Behind the Physical Scene there is a Spiritual War, an Invisible Spiritual Struggle

If you read the book of Daniel you will be amazed to see time and time again that there’s a real spiritual struggle, a spiritual warfare, going on behind the scenes.

Especially in Daniel 10 we see that in order for God to deliver the message to Daniel as a response to his honest and persistent prayer, there was a spiritual battle going on. God’s created archangel, Lucifer, rebelled against God and took with him one third of the angels, who followed him in his rebellion.

Now, whenever God wants to do something, whenever man cooperates with God through prayer for God’s will to be released on earth, there is much spiritual warfare.

Behind the physical scene, behind the rise in power and demise of power of people and rulers, there’s a spiritual battle going on, something in the invisible realm. We need to see this.

In order for God to break through and for the gospel to be preached in closed countries like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, etc, there is the need for much prayer in oneness with God to cooperate with Him and give Him the ground to send His armies and defeat the evil princes in these countries.

Even in our Christian life and church life, there is a spiritual warfare going on for each inch of growth in life and building up in the Body.

Lord, we want to stand on Your side. Remove any veils, Lord, that we may see the invisible spiritual warfare going on behind the physical outward scene. We want to pray in oneness with You for You to gain more ground on earth. Lord, may Your kingdom come in our life, our family life, our church life, our locality, our country, and on the whole earth!

Seeing the Spiritual War in Daniel 10

In Daniel 7-9 we see the vision concerning the destiny of Israel, and in Daniel 10 there’s a glimpse into what’s going on behind the physical world. God’s economy and the all-inclusive Christ as the centrality and universality of God’s move are in the spiritual realm, not in the physical realm.

We need to see the spiritual scene of what is happening behind the physical realm.

In his old age, Daniel was concerned for the situation of God’s people Israel and he prayed for three weeks every day, according to God’s word in the prophecy of Jeremiah. What he saw – before the vision of the future of Israel – was the scene in the spiritual and invisible realm. For God to get the answer to come to Daniel, it involved prayer and a spiritual battle.

The angel came to Daniel because of his prayer (Dan. 10) – his words reached the throne, but the prince of Persia (a rebellious evil spirit) withstood the messenger from coming to Daniel.

But Michael, the angel fighting for the people of Israel, helped the messenger prevail and come to Daniel (Dan. 10:13, 21). This Michael is also mentioned in Revelation as being the one who fights against Satan and takes the lead to war and defeat Satan as the red dragon and cause him to be cast down to earth.

Also, in Dan. 11:1 we see that the angelic messenger from God strengthened Darius in his old age to defeat the Babylonians and bring in the age of the Medo-Persians. There’s so much going on behind the scenes in the spiritual realm when God’s people pray!

A Spiritual War is Raging Right Now

We shouldn’t think that merely by offering God a prayer for a certain situation, He will do it and it’s done. For a prayer to be answered and to reach its target, for the prayer to be effectual, a warfare has to take place.

Things in the world today don’t just “happen” – there’s a spiritual warfare going on behind the scenes. What is happening in the unseen realm is more real than what’s happening in the physical and seen realm. There is a struggle, a conflict, a war raging 24/7, and we need to realize it.

The players in this war, the opponents, are the good and evil spirits, who are fighting and contending for opposing interests. The evil one is Satan, who used to be the top archangel of God when God created him, but he rebelled against God and wanted to be like God and even overthrow God (see Isa. 14; Ezek. 28).

Satan was the son of the dawn, created by God at the dawn of the universe to be the Daystar, Lucifer, the head of all the angels (Job 38:7, cf. Job 1:6; Ezek. 28:14; Jude 9). He rebelled against God and became God’s adversary, taking with him at least one third of the angels, and he was judged by God (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:16-19; Luke 10:18).

All these things happened before the Adamic age, in that gap between the first two verses in Genesis 1. The angels and rulers that followed Satan in his rebellion were judged by God and cast out by Him on the earth (and in the air above the earth), and they became the rulers, authorities, and world rulers of darkness.

These are the evil spirits fighting as Satan’s lieutenants against the good and proper angels, who stand for God and serve Him. Oh Lord Jesus!

And what’s worse is that, as we see in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, the officials in Satan’s kingdom are one with the rulers of the nations, and Satan is even identified with Nebuchadnezzar and the king of Tyre! Satan’s kingdom of darkness is behind the nations, operating among them, and he is one with the rulers of the nations (see Eph. 6:12; Dan. 10:13, 20).

Seeing, Praying, and Standing with God

We need to pray that first, we would see the spiritual warfare, and second, we would stand with God and pray for His interest on the earth today!

If you read Daniel 10, you will realize that we as human beings can physically not participate in this warfare, and when we have a glimpse of the majesty and glory of God’s messenger we simply faint and have no strength left in us.

All we need to do is to pray: read God’s word, join ourselves to His desire in His word, and pray. Our duty as the church is to engage in this spiritual warfare. There’s no other choice. In the next days we will see this, but real prayer is a spiritual battle!

There’s a battle for our salvation, for the process of growth in life, for the church life, for the advancement of God’s move, for the Lord’s recovery, and for God’s kingdom.

All we can do is ask the Lord to enlighten our eyes to see the spiritual warfare raging behind the physical scene, and then pray and stand with God for His interest and His kingdom on the earth.

Lord Jesus, save us from being neutral or staying away from the battle raging in the universe. We don’t ask for a battle, Lord, but we want to stand with You. We hate seeing Satan gaining ground in our rulers and in the authorities today. We hate Satan’s kingdom, and we desire Your kingdom to come. Lord, gain the manchild who will defeat Satan and cast him to the earth. Lord, release the prayers of the saints in oneness and one accord that You may execute Your judgement on Your adversary. Lord Jesus, by faith we stand with You one in spirit today!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Minoru Chen’s speaking in this message and portions in, Life-study of Daniel (msgs. 15-16), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 5 (entitled, The Vision of God and His Universal Dominion and of the Coming of the Son of Man to Receive a Kingdom and the Necessity of Spiritual Warfare to Bring In the Kingdom of God).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Conflict today is fierce, / The strength of Satan more; / The cry of battle calling now / Is louder than before. / The rebel voice of hell / E’en stronger now becomes; / But list, the midnight cry resounds, / Behold, I quickly come!
  # I dare not be defeated / With Calvary in view, / Where Jesus conquered Satan, / Where all His foes He slew; / Come, Lord, and give the vision / To nerve me for the fight, / Make me an overcomer / Clothed with Thy Spirit’s might.
  # O Lord, to conflict new / You daily call your servant; / With joy and spirits fervent / We rise to follow You. / Lead us to battle too, / We are Your soldiers true.