Daniel the prophet was visited by Gabriel the archangel, who informed him that he had come from Persia (Iran), where the prince of that kingdom had resisted him for 21 days — the period of a partial fast by Daniel. He added that Michael [the archangel], “one of the chief princes”, had come to help him, “because I had been alone [in my fight] with the kings of Persia” (Daniel 10:13).
Gabriel had left Michael to continue the fight so that he could inform Daniel what the future held. He said, “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.”
Before revealing future events, Gabriel said: “No one upholds me against these [warring kingdoms], except Michael your prince,” and that “In the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm him [as king] and strengthen him [as the ruling monarch of what today is known as Kurdistan).” Alexander the Great, the “male goat” of the prophecy, would clash head-on with a “ram” — the Persian Emperor, Darius III.
This battle took place at Issus in 333 BC. Alexander was outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, but he pressed his attack and won decisively. Darius took to his chariot and fled the battlefield. Alexander went on to extend the Greek empire, which enclosed the modern nation states of Iran, Iraq and Egypt and a number of smaller ones.
This is not a history lesson. Historians inform us as to what took place, but Gabriel’s intelligence mission to Daniel lifted the curtain and showed the prophet the exact details of how the future battle would be won, which would not be by arrow, lance and sword, but by two archangels standing together to weaken a sovereignty’s authority until the time was right for another authority to take its place.
Ephesians 6:12 informs us that Christians “wrestle not against flesh and blood” (humans) but against sovereignties and authorities that defy the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said: “All authority is given to me, in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18) The Church’s job is to enforce his authority. Daniel did not “wrestle” against the spiritual forces behind the warring kingdoms; he knew nothing about them until Gabriel informed him. But we “wrestle” against principalities and powers: the spiritual ‘powers that be’ that rule over the world in our day.
What a personage Gabriel must be! This is the archangel who appeared to the priest Zacharias more than 500 years later, and informed him that he and his wife would have a son in their old age. When the priest (who ought to have known better) questioned how such a thing could be, Gabriel was indignant! “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God!” (Luke 1:19)
Zacharias probably wished he had kept his mouth closed, but Gabriel did that for him! He was unable to speak again until his baby boy, John, was circumcised, eight days after his birth! Never speak unbelievingly to an ageless archangel!
So, what has all this to do with what is now taking place in the Middle East? Well, it assures us that angels are still at work behind the scenes; that Michael the archangel, who fights for Israel, is more than ready for the “100,000 missiles” that supposedly threaten that reborn nation. We’ll have to wait and see — but not as fearful onlookers to a modern-day Goliath versus David rematch. (We know how that worked out.)
The Apostle Paul, writing to Titus, tells him that Christ’s followers should “submit themselves to principalities and powers — legitimate, civil authorities. But he encouraged the church at Ephesus to “wrestle” against the wicked, spiritual kind. The problem is that we submit to the things we ought to resist and resist the things to which we should submit (James 4:7). Not the way to win battles.