Flee (5343) (pheugo) means to flee away in the sense of to take to flight in order to seek safety. To flee in the sense of to escape something, being made safe from danger by eluding or avoiding it (He 11:34-note, Mt 3:7, Acts 27:30). To flee in the sense of to avoid, shun (Webster = to avoid deliberately and especially habitually), have nothing to do with (1Co 6:18). To vanish or disappear (Re 16:20-note, Re 20:11-note). Webster defines flee as to run away often from danger or evil or to hurry toward a place of security. Pheugo is the root of our English word "fugitive" defined as one who escapes from something or someone. He will flee - The future tense can speak of certainty. When we submit to God and resist our archrival, then he must immediately flee! This is a golden promise believers should commit to memory (see Memorizing His Word) so that they are always prepared for spiritual battle. But remember that this promise is conditional and must be preceded by our willing submission to God! Only then can we "claim the promise" beloved! And in the context of James 4 we see that humility manifest by submission is not weakness but in fact is our strength to live the supernatural, Christian life! John MacArthur reminds us of the foundation which guarantees this promise writing that... The Lord Jesus defeated him at His temptation and at the Cross (Jn 12:31, 32, 33, cp He 2:14, 15-note) and left him vulnerable. He cannot hold a sinner against that sinner’s will. He can’t even lead a believer into sin without the consent of that believer’s will. When confronted and resisted with the truth of the gospel, he flees, releasing his hold as that repentant sinner who believes is delivered from darkness to light. After salvation he comes again and again through the world system’s working on the flesh, but can be defeated repeatedly by the believer who has the “sword of the Spirit” and the rest of the armor (Ep 6:10-17-see notes). (Macarthur J. James. Moody or Logos) NIDNTT writes that in classic Greek... (cf. Lat. fugere). From the time of Homer, its most common meaning is “flee”, “take flight”, whether absolutely, or from someone or something (Homer, Plato, Herodotus, etc.). The present and imperfect tenses often express only the purpose or endeavor to get away. Hence the compounds apopheugo, katapheugo, ekpheugo, or propheugo may be added to the participle pheugon in a sentence to denote the escape itself. The accusative (and occasionally the genitive) with pheugo specifies that which is being “shunned”, “escaped from”, or “avoided”-whether death and war (Homer), evil (Demosthenes), or the consequences of murder (Euripides). Metaphorically reins may “escape from” the hands of the charioteer. Because a person may flee his country, the articular participle refers to “the exile(s)” (Homer, Xenophon, Thucydides); and since such people may well have been banished, by a natural extension the active verb itself takes on the quasi-passive force of “be banished”, “be expelled” (Herodotus, Xenophon, Dinarchus). Similarly phyge comes to mean “exile”, “banishment”. In Attic Greek, both pheugo and apopheugo occur as law-terms. The pheugon is the defendant, as opposed to the diokon, the prosecutor; and pheugein graphen (or diken) means “to be put on trial”, while an added genitive (e.g. phonou, murder) specifies the charge. To escape the prosecutors (apopheugein tous diokontas) therefore means “to be acquitted”. Pheugo is used 29x in 29v in the NT and is translated in the NAS as escape(2), escaped(2), fled(5), fled away(2), flee(13), flees(2), ran away(3). Matthew 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise and take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 8:33 And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city, and reported everything, including the incident of the demoniacs. Matthew 10:23 "But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) to the next; for truly I say to you, you shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes. Matthew 23:33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 24:16 then (When? When the Antichrist breaks the covenant with Israel -this occurs at the midpoint of the 7 years of Daniel - see Da 9:27- note) let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; Matthew 26:56 "But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left Him and fled. Mark 5:14 And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. Mark 13:14 "But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) (When? When the Antichrist breaks the covenant with Israel - this occurs at the midpoint of the 7 years of Daniel - see Da 9:27- note) to the mountains. Mark 14:50 And they all left Him and fled. Mark 14:52 But he left the linen sheet behind, and escaped naked. Mark 16:8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Luke 3:7 He therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Luke 8:34 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. Luke 21:21 "Then let those who are in Judea flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; John 10:5 "And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." John 10:12 "He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them. Acts 7:29 "And at this remark Moses fled, and became an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. Acts 27:30 And as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship, and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, 1Corinthians 6:18 Flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Comment: There are over 160 uses of pheugo in the Septuagint, but 4 uses in Genesis 39 that parallel Paul's command to flee sexual sin - cp Joseph's fleeing from Potiphar's advances (Ge 39:12, 13, 15, 18). 1Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) from idolatry. 1Timothy 6:11 But flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Comment: This sin is the hallmark of all false teachers, who pervert the truth for personal gain. Wuest writes that pheugo is "in the present imperative which commands a continuous action. Timothy is to make it the habit of his life to be everlastingly fleeing away from a fondness for money. Expositors says that “love of money in ministers of religion does more to discredit religion in the eyes of ordinary people than would indulgence in many grosser vices.” (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos) 2Timothy 2:22-note Now flee (present imperative = command to make this your continual practice) from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Hebrews 11:34-note quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. James 4:7-note Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Revelation 9:6-note And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die and death flees from them. Revelation 12:6-note And the woman (Reference to Israel) fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Revelation 16:20-note And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. Revelation 20:11-note And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. Comment: This describes the "surreal" time of the Great White Throne judgment, when creation as we know it has "fled" or vanished, and before the appearance of the New Heaven and New Earth (Re 21:1-note) Pheugo is used 161 times in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Ge 14:10; 39:12f, 15, 18; Ex 4:3; 14:5, 25, 27; 21:13; Lev 26:17, 36; Nu 10:35; 16:34; 24:11; 35:6, 11, 15, 32; Dt 4:42; 19:4, 11; 28:7, 25; Josh 7:4; 8:5f, 20; 10:11, 16; Jdg 1:6; 4:15, 17; 7:21f; 8:12; 9:21, 40, 51; 11:3; 20:32, 42, 45, 47; 1Sa 4:10, 16f; 14:22; 17:51; 19:8, 12, 18; 21:10; 22:17, 20; 23:5f; 27:4; 30:17; 31:1, 7; 2 Sam 1:4; 4:4; 10:13f, 18; 13:29, 37; 15:14; 17:2; 18:3, 17; 19:3, 8f; 23:11; 24:13; 1 Ki 2:28f; 11:43; 12:18; 20:20, 30; 2Ki 3:24; 7:7; 8:21; 9:3, 10, 23, 27; 14:12, 19; 1Chr 10:1, 7; 11:13; 19:14f, 18; 21:12; 2Chr 10:2, 18; 13:16; 14:12; 21:9; 25:22, 27; Neh 13:10; Job 27:22; 30:3; Ps 31:11; 60:4; 68:1; 104:7; 114:3, 5; 139:7; Pr 28:1; Song 8:14; Isa 10:18, 29; 13:14; 16:3; 20:6; 21:14f; 22:3; 24:18; 27:1; 30:16f; 31:8f; 43:14; 48:20; Jer 4:6, 21; 37:13f; 38:19; 46:5f, 15, 21; 48:6, 19, 44; 49:30; 50:16, 28; 51:6; Da 10:7; Amos 5:19; 6:5; 9:1; Obad 1:14; Jonah 1:3, 10; 4:2; Nah 2:5, 8; Zech 2:6. Here are a few of the uses... Genesis 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country. Genesis 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled outside...18 and it happened as I raised my voice and screamed, that he left his garment beside me and fled outside." Ex 4:3 Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Lev 26:17 'And I will set My face against you so that you shall be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one is pursuing you. Ps 68:1-note (For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.) Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee before Him. Ps 104:7-note At Thy rebuke they fled; At the sound of Thy thunder they hurried away. Ps 114:3-note The sea looked and fled (Miracle of the Red Sea - Ex 14:21 and 40 years later at the Jordan River); The Jordan turned back (Josh 3:13, 14, 15).... 5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? Ps 139:7-note Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? Pr 28:1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion. ><>><>><> Crafty Coyotes - “Like many sheep ranchers in the West, Lexy Fowler has tried just about everything to stop crafty coyotes from killing her sheep. She has used odor sprays, electric fences, and ‘scare-coyotes.’ She has slept with her lambs during the summer and has placed battery-operated radios near them. She has corralled them at night, herded them at day. But the southern Montana rancher has lost scores of lambs—fifty last year alone. “Then she discovered the llama—the aggressive, funny-looking, afraid-of-nothing llama. ’Llamas don’t appear to be afraid of anything,’ she said. ‘When they see something, they put their head up and walk straight toward it. That is aggressive behavior as far as the coyote is concerned, and they won’t have anything to do with that. Coyotes are opportunists, and llamas take that opportunity away.’” Apparently llamas know the truth of what James writes: “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (4:7). The moment we sense his attack through temptation is the moment we should face it and deal with it for what it is. (Bible.org Sermon Illustrations - Recommended)