The Prince of Persia
Last weekend at a powerful gathering in Ohio, my brother, Tim, shared that he believed Holy Spirit was saying we are moving into a season of overthrowing demonic thrones of dominion, ruled by principalities. He also spoke of the highest-ranking angels (seraphim), such as Michael and Gabriel, being assigned to help us. As an example of a principality ruling a region, he mentioned the “prince of Persia” (Daniel 10:10-13, 20). Ancient Persia is modern-day Iran. We awakened the next morning to the news that Hamas, doubtlessly under the influence and support of Iran (Persia), had attacked Israel. I am not suggesting that this attack happened because of or to confirm his teaching, but I do believe God orchestrated the timing of Tim releasing this word just before it occurred. In that sense, it is an incredible confirmation.
In the Scriptures, demonic violence was at times brought on by their reactions of anger, intimidation, trying to be preemptive, etc., to what God was doing in the spiritual realm. Herod killing the babies in Israel at the time of Christ’s birth is a prime example.
“Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.’ He stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.’” (Matthew 2:13-18 NASB)
I believe the extraordinary unrest in the world at this time is indeed caused by demonic activity, arising from the threat they feel. I believe the prince of Persia mentioned in Daniel is behind all of the violence and war in Israel and Gaza. He is angry and worried. Satan and his demons hear the words coming from God regarding the great and eminent harvest. He sees the many people being saved in Iran, and the prophecies regarding millions that will be saved throughout the Muslim world and in Israel. He also realizes the Ekklesia has reached a level of maturity that will allow this dethroning of regional demonic thrones. His actions at this time are attempts to stop all of this preemptively.
The praying church must stand against this resistance. We have been given authority to bind the activities of darkness in the spiritual realm, which then determines what occurs in the natural realm. Our prayers can absolutely be a part of stopping this evil activity in the Middle East. They can also influence the fruit of what has already occurred, and may yet occur before it ends. (I am not implying that our prayers can stop it immediately.) Let’s look at an example of this in Daniel.
“Behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, ‘O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.’ And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia....’ Then he said, ‘Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.’” (Daniel 10–13, 20)
Israel had been taken captive by Babylon because of their sin, but Daniel realized from Jeremiah‘s prophecies that it was now time for restoration (Daniel 9:1-2). Being a man of passionate prayer, he had been interceding for Israel’s restoration for several days. As incredible as it sounds, the angel that appeared to Daniel said to him, “I was sent to you the first day you began to pray, but was opposed by a spirit, the prince of Persia.” (see reference above)
God chose from the beginning to work on earth through humans, even at the cost of becoming one to redeem us. In this situation, He was working through the fasting, repentance, and prayers of Daniel. This man’s prayers were producing the restoration of Israel, which was being resisted by the principality ruling the region. As unusual as it sounds, the angel sent to answer Daniel’s prayers had been delayed for 21 days by the demonic resistance in the spiritual realm. God had to send His mighty angel, Michael, to deal with this demonic “prince of Persia” (now Iran).
I believe the same type of warfare is taking place now in the Middle East, led by the same principality. We must persist, just like Daniel, until we see a breakthrough. I do believe this is a season when we can see the overthrowing of demonic thrones. And just as we are dethroning the spirit of Baal here in America, this prince of Iran must also be dethroned. This dethroning will result in the coming harvest - that’s what it’s about, as is the resistance.
I feel sure we will see the same anger and a certain level of violence here in America. It is most likely part of the prophecied shaking. I do not know how severe this will become, but we will prevail over it, and God’s plans will not be stopped. We must remember that it is demonically inspired, therefore we must do our part to oppose it spiritually, even as the government and civil authorities deal with it naturally. “Wrestle” with the cause, not the people satan uses. This does not mean we shouldn’t protect ourselves and take other precautions; it simply means we must deal with the root cause as we do so.
I will address this subject again tomorrow, but will say one more word regarding how we engage in this spiritual warfare. We must worship, exalting the Lord, not become preoccupied with demons. We must appeal to our heavenly Father through the victory accomplished by Christ. We must exercise Christ’s authority, commanding/decreeing His will as Holy Spirit directs us. And we must bind and forbid the plans and actions of the enemy through declaring God’s Word, also as Holy Spirit directs us - just as we have been doing. Our greatest weapon is the Word of God!
Let’s do so now.
Pray with us:
Father, we have heard Holy Spirit address the coming harvest as “the harvest of the ages.” We believe it will be the greatest in all of history. Great spiritual breakthroughs will occur throughout the world as deception and darkness are broken over people. Demonic thrones will be dismantled, and the light of the gospel will be seen.
Satan and his forces will attempt to stop this, but we know You have already planned for this, as well, and have determined how You will thwart him. We know Your angelic hosts will be part of the plan to stop him, and we ask for this help and support now. We ask You to stop satan’s plans that are at work in the Middle East and cause them to work for Your purposes. In the name of Jesus, we bind them now. Dethrone the prince of Iran, Father, and free millions of people from his hold. Then send revival to the entire region.
We ask the same for America. Strengthen and lead us as we finish the process of dethroning Baal over America. We have covered this nation in prayer, as You said, and now the shaking can be used to reset us and move us into revival. Lead us as we pray, and lead our authorities as they deal with any and all evil that comes our way. We boldly command, as You instructed us, “Kingdom of Christ, come! Will of Christ, be done!” (Matthew 6:10).
We declare that Jesus is Lord over all the earth. We declare that His blood has cleansed and set us free from satan’s dominion. We declare that through this shed blood and the covenant it gave us with Almighty God, we have the authority to represent Christ. We do so now, releasing His salvation into the Earth.
Our decree:
We decree that every throne in the heavens and on earth must bow to the authority of Christ.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
Portions of today’s post were taken from my book Authority In Prayer.