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To Whom it may concern….
When Yehoshua stood and said, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:44–45 NASB), He was not uttering a slogan to soften hostility or an empty phrase of religious idealism. He was declaring a covenant reality that exposes the heart of the Father and calls His sons to reflect Him. The command feels impossible because it cuts against every instinct of retaliation and self-preservation. Yet it is in this impossibility that the true reflection of the Father is revealed. Yehoshua was not speaking in abstraction — He was aligning His hearers with the very will of Yahweh, whose hatred of evil is absolute, yet whose patience in delaying judgment is a mercy that gives room for repentance. To grasp this, we must take it layer by layer, as a painter sets a canvas, then lays down each stroke until the image comes alive in fullness.
The canvas begins with the words themselves. Love, as Yehoshua spoke it, is agapaō, a Greek word that transcends mere emotion or fondness. It is not the affection of phileō nor the passion of eros. It is a volitional, covenantal choice of action. It is the same love that John recorded in John 3:16 NASB: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” This love is action rooted in will, a decision to align with God’s covenant purposes, even toward those who are undeserving.
Enemies in Greek are echthros, from echthos, meaning hatred or enmity. This word does not describe a mild rival or distant opponent but one who is actively hostile. In Romans 5:10 NASB it is written: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” An echthros is one who is set in opposition to you, and in the case of believers, to God Himself. Scripture uses this term for enemies of the cross (Philippians 3:18), enemies of God (Romans 5:10), and even the final enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15:26). When Yehoshua said love your enemies, He was not speaking of neutral strangers but of those in active hostility.
Prayer, proseuchomai in Greek, is to speak toward God, to intercede, to bring a matter into His courtroom. It is not a passive thought but an active placing of another into God’s hands. In Matthew 6:6 NASB Yehoshua said, “But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Prayer is the deliberate act of drawing someone into the presence and jurisdiction of God. To pray for enemies is to intercede, to give them over to God’s will, whether for mercy or for judgment.
The paint now comes onto the canvas with Yehoshua’s explanation: “so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:45 NASB). Sonship is proven not by words but by reflection. To be a son of the Father is to know His will and reflect His heart. Sons know that He hates evil, for Psalm 5:5 NASB declares, “The boastful will not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do injustice.” Sons know that He will destroy His enemies, for Psalm 92:9 NASB says, “For, behold, Your enemies, Lord, for, behold, Your enemies will perish; All who do injustice will be scattered.” But sons also know that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, for Ezekiel 33:11 NASB proclaims, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then should you die, house of Israel?’” Sons reflect this tension: hatred for evil but patience for repentance. Prayer for enemies is not indulgence but reflection of the Father’s patience before judgment.
Yehoshua illustrated this patience with rain. Matthew 5:45 NASB says, “for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Rain represents sustaining mercy. The irony is sharp: those commanded to pray were themselves once unjust, yet they received rain. Romans 2:4 NASB says, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Rain is kindness, restraint, patience. To pray for enemies is to extend to them the same mercy window you once received, to intercede that they too might repent before judgment falls.
Yet this verse must be fenced off from distortion. It is not a slogan of cheap indoctrination, not a blanket excuse for tolerating hostility, not a badge of self-righteousness worn as if to say, “I am holier because I love those who hate me.” This verse is covenantal. It addresses the reality that enemies are hostile because they are infected with sin, the congenital blood pathogen inherited from Adam. Psalm 51:5 NASB confesses, “Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Their malice is the outflow of their condition. And we were no different. Romans 5:12 NASB states, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.” We were unjust, infected, hostile. Yet God gave us time. He let rain fall, He let kindness endure, until we received the cure: the blood transfusion of Yehoshua, who said in Matthew 26:28 NASB, “for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” Prayer for enemies extends the same chance for repentance that we were given.
To see the weight of this command, we must remember what God does to His enemies. Psalm 34:16 NASB declares, “The face of the Lord is against evildoers, To eliminate the memory of them from the earth.” Psalm 11:5 NASB adds, “The Lord tests the righteous, But hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.” He resists, curses, confounds, and destroys. Enemies of His people are His enemies, for Genesis 12:3 NASB records God’s covenant to Abraham: “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” To stand against the sons of God is to stand against Yahweh Himself, and that ends in destruction.
Yet the Father’s will is clear. He delays destruction for the sake of repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 NASB declares, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” His rain falls on the unjust not as approval but as mercy. Romans 2:4 NASB calls it kindness meant to lead to repentance. Prayer for enemies aligns us with this mercy, giving time.
And Scripture gives us proof of what prayer does for enemies. In Genesis 18:22–32 NASB, Abraham interceded for Sodom. “Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham approached and said, ‘Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?’” (Genesis 18:22–24 NASB). Abraham kept pressing, reducing the number: forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten. And each time Yahweh answered, “I will not do it on account of the…” until Abraham stopped at ten. This shows that prayer can bargain with God, holding back destruction for the sake of the righteous. It proves that prayer restrains judgment and delays wrath.
In Exodus 32:9–14 NASB, when Israel built the golden calf, Yahweh said, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation” (verses 9–10). But Moses interceded, pleading for God’s reputation and His covenant. “So the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:14 NASB). Moses’ prayer turned aside wrath and preserved Israel. This is not symbolic; prayer changed the outcome.
In Acts 7:59–60 NASB, Stephen, as he was being stoned, prayed, “Lord Yehoshua, receive my spirit! Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’” Standing there was Saul, consenting to Stephen’s death. That prayer was the seed that later burst into Paul’s conversion in Acts 9, where Yehoshua said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Stephen’s intercession was love, and that love turned an enemy into the apostle who would write much of the New Testament.
These examples prove what Yehoshua meant. To pray for enemies is to love them with covenantal love. Prayer delays judgment, spares destruction, and can even plant seeds of transformation. It does not guarantee repentance, but it guarantees that God responds. Abraham’s prayer bargained down destruction, Moses’ prayer stayed wrath, Stephen’s prayer transformed an enemy into a son.
This is why Yehoshua’s wording is deliberate: “love your enemies and pray for them.” Prayer is love. Intercession is the active form of agapaō. To pray is to give them the same mercy you once received. It is volitional, covenantal, sacrificial love. Romans 12:20 NASB says, “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Prayer heaps coals, softening or hardening according to their response. But either way, it aligns with God’s justice.
Thus the command resolves: “so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father in heaven.” Sons reflect their Father. They hate evil as He does, they delay vengeance as He does, and they extend mercy as He does. They know He will destroy evil in the end, but until then they intercede. They mirror His patience, praying as they were once prayed for, giving enemies the chance they were once given.
This is the true reflection of the Father. To pray for enemies is to embody the mercy that saved you. To intercede is to act as a son, doing for others what the Father once did for you. This is not contradiction but covenant likeness. Prayer is love, intercession is sonship, and this is the reflection of the Father.
God will destroy His enemies — that is certain. But His will is that none perish without opportunity to repent. Love your enemies, therefore, by praying for them. Pray as Abraham prayed, and destruction may be delayed. Pray as Moses prayed, and wrath may be turned aside. Pray as Stephen prayed, and enemies may become apostles. Prayer is love, and love is intercession. This is what it means to be a son of the Father. Just as you once received rain while unjust, so now you pray for others to receive rain long enough to repent. Just as you once needed time, so now you pray for time to be given to them. Sons do for others what the Father did for them. Sons know the Father’s will. Sons reflect His heart. And in that reflection, the world does not see contradiction but the very likeness of Yahweh revealed through His children.
