Deeper Reflection
Daniel was seeking God with mourning and fasting for three weeks, setting his “heart on understanding” more fully the visions that God had given him in Daniel 7 to 9 (vv.2-3, 12). But there was war in heaven (cf. Rev 12:7). On “the first day” of Daniel’s humble seeking of God, God responded by dispatching His messenger to communicate to Daniel “what is written in the Book of Truth [Dan 11-12]” (vv.12, 21). But “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” was “withstanding” the heavenly messenger “for twenty-one days”, resulting in a delay (v.13a). Michael the archangel (Dan 12:1) “came to help” the heavenly messenger to fight “the prince of Persia” (v.13b). The heavenly messenger was then freed to deliver the Word of God to Daniel. Meanwhile, Michael was still fighting “the prince of Persia”, because when the heavenly messenger had fulfilled his mission, he “shall return to fight against the prince of Persia” (v.20a). And this ongoing war in heaven (v.21b) has to do with “behold, the prince of Greece is about to come” (v.20b).“The prince of Persia” and “the prince of Greece” in the heavenly realm have to do with the earthly “kings in Persia” and the “kingdom of Greece” (Dan 11:2). “There is a cosmic conflict that lies behind all that goes below on the earth” that involves spiritual forces called “princes”, or “the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” in New Testament terms (Eph 3:10; 6:12).⁵¹ These “seem to be associated with particular nations and…involved in the political and military fortunes of those nations”⁵² .

⁵¹ Christopher J. H. Wright, 215-16 ⁵² Christopher J. H. Wright, 216