2S22-3: The Messiah Said Love Your Enemies—But Not God’s

“David said the words of this song to Adonai on the day Adonai delivered him from the power of all his enemies and from the power of Sha’ul.”-2 Samuel 22:1

In his Psalm to the Lord, David kicks things off by offering up a statement of gratitude.

He thanks Adonai for delivering him from all of his enemies.

Who are his “enemies” in this case?

We need to make an important distinction here.

In this case, David is referring to the enemies of Israel who are attacking his kingdom for political reasons.

They are waging war against David as part of a bigger national battle.

They are the same as Hamas today.

These ancient Palestinians desired to completely rule over or destroy Israel.

David makes a distinction between them and King Saul, who was his personal enemy.

See, David never argued with the fact that Saul was God’s appointed and ordained king.

He always viewed Saul as Israel’s rightful king despite Saul turning into a paranoid man who became insanely jealous of David.

In his delusion, he sought to kill David even though David had no ambition to take the throne at this time.

Alrighty, let’s switch over to the takeaway.

Today’s lesson focuses on a common misunderstanding of Yeshua’s words when he said:

 “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

See, here’s the thing.

Yeshua tells you to love your enemies.

But he never tells us to love God’s enemies.

God’s enemies, those the Lord has targeted for extermination, are NOT to be loved.

They are to be dealt with swiftly and severely as Israel is doing with her enemies in the Middle East today.

When Yeshua says, “Love your enemies,” he means exactly that. 

In other words, he’s talking about your enemies on a personal level.

Like when you fight over petty matters like who ate the last serving of curry soup in the fridge.

Or a jealous co-worker who tries to make you look bad in the office or something.

Ya feeling me here?

As you can see, this is exactly what David did.

On a national level, he dealt with God’s enemies, the Philistines, who were fighting against Adonai’s Kingdom on earth.

Yet, on a personal level, he dealt with his personal enemy, Saul, by properly defending himself, but still honoring Saul’s authority, by respecting the sanctity of his God-ordained position as King over Israel at that time.

So that’s your lesson for today.

Love your enemies.

But never love God’s enemies, like those idiotic pro-Palestine protesters who have no idea they’re siding with Satanic forces who seek to overthrow the Lord’s kingdom.

Done.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“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.”
– Matthew 5:43–45

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil…
If it is possible,
as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone.
Do not take revenge…
for it is written:
‘It is mine to avenge;
I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
– Romans 12:17–19

“For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms.”
– Ephesians 6:12

“When they hurled their insults at him,
he did not retaliate;
when he suffered,
he made no threats.
Instead, he entrusted
himself to him who judges justly.”
– 1 Peter 2:23

“But to you who are listening I say:
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.”
– Luke 6:27–28

“For though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world does.
The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world…”
– 2 Corinthians 10:3–4

P.S. The picture above is a person’s portrait reflected in water, January 11, at the site of the music festival in Southern Israel that was overrun by Hamas on October 7th. The site today is filled with Israeli flags and pictures of those who have been killed or taken captive by Hamas.