Daniel 10:1-21: „1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed to Daniye’l, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I Daniye’l was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; 5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished copper, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 7 And I Daniye’l alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
10 And behold, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 11 And he said to me, O Daniye’l, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright: for to you am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling. 12 Then said he to me, Fear not, Daniye’l: for from the first day that you did set thine heart to understand, and to chasten yourself before your Elohim, your words were heard, and I am come for your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I am come to make you understand what will befall your people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 15 And when he had spoken such words to me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said to him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, 19 And said: O man greatly beloved, fear not, shalom to you! Be strong, be strong! And when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened, and said: Let my lord speak; for you have strengthened me. 20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come to you? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, behold, the prince of Yavan will come. 21 But I will shew you that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holds with me in these things, but Michael your prince. [1].“
1) Context: Babylon
The deportation
Daniye’l was deported to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar at about the age of ten to fifteen, along with about 70% of the Jewish population. In Jeremiah’s prophecy, Babylon was to oppress the Jews for 70 years.
The enmity between Judah and Babylon/Persia
When analysing the following Bible passage, we realise that the deportation to Babylon was a spiritual battle from the very beginning. Let us read Daniel 1:1-2:
„1 In the third year of the reign of Yehoyaqiym king of Yehudah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel to Yerushalaim, and besieged it. 2 And Adonay gave Yehoyaqiym king of Yehudah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of Elohim: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his elohim; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his elohim“
Nebuchadnezzar brought the vessels of Elohim (the people designated for the service of YHWH) into the house of his own elohim Nebu (Nebuchadnezzar = Nebu protects). The Jews were exposed to the temptation to serve another elohim. The Babylonian king thought he was fighting against an elohim like any other. What he did not know was that he was only deporting the Jews with the consent of YHWH, because YHWH is almighty. Through the prophet Yirmeyah/Jeremiah, YHWH had already made his intentions known to his people.
Daniel’s fast
As the 70 years of Babylonian captivity were coming to an end, Daniye’l prayed to YAHWEH to implore him to free his people. This is what we have just read in chapter 10.
Daniye’ls 21-day fast was not planned for religious reasons, but arose spontaneously as Daniel waited for Elohim’s answer. Therefore, it is pointless for Christians to plan a threeweek fast in the manner of Daniye’l; rather, one should be guided by the Spirit of Elohim when fasting.
2) The angel of Elohim and the prince of Persia
We see from our Bible passage that Elohim sent an angel to Daniye’l in response to his prayer. This angel was to bring Daniye’l a message. The word „angel“ means „messenger“, and that is exactly what Elohim had sent: a messenger. The prince of Persia is also an angel, but an angel of Satan, a territorial power defending its territory, which included Daniye’l. Thus, Elohim’s messenger could not reach Daniye’l; he was blocked. A drawing illustrates the situation:
How is such a thing possible, since Elohim is almighty and knowingly sent his angel? How could this angel be held back by a territorial being?
Distinguishing between angels
- The messengers
Our Bible passage shows that there are angels who function only as messengers.
They are the ones who communicate Elohim’s intentions to humans or reveal the future. One of these angels is Gabriy’el (Gabriel), whom we know from the annunciation of the birth of Yehoshua (Jesus) and the birth of Yohanan (John) the Baptist. Such beings are not equipped for battle, as this is not part of their remit. Daniye’l had to deal with just such an angel. At first, the angel could not reach Daniye’l because he could not fight against the prince of Persia. Incidentally, Satan also has his messenger angels who serve him as fortune-telling spirits, heralds of false prophecies and whisperers of evil ideas [2].
- The soldiers
The fighters of the heavenly hosts are another type of angel. Among them is Michael, a powerful military leader who was one of the first angels to be created. The armies of Elohim are constantly on the move, fighting for the children of Elohim against the world of darkness. Their supreme commander is Yehoshua himself, called „YHWH of hosts“ in the Bible. Like the messengers, they only carry out what he commands them to do. In contrast to them are the fallen warriors of Satan, demonic powers that drive people to hatred and war against each other or rule over regions of varying sizes. The hierarchy of these demons will be explained later in this article.
Angelic princes
Daniel 10:13: „But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia“
„sar“ (Hebrew) = prince, lord
Michael against Prince of Persia
= Archangel, prince = Demon
= Head of the divine army = Leader of a demonic army
was later replaced by the prince of Greece
3) Spiritual order
Spiritual balance
Both the angel Michael and the demon of Persia are referred to here as princes. In the spiritual realm, there is always a balance. A lesser being does not attack a greater being, and vice versa. Thus, Elohim always sends the angel prince Miyka’el to fight against Satan (e.g., dispute over the body of Moshe (Moses); Letter of Jude). The demon of Persia described in Daniel 10 must also have had a position of authority, otherwise Miyka’el would not have been called to help.
The battles of Christians are also proportional to their calling. Someone who does not have the anointing for it cannot fight against false prophets. Therefore, it is important not to become arrogant and to proceed slowly with Elohim’s anointing. One should not think that one is the saviour of the world and must help Elohim. The resulting battles can be too great, so that one later becomes a victim of the devil and even falls away from the faith. Even Paul had to flee Damascus with the help of a sacrificial basket. His presence disturbed the spiritual powers of the city. Satan is no small demon, and we must not be naive about him!
The ruler of the world
„5 And the devil, having brought him up to a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment of time, 6 and the devil said to him: All this authority I will give you, and their glory, for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish„ (Luke 4:5-6)
We are currently living in the age of sin, in which Satan and death reign. This is the period between the Fall in Paradise with Adam and Chavvah (Eve) and the visible return of the Lord Yehoshua ha Mashiah (Jesus Christ). Satan has established a religious system for this time. False pastors, prophets and evangelists cause Satan to be worshipped instead of the true Elohim.
In 1 John 5:19 it is written: „We know that we are of Elohim, and the whole world lies in wickedness“.
This is the reason why all people in positions of government must bow to the satanic government. They are bound and forced to issue certain decrees and laws.
Regional organisation of Satan’s kingdom
The invisible occult government is well organised. There is a territorial division with boundaries. The devil has structured his „state apparatus“ in the same way as we know from the secular/political division of a country. A demon, a territorial power, is placed over a certain area. This demon in turn has subjects, etc.
Germany
/ / \ \
Federal states
/ / \ \
Administrative districts
/ / \ \
Counties/large cities
/ / \ \
Municipalities/small towns
/ / \ \
Villages/streets
1 Thessalonians 2:18: „18 Therefore we would have come to you, even I Paulos, once and again, but Satan hindered us“
Paul had tried twice to visit the Thessalonians. However, Satan prevented this great apostle from doing so by saying: You shall not enter this territory! In order to cross the borders of a region, one must have a licence to enter a certain area, i.e. to move within Elohim’s perfect will. Once Elohim has given his consent for you to do a certain work, you receive your spiritual visa to enter a certain area. Incidentally, magicians and witches also need such authorisation when they undertake astral travel. As soon as they cross their own territory and enter a new region/country, they must ask the powers that rule there for permission. We will learn more about this later.
Satanic hierarchy
Ephesians 2:2 says: „in which you once walked, according to the age of this world, according to the chief of the authority of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of obstinacy“.
We read from this verse that he lives in the air/the heavenly world. But the devil also has his co-workers, his subjects, through whom he supports his kingdom:
„For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the lords of the world of darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places“ (Ephesians 6:12).
We summarise the insights from this Bible passage in a diagram:
Satan (in the air/heavenly world)
/ / \ \
Spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenly places (= deities)
/ / \ \
Rulers of this world of darkness
/ / \ \
Powers (regional)
/ / \ \
principalities („Sar“; work with humans, sorcerers)
Among other things, we learn in Revelation 12 that Satan was cast down to earth with his angels and has since occupied the air, water and earth (with forests and fields):
„7 And there was war in heaven. Miyka’el and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels, fought, 8 but did not prevail, and their place was no longer found in heaven. 9 And he was thrown down, the dragon, the great one, the Serpent, the original called the devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole inhabited earth; he was thrown down to the Earth, and his angels were thrown down with him“ (Revelation 12:7-9)
Example: The goddess Diana
„But when the scribe had appeased the crowd, he said: Men of Ephesus, who is the human being who does not know that the city of Ephesians is the keeper of the great goddess Artemis and her image fallen from Zeus?“ (Acts 19:35).
Artemis was another name for the Roman goddess Diana. She was the guardian of the great trading city of Ephesus and, as we can see, fell directly from heaven, thus coming directly from Jupiter. Jupiter was worshipped by the Romans as the supreme deity and can therefore be equated with the „chief of the authority of the air“ who seduces people into disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). That is the devil. Artemis or Diana ranks just below him and is thus a very powerful demon (see spiritual wickedness in high places (= deities); Ephesians 6:12).
Anyone who wanted to hold a position in Ephesus had to bow down before this deity. She had her false prophets and servants who made sure that everyone adhered to her. The two apostles Yohanan and Paulos had recognised the difficulties she caused for Christians. Paulos said in one of his letters that all those in Asia had forsaken him. Yohanan wrote in Revelation that the Christians of Ephesus should return to their first love, whose apostasy had obviously been caused by this demon. Elohim therefore sent an angel to Ephesus specifically to resist the demon „Diana“ (as the angel Michael had done to the prince of Persia).
Revelation 17 speaks of the harlot Babylon, who sits on the waters. She is the ruler of the Catholic Church. She is one and the same Diana, Artemis, now also called „Mother of God“.
The sphere of influence
As described, Paulos had experienced regional restrictions several times in his life, so that he could write to the Corinthians:
„13 But we will not boast of things without measure, but according to the measure of the rule which Elohim has distributed for measure to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond the prescribed bounds, as if we did not come to you. For we came also to you with the Gospel of Mashiah. 15 We are not boasting of things beyond measure, in others‘ labors, but having hope of your faith increasing, we will abundantly grow in you according to our defined limit, 16 to evangelize in the regions beyond you, without boasting in what has already been done in the limit defined of others“ (2 Corinthians 10:13-16).
Paul speaks of the sphere of influence that each person has been assigned by Elohim. There, everyone can carry out their work. No one should move outside their sphere of influence, nor boast about things and deeds that do not belong to them. Since this spiritual reality is often ignored by Christians, some start out with defeat when they go on mission or begin a so-called work of Elohim. Do not go where Elohim does not send you! For example, if you go on a mission for 20 days, even though Elohim has only sent you for 10 days, you are no longer protected for half of the time.
The battle is spiritual
We heard quite early on that there was a spiritual battle between Israel and Babylon/Persia. Other passages in the Bible support the assumption that all worldly wars have a spiritual background. Let us consider, for example, Judges 5, which deals with Israel’s victory over the Canaanites. In Judges 5:19-20 it says:
„19 (…) then fought the kings of Kena’an in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; (…). 20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera“
These pagan kings mentioned in verse 19 came with their gods and demons. The battle with the angels of Elohim was inevitable. Incidentally, Megiddo is also the site of the final battle of Armageddon.
We also read about the presence of heavenly powers in 2 Kings 6:15-18, where the Syrian army is described, which the servant of the prophet Eliysha (Elisha) feared:
„(…) And YHWH opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Eliysha. (…)“ .
This army was the angels of Elohim, who fought on the side of Israel.
4) Summary: Knowing spiritual reality and remaining in God’s will
- If we do not know our position and resources in battle, we will be defeated. Young David was offered Shaul’s (Saul’s) great armour to fight Goliath. David honestly admitted that it was too heavy for him, took it off and fought with his own simple means. Only in this way could he defeat the giant.
- Order reigns with Elohim. Only a great angel can fight a great demon. Only Michael could defeat this great ruler of Persia. Only an apostle of Christ can defeat a false apostle.
- Elohim wanted to teach us a lesson about spiritual warfare through the events in Persia at the time of Daniye’l. Because the messenger angel was blocked, later generations can still learn something about spiritual reality: „Now these things became types to us, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted“ (1 Corinthians 10:6). „For all the things that were written before were written for our instruction, so that, through perseverance and consolation of the scriptures, we might have hope“ (Romans 15:4).
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[1] Unless otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are taken from the Bible of YehoshuaMashiah (BYM). Available online at: https://bym.zurueckzumwort.org/bible.
[2] Example: Acts 16:16