Daniel 2: Part 8: The Difficulties of a Divided Soul and How the Spirit Helps

If you have not read the previous posts on the book of Daniel on this website, this article will not be as meaningful. In my interpretations of Daniel chapter one and now in chapter two, king Nebuchadnezzar is the immature natural mind and Daniel is the spiritual mind.

In our previous verse, Daniel has gone before the king to assure him that he will have an answer to his identity problem (revealed in the king’s dream), but he needs a little time to do this. In other words, the spiritual mind crosses over to the natural mind to minister briefly. In this next verse, he returns to his house in the spiritual realm.

Dan 2:17 – Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

If we have spent much time in the Word, we know that our soul has a house…it is our natural body. Our spirit also has a house…a spiritual body. However, we do not become aware of our spiritual body until we die unless we get deeply involved in a satanic cult. Cultists’ spiritual bodies are awakened in rituals so they feel, see and hear demons. However, God in his mercy has shut up that realm to protect us until we come into perfection in the end times. Those who enter in prematurely will be deceived.

The spiritual mind has returned to his house…a place of security and rest in God. As we learned in chapter one of Daniel, his three friends represent three understandings that give foundational support to the spiritual mind. These friends represent the following: Hananiah–the knowledge that he is loved by God; Mishael–one who knows the character of God, who knows of his faithfulness and goodness; and Azariah–one who knows that God helps and protects him.

These are only understandings, of course, and not literal people. However we can imagine a conversation that might take place as Daniel ponders what he has learned by his excursion into the soul realm of this person’s being.

Daniel: “The natural mind is deeply troubled. He has no idea who he is in Christ. All the turmoil of his life has come to a head and he is considering dissociating in order to deal with his pain. If he does this, he will cut himself off from us. Then we won’t be able to minister to him.”

Hananiah: “This is so unnecessary for him to do this. If only he knew that he is deeply loved by God. The knowledge of God’s love has brought us such tremendous peace and rest. I hope he will not split so we will have an opportunity to help him find God’s deep love for himself.”

Mishael: “He definitely has no clue about the holy, gentle and faithful character of God. I want him to know that God is his Father and that he can depend on his promise that he will never leave him or forsake him. If he will only trust God, he will find this out for himself.”

Azariah: ” God has done so much for him. He has protected him and helped him in many situations in his life. However, he did not acknowledge God in these things. He thought it was only luck or circumstances that kept him safe. We must pray for him to come to the knowledge of God’s constant attention to every detail of his life.”

Daniel (the spiritual mind) has told the king (the natural mind) that he will give him an interpretation of his dream (tell him who he is in Christ). The natural mind has agreed to be patient and wait for his answer. Now in this next verse, we see Daniel and his friends begin to seek the Lord concerning this matter.

Dan 2:18  That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The scripture here states this is a secret…and so it is. We do not know who we are apart from Christ. Our identity remains secret from us in at least two ways. (1) We may not even realize that our misery is based on our lack of true identity…on not knowing who we are in Christ, and (2) once we realize that our foundational problem is related to identity, we are helpless to do anything about it apart from God. It remains a secret until God speaks to us about it in some way.

We can read books about identity (which is a helpful thing to do), but it will only be head knowledge unless we spend time alone with God. Our identity in Christ has to come by revelation from God. Until it is our revelation, we don’t truly know it. It comes to us as we develop a relationship with God in the following way: I pray. He answers. It is as simple as that. I pray again. He answers again…and so it goes until I have no doubt that he is there, he loves me and he cares about every detail in my life.

I could give many examples here of how this works, but one in particular comes to mind. In 1985 we were living in a rented Cape Cod style house on 40 acres of woods. We loved living there with our two teenage daughters and our little dog. We often hiked in the woods together as a family. I remember one cold snowy night when there was a bright moon, we all dressed warmly and walked in the woods in the moonlight to see if we could see any nocturnal animals. In the summer we picked wild black raspberries in the woods and then made cobbler or pie from them.

When the God called us to move to a neighboring town to pastor a small group of people meeting together in an abandoned school house, we had to give up our beloved home. We had no money and weren’t going to be getting much from that small church. Of course, I was very concerned about where we were going to live, so I went to prayer.

Every day I prayed that God would give us a place to live that was back off the road (so our dog wouldn’t get run over and could run free), with woods to pick raspberries in, at least three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms, a place for a garden…all for not more than $250 a month. This would require a miracle. Even a small apartment in that town cost $450 a month.

Here is how God answered my prayer. There was a woman in this little church whose father-in-law was a millionaire who owned several properties. He had just purchased a double-wide on a 500 acre farm where he intended to start a cattle ranch. He just needed someone to stay in the doublewide and keep an eye on the place…no duties to perform…just be there. He didn’t really need the money, so all he was asking was $200 a month! He was not going to put cattle there for a few years.

The house was back off the road quite a ways. There was no chance our dog would wander out onto the road. There were raspberry bushes all through the woods that were adjacent to the fields. There was a perfect spot for a garden. The doublewide was relatively new and had three bedrooms and two full bathrooms (not just one and a half). I had asked for not more than $250 a month. We got it for $200 but he later raised the rent to $250. We got exactly what I had been asking for.

I tell this experience to make a point. The way God answered my prayer told me things about my identity and the nature of God. I learned that I was important to him. That he heard my prayers. That he could and would work a miracle on my behalf. I learned that he cares about everything I care about…even our dog. I felt loved and secure in my relationship with God.

This was just one experience of answered prayer. Over the years there have been hundreds. I have learned who I am in Christ in several ways, but the most important is through prayer and experiencing his response. Sometimes he does say no, but there is always a good reason for that. 

Now let’s take another look at this verse and see what else God has to show us here:

Dan 2:18  That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

There was grave concern that Daniel and his three friends would perish. We know that our spirit (Daniel) is eternal and that the foundational understanding represented by the three friends is also eternal, so they are not going to die. The definition for the Hebrew word translated “perish” in the KJV is actually “to wander away, lose oneself, and break.”

As we learned in previous verses, the whole issue in our spiritual interpretation of this portion of Daniel is dissociation. If the king decrees that the wise men perish, then dissociation will take place. The natural mind will form a false persona that is broken off from the spirit. That false self will not be able to commune with God and know God like the true self can. However, in satanic ritual abuse, God understands there was no choice for SRA persons—that if they were to survive, they had to split away from the horrendous abuse, and he will seek out those parts to help them. (We are seeing that here in the accounts of “J”’s ongoing deliverance and healing from SRA. It is a new day, a new time in natural and spiritual history on this earth. The approach of the kingdom of God is increasing exponentially and we are seeing how God is ready and longing to supernaturally heal SRA persons if they will yield themselves to him.)

This gives us an idea of how destructive dissociation can be. It serves a purpose for a time when there is severe abuse such as in satanic ritual abuse, but later in life it keeps us separated from God. This is one reason why demons have evil people torture their victims…so they will split more and have greater difficulty finding God. However, God, in his merciful love, makes himself known to SRA people in demonstrative and powerful ways.

Not only is there concern for Daniel and his friends, but also all the wise men of Babylon. What are these wise men in our interpretation? They represent all the good and wonderful qualities of our soul that get separated into different parts during dissociation that then become inaccessible. For example, a person begins feeling depressed and discouraged. God seems to be a million miles away and death seems like a good option. Not only is this depressed part cut off from the spirit that could connect it with God, but also cut off from other dissociated parts that contain all the desirable qualities such as the sense of humor, joy, and optimism. So there is no help until something happens that allows a different part to surface.

In satanic ritual abuse there are parts that are still connected to the spirit. These are the core personalities that are able to have a relationship with Jesus. But the vast majority of parts have no relationship with Jesus.

Note: Since the beginning of my series on Daniel, “J” has entered our lives, and we are posting almost daily how Jesus is ministering to his parts. One very interesting thing we see in the way Jesus ministers to “J”’s parts is that the freed parts that have had Jesus’ ministry are now helping the other parts who are yet to receive this ministry.

I include here by way of example an excerpt from “J”’s testimony seen in “Are You Looking for Jesus? Part 16.” Here we see the reunion of “J” with his freed parts that he got separated from for a period of a few days because of the enemy’s interference:

He (Jesus) asked me if I would like to talk to some of my freed parts again. I cried and said I would love to.

First, I saw Cindy and Emma. I cried as I talked with them. I asked how they were over the last few days. They shared it was very hard, but they kept walking around and doing as the Lord had commanded them. Emma’s lantern that burns with the light of the kingdom did not burn out, no matter how much darkness tried to attack them. The light still shined, just as Jesus promised Emma it would. I said I was sorry it was such a hard week, but I was very thankful for how the Lord provided for them. They asked how my week was, and I shared how very hard it was, and how the enemy cut me off from feeling Him or them. I’m not fully sanctified yet, so it was very hard. They encouraged me and were sorry it was so hard. We celebrated a bit together, and then they let me know they needed to go on and keep obeying the Lord to go where He called them.

Next, I met with Michael and David. We all hugged, and they greatly encouraged me. I asked how they had fared, and they shared it was hard, but the Lord’s armor stood firm through the attack. They kept on fighting fiercely and obeying the Lord, and the darkness could not overcome them. I said I was sorry it had been so hard, but I was proud of them for continuing to obey the Lord through the dark time. They asked how my week was, and I was honest with them. They encouraged me and patted me on the shoulders, saying they were proud of me too for continuing on as I had and were sorry it had been so hard and painful. We celebrated a bit more, and then they had to go as well to continue obeying Jesus.

Last, I met with Samuel and Peter. They were somber as I shared how my week had been. They had stood firm, and the enemy couldn’t destroy them either. They both knew what it was like to oppress people with darkness, even though it was a hint in comparison to what happened to me this week I think. They expressed how sorry they were for how hard it was for me this week, but also how proud they were of me. I felt the same way about them and encouraged them too, reminding them that I didn’t look down on them or condemn them for how they had oppressed people in the past. They didn’t have the light in them yet, nor did they truly understand and know what they were doing. (For they had been so deeply lied to.) We encouraged each other, and it was time for them to go as well.

I cried a bit during each encounter. It was so healing and encouraging to meet with my parts. Then, the Lord shared it would be time for me to go write down what had happened and that He had a word He wanted me to share with you guys. (He encouraged me that He will continue to protect me, just as He has protected me this past week through my suffering.)

The message Jesus had for “J” to deliver to all SRA survivors can be found in “Are You Looking for Jesus: Part 17.”