“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies….” Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
If you live in a home or interact with more than one person, I am sure you have either felt like an “enemy” or thought of the other as your enemy at least once. Although we are cautioned and warned about this in the verse above, and others, somehow daily we can get fooled that the people around us are our enemies.
“While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” Genesis 4:8
The first set of brothers in the Bible, Cain and Abel, created in love, raised to use their God-given gifts, Abel keeping flocks; Cain working the soil. Until they each brought an offering to the Lord. The Lord’s response to each of them was different. To Abel he was looked upon with favor. To Cain, he did not look to him with favor, which left Cain angry, and downcast. God then asked him why he was angry and cautioned him to make his next decision carefully. He said,
“But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7
Unfortunately, Cain’s next decision was to invite his brother Abel into the field and kill him. God rebuked him and speaking sternly,
“What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4: 10-12
Why would Cain do this after warning?
James tells us that “Where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” James 3:16
We cannot know all that may have run through Cain’s mind, but we know a few things. We know he was angry and downcast. We know Cain was the oldest and God called him to a different work than Abel with different talents. I think we can venture to say he was a bit envious of Abel’s praise compared to his rebuke. Had he made the offering alone and was corrected, he may have been angry and tried again, but he seems to have compared himself to Abel and coveted that praise he received. That angry, bitter, envious seed grew and led him to murdering Abel. He saw Abel as his enemy that needed to be destroyed, but he got it wrong.
I have been angry. I have also been on the other side of someone else’s anger. Where someone has taken my face and placed it on a target as the reason for a problem. I haven’t had anyone invite me into the field (to kill me), but I have had some invite me into trouble to pull be further into the muck.
If I am fully honest, in my anger I have also seen others as the enemy before, but something changed very dramatically for me in my work office about 8 years ago give or take. I was just weary from a relationship I was in and as I expressed my heart to a dear friend, she used a phrase I had not thought about before. She said, “the enemy you face isn’t (fill in the blank) it is the true enemy.”
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
See, we do the work of evil, Satan’s work when we replace the true enemy with a person’s face. He can now turn and go attack others while we devour one another for him. Sometimes I imagine him saying, “Fooled another one, Next?!” It’s our entire world, a constant confusion of who our true enemy is. It is why relationships die, family falls away, wars break out. I’d like to call it, “Enemy Confusion” A false understanding of who our enemy really is. For if everyone realized the truth, we would all be working on the same side against the true enemy as an army of God’s warrior soldiers.
On Easter, Jesus reminds us how to handle those who appear as our enemy. When Judas and betrayed him and Peter denied him, Jesus didn’t invite them into a field and kill them. He loved them. He had mercy on their fear and foolishness because He knew the true source of evil; it was in fact why He was sent:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
We are the prisoners. We are the blind. We are the oppressed in need of freedom. Not freedom from flesh and blood, but from the true enemy. Please today, imagine the face of someone you have felt is your enemy and ask God to help release that person back to Him so that the enemy can no longer steal, kill, and destroy.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
Today’s image is of my oldest son and I almost 5 years ago. We love each other very deeply and have been through a lot of life together. We went through some seasons of life where despite our love we were tough on each other and had to remind ourselves that our relationship is a blessing. I have many times looked at this sweet face during a tense moment and said, “I know you are not my enemy, but I feel that you are right now.” It has helped us to forgive and see the situation for what it is. When we say we love one another, we meant it because we have seen what the enemy can steal, kill, and destroy up close. We have been warriors together.
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Enemy
Show me the next step I should take.
Julie, Spiritual Warfare has been one of the topics I have spent hours studying. I heard a speaker once share a great insight on how Satan works. She mentioned that there were times her husband would make a comment, maybe not even intending to be mean, but she would take it the wrong way. God showed her that at those times she needed to think about seeing through him and behind him was Satan celebrating…..”nah, nah, nah ,nah nah”. You are so right, when a person recognizes who the real enemy is, he is less likely to lash out at the person they are dealing with. Ephesians 6:12 is my “go-to” when I’m struggling with conflict. Thank you for this devotion!
Cheryl, thank you for sharing this! I think spiritual warfare is not often talked about and the more we talk about it, the freer we become from it. I really appreciate you reading and sharing this! It encourages me!