The God of Separations

We live in a world today where everyone is advocating for unity. But, does the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob promote unity with the world and its system? No, for centuries we have been told to “love” the world into loving God. Instead of the world loving God, the people of God have become lovers of the world. Many have incorporated worldly ways like fables, myths, and replacement systems in their worship of God and have become just like the world.

Perhaps the true unity that God desires for us can only come from our faithful obedience to His commandments when we separate ourselves from the ways of the world. This realization that God-Fearers from the nations would put away their man-made traditions was prophesied by Jeremiah in 16:19:

• “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction, The Gentiles shall come to You From the ends of the earth and say, "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, Worthlessness and unprofitable things."

BIBLICAL SEPARATIONS

Separation is not a bad thing, if it is for holiness. Holiness actually means to be “set apart” for God. Here are a few types of separations mentioned in the Bible:

• Day and night – Gen. 1:4

• Water and Water – Gen. 1:6

• Land and Water – Gen. 1:9

• Male and Female – Gen. 1:27

• Shabbat and Other Days – Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:11; Lev. 23:3; Matt 24:20

• Righteous and Wicked – Gen. 18:25; Num. 16:26; Matt. 13:49; Rev. 18:4

• Israel and Nations – Ex. 33:16; Deut. 26:19; Ezek. 28:28

• Holy and Profane – Lev. 18:1;21;6; 1 Tim 1:9

• Eternal Life and Eternal Death – Daniel 12:1-3; John 3:15-16; Rev. 7

• Sheep and Goats – Matt. 25:31-36

• Wheat and Tares – Matt. 13:40-43

SEPARATIONS IN THE APOSTOLIC WRITINGS (NEW COVENANT)

We will see later where Yeshua (Jesus) will separate the sheep from the goats. He also drew a distinction between those who know Him and those who do not, in John 10:22-28 it states:

• "Now it was the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) in Jerusalem, and it was winter... But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."

Paul tells us many times in his writings to separate ourselves from the influence of others and the ways of the world, including those who claim to be “brothers.” Paul’s instructions in 1 Cor. 5:9-11 were given at the Feast of Passover - illustrating the removing of leaven (sin) from our lives:

• “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people…But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.”

SEPARATIONS AT MESSIAH’S SECOND COMING

We learn from Matthew 24 and 25 there will be a number of separations that will occur in the last days. In Matthew 24, upon leaving the Temple, Yeshua began speaking to His taught ones and describing the events surrounding His physical return to earth. He tells them about the Great Tribulation that is coming; a time that the world has not seen since the beginning.

During this discussion, Yeshua quotes the Prophet Daniel, which triggers us to think about what Daniel said would occur in the last days. In Matt. 24:15 Yeshua said:

• "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand)’...”

Yeshua then states in Matt. 24:30-31:

• “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

We find the words of the Prophet Daniel aligning with Yeshua’s words above. In Daniel 7:13 we read:

• “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.”

In Matt. 25:31, Yeshua tells them that His second coming will conclude with His sitting on the throne (in Jerusalem) as He begins His 1,000-year rule as King over all the earth:

• "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory…”

Again, we see the words in Daniel 7:9, describing this same event:

• "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire.”

Does this sound familiar? We also find these same descriptions in the Book of Revelation 1:13-18:

• “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire…And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

In Daniel 7:9 above, there is the mention of “thrones.” Additionally, the Book of Revelation 5:4 says:

• “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.”

It’s obvious that the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation provide two witnesses of the same event. These books, along with Matthew 24 and 25, should be studied together when researching Yeshua’s second coming.

SHEEP AND GOATS

When Yeshua returns, He will defeat the nations who come up against Jerusalem and there will be survivors from these nations. Then, He tells us there will be a separation of these survivors into two groups - sheep and goats. Yeshua describes this separation in Matt. 25:32-34:

• “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."

The Prophet Zechariah mentions these survivors when he describes the future coming King (Yeshua) in Zechariah 14:16-17:

• “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.”

Yeshua continues in Matt 25:34-36: "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

• For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

• I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

• I was a stranger and you invited me in,

• I needed clothes and you clothed me,

• I was sick and you looked after me,

• I was in prison and you came to visit me.’”

Then, the “sheep,” who He now calls “righteous,” respond in Matt. 25:37-39:

• “…Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’”

Yeshua’s response back to these “sheep” in Matt 25:40:

• “…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Then, Yeshua addresses the “goats” on His left in Matt 25:41-44:

• “…Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’”

The “goats,” who are now called “cursed,” respond:

• “…Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

Yeshua’s says to the “goats:”

• “…Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The MAIN POINT of these verses in Matthew 25:32-46 is the coming judgement of the surviving nations. Yeshua tells us that those from the nations, who survive the Great Tribulation, will be judged on how they treated the physical people of Israel. Of course, the Jewish people are clearly the brothers and sisters of our Jewish Messiah. Today, we are seeing more anti-Semitism within the nations, and for this, those living, will be judged when Yeshua returns.

Ezekiel confirms this in Ezekiel 34:12-16 when he states:

• “Just as a shepherd looks after his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so I will look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will bring them back from those peoples, gather them from those countries and return them to their own land. Then I will let them feed on the mountains of Isra'el, by the streams and in all the livable places of the land. I will have them feed in good pastures; their grazing ground will be on the high mountains of Isra'el. They will rest in good grazing grounds and feed in rich pastures on Isra'el's mountains. Yes, I will pasture my sheep; and I will let them rest" says Adonai ELOHIM. "I will seek the lost, bring back the outcasts, bandage the broken, and strengthen the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy - I will feed them with judgment.” (CJB)

FINALLY

We serve a God who calls us to be holy as He is holy. Although we live in this world among many different types of people, we must strive to maintain the appropriate separateness that God requires of His people. The only way to know His set-apart ways is to study His Holy Word. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2:

• “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”