«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　Eph. 6:12 For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

　　Rev. 12:9 And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

　　After the visions seen by Daniel in Daniel 7 through 9, Daniel saw the vision concerning the destiny of Israel. However, before we are told of the vision Daniel saw concerning Israel's destiny in chapter 11, chapter 10 shows us the spiritual world behind the physical. For us to know God's economy and to know that in God's economy Christ is the centrality and universality of God's move, we need to see the spiritual things behind the physical.

　　What we see outwardly is the physical world, but behind the physical world is the spiritual. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 91)

　　While Daniel was praying for [twenty-one] days, a spiritual struggle was taking place in the air between two spirits, one belonging to Satan and the other belonging to God. They were fighting because the sent angelic messenger (he might have been Gabriel) had been sent by God in answer to Daniel's prayer. Michael came to help the sent angelic messenger. Just as the archangel Michael fought in Jude 9, so he came in to fight here in Daniel. The crucial point we need to see is that behind the scene a spiritual struggle, a struggle not seen with physical eyes, was taking place. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 96)

　　We know that what hinders the gospel is not the outward environment but Satan. We know that what usurps men and causes them not to love the Lord is neither human ties, nor the world, nor the flesh, but the satanic power of darkness. We know also that the reason for all the confusion, striving, indifference, and corruption in the church is naught else but Satan. Therefore, we do not deal with things that appear on the surface, but, through the position and authority of ascension, we deal with the power of darkness that schemes behind these things and reigns on the earth. (The Experience of Life, p. 371)

　　I am burdened that we would all see the vision in Revelation chapter 12....It is a great vision regarding what is taking place in the entire universe.

　　The woman in this vision has been representing the people of God since the fall of man in Genesis 3. The woman not only represents God's people but also God Himself. In front of the woman is a dragon signifying God's enemy. Throughout the centuries, the war has been between the woman and the serpent, the dragon.

　　The worldly people can see only the obvious outward things: commerce, politics, industry, education, war. If you ask them the meaning of all this, they would say that they do not know. They only know to obtain an education so that they may have a good job to earn a good living. They do not have the vision of what is taking place in the universe. But we see clearly what is going on. A woman symbolizes God's people and represents God. In a positive sense, the wife always represents her husband....It is wonderful to have a wife to represent you in a good way. This signifies that we, the people of God, are His wife and that we need to represent Him adequately. God is the unique husband, and we, the unique wife, represent Him. But God has an enemy. First, this enemy was a little serpent. Eventually, however, it became a great dragon who is now in front of us. If you do not have this vision, you will be blind, not knowing what is taking place on earth or in the universe. Praise the Lord that it is not simply a matter of education, industry, commerce, diplomacy, etc., but a matter of warfare between the people of God and God's enemy. This war has been raging throughout the centuries, and it is still raging today. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 447-448)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msg. 15; Life-study of Genesis, msg. 7