The entire tenth chapter of Daniel is taken up by the background and setting for the revelation in the next two chapters. Daniel fasted 21 days before the angel Peniel was able to arrive with the divine message. He did so only when Michael came to help him, and it appears that they arrived together to converse with Daniel.

Dan. 10:1 says, “the message was true and one of great conflict” (NASB). The KJV reads, “the thing was true, but the time appointed was long.” Literally, it reads, “the warfare was great” (or long).

I believe that this warfare in the heavens is the epic warfare that began before recorded history and spans thousands of years until Satan is bound in Rev. 20:1-3. All of us (our spirits) are engaged in this battle on one side or the other. Most people are unaware of this, however, because most people are conscious only on the soul level, and therefore their perception is limited to earthly, fleshly things. It is only by perceiving things through the spirit’s mind that we can catch glimpses of spiritual realities.

The spiritual dimension is like a parallel world that is unseen to most people, yet the conditions and events happening there determine what is seen on earth. It is why “prayer changes things.” To change conditions on earth requires a change in the conditions in the parallel spiritual world. Most people, however, try to make changes in earth without first changing things in the heavens. This is like treating symptoms instead of curing the root cause of the problem. Such changes do not last long, for they cannot be permanent.

The warfare that is referenced in Daniel 10 is the same battle as what we fight today. We are all involved in the same conflict in which Daniel found himself. Because that war is waged in the timeless realm of the spirit, every generation on earth is able to participate in the same battle regardless of when they were born in history. All overcomers of every age fight side by side with Daniel himself. All those who fight against the Kingdom of God are on the opposing side of the same battle. Many are caught in the middle, including many blind Christians who inadvertently assist the enemies of God by opposing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or by following the leading of the carnal mind.

I have seen this battle on many occasions since 1981, when I first began to be conscious of personally engaging in spiritual warfare. In 1986 I began to receive revelation of the angel Peniel when I was spiritually transported to Saudi Arabia. I had some interaction with Peniel for nine years before the angel identified himself (1995). In 2001 I came to understand that Peniel was the messenger in Daniel 10, and I learned that archangels had spiritual counterparts with angels of equal rank from the dark side. In fact, every archangel’s calling is to over-come his spiritual counterpart. Hence, I referred to them as “natural enemies.”

Apollyon’s Role as God’s Executioner

Peniel’s counterpart is Apollyon, the Prince of Persia. Michael’s counterpart is the Red Dragon, as seen in Revelation 12. These, I believe, are the relevant angels in Daniel 10.

I also learned that Apollyon, the Destroyer (or the one who brings about loss), works closely with the angel of death. These may be viewed as God’s “enemies,” but in fact none of them function outside of God’s control. When God brought judgment upon the house of Israel, He empowered Apollyon to destroy the nation and scatter the people to the four winds in order to “lose” them. The angel of death was there to bring about national death until such time that God would bring their spiritual “bones” back together (Ezekiel 37:1, 2), raise the nation from the dead (Ezekiel 37:13), and put the Spirit back into the nation (Ezekiel 37:14).

The state that named itself “Israel” in 1948 is not the fulfillment of this prophecy. That is a Jewish state, which fulfills Jesus’ prophecy of the fruitless fig tree that was to return to life and bear more leaves (Matt. 24:32). The nation of Judah, or Judea, in Jesus’ day was not composed of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Josephus tells us,

Wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans; while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers” (Antiquities of the Jews, XI, v, 2).

This “immense multitude” of Israelites were not Jews. The Jews and the Israelites each had their own calling and destiny. The Jewish state today was misnamed Israel in order to bring confusion among Christians, tricking them into thinking that they were supporting “Israel.” The Scriptures make it clear that “Israel will blossom and sprout; and they will fill the whole world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6). On the other hand, Jesus cursed the Jewish fig tree, saying, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you” (Matt. 21:19). This is the “tree” that Jesus said was to come back to life and bring forth more leaves (Matt. 24:32). Leaves were the reason Jesus cursed it. The Jewish state today continues to bear fig leaves, but no fruit in spite of all the fervent prayers of Christians.

I do not begrudge the prayers of Christians for Jews to be converted. Many Jews will indeed find Christ. But the nation itself is doomed, along with Jerusalem. Jeremiah prophesied this in Jer. 19:11.

In Jer. 18:1-10 the prophet foretold of the rebuilding of Israel, for it was like the wet clay of a potter’s vessel that could yet be remade into another vessel. But then he turned his attention to Judah, beginning in Jer. 18:11 and continuing to the end of the nineteenth chapter. There Judah and Jerusalem were likened to an old clay jar that was to be smashed in gehenna in such a way that it would never be rebuilt again (Jer. 19:10, 11). This is the destiny of the Jewish state. Taking upon themselves the name Israel will not change this. Only a national repentance would have the power to change it.

Apollyon and the angel of death are actively involved in carrying out this prophecy of divine judgment upon earthly Jerusalem.

Apollyon, the prince of Persia, is not only the spiritual prince of that region, but also the one who seeks to destroy or undermine the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The Holy Spirit is likened to olive oil that is used to anoint people, but Apollyon’s region is a place well known for its crude oil.

Revelation 9 is a prophecy of the rise of Islam, which God raised up to bring judgment upon the Church on account of its idolatry (Rev. 9:20, 21). Revelation 9:11 says,

¹¹ They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

Islam is a religion of destruction, because their concept of “The Kingdom of God” is based on conquering the world by the physical sword. Convert or die. Turn or burn. It is not unlike the policy seen often in the Church as well. In both cases, this mentality comes from Apollyon-Abaddon, and it undermines the Sword of the Spirit.

When the Church became idolatrous and carnal, and when the last vestige of the Holy Spirit was virtually driven from the Church in 606 A.D., God then raised up Mohammed in 609-612 to bring judgment upon the Church. That judgment is ongoing to this day. Until the Church overcomes Apollyon-Abaddon, it will have a problem with Islam. Islam is not the problem. The Church is the problem. Islam is God’s whip upon the back of the Church until the Church repents.

It is significant that when oil was discovered a century ago in Iran (Persia) near the border with Iraq, it was at a place called Abadan.

It was not until the 20th century that rich oil fields were discovered in the area. On 16 July 1909, after secret negotiation with the British consul (Percy Cox assisted by Arnold Wilson), Sheik Khaz'al agreed to a rental agreement for the island including Abadan. The Sheik continued to administer the island until 1924. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company built their first pipeline terminus oil refinery in Abadan, starting in 1909 and completing it in 1912, with oil flowing by August 1912 (see Abadan Refinery). Refinery throughput numbers rose from 33,000 tons in 1912-1913 to 4,338,000 tons in 1931. By 1938, it was the largest in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abadan,_Iran

I believe that genuine Holy Spirit revivals throughout history have been undermined by Apollyon, or Abaddon, until they ended fully by forming a denomination. Most denominations are monuments to a past revival. Denominations are formed with the intent of putting a past revival on life support, but they are overcome in the end by Apollyon-Abaddon and his partner, the angel of death.

The Role of Peniel and Michael

As I wrote earlier, Peniel is the angel of the feast of Tabernacles. More particularly, his role is to bestow upon the overcomers the face of God, bringing them into God’s likeness. But first Michael must fulfill his calling to bring back to life those overcomers who have lived and died throughout past generations. Michael’s calling is to fulfill the feast of Trumpets, which occurs two weeks before the start of Tabernacles.

When all of the overcomers of past generations have been united with the transformed overcomers who are alive at the end of the age, then the body will be complete so that the Head may come to unite with the body to form the collective New Creation Man. The body cannot be presented to the Father apart from the Head, Jesus Christ. When the body is complete, this will be the “Son” that will be presented to the Father on the eighth day of Tabernacles. That “Son” will then be manifested to the rest of the people on the earth, and the Kingdom of God will then grow until it fills the whole earth (Dan. 2:35).

Michael and Peniel are natural allies, and both angels are necessary to complete the divine plan. Michael overcomes death through resurrection, because, as we will see in Dan. 12:1 and 2, when Michael stands up, the dead stand up with him. Peniel then transforms them (along with the overcomers of the last generation) into the image of Christ. He gives them the face of God, as his name indicates, so that they may be presented to the Father.

In the warfare seen in Daniel 10, we see that Peniel by himself was not strong enough to overcome the prince of Persia. He required help from Michael. Together, they could overcome the opposition and bring the revelation to Daniel. This partnership is revealed in Daniel 10, although no explanation is given.