Like a bully who enters a room and seems to tower over everyone with a threatening demeanor, so it is when hell walks into your life and tries to intimidate you. The bully’s tactics can work if we face the battle in our own strength. There is always a different outcome when we rely on the Lord.

In Isaiah 33, the Assyrian army had surrounded Jerusalem. To the natural eye, it appeared that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed. They were outnumbered and overwhelmed at the size and intimidation of the enemy army. Right when it seemed like they would face certain defeat, the Lord sent one warring angel – only one! Overnight that single angel entered the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers of the largest army of the greatest empire in the known world at the time. The next morning when the rest of the army awoke and saw their camp filled with corpses, King Sennacherib ordered his army to break camp and return home to Nineveh. The text in 2 Kings 19 says, “He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.”

Isaiah wrote about that incident and uttered a prayer, “When you have finished your work of destroying, you will be destroyed, and when you have completed your betrayal, you will be destroyed. 2 ‘Yahweh, be gracious to us, for we wait for you. Be our strength every morning and rescue us when troubles come. 3 The nations retreat at the sound of your roaring voice. The nations scatter as you arise in your majesty’” (Isaiah 33: 1-3) TPT).

What caught my attention was the last part of verse 3, “The nations scatter as you arise in your majesty.” Just like a foolish bully enters a room and assumes he can beat down anyone in the room by bellowing out his threats, so it was with the Assyrians and so it will be with any spiritual bully who is currently challenging you. When you feel surrounded and defeat seems imminent, everything changes when a more powerful One rises to his feet and roars His challenge in the face of your bully. 

The meaning of Isaiah 33:3 provides unique insight for us as we engage in spiritual warfare. Isaiah wrote, “The nations scatter as you arise in your majesty.” This literally means, “when the Lord stands up.” When the Lord stands up and speaks, the battle is won. This is our greatest confidence in a place of spiritual battle. As the enemy continues to shout and flex his might in your situation, choose to wait in patient hope. The Lord is about to rise and confront your enemy, and like the Assyrians, they will return home and stay there.