Know your Enemy

If you do not know your enemy, how will you ever hope to defeat him?  This is one of the biggest problems facing Christians; we have no understanding of the enemy of our soul.  By using the life of Esau the older brother of Jacob, who despised his birthright and gave it to his brother Jacob for a bowl of stew, we will be able to have a better understanding of our flesh and how the Enemy works in our life. 

Why was the birthright that Esau despised of such importance?  Esau as the firstborn son was the beneficiary to the promise that God had given to Abraham.  That promise is stated in Genesis 12:7, “To your offspring I will give this land.”  The King James version uses the word “Seed” and most of the newer translations use “offspring” what is the most important is this fact; it is talking about one person, and not many.  Earlier in chapter 12, God had promised the following; “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  The apostle Paul states in Galatians 3:16, Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.  It does not say, “And to offspring’s,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”

Esau was rejecting the seed/offspring of Abraham and out of that offspring/seed would come Christ, the One who would redeem man from his fallen condition, and restore him to a relationship with God.  It would take man from being independent from God to being totally dependent on God.  It would restore man to what God had designed. 

So in Esau the spirit of Satan was personified.  His attitude was like so many, why do I need a birthright to restore me to dependence upon God?  I am independent, and I am self-sufficient, and I will run my own show.  Out of Esau came many nations, one of them was the Amalekites who lived in the desert, south of Canaan around Kadesh.  They came from Eliphaz (Esau’s eldest boy) and were distant cousins to the Israelites.  Amalek makes a good representative of the flesh, and we find in Exodus 17, “then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim.”  In Amalek is a picture of the flesh, seeking at all cost to stop the journey of God’s redeemed people, and keep them from the Land of Promise, and that is the spirit of your enemy.  “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”  (Galatians 5:17) “The flesh contest every attempt of the Spirit of God to lead you on into spiritual maturity.  Standing across your pathway from the very outset of your Christian life is Amalek!” Quoting from “The Saving Life of Christ”

Our battle lies in this truth, Satan is working overtime to keep us from dependence on Jesus Christ and the devil will send the spirit of Amalek to give you an independent spirit, that says I will do it my way.  The book of Deuteronomy 25:17, 18, “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God.”  It is when we are tried and weary, that is when he hits us, when we are falling back and are in a spiritual low and it seems as if you are all alone, that is when Amalek shows up.

Amalek is the voice that you hear and it sounds like your voice, it always does one of two things; it attacks your person with thoughts like, “you are a loser and you have always been a loser,” or you deserve better than you are getting.  These are the words of the spirit of Amalek; they are not the words of the Holy Spirit of God.   God has promised this in Hebrews 10:17, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” God desires dependence never independence, God desires fellowship never isolation.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice