When Yeshua, the Prince of Peace asked, ‘Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth?’ He answered His own question saying, ‘I tell you, no, but rather division’ [Lk. 12:51]. He then went on to elaborate how even within a family, the fire that He had come to cast would divide one with another [Lk. 12:48, 53-54].
This whole concept of separation is seen throughout the Bible. Abraham and his descendants were called to be a holy nation, chosen by Yahweh and separated to proclaim His excellency. In Egypt, the Righteous One separated His chosen people living in Goshen from the Egyptians before demonstrating His righteous judgments. Elijah called out in his day to Yahweh’s chosen ones — and here it is important to note that the Prophet of the living God wasn’t calling out to the pagans from other nations but rather to Israel, God’s elect — ‘How long will you jump back and forth between two positions? If Adonai is God, follow Him; but if it is Ba‘al, follow him!’ Ironically, the people did not answer him a word [1Kin. 18:21].
If we look at the Brit Hadashah (or the New Testament) we will find that Yeshua’s parables consistently focused on highlighting separation between the ones that ‘hears and does’ His words and the ones who only hears but does not act. Our Lord likened this separation to a wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand [Mt. 7:24-27]. I emphasise again, this separation is within Yah’s household. Notice, both groups hear the word but only one chooses to act.
Look again at the parable of the wise and foolish virgins [Mt. 25:1-12]. This parable does not draw a distinction between the believer and the unbeliever but rather those who are waiting for the Bridegroom. Shocking as it may seem, the Bridegroom says to those who thought they were His, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you’ [Mt. 25:12]. Consider again the parable of the sheep and the goats [Mt. 25:31-46]. Here too there is a separation when all the nations will gather before the throne of the Son of Man. The separation is based on mercy and kindness and love.
If we look at the parable of the tares and the wheat [Mt. 13:24-30; 37-43] we will see that the Son of Man sows the good seed. At this point I would like to add how interesting it is to learn, with a little bit of reading, the choice of comparative terms that Yeshua uses while narrating the parable. The word for tares is ‘zizanion’ in Greek and is a type of darnel that resembles wheat. Some Bibles, like the NASB, have the term, ‘darnel’ mentioned in their margins. A quick Google search will tell you that the similarity between wheat and darnel, botanically known as, ‘Lolium temulentum’, is so great that in some regions, darnel is referred to as ‘false wheat’. One Bible commentary writes, ‘Tares are actually darnel, a seed hardly identifiable from the wheat seed. Immature wheat and darnel look alike. To try to destroy the darnel would mean destroying much of the wheat, and separating one from the other would be beyond the servants' abilities. Only when the wheat has matured can the tares be detected. Then the tares are gathered together in bundles in the field and destroyed by fire.’ Yeshua concludes this parable by explaining that such would be the case at the end when the Son of Man sends His angels. These angels will gather out of His kingdom ‘all that cause people to sin and all the people who are far from Torah; and they will throw them into the fiery furnace where people will wail and grind their teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father’ [Mt. 13:41-43 CJB].
Why have I taken so much effort to write about this distinction? The truth is that in every congregation, there sits the wise man and the foolish man; the wise virgin and the foolish virgin; the sheep and the goat; the wheat and the tare. They stand alongside lifting hands and singing songs of praise to the immortal, invisible only wise God who sits on the throne in majesty. They speak the same ‘spiritual’ language. They look the same in every way. There is no way one can distinguish the true from the false except by the fruit.
Yet the Bible tells us plainly, ‘The Lord knows those who are His’ [2Tim. 2:19]. This, Paul categorically states and calls it one foundation of Yahweh. He then tells us that the other foundation is ‘that everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord, stands apart from wrongdoing’ [2Tim. 2:19 CJB]. On that day, just before the great tribulation, an angel having the seal of the living God will cry out to the four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the winds, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads’ [Rev. 7:1-3]. At that time, they will know exactly who belongs to the Lord and who doesn’t. They will not be confused but will be able to distinguish one from the other.
What I am about to write now may not be liked by some, if not many; but doesn’t the truth hurt? I believe the root cause of a lot of spiritual ills of many in the congregation — cleansed and redeemed by the blood of Yeshua — is the seriousness of relationship with their Redeemer. The first and foremost commandment of loving Yahweh with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our might suffers great neglect. The simplicity and purity of undistracted devotion that the Bible speaks about is often absent in one’s relationship with the Father; so much so that one wonders if the risen Lord’s rebuke to the Ephesian congregation that they have lost their first love still holds true to many congregations of this day and age [Rev. 2:4]. The Messiah’s alarming warning to the Laodicea congregation that He would spit them from His mouth if they were lukewarm cannot get more terrifying (Rev. 3:15-16). It is to this same lot that Yeshua said that He was standing at the door and knocking; for in the hearts of many, though forgiven and cleansed, He still waits to come in and fellowship [Rev. 3:20]. To the congregation at Sardis, Yeshua says, ‘You have a reputation for being alive, but in fact you are dead’ (Rev. 3:1)! Can there be words plainer than these?
Yet many who are washed by the blood of Yeshua and have been given the right to be called ‘children of Yahweh’, live in gay abandon (the opposite of being watchful and alert). It is interesting how lately — because of all the hype that has been going around in Christian media about the constellation arrangement on 23 September 2017 and the news of tragic, devastating events such as hurricanes and earthquakes — there is a clarion call to repent and get one’s house in order for the coming of Yeshua is near. I subscribe to this call and am hoping that this will wake up many, yet my question is: what was one doing all this time? Does it require signs in the heavens and disaster on earth to wake up people — especially those who have entered into covenant with the Saviour — that they would love Him and turn away from all sin? Are these not the ones who join the table of the Lord and break bread and drink of the cup while remembering the great price that was paid on their behalf? The word repent (or teshuvah in Hebrew) is to ‘return’. It reveals the very distinction Paul kept writing about when he said, ‘You are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness’ [1Thes. 5:5]. True repentance involves a complete turning around. It will always recognize that we were formerly darkness but now we are light in the Lord and therefore must walk as children of light [Eph. 5:8].
This distinction is constantly seen in Yah’s word — light from darkness; holy from profane; those who are ‘My people’ and those who are not. Yeshua tried to amplify this when He told His disciples that their behaviour must be different from the sinners. His cutting rhetoric echoes, ‘If you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?’ [Mt. 5:46-47]. Yeshua’s distinction between His people and the sinners is repeated by Peter. Quoting from the Torah, the Apostle writes, ‘You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood a holy nation, a people for Yahweh’s own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light’ [1Pet. 2:9].
Repeatedly we see separation — for doesn’t the word, ‘holy’ (or Kadosh, in Hebrew) mean set apart? If there is genuine teshuvah — a sincere returning to Yahweh — we will judge ourselves and will, with the grace and help of Yeshua, our High Priest, walk in righteousness and holiness of truth. If not, there will still be a separation; only this time, we will have no part in the decision. Then, ‘one will be taken and one will be left’ [Mt. 24:40-41].
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