Don't Pet The Enemy

Don't Pet The Enemy

1/12/21

Many of us are guilty of such horrific spiritual door opening events even if our intentions are believed to be one of good nature.  When the battle is over it is one of the more humane things to help out the wounded that need help, a good gesture of respect.  But this type of helpfulness after a spiritual battle is not required for while in physical battles people die, it is not the case in the spirit realm.  Spirit is eternal and falls under the command of their leaders, thus automatically returning to fight another day.  The spiritual realm is one that will not cease and until the day of eternal separation of the two kingdoms that vie for our placement is over, we cannot afford to give any place to our enemy.  This is a Kingdom principle that none of us can mistake, and even though our enemy is already defeated we cannot give him any open doors to use against us in the future; for it is our job to close those doors that cause us pain and grief, which is exactly what the definition of spiritual warfare is.

Some of us have been in a predicament large enough to think about what if I do not make it out of this situation alive, anyone who has been in the military has these types of thoughts occasionally run through their minds; I know, been there and done that.  Anyway, when these settings become reality they cannot be ignored and while we are passing through them it may be a tad difficult to think of anything else but the present.  But what occurs when these events pass and it looks like all will be okay and that we will have survived such an ordeal?  This is when our adrenaline levels begin to relax a bit and our emotions take over, which can be just as tense and flooding as the rush that we present while the events are still around us.  All of us such defensive mechanisms inside our bodies and it is not uncommon for them to be put on display after the tension is over.

It is this time afterward that sometimes we display certain human attributes that may cause more damage than the event itself.  With all of us being human, have you ever watched a sporting event on TV and watched a victor stand over his defeated opponent on the ground and make some kind of taunting gesture toward them?  It is common for even though those competitors may have never physically met each other before they are considered enemies during that match.  It is at this time after the event is over that many times humans become engaged in a practice of celebratory actions such as crying, laughing, some pass out while others give some type of taunting motions that could be taken as grounds for future encounters for revenge.  Being a respective victor is one of the most difficult achievements people who win can possess.  Humans love to take pride in themselves and gloat over losers or outcasts as it were, what would one do if they were in the shoes of the loser?  That is right, begin thinking of ways to take revenge or challenging that person or group again but with other tactics in mind.

The passage that God wants us to focus on for this article is one that has been taught in every child's Sunday School class or preached from pulpits.  It is the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den and is familiar to almost everyone including the nonbeliever.  However, God wants to address a portion of this Scripture that I have never heard be dwelt on yet it is a bit of information that should be noted for not just a single encounter with our enemy but a known fixture of protocol after every spiritual battle we face.  The passage for the article is as follows:

Daniel 6: 19-24

"Then the king rose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den."

As mentioned above, this is a popular story about trusting in God and how faith triumphs over our enemy when times are tough and for the most part looks like our end is close at hand.  How well this story is received or not is strictly up to the ones hearing it and how great their faith is in God, for it is a harrowing event that while people do not think about often, their imaginations do place them into several similar conditions that may have a horrid outcome.  But this is not what God wants us to focus on here, His Word for us today is what is not directly spoken in this passage of Scripture but something that humans usually do not do.

In the introductory paragraphs, we talked about how humans like to gloat over their defeated enemies and how normal it would be when such occasions present themselves.  But here in this passage of Daniel, we do not see Daniel standing over the lions taunting them or making any type of gesture that could be construed by the lions as a future reason to attack him.  This may seem like a far-stretched thought but when you think about what has just occurred, Daniel must have had some type of an idea to do such a dance step but at the same time, his knowledge of what just completed was a God act and had nothing to do with the physical realm.  Therefore, Daniel left the lions alone until the physical could play out the next morning.  A good picture for this type of arrogant presentation would be to stand over the defeated and pet them on the head, mocking them as they are down and beaten.

I can guarantee that Daniel did a bunch of celebrating over the defeat of the lions, but never once did he taunt them.  Daniel still had the ultimate respect for those lions for he knew about what they were used for and that they could be used for such punishment in the near future; which did occur pretty quickly after this event.  Celebrating a victory over our enemy is a great and holy act and is encouraged on all levels of holiness, but our celebration should be made and continued in holiness which means that we should be aware of our victory but at the same time prepare ourselves for the next encounter for our enemy is eternal, not physical.  We cannot afford to taunt our eternal and spiritual enemy for when we do all it does it open more doors for him to walk through when his next attack comes.  It is God's desire for us to allow Him to close as many doors to our lives as possible, not to open many more after one has been closed.  It does not matter if our fight with the enemy is a quick and seemingly painless fight or if it is a long-drawn-out brawl where our spirit has been punched around pretty good, we do not pet the enemy after it is over.

We see that Daniel did not even touch the lions after their mouths were shut by the angel, he did not taunt them one bit.  Christians, can we say the same thing about our enemy when God defeats them through our spiritual actions?  Or do we taunt Satan as he looks at us on the ground?  Satan knows he is already defeated so given that truth, why do we hang around and watch him get up?  We shouldn't we should already be cleaning up spiritually and preparing ourselves for the next round and encounter with him; he is, why shouldn't we?  The king in this passage, immediately lifted Daniel out of the den of lions, in other words, Daniel did not stick around and gloat even from a safe distance away.

How do this passage and events in Daniel apply to us today?  How many times do we go into a spiritual battle with our enemy and win, then take it out on the person after God has allowed us to encounter our / their enemy properly?  We have no authority to do such acts on those God has led us to talk with about HIm and His Salvation, nor should we taunt these wonderful folks afterward either.  Celebrate?  Yes, by all means, but through prayer and thanksgiving not gloating and prideful acts.  Doing such shameful acts only pets the defeated enemy, allowing him to remain inside the people we witness to thus allowing all God's hopes and efforts lifeless.  

Church, we have been found guilty of such tactics and we should be on our knees repenting of these actions of ours.  First off, we need to be assured that our faith overrides any obstacle that our enemy may place in front of us with those who need Christ.  Secondly, in no manner should we approach the situation in a haughty manner, we need to be humble as Christ was when He encountered demons and nothing less.  Then, when the witnessing session is completed, pray, pray, and pray some more because that person shall need every ounce of those prayers so that the clean house cannot be occupied again by unclean spirits.  Those prayers afterward are the celebratory motions and actions that we can do and they shall be rewarded abundantly.  This is the correct way to fight our enemy and how to conduct ourselves after the promised victory.  Church, are we acting as such and defeating the enemy in the correct way?  If not, we need to take the advice that Daniel demonstrated in the lions' den and celebrate the victory with God in this manner and not from a manner suitable with the world.  Petting the enemy should never be a part of our victory, only removed from the setting by God, for there are a lot more battles to be fought.

DLB