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What the Bible says about Separation from Defilement
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Notice how strongly God expresses the concept of separation from what is spiritually impure. The Canaanites, and all of the other nations that are mentioned, were to be completely wiped out on religious grounds. This is because religion has such a powerful influence on conduct.

Israel never did this, and the Canaanites were a constant thorn in their side through their false gods. Through Israel's social and business interactions with them, they were persuaded to follow the Canaanites' god's practices—even to the extent of sacrificing their children in the fire.

In order to properly understand this command to exterminate these peoples, it must be understood that, though God was their Ruler, Israel was a nation of this world. Israel was put into the place of God's avenging angels—His agents—to take vengeance on those nations. However, the key is that Israel was a nation of this world, which is something that the church is not. When Jesus was before Pilate, He said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36).

The lesson for us is that we are to be, as it were, this harsh with ourselves in getting rid of the sin within us. As Jesus says, "Pluck out your eye. Cut off your hand."We know that He does not mean this literally! He wants us to understand the spiritual principle that is involved. We have to be willing to go to that extent—to fight "tooth and nail" the contamination of sin that so easily besets us, which can so easily be picked up from contact with this world.

So the spiritual lesson for us is that God is equally demanding toward us—that we do not allow this world to influence us in any way that will contaminate our holiness, imputed as a result of Christ's sacrifice. Israel did not follow through, and soon no difference could be seen between them and the Canaanites. God's commands to be different make the witness and provide the means, the environment, for sacrifice.

In order to keep from being uncontaminated by the world, there must reside in us a strong measure of religious intolerance, or we will find ourselves compromising. What we call "human nature," and what the Bible calls "carnality," produced this world. It loves this world and is easily attracted to its practices and its attitudes. To attain the Kingdom of God, we cannot tolerate those things in ourselves.



Numbers 19:11-13

Because of this instruction, to an Israelite, a dead body was extremely tainted and profane, requiring both the passage of time and two separate washing rituals before the defiled individual could be declared purified. Without this detailed purification process, a defiled person would be completely cut off from Israel—and thus cut off from God, so great was the potential danger of profaning the Tabernacle of the Lord.

As difficult as it may be to consider the repugnancy of rotting flesh, a potent metaphor for our sinful nature is called for to warn us of the dangers of relaxing our standards within the context of our relationship with God, the purest of all beings. Since we are always surrounded and bombarded by sin, it is only too easy for us to let our guard down and to forget how our transgressions cause our Creator to regard us as unfit to be in His divine presence.

Consider the heavy smoker or the lazy homeowner who fails to maintain his pet's litter box. After long-term exposure to the foul-smelling tobacco smoke, the typical smoker becomes oblivious to the odor fouling his home, his car, and his clothing. After long-term exposure to the excessive bodily waste of his cute, furry companion, a complacent pet lover becomes used to the malodorous assault on his senses. In time, the offensive smells seem to disappear from their nostrils altogether.

Such is the manner of our sins if we are not willing to heed the strong warnings from someone wise like the apostle Paul. Without constant contact with God, we risk becoming used to—and even comfortable with—our defiled manner, and sadly, used to the separation from God. At this point, we are in grave danger. The author of Hebrews, most likely the apostle Paul, writes, “[H]ow shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation . . . ?” (Hebrews 2:3; see Joshua 23:11-16; Deuteronomy 4:9). Later, he adds, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12; see II Samuel 12:10; Isaiah 59:2). Hence the need for such an intense and disturbing reproach.

The story of King David and Bathsheba comes to mind as a tragic example of the potential dangers of spiritual complacency (II Samuel 11—12). David was a righteous man—a man after God's own heart—and deeply loved by God (I Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22; Psalm 17:8). He was not prone to practice sin, but he grew complacent—perhaps too self-assured—and committed a terrible transgression against Uriah, indeed, a sin against God (II Samuel 12:9). Moreover, he remained unaware of the stench of his offense until Nathan the prophet pointed it out (II Samuel 12:7). Psalm 51 reflects his shame and frustration upon recognizing his defiled state.

Ted E. Bowling
This Body of Death

Psalm 139:21-22

This psalm's superscription attributes it to David. It is a part of God's Word, and therefore it was written under the inspiration of God. We have to conclude that God, under certain circumstances, permits a flawed human the right to hate. If it is all right for a flawed human to hate under certain circumstances, then it is certainly all right for the perfect Creator God to do so.

As "hate" is used here, we should not conclude that God is speaking of a virulent and malignant passion that desires to destroy the life of another. The words "loathe" or "grieved," as modern translations use, defines and limits the hatred to deep sorrow for or strong disapproval of the conduct of those under discussion. David did not desire to be associated with them; he wished to avoid their company and find his friendships among those of beliefs and conduct like his. Conclusion? God does not love everybody equally, nor does He expect us to. Psalm 5:5 concurs: "The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity."

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Three

Proverbs 8:13

In II Corinthians, Paul stresses the need for believers to separate themselves from what defiles—evil. His concluding instruction is that the fear of God is the means by which we accomplish this perfecting of holiness:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." 'I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,' says the LORD Almighty." Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1)

We who believe in Christ's name, who have received Him, have been given the right—the authority—to become children of God (John 1:12). If we, as Paul instructs, separate ourselves from what is unclean, we will be His sons and daughters. Children resemble their parents, and one way that we learn to resemble God is by loving the things that He loves and hating the things that He hates. God hates those things that harm the life and liveliness of His current and future children. As we grow in His image, we should also hate what is evil. That is one way that we fear and respect Him.

The more we fear and reverence the holiness of God, the more we grasp our own flaws and defilement. This, in turn, causes us to hate the evil that we find within ourselves (Matthew 5:3-4, 6) and to despise the elements of our nature that would make us miserable or that would cause misery in others if they were allowed to continue forever.

Yet, identifying those things is impossible without allowing the light of truth to shine into our lives. That light comes through knowing God and Jesus Christ. Knowing Them helps us to develop the proper fear of God, and at the same time it helps us to begin to see, by contrast, what things in us cause harm to life and liveliness.

David C. Grabbe
Hating Evil, Fearing God


 




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