Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” —Daniel 10:10-13
In the book of Daniel, we find the great prophet and man of faith praying and fasting and seeking answers from God about the visions he had been given regarding the future. After three weeks, Daniel was visited by an angel who brought him the answer to his prayer. But the angel also revealed to Daniel a spiritual battle that had been taken place in the unseen realm.
The angel said that the answer had been sent immediately, but it had been delayed because a demonic power that he referred to as the “prince of Persia” had blocked it from being delivered. It was not until the archangel Michael, who is seen in Scripture as a great fighter for God’s people, arrived and helped win the battle that the angel with Daniel’s answer was able to come to the prophet and deliver it to him.
The Bible teaches that there are different levels of authority in the spirit realm. Paul wrote, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. —Ephesians 6:12
One of the most important truths I have ever learned is that no battle can be won in the physical realm unless it has first been fought and won in the spiritual realm. If Daniel had not been faithful to continue praying even though his answer was delayed, I do not believe that the spiritual battle would have been won. We are not observers in spiritual warfare—we are on the frontlines of the battle. Our prayers matter a great deal, and they are powerful. The great hymn writer William Cowper said, “Satan trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon his knees.”
We have a responsibility to be active participants in spiritual warfare. We must take this seriously, because these spiritual powers—both demonic and angelic—are actively at work in our world today. This is one of the vital lessons of this story from the book of Daniel. Each of us is facing battles against differing levels or layers of authority in the spiritual realm.
This is not just true on an individual basis; it is true on a national level as well. The demonic being referred to as “prince of Persia” had power and authority over one of the greatest empires of history. And this is not an isolated or special case. Other nations have demonic powers assigned to them. After talking with Daniel, the angel revealed that there was another evil spirit involved.
Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.” —Daniel 10:20
This tells us that just as Persia had a demonic power working in authority over its empire, there was a “prince of Greece” as well. And it was only after the demonic power behind the kingdom of Persia had been defeated by the archangel Michael that the Greeks, under Alexander the Great were able to defeat them on the field of battle. Previous to that time the Greeks and Persians had fought a series of battles, but there was no decisive victory until the demonic power dynamic was first changed.
This matters a great deal to us today because Persia—modern day Iran—is once again involved heavily in potential conflict with the nation of Israel. We do not know whether the same “prince of Persia” that was active in Daniel’s day is the same one behind the rulers of Iran today, but there is no doubt that there is a demonic power behind the throne. Satan has hated God’s Chosen People throughout all of human history, and his demonic powers have turned many governments against them. From Pharaoh in Egypt to Hitler in Germany to Iran today, the same evil forces are at work to try to destroy the Jewish people.
The reality of spiritual warfare is that Israel cannot be defended just with tanks and planes and soldiers and intelligence services or any other weapons. The Jewish state must first and most importantly be defended in prayer. That is why the Jerusalem Prayer Team exists—to gather believers from around the world together to fight and win the most important spiritual battle of our lifetime.
As Daniel did, we must be faithful to pray until the victory is won. Only when the “prince of Persia” is defeated in the heavenlies will Israel have victory over the great threat posed against her today by Iran. And that victory will not happen unless and until we do our part to win it. That is why Operation Esther is so vitally important.
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