Our Modern Warfare (Part 1)Exemplo

Respect Your Enemy

It is imperative that as we study spiritual warfare, we are reminded who we are fighting against. We are not battling a small red man with horns and a pitchfork. We are fighting against a trained warrior unlike anything the world has ever seen. There is no angel or human equal to him in strength, beauty, or wisdom.

To get a glimpse of an angel’s strength, let's look at 2 Kings 19:35. God sent an angel to kill an Assyrian army that stood against Him and the Israelites. This one angel silently killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers as they slept. One angel, one night, and 185,000 dead bodies. This particular angel pales in comparison to what our enemy is capable of.

Paul and Jesus’ half-brother, Jude, give us crucial instructions about respecting our enemy. Jude 8-9 tell us that the archangel Michael and Satan were in a heated discussion about Moses’ body. Michael knew he was no match for our enemy alone, so he called upon the One who holds authority over all.

Michael knew not to slander or try to defeat our enemy with his own power. If Michael would not say a single word against our enemy, we ourselves must be extremely cautious that we do not allow pride or curiosity to deceive us into thinking we can handle our enemy on our own. Doing so is foolish and reckless. We never engage the enemy without humbling ourselves in prayer and then using God’s written Word as our weapon.

Because of Jesus, we do not have to be afraid of our enemy, but we do need to acknowledge that without Jesus we are outmatched. Our survival on the battlefield of life is 100% dependent upon our relationship with Jesus, and we will not experience victory over our enemy without Him.