astrology and other things, seeking to get in contact, you might say, with the unseen world.

Well, the Bible gives us a tremendous revelation of the unseen world. And here in this 10th chapter of Daniel, he brings before us what connection there is between the seen world and the unseen world, and that the unseen world is just as real as the seen world.

Now, of course, you and I cannot see the unseen world of spirits that we are going to talk about. You and I can't see them with telescopes, and you and I can't find them with microscopes. There is something more needed than that, and that is we need faith.

The Great Warfare and Daniel's Three-Week Fast

Now, here we have in this 10th chapter of Daniel, it says, in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Balthasar, and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long.

Now, unfortunately, that doesn't present or convey the thought. In the revised version, you have the real thought. It says, whose name was Balthasar, and the thing was true, even a great warfare. What was being made known to Daniel was about a great warfare, and this great warfare in two ways.

First of all, a warfare in the unseen world between the messengers of God and the servants and emissaries of the devil, and secondly, the great warfare that was going to take place in the 11th chapter of Daniel between the king of the south and the king of the north, and which would eventually carry on to the last great conflict, which is going to begin, as we will see tomorrow night, in the land of Palestine.

Now, if you just want to do something, if you have a map of the world, or if you have a globe, what I would suggest to you is, when you go home, is you turn on that globe, or in that map, and you see how small the land of Palestine, or Israel, is in relation to the rest of the world.

I know several months ago, and just last night, or the night before at Fred and Fern's, we were looking at a globe to see how little the land of Palestine is in comparison to the world, and you ask yourself the question, you mean that little land, that insignificant land, that that's so important?

But several months ago, we had visitors at our home, and we were talking, and so we pulled out some old maps from National Geographic that spread out, and give us the whole world, and then you look at the land of Palestine, and you think to yourself, my, the land of Israel, that little land, well that's what the Bible tells us, is the most important land in all the world.

It shows us, our brother and sister suggested to me the other night, well God isn't interested in size. God is interested in little things, and the little land of Palestine, why ever so small, yet it's so important.

Well here, it's about a great warfare. Daniel is being given a vision, and instruction about a great warfare, and as you'll notice in the 14th verse, we'll look a little later at it, but he says, now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days.

In other words, what he is going to show to him, was something that was to be in the latter days, and as we know, it's going to be in the very end time, and we're going to look at that. But you know, as Daniel was given this understanding, it says he understood the thing, verse 1, and had understanding of the vision, in those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.

I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And if you're noticing, your margin is three full weeks of days.

We've been speaking about weeks of years in the ninth chapter, but here the word is weeks. Three full weeks, or three weeks of days. For 21 days, Daniel didn't eat any pleasant food. He didn't eat any meat.

He didn't drink any wine. He was fasting because of the burden and the great sorrow that there was in his heart concerning his people. And he says, in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Edeko, then I lifted up my knives and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz.

His body also was like the barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words was like the voice of a multitude.

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

Who Was the Heavenly Being in Daniel's Vision?

Now, this vision that Daniel saw that the men who were with him did not see, and in fact the effect of that vision was so profound upon these men that they were filled with fear, and they fled to hide themselves.

And Daniel himself, his strength dissipated. He fell to the earth. He felt weak and powerless. Now, I might say that there's controversy or differences of opinion amongst Bible scholars as to who this vision is about.

Who is this vision? Some there are who are very able Bible scholars who believe that this is a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnate glory, which was made known to Daniel. We know that the vision is quite similar to what we have in Revelation chapter 1, where we have a definite vision of the Lord Jesus, and the effect on Daniel of his vision was the same as the effect on John.

They were both brought to the earth, as it were, in corruption. The only difficulty with this is that there are two things. If this is the very same one that is being spoken of here, while we find in the 13th verse he was unable to overcome the prince of Persia himself, and so Michael had to come to his aid.

Now, of course, we can't imagine the Lord Jesus not being able, even in his pre-incarnate glory, of not being able to overcome a prince of Satan, so much so that he needed help from Michael. And that is the difficulty with taking the vision of this man to be a vision of this one, rather, to be a vision of the Lord Jesus.

Rather, some think, and I'm inclined to the view myself, that here is a vision given to Daniel of a heavenly being, a celestial being, a being who came from the other world, and here Daniel sees him, as it were, in his glory, and the sight of that heavenly celestial being is so tremendous that Daniel has no power to stand in the presence of this being.

Now, sometimes people tell you, well, I had a vision of the Lord Jesus, or I had a vision of a heavenly angel. Well, my friends, I'm afraid that if you and I had an actual vision of the Lord Jesus, or an actual vision of a heavenly being, the effect would be the same upon us that it was upon Daniel.

In other words, Daniel had no power to stand as he stood in the presence. My, just think, a heavenly visitor stood before Daniel in his glory, and in his might, and in his majesty, and Daniel just turned, as it were, to corruption in the presence of this person.

And then as he fell there, a deep sleep upon him, behold, and hand touched me, which set me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright, for unto thee am I now sent.

And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. And then he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

Spiritual Warfare and Delayed Answers to Prayer

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now, my friends, in this 13th verse, we have a profound verse that gives us an insight into the unseen world.

When Daniel began to pray, as we saw in the ninth chapter last night, before he finished, Gabriel was there with the answer. But here, when he prayed for these 21 days, it was not until 21 days later that this angel or this person stood before him, and he says, Daniel, as soon as you began to pray, I was sent from the presence of God with the message, but the prince of Persia withstood me for 21 days.

In other words, somebody held me back, and I wasn't able to deliver the message that I want to convey to you now. And he says, I wasn't able to overcome this prince of Persia until Michael, another angel, came to help me.

Now, who is this prince of Persia? What does this reveal to you and me about the unseen world? Here, it reveals to you and me that when you and I pray, as Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 6, we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers in heavenly places against the world rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in heavenly places.

In other words, it brings before you and me a little insight of the conflict that there is going on in the heavens that are not seen by you and me. Now, the prince of Persia. Now, we know that wasn't Cyrus or Darius, because as we have here, Cyrus in the third year of Cyrus.

Why, we know that he's not speaking about the king of Persia when he's talking about the prince of Persia, but who is he talking about and what is he bringing before us? What he is bringing before us, my friends, is that here is an angelic being who has an entire empire, as it were, under his control.

You know, friends, there are many of us who do not realize the tremendous organized power of Satan in the heavenly places. You know, some people talk about the devil, and they talk about Satan with such lightness and flippancy as though they were meeting one who was inferior to themselves.

And yet, when we come to the Bible, friends, we find that Satan is the head of a tremendous, innumerable number of angelic beings who, as it were, control this very world and all the kingdoms of the world.

You know, there is one title that is given by our Lord Jesus to Satan. You know what he calls him? He calls him the prince of this world. Now, what does he mean by that title? Well, I think that in the fourth chapter of the book of Luke we have brought before us what is suggested by this title in the fourth chapter of Luke, by this title given by our Lord Jesus.

You remember that in the fourth chapter of Luke we have the temptation of the Lord Jesus, and you remember he tried him in three different ways. But notice in Luke chapter 4 and verse 5 it says, "...and the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.".

Now, just think of that. The devil showed the Lord Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. "...and the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me.".

Now, there we have brought before us that Satan is the prince of this world. In other words, it all belongs to him. All the kingdoms of the world, they belong to the devil. And he says, "...it is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it.

If thou therefore will worship me, all shall be thine.". Now, I want you to notice the Lord Jesus didn't say, it's not so. This doesn't belong to you, Satan. This belongs to God. No, and Satan says, all the kingdoms of the world are mine, and to whomsoever I will, I give it.

Why, it brings before us that this world and its sin, and this world and its unbelief, and the various kingdoms of the world, they all are ruled over by Satan. But now, Satan is not like God. Satan is not omniscient, as we saw when we were speaking of the second chapter of Daniel, why the devil didn't know what the dream was that Nebuchadnezzar had, or he would have given it to his wise men and the magicians and the astronomers, so the devil doesn't know everything.

And the devil doesn't have all power. He's not all powerful like God is, and he's not omnipresent. He can be everywhere at the same time, because he is a creature. God is the creator, and so what has he done?

He has put the empires of this world under various of his angelic followers who failed and sinned with him when he led the rebellion against God. And two of those we find here in Daniel chapter 10, where we have this angel saying in the 20th verse, he says, Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come.

So, there we have two angelic beings to whom are assigned two provinces or two nations or two kingdoms. Now, this whole world, you might say, is divided like that, and we find that all of these angelic beings, they are Satan's representatives, and they are Satan's adversaries.

The Armor of God Against Heavenly Powers

And as Ephesians chapter 6 tells us, let us turn for a moment to Ephesians chapter 6, and I would like you to notice the expression that we have here in Ephesians 6. Notice he says in the 10th verse, he says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. Now, those are heavenly intelligences, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Now, notice, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against, and if you'll notice your margin, if it's like mine, against wicked spirits in heavenly places. Now, they are the world rulers of this darkness, and so these angelic beings according to the Bible are intelligent, they are powerful, they are rulers who have whole provinces and nations and kingdoms under their control, and each of these controls it and responds to the authority and the leadership of Satan.

You know, I read an article in Time magazine around Christmas time, and it was on the subject of angels, and they said, you know, the idea of angels is practically lost today. About the only place we think of angels today, speaking of Christendom, is on Christmas cards.

And then, of course, we see them as little cherubic beings, you know, with wings and a little bow and arrow, and they're all so nice, and they're so attractive. People make little figures of angels and hang them on their Christmas trees, or hang them from their lights, or things like that.

The idea of angels in the ordinary mind is of a little cherub who's, oh well, he's just the very essence of innocence and weakness and childishness, but not according to the Bible. According to the Bible, they are powerful beings who are above and beyond men.

They are stronger than men. As I mentioned the other night, Gabriel was an angel who appeared to Daniel, and yet he appeared 500 years later to Elizabeth and to Mary the Virgin. Time and age means nothing to angels.