March 7–13

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 11: “From Battle to Victory”

Daniel 10 is an introduction to chapters 11 and 12, the last two chapters of the book, and the three of them together are one continuous narrative. Here Daniel has another visitor from heaven who tells Daniel what will befall his people, Israel, in the last days:

“Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future” (Dan. 10:14).

Notice that once again, “your people”—Daniel’s people the Jews—are specified.  There is no Biblical support for ripping them out of the message and inserting the Church in their place. Israel and the Church are not the same thing. In the Old Testament, “God’s people” were the chosen people, the children of Israel. In the New Testament, after the cross, the Church is God’s “called people”. But they are never combined and should never be confused with one another. Israel and the Church have different purposes, and different promises.

At the beginning of the chapter, Daniel was mourning. Although we aren’t told the exact cause of this grief, we can deduce a likely reason. When he conquered Babylon, Cyrus had released the Jews to return to Jerusalem. This chapter begins by telling us that it was about two years later—“in the third year” of Cyrus’s reign. 

Fewer than 50,000 Jews has returned to Jerusalem, and the news from there was not good. Ezra 3 tells us that under Zerubbabel, the foundation of the temple was laid, but the work was stopped because of the trouble caused by the local people who had complained to the king. This halt in the building of the temple could very well be the reason Daniel was in mourning.

Daniel was probably about 90 years old when this messenger came to tell him more of the future of his people, and he may have felt some discouragement over the lack of progress made in Jerusalem.

The Bible does not say just who this messenger was, and the lesson carefully skirts around the issue while trying to influence our understanding. The author does this subtle manipulation by describing this messenger by using words and phrases such as: “Son of man”, “His linen clothing is reminiscent of priestly garments,” “Prince of the host”, “royal dignity”, “This is someone invested with priestly, royal, and military attributes.”

These phrases are all meant to make us believe that this is Jesus without actually coming out and saying so. This message is further reinforced by this question: “What similarities do we find between Daniel’s vision of the Son of God in Daniel 10 and those in Joshua 5:13–15 and Revelation 1:12–18?”

In Joshua 5, the messenger calls himself “captain of the host of the Lord”, while no one would dispute that the verses in Revlation are about Jesus. By combining these verses, and with the other descriptive words listed above, the author is clearly trying to link them all to say that this is Jesus. 

But why doesn’t he actually say so? Why? Because he can’t say the messenger is Jesus without blatantly contradicting himself and the Bible.

The idea that this is Jesus is further stressed by this from the lesson: “The manifestation of God’s presence simply overwhelms him.”

If this is Jesus, as strongly implied by the lesson, then according to Adventist theology it is also Michael. But in the last verse we read: “Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.” If Michael came to help this messenger, then this messenger can’t be Michael. You can see the dilemma.

The author gets around this problem by just ignoring it and moving on with comments on verse 13:

“For three weeks Gabriel wrestled with the powers of darkness, seeking to counteract the influences at work on the mind of Cyrus; and before the contest closed, Christ Himself came to Gabriel’s aid. ‘The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days,’ Gabriel declares; ‘but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.’.”

Here is another major problem with saying that Michael is Jesus. Michael is called “one of the chief princes”, which means there are other “chief princes”. But we know that Jesus is not “one of several” or one of many. He is God, not a chief prince, and certainly not just one of many chief princes. He is Almighty God and always has been. Again, the author tries to gloss over this glaring contradiction by saying: 

“But no matter how difficult the battles we have to fight, Jesus fights for us and stands as our Prince and High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.”

No matter how many times you say it, you can’t make it true if it contradicts the Bible. Let’s look at what Hebrews says about our Priest in heaven:

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. 

For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests (Heb. 7:11–14).

Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi, so He can’t be a Levitical priest. Notice that Hebrews says that there is a change in the priesthood. It is no longer Levitical but is something new or different.

Also, to follow these verses, you see that with the change in priesthood there was also a change of law (verse 12). The context is clear—there is a change from the old Levitical Law, which Hebrews 7:18 calls “weak and useless” to one with a Priest who “holds His priesthood forever” (v 24). If His priesthood is “forever”, that means He will never stop His priestly duties. He will always intercede for us (v 24).

This new priesthood is the answer to the question near the end:

“Read Romans 8:37–39. How can we make the promise of being conquerors a real experience in our own Christian lives?”

And it is reinforced with the very verses the lesson asks us to read:

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:37–39).

Jesus is our High Priest, our Intercessor; He holds a new kind of priesthood that is different from the weak, temporary Levitical priesthood. And Romans 8 assures us, along with Hebrews 7, that He is always our Intercessor, and nothing can separate us from Him.

Trusting in Jesus and being born again is how we can be overcomers—it isn’t by any of our works but by the very fact that Jesus already overcame the world (John 16:3), and when we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, His victory becomes ours. We still live in a sinful fallen world and we will constantly struggle until the end. But the end, the final victory, is already ours when we are in Christ. †