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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

ENEMIES


Part 1


The Reason for Spiritual Warfare

 "Amongst lnjuns, a tribe's greatness is figured on how mighty its enemies be."  Del Gue from the movie Jeremiah Johnson

    What is the measure of greatness in regards to enemies?  David’s enemy was a giant.  Is it comparative size?  Jezebel was a wicked woman with great power – the enemy of Elijah.  Is it the greatness of power of the enemy?  

Enemies can consume our time and energy, rendering us weak and ineffectual in the pursuit of the calling to spread God’s good news and care for the hurting.  Recognize that this is by design.  The more our lives are focused on the antics of the enemy the less we will overcome.  If we let him, our enemy will wear us down and prevent us from building.

SANBALLAT

    After days of mourning, fasting and praying over the desolation of Jerusalem, Nehemiah received approval from God to go and rebuild.  His master, Artaxerxes of Persia (Iran), was moved by Nehemiah’s sorrow, and granted him a journey to Jerusalem

As soon as evil men in the city heard of Nehemiah’s intentions they began to relentlessly oppose him.  Isn’t that how Satan approached Jesus when he was led by the Spirit to fast and pray (and “to be tempted by the devil”) in the desert?  Satan questioned God’s word; he attempted to destroy the eternal mission of Jesus to bring the people of the earth back to relationship with God.

 “But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us…” Nehemiah 2:19 ESV

The Moabites and Ammonites were people who lived east of the Jordan River in what is now the nation of Jordan.  They were descendants of Lot, from incestuous relationships between Lot and his daughters. They worshipped Moloch, a god who required sacrifices of children, and Baal (different name, same religion).  They were fearsome warriors.

“Like some other gods and demons found in the Bible, Moloch appears as part of medieval demonology, as a Prince of Hell. This Moloch finds particular pleasure in making mothers weep; he specializes in stealing their children.” https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Moloch

Ammonites were descendants of Lot and his daughter. 

“On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God.”
Nehemiah 13:1 NLT

An enemy is usually perceived as being unfairly hostile and undeserved by us.  And this is probably the case most of the time.  There are, of course, those situations where one actually deserves of the wrath of an enemy.  These earn their enemies.  That is how things operate in this world.  This is why there will always be wars. 

But there are situations where evil just rises up against seemingly innocent humans. The greater the enemy, the greater the tribe.

We (the church) are the tribe of God that has been grafted in. If you were naturally part of a wild olive tree and you were cut off from it, and then, contrary to nature, you were grafted into [Israel] the cultivated olive tree… (Romans 11:24) 

Our mortal enemy, the hater of our souls, is that Snake, Satan.  He is the ultimate enemy.  In comparison to humans he is mighty beyond imagination.  But though our tribe is human, it is more.  We have the Spirit of the living God empowering us.  We belong to the one who ascended after descending.  (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) Ephesians 4:9,10.
    
    Along with Israel the church is the greatest tribe, hunted by the greatest enemy.  What about enemies of the human kind?  Paul acknowledged them and warned of them.  His advice was to live as citizens of heaven.  

“My friends, I want you to follow my example and learn from others who closely follow the example we set for you. I often warned you that many people are living as enemies of the cross of Christ. And now with tears in my eyes, I warn you again that they are headed for hell! They worship their stomachs and brag about the disgusting things they do. All they can think about are the things of this world.

     But we are citizens of heaven and are eagerly waiting for our Savior to come from there. Our Lord Jesus Christ has power over everything, and he will make these poor bodies of ours like his own glorious body.  Phillipians 3:17-21 CEV

Jesus also spoke of human enemies and what to do about them.
“This is what I say to all who will listen to me:

Love your enemies, and be good to everyone who hates you. Ask God to bless anyone who curses you, and pray for everyone who is cruel to you.  Luke 6:27-28 CEV

            So, what about Satan – the Sanballat who stands and taunts us, defying us to build the Kingdom of God?  How do we deal with him?

Please return for a continuation of these thoughts.
Janet McDonald
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2 comments:

  1. We battle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and pricipalities and rulers of the darkness of this world. Often people that are under these influences need a reason to come against light so they will entrap and lead one astray in order to have a viable reason before man and society to come full force but God is the just Judge who tries the hearts. Who shall bring a charge against the righteous. If God is for us, who can be against us or against His Sovereign plan?

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  2. And thus the contrast between them as citizens of the world, and us as citizens of heaven. It says WE ARE citizens of heaven. It is a done deal, a sure thing. It already exists. It is like the quantum physics theory of simultaneous past, present and future - which is really just another way of looking at things through God's eyes. He is eternal; he exists outside of time. If He says we already have our citizenship, then it is so, regardless of anything the enemy might try.

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