The Book of Daniel provides an interesting perspective on the spiritual battle that took place between two godly angels and a demonic angel, known as the Prince of Persia, for control of this ancient kingdom (Daniel 10:13-14).

As a result of this successful spiritual conflict, one of the Godly angels took a position beside the King of Persia:

“And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. (Daniel 11:1 ESV)

Because of this, a godly angel was able to protect and influence the Persian Kings for the next several decades, leading to the passing of an edict allowing people taken into captivity by the Babylonians, including the Jews, to return to their homelands.

But this story also provides another important detail. If the godly angel held a position of influence over the Persian government, this meant that prior to this the demonic Prince of Persia (called a territorial spirit) was in a position to influence Persian leaders.

This is why the Apostle Paul calls for us to pray for those in authority, because the satanic realm is battling to influence government leaders.

And along this vein, Satan is still desiring to influence governments today, some with more success than others.

I believe the Chinese Communist Party is now being heavily influenced by the demonic realm, and it serves as a similar role in the world today as “canary in the coal mine” did for minors who used them to reveal the presence of methane gas in a mine.

What we see happening in China is an indicator of the direction the satanic realm is trying to go in countries around the world.

Recently, there are reports that the Chinese Communist Party is purposefully targeting children.

The Epoch Times is a news media organization with roots in Communist China, and it recently provided details of what is going on in China’s schools:

Bitter Winter cited one instance in which the son of a Christian parent found a leaflet about Christianity in the house. The worried child warned his mother: “My teacher says that Christianity is a Xie jiao. If you believe in it, you will leave home and not take care of me. You might set yourself on fire, too.”

“Xie jiao” or “heretical religions” is a term used by the CCP to attack all faiths in China that lie outside of the party’s officially sanctioned state-controlled religious organizations. The regime has opted for a misleading English translation for the term as “cult” or “evil cult” to lend legitimacy to its brutal repression of faith.

When I see China’s communist regime targeting children and specifically those of Christian, I believe it reveals that similar attacks are underway around the world.

And this should not be a surprise.

Throughout the Bible, we notice several instances where Satan and governments targeted children.

I believe the first instance is actually found in Genesis, after God had judged Satan, the serpent, with a word that one of Eve’s children would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:16). Of course, that was ultimately done by Jesus.

Knowing this, the demonic realm tried to head this off by having the sons of God (fallen angels) marry the daughters of men producing children who were having a profound influence in society (Genesis 6:1-4). But more than that it was intended to directly interfere with the prophetic word that one of Eve’s descendants would crush Satan’s head.

After the Babylonians had taken the Jews into captivity, they implemented a program to take key Jewish young people, like Daniel, and train them specifically in the religion and culture of Babylon with the intention of them influencing future generations of Jews in captivity (Daniel 1:3-5).

If Communist China is our ‘canary in a coal mine’, it’s a warning that we need to start praying for our children.

READ: Students in China Brainwashed to Hate God and Force Parents to Renounce Faith AND ‘Taught to Hate God’: China’s Communist Party Indoctrinating Children by Telling Them Christianity Is an ‘Evil Cult’