How to Treat Your Enemies

 

Romans 12:14–21 CSB

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. ¹⁸ If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. ²⁰ But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. ²¹ Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Bless those who persecute you.

There is a wordplay here. In verse 13 we were commanded to “pursue” hospitality. That means we are to make it a goal to meet the needs of others, especially for food, clothing, a place to sleep, etc. We are to make them feel “at home”.

In verse 14 Paul says to bless those who “pursue” you in a negative way. Those who want us to NOT feel welcomed, who do not want to provide anything for us but discomfort. That is what is really means to be persecuted. It is the antithesis of hospitality.

It is a peculiar word in that it can mean both pursue and persecute. And to persecute does not just mean to cause physical harm. It can be defined as:

• provoke
• harass
• torment
• trample

What are some ways you have been persecuted?

• We might be ostracized, shunned by family and friends.
• You might have family that do not want to be around you because they do not agree with Judeo-Christian values, or that you attend a “baptist” church.
• We might be mocked or berated on social media.

SM has created a platform that makes it super easy for people to be bullies or  hateful because they can do so without physical altercation. They do not have to see or be around a person to make their comments.

BOTH of those examples tend to come from people who are “outside” of the church family. BUT, there is no reason to believe that Paul is only expecting persecution from the outside.

Differences of opinion, and especially of doctrine, have long caused persecution for those inside the church – and only other people “in” the church family care about that, so you can expect that to be an internal battle.

What are some examples of persecution that might come from inside the church? What bout Martin Luther?

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany. Barely four years later at the Diet of Worms in April 1521, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V summoned Luther to defend his writings. Luther famously refused to recant, declaring, “Here I stand, I can do no other. So help me God”  The Emperor, in response, condemned Luther as a heretic and outlawed him, ordering his arrest and the destruction of his works.  In 1521, after being excommunicated and banned from the Empire, Luther fled to the Wartburg Castle under the protection of Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony. There, he spent a year translating the New Testament into German, a landmark of the Reformation. In April–October 1530, Luther stayed at the Veste Coburg (Coburg Fortress) in Upper Franconia, Bavaria. He died an excommunicated outlaw in Feb of 1546 at the age of 62.

https://guides.loc.gov/martin-luther-priest-heretic-outlaw/introduction

So we know persecution, or being pursued by others for ill intent, can come and will come to you and me. The real questions is, “What is a healthy, biblical, God-honoring response?”

Romans 12:14 CSB

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Bless them. TWICE he says it. Once as a simple command, and once showing what it is the alternative for.

Bless them.
Bless and do NOT curse them.

Do Nor Curse Them

We often think of “cursing” as saying a naughty word. BUT, it is much more than that, or at least it used to be!

I am not sure if there are groups that actively curse people today, but was common, even in the Bible.

1. FIRST curse: was on the serpent (Gen 3:14)
2. SECOND was the ground (Gen 3:17)

It never says that man and woman were cursed in Genesis chapter 3.

Who was the first person cursed in the Bible? When Cain took Abel’s life, God’s punishment was this:

Genesis 4:10–11 CSB

¹⁰ Then [God] said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! ¹¹ So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.

God even went so far as to give a list of what can bring God’s curse upon people when he gave the law:

Deuteronomy 27:15–26 CSB

¹⁵ ‘The person who makes a carved idol or cast image, which is detestable to the Lord, the work of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret is cursed.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁶ ‘The one who dishonors his father or mother is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁷ ‘The one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁸ ‘The one who leads a blind person astray on the road is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁹ ‘The one who denies justice to a resident alien, a fatherless child, or a widow is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁰ ‘The one who sleeps with his father’s wife is cursed, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²¹ ‘The one who has sexual intercourse with any animal is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²² ‘The one who sleeps with his sister, whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²³ ‘The one who sleeps with his mother-in-law is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁴ ‘The one who secretly kills his neighbor is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁵ ‘The one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁶ ‘Anyone who does not put the words of this law into practice is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

The story of Balaam is one that reminds us that it is God who blesses and curses. And If God is behind the curse, it will come to pass.

A great example of this was when Joshua conquered Jericho:

Joshua 6:26 CSB

²⁶ At that time Joshua imposed this curse: The man who undertakes the rebuilding of this city, Jericho, is cursed before the Lord. He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn; he will finish its gates at the cost of his youngest.

The curse Joshua placed on Jericho took place… apparently some 500+ years later a man rebuilt it and lost his first born and his youngest:

1 Kings 16:34 CSB

³⁴ During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he finished its gates, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

My favorite story is found in 2 Kings 2:24–25 :

2 Kings 2:23–24 CSB

²³ From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” ²⁴ He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children.

First, I think it is significant to notice that they were female bears 🤣

CURSE: A word intended to bring about a negative result for another. In the case of God a curse may be an action that punishes a person or people. It is designed to be a burden for negative actions; for doing things that would contradict the laws of God.

While this is our natural desire – to curse those that harm us – we are commanded NOT to curse them, but to bless them.

Romans 12:14 CSB

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

We are to Bless Them

We use the word “bless” in some interesting ways!

• “bless his heart” does NOT mean you are asking God to grant healthy cardio to a person. What does it mean?
• When someone sneezes, what we do often say? “God bless you” – which is really silly.

We can we persecuted by those inside and outside the church family. When we are, we are NOT to curse them, but instead we are to bless them. What makes you feel blessed? When you post something online, what is worthy of #blessed ?

BLESS: to seek the best interest or God’s favor on others, to help them or do good to them. It is to seek their well-being.

So what does it mean to bless our enemies? Here are some biblical examples of what it might mean to bless our enemies:

Exodus 23:4–5 CSB

⁴ “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. ⁵ “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.

What I really love about those verses is that it portrays the struggle you and I have with this concept of blessing our enemies. It is a real battle! You see the situation, you KNOW it is the person who hates you and you DO NOT WANT to help!

Notice that the answer isn’t, “You need to have a change of heart”.

The real answer is a change of actions brought about by a change of mind.

Romans 12:2 CSB

² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

You do not WANT to help, but you MUST help.

There is no condemnation in the Exodus passage for not wanting to help, only for not DOING the work of helping. Actions are the key here. You and I will probably not ever WANT to do things to help our enemies. That is natural. But that is not what God wants from us. We have to fight what WE think is right and do what we know God says is right.

WHAT IS NATURAL is to hate our enemies, and it can even seem honorable to hate those that hate God, right? David wrote this, as a letter to God:

Psalm 139:21–22 CSB

²¹ Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you, and detest those who rebel against you? ²² I hate them with extreme hatred; I consider them my enemies.

So, if you wanted to be like the greatest king that ever ruled over Israel, you would want to adopt his mindset and attitudes – well, at least most of them. It would be natural for anyone who sincerely follows God to adopt the same attitude that David had! We should love what God loves and hate what God hates, right?

During his famous, “Sermon on the hill (mount)” Jesus said:

Matthew 5:43 CSB

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

It makes sense, right? But Jesus goes on to show the new kingdom way of thinking and acting: love your enemies. Do not hate them.

Matthew 5:43–45 CSB

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

BLESS those who persecute you by praying for them.

Did you know there is a difference between praying for someone and about someone?

• “Lord, FIX my spouse! You know they do this and that and that they need to get right with you about that other thing…” That is praying about someone.
• Praying FOR someone is about seeking God’s favor towards them. For our enemies that might be something like, “Lord, use me to show them your love. Bless them and make them successful in your eyes, and give them wisdom.”

WHY IN THE WORLD would we want to pray for that? Because we honor God that way. God causes the same sun to rise for them as it does for you, and he provides for them as he does for you. We do well to remember that God made that person and wants to bless them – so we should as well.

I want to jump to another part of our passage in Romans as I think it is directly related to this:

Romans 12:20 CSB

²⁰ But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.

According to this verse, what are some ways we can bless our enemies? I admit, it is FUN to misrepresent this verse.  What does it mean to “heap fiery coals on their head”? It cannot mean to cause them harm, because that is the opposite of what we have been commanded to do. How could we be commanded to bless and not curse and then to punish them? Imagine the internal conflict that would be!

We are talking about the renewing of our minds in this chapter, right? So how might renewing the mind and having hot coals heaped on our head be related?

Hot coals were a symbol of purifying in the OT. Perhaps the most notorious example of this is:

Isaiah 6:6–7 CSB

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.

the placing of the hot coals on Isaiah’s tongue atoned for his sins and made him pure.

Our passage in Romans is talking about how we treat others and that we are to bless them, to do kind things for them. If doing so it like putting heaping coals on their head, these acts might cause a purification in that person – on their head being a symbol of their mind.

Our actions of blessing those that pursue harm for us become the instruments that God can use to bring repentance and renewal. Our actions done out of the best interest of others is meant to show them their need for renewal and repentance – not punishment from us.

This passage in Romans is a quote from the Proverbs or Solomon and it leaves out the last part:

Proverbs 25:21–22 CSB

²¹ If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, ²² for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

“… and the Lord will reward you. I do not think the Lord will reward us for punishing our enemies. We are rewarded for meeting their needs: showing hospitality, blessing them.

If you ever wondering WHY you should bless others, let this verse be a reminder. God rewards those who bless their enemies.

• pray for them
• meet their needs
• go the extra mile
• help them with their work

Those are just some examples. The list could go on and on. It is about considering others as more important than us – and not just the people that we like or that are easy to be with. Your character is tested among your enemies the most.

Why is it important that we bless and do not curse our enemies?

1. Because God tells us to
2. So we can receive a reward (not a bad motive by the way)
3. God lifted the curse from us, so we should seek to help others get out from under it.

The ultimate example of blessing enemies was already presented in Romans:

Romans 5:6–10 CSB

⁶ For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. ¹⁰ For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

Jesus died for you and me while we were his enemies #blessed

While WE were enemies with God, he blessed us by sending Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins.

• We are meant to be iconic.
• We are meant to be image bearers of God.

We are to reflect his values, his character to the world around us. That means that we need to show the same kindness to our enemies that God showed to us when we were his enemies.

Romans 12:14 CSB

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

My God bless you and me as we choose to bless others – even that that pursue us with ill intent.