They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. [Psalm 139:20-22 (NLT)]
Satan is the personal enemy of Christ. [Watchman Nee]
When writing about enemies earlier this week, I couldn’t think of anyone with whom I interact who qualifies as an enemy. But, when I broadened my search and considered the various people Satan uses in his evil schemes against God, I realized I have several—some whose names I know and others whose names I don’t. When they become Satan’s agents, they become God’s enemies, and, if they are God’s enemies, shouldn’t they be mine? So, who are they?
The first set of enemies is easy to identify. Candidly admitting to be Jesus haters, they are the ones who consciously and openly oppose Christ. While some merely hate with their words, others oppress, intimidate, and threaten Christ’s followers. While systemic persecution is not a problem for Christians in North America, it is in many parts of the world. According to Open Doors, more than 388 million Christians “face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.” 1 in 7 Christians are persecuted worldwide, 1 in 5 are persecuted in Africa, and 2 in 5 are persecuted in Asia! Those who openly oppose Jesus or persecute our brothers and sisters for their faith in Christ are as much our enemies are they are God’s!
Because they don’t openly oppose Jesus, God’s other enemies are harder to identify; some may even call themselves Christians. Nevertheless, their rotten fruit makes them enemies of God as they do Satan’s work by planting weeds in God’s fields. More than 3,400 years ago God told us that we are to love Him wholly and completely and love our neighbors as ourselves. 2,700 years ago, the prophet Micah told us that God wants us to love kindness, to do justice, and to walk humbly with God. [6:8] But, instead of looking outward and loving God wholly and then loving their fellow man, these enemies of God look inward. Loving only themselves, they focus on their goals and desires while using and abusing others along the way. Self-centered, they are filled with selfish ambition, arrogance, pride, and self-absorption. Words like justice, sacrifice, restraint, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, uprightness, righteousness, truth, and humility aren’t in their vocabulary. Their disregard for their fellow man, God’s creation, and God’s word makes them God’s enemies, as well as mine.
Since they “come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves,” [Mat 7:15] the false teachers are equally difficult to spot. After calling them “deceitful workers disguised as Christ’s apostles,” Paul warned the Corinthians that, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” [2 Cor 11:13-15] Unlike a spy who furtively passes secrets to the enemy, these false teachers openly spew the enemy’s lies to the people. They are the impostors who are in it for the money, the abusers who are in it for themselves, and the “ticklers” whose feel-good messages entertain and flatter but don’t correct or challenge. These enemies of God reinterpret or edit Scripture to their own liking, claim special knowledge or revelation, or dispute the Bible’s authority. They often distort Scripture by mixing in just enough truth and Bible verses to make it sound right to those who don’t know better. As enemies of Christ’s church, they are as much my enemy as they are God’s!
When writing about God’s enemies, David wasn’t writing about his personal enemies. He was writing about people who, with evil intent, deliberately and maliciously defy the Lord—people who hate the Lord whether they admit it or not! Disapproving of their conduct and disgusted with their behavior, he detested them and wanted nothing to do with them. Since our devotion to the Lord excludes any loyalty to those who oppose him, we must do the same. Earlier, I was mistaken when I said I had no enemies. While I don’t know all of their names, I do know that they are God’s enemies and, if they are God’s enemies, they are mine!
According to Bible Gateway, the six verses of the 23rd Psalm are the most popular ones on their site, with verses 4 and 6 usually vying for first place. The seventh most popular verse, however, is today’s verse, Jeremiah 29:11. When people are going through hard times, this is the kind of verse that gets pulled out to reassure them that everything will turn out right.
Last Monday, I referenced an article in Christianity Today by theology teacher Jared Dodson whose students wanted to know “when bad people will get what they deserve.” Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that bad people will get what they deserve while on this side of the grass. Nevertheless, if they don’t repent and follow Jesus, those people eventually will get their comeuppance. Scripture makes it clear that those who don’t know God and follow the gospel of Jesus “will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.” [2 Thes 1:8-9]
“May the Holy Spirit give us grace to not begrudge the pedagogy of God,” wrote John Piper in the day’s devotion. A somewhat archaic word and not one I regularly use, I thought of a pedagogue as an old, boring, stodgy, and authoritarian teacher who never changed his lesson plan or lectures. Unsure what Piper meant, it seemed wise to consult the dictionary. “Pedagogy” comes from two Greek words: pais, meaning child, and agogos, meaning leader. A paidagogos was a slave who led the boys to and from school, taught them manners, and tutored them after school.
