Daniel 10:12 “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”
1 Corinthians 2:7-8
7.But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8.which none of the PRINCES (plural) of this world (age) knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
We have seen expressly that, the princes that killed Jesus from the above scriptures were not demons but a people, the Pharisees and the high priest. Prince speaks of rulership and those in power and so we read of Saul being a prince over God’s people, just because he was anointed as a king.
1 Samuel 10:1 “Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, and kissed him. He said, “Do you see what this means? God has anointed you prince over his people” (MSG)
With this background laid, now let’s deal with Daniel 10:13
So now Daniel 10:13 “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”
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me” It will be out of place to maintain that either a good or evil ANGEL is intended here. Cyrus alone was definitely the prince of Persia, and God had destined him to be the deliverer of his people; but there were some issues not clearly stated here, why he was hesitating to do so for some time. Maybe the greatness of the work and thinking that he doesn’t have the ability to execute the job of building the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple and bringing back the people of Israel from exile. Besides he was not a Jew. Therefore, for a time he resisted the secret mission which God had sent him.
Here was the assignment:
Isaiah 44:27-28
27.When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry.
28.When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple. (NLT)
And this is why He is called the ANOINTED in Isaiah 45:1 “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus…”
So anointing is basically the assignment God has given to you to accomplish for Him not oil in a bottle or some spooky feelings.
Now, the main opposition therefore might be in reference to this building of the temple and the walls he being a heathen.
In Daniel 10:18-21 we are told:
18.Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
19.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.
20.Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee (Daniel)? and now will I return to fight with the PRINCE OF PERSIA : and when I am gone forth, lo, THE PRINCE OF GRECIA shall come.
21 But I will shew 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. That is, Daniel’s Prince.
So who could that be? We shall see later But note that we have three PRINCES mentioned in passges quoted. Do we assume that these were three demons? But who is talking here? Angel Gabriel “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19).
Meaning he is among the ministers in the court of God, the courtier we called watchers, he is the one who came to deliver the message to Daniel.
Daniel 10:20 “Knowest thou wherefore I come” In other words, do you know why I have come to you?
You are highly favored of God, that he hath sent me unto you to give you further satisfaction; though I was elsewhere employed upon a most important mission, and I must speedily return to accomplish it, viz.:
To fight with the king of Persia. To remove all the doubts and misconceptions of Cyrus, and to make him do all that God designs him to do for the restoration of Daniel’s people, the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem.
Nothing less than a supernatural influence through an agent in the mind of Cyrus can account for his decree in favor of the Jews as seen in Ezra 1:1-2
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, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
2.Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah
He had no natural, no political intentions to do so; and his unwillingness and reluctance to obey the heavenly dictate is what is here represented as a fight between him and the angel who came to give to Daniel the news.
So, you see while the Prince of Persia was king Cyrus, the “The prince of Grecia shall come” was Alexander the Great, who was to destroy the Persian Empire. Friends the prince of Persia was not a demon but a king, king Cyrus, just like Saul was the Prince of Israel.
The End.