- Enemies Shall Fall
Leviticus 26:8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
The similar promise of the defeat of enemies follows in this verse. Your enemies will fall before you by the sword. For us, God promises that our spiritual enemies will be defeated through the Word of God. The Word is the sword that fells the enemies of the soul. “One little word can fell him.” The Word of God is a word of power and grace and truth and life and forgiveness and love and salvation. For this reason there is much practical use and value for us to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God. When the Word gets into the heart we may call upon it and use it to fell the enemy in a time of need. It fells the enemy.
We need this promise since we do have enemies, and we are so frequently under attack. We don’t always see the issues of our lives as enemy attacks, for the enemies are invisible to the physical senses. But when we have this promise before us and in us we can more readily discern when sin, death, and Satan are preparing a spiritual attack of lies, temptations, threats, fears, and accusations. When we recognize the real source the Spirit helps to bring the Word of God to mind. When we wield the Word the temptation and the threat ends. We also remember that so often the “enemy is us.” This is why the enemy is hard to recognize. But with the help of the Word and the Spirit we see the strategy, prepare the sword, speak it in faith, and see the enemies fall. This kind of recognition (of self as the enemy) is called up by daily repentance and faith.
Another helpful part of this promise is that it doesn’t take it doesn’t take meaty, in-depth knowledge of Scripture. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred put ten thousand to flight. We may just use what Scripture verses we know. It doesn’t take much (“one little word…”). There are times when overwhelming evil force seems to be coming at us. Do not fear; pull out the sword. A little does a lot.