Many people don’t consider they have any enemies, perhaps they’re right, except for the one enemy of mankind, Satan. (1 Pet. 5:8) Yeshua has defeated Satan’s power over God’s Children and is destroying his works. (1 John 3:8) For the rest of us who think we have enemies, whether true or only imagined, it can be a burden, which the Lord Yeshua would relieve from us. (Matt. 11:30)

Scripture says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.” (Isaiah 41:10-12) Throughout Israel’s history God promised to be their defender and give them victory over all their enemies as long as they were obedient to Him. To this day, I suspect there are few Jews who consider themselves without enemies, it has its own term – antisemitism. Many African Americans might who consider all “white people” their enemy. A very successful ploy of Satan is to turn people against each other in hate, culminating in war and death. Just a few years ago Russians considered Ukrainians their close relatives, now they are killing each other. 

On an individual basis, there are bullies who torment others and our competitive society pits individuals against one another. Often these rivalries develop into enmity, even if only in our minds. Among women it is a colloquialism depicting competitive social environments in which girls develop rivalries leading to enmity from gossip, envy, or arrogance. The world is divided among political enemies with more factions arising each day; Democrat vs Republican, Blacks vs Whites, Jews vs Arabs, Rich vs Poor, Women vs Men, Catholics vs Protestants, on and on it goes. Potentially everyone who ever mistreated you or took advantage of you or offended you (in your estimation) could be your enemy. This is a very serious widespread issue beyond humanity’s ability to solve.

Yeshua brought the answer, a totally different approach saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45) I believe God wants to bring peace between enemies. Scripture says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:9-12) We cannot fix the world, but we can accept God’s gift of love into our hearts and ask Him to lift off our burden of enmity.