An enemy is a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent.
Wikipedia says the enemy comes from the 9th century latin word ‘inimi’, derived from latin for “bad friend”. Enemy is a strong word, and emotions associated with the enemy would include anger, hatred, frustration, envy, jealousy, fear, distrust and possibly grudging respect.
Many of us would like to know who our enemies are so as to protect or defend ourselves but sometimes that is not sufficient to be safe.
In 1Kings 17:1-11, the men of Israel knew Goliath was their enemy. He told them so and invited them to battle but no one volunteered until David took up the challenge.
In Matt. 14, Herod took over the wife of his brother Philip. We didn’t hear that Philip protested. It was a busybody pastor called John the Baptist that protested and he lost his head in the process.
In Gen. 26:12-22, Isaac knew the men of Gerah envied him because he was successful. They did not take over his wells. They filled them up with sand. They did not hide their motives.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac; Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
In 1 Sam. 18: 10-15- (Saul threw javelin at David twice. In verse 15- Saul was afraid of David).
But in this message, we are looking at disguised enemies.
Disguised
- To modify the manner or appearance in person, for example) in order to prevent recognition.
- Having an appearance that hides the true form
Let us look at a few examples from the bible.
1Kings 22:1-35- this is a very interesting story. Two kings who were in-laws decided to go to battle.
Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphath King of Judah. They were in-law as because of their children. Do you know the wife of Ahab is the famous Jezebel.
Jehosphaphat asked them to ask God before going to battle. Ahab had 400 prophets that told him to go up to Ramoth Gilead to fight.
v7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him?
That is strange. Why would 400 prophets speak and you are still asking for a prophet? Eventually they sent for Micaiah. They tried to influence his prophecy by asking him to align.
When he came he delivered the message but interestingly Ahab told him to tell the truth. He told Ahab it will be his last battle.
v29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
v30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
In the definition of enemy, I told you it came from the word “bad friends”. Do you really know your friends?
-Pastor, I am blessed all my friends are born again. Have you compared notes with David?
Ps. 55:12-14 (Message)
V12 Now it is not an enemy who insults me-
Otherwise I could bear it;
It is not a foe who rises up against me. Otherwise I could hide from him.
V13 But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion and good friend,
V14 We used to have close fellowship we walked with the crowd into the house of God.
David was saying I was betrayed by brother. So he prayed for is friend
V15 Let death take them by surprise.
Let them go down to sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.
V16 But I call to God, and the Lord will save me.
The question is who are your friends? Who do you want to marry?
2 Cor. 6:14-15- 14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what [a]fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what [b]communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
You cannot dine with Satan with a long spoon; his reach is longer than your spoon.
Let us get back to our story. Two in-laws putting their lives on the line but one took extra precaution by disguising himself.
1 Kings 22:32-34- 32 So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And it happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 34 Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor.
- David said his so called good friend had betrayed him. He said I will call on god and He will save me.
- When Jehoshaphat was betrayed by his in law, he called on God and God delivered him. The arrow of death hit Ahab where he was not secure.
I am praying for you, every arrow of death/destruction fired at you will return to senders in Jesus name.
May the good Lord deliver you from enemies who are disguised as friends in Jesus name?
There are also disguised enemies who are opposed to what you stand for. They plot to take out the righteous.
Acts 23:12-16-
v12 And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
v13 Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy.
They went further to get the cooperation of the chief priests and elders. Ask for Paul to be brought for questioning but we will kill him.
Ephesians 6:12- For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Who can deliver from such a plot?
Acts 23:16- So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
How come this young man heard of their plans?
In Esther 2:21-23
Two of the king’s eunuchs plotted to kill king Ahasuerus.
Mordecai heard about the plot he told Queen Esther who told her husband. The men were executed. How come Mordecai heard them?
In Daniel 6, the king was planning to promote Daniel and to set him above the whole kingdom because an excellent spirit was in him.
Dan 6:4- Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
- Do you know that some people may make you an enemy for being competent?
- Do you know that not being corrupt can make you have enemies?
- Do you know that following due process can land you in trouble with those who don’t want progress?
So they plotted against Daniel. They were his colleagues. They made the king sign a decree that was designed to catch Daniel. The king when he realized what he had signed could not deliver Daniel.
Daniel 6:14- Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
Who delivered Daniel? God.
Finally, there are disguised enemies that you can never imagine.
Ezekiel 11:1-4-
Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
Elders of the city who are working against the interest of the city. You can never suspect them, you think they are providing solution but they are actually the source of the problem.
The Yoruba have a proverb that the insect that is destroying the vegetable is located or dwells inside the vegetable.
Are you aware that your biggest enemy can be your brother?
Gen. 4:8- And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Did Esau ever imagine that his twin brother Jacob will disguise himself and approach their father to obtain the blessings the father had for Esau?
Micah 7:2- The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
Micah 7:5- Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
Lovers/partners can become treacherous.
Are you not aware of the boyfriend that partnered with his mother and a fake pastor to kill the girlfriend for money making ritual?
So what should we do?
Micah 7:7- Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
So what can be learnt about how to deal with disguised enemies?
1. Awareness- the fact that you have not identified your disguised enemies does not mean they do not exist. They may be nearer than you think.
- David did not know that the son that he loved so much Absalom was his enemy.
- Pharaoh did not know he was feeding and taking care of one of the children of his enemies called Moses.
- Joseph did not know his brother hated him to the point of killing him.
2. Be discreet- it is not everything about yourself that you should reveal. Don’t put out everything about yourself on social media. Don’t use your own mouth or hands to destroy yourself. Don’t let your love for food/sex destroy you.
3. Be discerning – Jehoshaphat knew something was wrong even after 400 prophets had spoken. There are many ways God speaks to us. It could be through dreams, visions, prophecy, and word of knowledge or through third parties. Don’t ignore warnings.
4. Be good to people- Be humble. Who saved King Ahaseurus from assignation? Mordecai. Why did he help because of Esther? What if this king has been treating Esther badly? Who saved Paul from assassination? His nephew. What if Uncle Paul was a bad man?
Who saved David from Saul? Jonathan gave him privileged information. The daughter of Saul in 1Sam 19:11-17, told David to escape from her father and put a dummy on the bed to represent him.
5. You need God- The truth is that you cannot be too careful.
Ps. 124:2-3, 8
Even though Jehoshaphat had a feeling something was wrong, he was still fooled by his in law and he ended up in the battle field.
Bible said in 1 Kings 22:32 - 32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
In Psalm 55:16 to escape from his evil friend.
v 16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
How do you defend yourself against evil conspiracy that you did not know exist?
How did Paul know about the evil plot? God planted someone.
In the case of Ezekiel, God showed him those causing the problem. God is always ahead of the evil plot? God planted someone.
In the case of Ezekiel, God showed him those causing the problem. God is always ahead of the evil plans of your enemies.
2 Chronicles 16:9- For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
The Bible says because you are under the cover of the Almighty, you can be sure of the following-
Psalm 91:5-8-
v5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.
v6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
v7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
v8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
In conclusion, you need to realize that there are too many things happening around you for which you have no clue. The fact that you are honest and competent does mean you do not have enemies. They have grudging respect for what you do, but hate you because you are what they would like to be but are not.
David had enemies and he knew.
Psalm 3:4-6
v4 I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
v5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
v6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
Can you say the same thing? Does God recognize your voice? Will he hear you when you call?
Today, if you do not have God as your senior partner, you may not survive the schemes of those who are your enemies and you are not even aware. God wants to partner with you.
Rev.3:20- Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
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