Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today we finished finished our 32nd book of the Bible. It opens during the reign of

King Cyrus of Persia who is currently in charge of Babylon. We've read about

Cyrus and other books of prophecy. He's the one who is not a father. of rebuilding the temple. We're not there yet though. We're currently on the banks of the Tigris River with Daniel who has been in mourning and seeking God for three weeks.

He sees a vision that has some familiar components. It's a shiny metal-looking man dressed in linen and gold. Lots of

commentators think this is the angel Gabriel again. The angel slash messenger of God

peals back the curtain to let us see what's been happening behind the scenes.

First, the angel lists three things Daniel did as he sought to hear from God.

He set his heart to understand. He humbled himself, and he positioned himself before God.

And God sent the angel in response to Daniel's prayers, much like we read about with Gabriel yesterday.

Then the angel gives us a bit of a glimpse into the spiritual realm.

We don't often get those in scripture, at least not

this explicitly, probably because we wouldn't be able to handle it. The angel talks about a fight

he's been having with the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia.

Remember how each nation has their own set of gods to worship?

Those gods are often connected to demonic powers.

The Holy Angels and fallen Angels who serve in those roles are often referred to as patron angels.

In other words, the angel Daniel is talking to is probably not fighting a literal person,

prince.

He's probably fighting the demonic power who is in charge of Persia.

But to be fair, some people believe those demonic powers would actually

end well the kings and leaders of those countries. So it could be a both-and

...