Deuteronomy 28:7 (NKJV): The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
One may ask, "But why 'seven ways', and not 'six ways', 'eight ways', or any other number of ways?"
From the many commentaries I've read on Deuteronomy 28:7, I like the way Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki (Rashi) put it: "So is the custom of them that are terrified, to flee, scattering in every direction."
'Seven' in Hebrew is the number for 'completeness, perfection'. So, 'seven ways' here can mean 'scattering in every direction', or 'a complete overcoming (or victory) against the enemy'.
In cross-reference, Judges 7:20-22 says, 'Then Gideon's three hundred men blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers - they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing - and they cried out, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army (of the Midianites) ran and cried out and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army (of the Midianites) fled...'
In another cross-reference, and this time in Elisha's days, 2 Kings 7:6-7 says, 'For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses - the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of Hittites and the kings of Egyptians to attack us!" Therefore, they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact - their tents, their horses, and their donkeys - and they fled for their lives'.
The word 'fled' in both the cross-references above is from the same word 'flee' in Deuteronomy 28:7, pronounced 'noos' in Hebrew, which means 'to vanish away, or to be chased out completely'.
People of God, if you have been feeling discouraged or defeated lately, Deuteronomy 28:7 is for you. You may even want to personalize and declare this verse over your life right now:
"The Lord causes my enemies who rise against me to be defeated before my face; they come out against me one way, but flee before me seven ways, scattering in every direction! In Jesus' name. Amen!"
Recently, I heard these words from the Lord:
"I have the final victory! I have the 'last laugh' over the enemy! I have overcome it for you! This is the time to receive the faith and anointing to take authority and triumph over every spirit of discouragement and defeat that has been sent by the enemy against you."
Just to be sure, I then scoured the dictionary to find out what exactly 'last laugh' is defined as, and here's what I found out: 'Last laugh' means 'the ultimate success (or victory) achieved after a near failure or loss (or an apparent failure or loss)'.
This immediately reminded me of Jesus Himself. The enemy thought he had won when Jesus was hung on the cross! In fact, no one on earth, by seeing it, thought Jesus was the winner at that time either! But God! And how foolish of the enemy to believe that he had won! Because little did he know that he was about to be 'checkmated' big time!
So who has the 'last laugh' here?
Jesus!
People of God, because you are in Him, know that you too have the final victory, the 'last laugh' over whatever the enemy has to throw at you! As Jesus is, so are you in this world! (1 John 4:17) Victory is yours for the taking today. Declare: "Now thanks be to God who always leads me in triumph in Christ!" See the word 'always' here? Yes, always! The Word of God says so! Claim it! Believe for it, and receive it! You'll have it! In Jesus' name! Amen!
