It looks as if an angel now spoke to Daniel after he had been overcome by the sight he had of God. The first action of the angel was to make Daniel feel at ease. He did this in a number of ways: he touched Daniel, he told Daniel to stand up, and he encouraged Daniel with appropriate words.
Second, the angel reminded Daniel how God regarded him. In the previous chapter, when Gabriel spoke to Daniel he informed him that he was ‘greatly loved’ by God (Dan. 9:23). Now in Daniel 10 we find Daniel again referred to in this marvellous way (Dan. 10:11, 19).
Yet although there is that similarity in the two recorded experiences, there are also some significant differences. For example, in Daniel 9, he receives an immediate answer to prayer whereas in Daniel 10 the answer is delayed. Also in Daniel 9, the prophet had the encouragement of biblical promises to guide him whereas in Daniel 10 the account begins with Daniel perplexed and troubled. Yet he is still the same person whom God loves dearly. So to be told that God still loved him would be of great comfort to Daniel.
Third, the angel informed Daniel that his prayers had been heard. We have just mentioned that in the previous chapter Daniel received God’s answer immediately whereas in chapter 10 it looks as if has not been heard. Yet the angel assures Daniel that his prayer was heard at the same moment as he offered it (v. 12).
Fourth, the angel gives to Daniel an insight into unseen spiritual conflicts that occurred because of his prayer. For three weeks, a fallen angel has resisted the attempt of the good angel to come to Daniel with the answer to his request for information about the future of his people (vv. 13-14).
The angel informs Daniel that there are orders of angels engaged in a conflict with opposing forces. In the good camp, Michael has a prominent place, and he is called an archangel in the letter of Jude. The fallen angels also seem to be organised in where and how they function.
Fifth, the angel informed Daniel that his personal prayer and its answer was part of an age-long conflict between good and evil in the spiritual world. In verse 20, the angel says that he will continue his fight against the evil spirit that influences Persia, then he will fight against the evil spirit that will influence Greece (remember that the Grecian empire has not yet come into existence); he informs Daniel in chapter 11 what will happen to his people in the 400 hundred years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New; and then tells Daniel in 12:1-2 that the conflict will continue until the day of the final resurrection.
That was some message. But Daniel would not have received it if he and his friends had not arranged to spend some time at the River Tigris seeking for God.
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