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Ecclesiastes 3:5
“Gather” and “scatter” make a couple frequently encountered in the Scriptures. In Matthew 12:30, Christ clarifies that, from His viewpoint, gathering and scattering are opposites and are therefore mutually exclusive: “Anyone who is not for Me is really against Me; anyone who does not help Me gather is really scattering” (Good News Translation [GNT]; see also Luke 11:23). You cannot do both at once. However, as Ecclesiastes 3:5 avers, it is possible to scatter and gather at different times. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God announces that He does just that—scatters today and gathers tomorrow: “I scattered My people, but I will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock” (Jeremiah 31:10, GNT). God “scattered over the whole earth” the descendants of Ham, Japheth, and Shem (Genesis 9:19, New International Version [NIV]). Later, He scattered the House of Israel, using the Assyrian as His agent (II Kings 17:7-18). Still later, He employed the Babylonian to scatter the folk of Judah—all but the “poorest of the land” (II Kings 25:12), a pitiful remnant. Finally, He hired the Romans to disperse the Jews from Jerusalem and surrounding territories. In doing so, they “destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7). They carried at least some of the accouterments of the Temple service to Rome. Someone disassembled the altar. The blood sacrifices ceased. The diaspora commenced in earnest. Yes, indeed, yesterday, God did plenty of scattering.
Charles Whitaker
Scattering and Gathering: Images of History and Prophecy (Part One)
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