Isaiah 14:31 "Wail, O gate; cry, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks."

In chapter 14, Isaiah is delivering God's oracles against Judah's enemies, primarily Babylon (Isaiah 14:3-23), but also Assyria (Isaiah 14:24-27), and, as here, Philistia (Isaiah 14:28-31). God tells the Philistines not to rejoice in their enemy Assyria's punishment, because Assyria will rise again, "from the serpent's root will come forth an adder" (Isaiah 14:29). The Assyrian army is the smoke that will come out of the north, and there is no straggler in its ranks.

How often do we enjoy seeing the punishment of our enemies? It is so self-righteously satisfying to watch those who have hurt us or opposed us get their comeuppance. So much so that the Germans have a word for that very feeling - schadenfreude. But that is not a Christian way to think - we are supposed to love and pray for our enemies, not rejoice in their suffering. We won't attract anyone to Christ if we engage in the same behavior God is warning the Philistines against here.

As our society becomes more and more divided, and those divisions more "locked in," rejoicing in our enemy's every misstep or suffering seems to have become a requirement of being a "team player." The media, fueled by and including social media, has definitely contributed to this. It almost seems impossible to escape - if you won't join in the dog-pile on the enemy-du-jour, you are labeled and ostracized, maybe even having a swastika painted on your car, or worse. But Christians know we are not supposed to act or feel this way. We should know that it's time to quit the team when staying on it will lead us to tolerate or even indulge in this behavior. Unfortunately, many erstwhile Christians put their culture-war "team" ahead of their faith. The truth is, though, that they do know in their hearts it is wrong, and that explains a lot of the almost bi-polar like behavior I have witnessed in many.

The Philistines did not have God's law to tell them how to treat others, so God warns them not to rejoice in Assyria's destruction. They are reminded that they have their own faults which will be punished, as well. We do have God's law, and Jesus' example, to know how to treat others. We also all know that we have our own faults that deserve punishment. So whenever we feel schadenfreude rising, we should know it is the devil at work. Instead of savoring it, we should try to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and think of how they must be suffering or even just feeling, and we should pray for them. There's no better cure for schadenfreude than praying for the "schaden-ee".

In the end, if all our "enemies" come to know and follow Jesus, they will no longer be our enemies. But no one is going to be attracted to Jesus through His followers when they act like everyone else, rejoicing in the suffering of their enemies. That just makes us hypocrites, and better than the Pharisees.