I am an enemy of your enemy, and I will save your children. (Isaiah 49:25b)

This phrase from the Bible has been a part of my life for a long time.  I heard the words many years ago from my mother’s mouth.  It stayed with me, but I had forgotten the last part… and I will save your children.

So many years ago, I didn’t have children yet and didn’t think much about the future of the world.  I was in the midst of studies to achieve something for myself, to sort out my own future.  While I took note of the larger global, political issues and was very interested in them, I was schooled in the teaching that the future belongs to the Lord and worrying can’t add a single cubit to my stature. (Matthew 6:27)  

Jumping ahead in time to the focal points of modern life, Scripture is as applicable as at any time in the history of humanity from 700 BC when Isaiah wrote it.  He lived between 740 and 681 BC.  I surely don’t even need to mention how long ago that is and how many revolutions our world has experienced since then.  Kingdoms and empires have come and gone, wars have been fought, plagues have ravaged, natural disasters have raged, millions have been born and millions have died, but we know that even though heaven and earth may pass away, the Words of God stand firm. (Matthew 24:35)

Today, we “hear” His Voice and know that He is the enemy of our enemy.

Who is our enemy? An enemy is someone who is against you, isn’t it? Strictly speaking, that is an opponent.  An enemy seeks destruction and devastation.

An enemy inflicts harm.  An enemy steals and destroys.  It is not just a calm argument about differences of opinions.  It’s a bloody, violent struggle for survival that annihilates and destroys.  It is the work of the dragon; the ancient serpent called the devil and satan – the enemy of God and His Church. (Revelation 12:9)

For a child of God, it’s easy to identify the reality of evil in the world around us.  We have been warned in the words of Jesus himself.  We know the elements of evil – everything that steals, kills, and destroys. (The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. John 10:10, AMP)

Everything that steals life and the potential of the abundant life that God promises, which includes peace and joy, is the enemy that robs and destroys. This is a concept that requires deeper reflection.

First and foremost, we need the insight of the Holy Spirit so that we can recognize evil in all its disguises.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:8-10)

It’s not so difficult to point out the “beasts” that are so vividly described in  Revelation and Daniel of our modern society and discern the misery of lives under the rule of malevolent evil.  Bad is bad, but what if bad looks good? That’s the test.

Secondly, we must understand our own position with regard to evil.

Jesus gives us authority over evil. In His own words: Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. (Luke 10:19, NLT  and also Psalm 91:13)

Snakes symbolized any danger threatening life, and scorpions symbolized the deceitfulness of people.   Scorpions in ancient Israel sometimes looked like an egg when curled up, so they could surprise their prey.  Hence the comparison Jesus makes in Luke 11:12. (See also Ezekiel 2:6)

All the power of the enemy includes every stumbling block, every crisis, every struggle that evil sends our way.  Just as Paul shook the snake off his hand in Malta, we can cast off the sting of evil in our lives and just like Paul, without any consequences.

But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. (Acts 28:5-6)

So, how will we live amidst the disasters and tragedies of a devouring monster that threatens life itself?  In the promise of the Word: nothing will injure you.

This is the walk of faith.  We will overcome the world just as Jesus did in the world, relying on the miracle that embodies our salvation and rebirth.  Our enemies will become like firewood, thrown out with no use to anyone.

Say to him: Calm down! Stay calm! Don’t be afraid! Don’t be disturbed by these two pieces of smoldering wood—just a bit of smoke. Don’t be afraid of the king of Israel’s fierce anger and the burning anger of King Rezin and the Arameans. (Isaiah 7:4, NLT)

Often, the enemy is a furious attack on everything that holds value to us, coming in human form.  We are attacked by people who, in the “slavery” of sin, project their dissatisfaction and disappointment from their torn lives onto us because we think differently and live according to the miraculous ways of the Kingdom of God on earth.

These people are victims of their own hardened hearts and wrong choices. Let’s read Ephesians 4:17-19 to understand what an enemy of the Gospel looks like.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

They are the enemies for whom we must pray, upon whom evil is conquered by good. (Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:20-21)

How will God remove them from your life?  Simply with His breath, implying that His Word is powerful enough to destroy the enemy.  The breath over lips represents words that are spoken.

…but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:4, NIV)

The Word of God in your mouth will defeat your enemies.

Don’t forget the final promise in the eternal words of Isaiah.

…and I will save your children.

Even if you do not have children, a reference in the Bible to children is  symbolic of the future.

The future is secure in God’s hand. The future is the playing field for the fulfillment of God’s promises, and therefore it fills our present with vitality and hope.