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What the Bible says about Withdrawing
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Isaiah 65:1-5

Our concern is His holier-than-you accusation. In this case, God is saying that Israel was rejecting Him, as if they were somehow better than He was and did not need the correction He had for them. Within a Christian assembly, a negative exclusivity can form in an individual and create hazards in our attitudes about ourselves and others, laying a spiritual minefield.

This attitude requires understanding. We must be careful. It causes some among us to be aloof within the group to their own hurt or to withdraw themselves and become independent. It infected the Jews of Jesus' day—in fact, the origin of the word "Pharisee" is vague, but most commentators believe it means "separatists." It affected the church, too, in the days of the apostles.

Matthew 9:10-11 records an incident in which a form of it confronted Jesus:

And so it was, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Jesus' response pointedly reveals the error in their thinking and conduct.

Galatians 2:11-13 exposes its existence in the early church:

But when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

This is a possible downside of the true church's exclusivity. It can produce a self-righteous, I'm-better-than-you hypocrisy if we forget or overlook the fact that it was God's work and not ours that provides our calling and spirituality. Even today, there are groups claiming to be the exclusive true church.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Is There a True Church?

Matthew 4:12-14

At first glance, one might think Jesus moved out of the area because He wanted to fulfill the prophecy that His preaching would begin in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. That works until one understands that the word "departed" means "to withdraw," which gives it a different connotation. The beginning of verse 12 tells why He withdrew: because He heard that John had been put in prison. John had been imprisoned due to persecution, and in Jesus' estimation, it could have enveloped His ministry too. Jesus thus accomplished two things at one time by withdrawing: He left the area to avoid persecution and fulfilled the prophecy of His ministry commencing in the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali.

John W. Ritenbaugh
A Place of Safety? (Part 2)


 




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