In the last verse of the Old Testament God talks of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children. I believe it is a spiritual picture of passing on to the next generation all we have learned so that they do not have to relearn everything from square one.

How easy it is for us as Christians to try to do everything. We are called to be set apart as the Levites were, to serve God in the way He tells us to and in the place He shows us, trusting Him to take care of the bigger picture!

The first outpouring of the Holy Spirit must have been an amazing sight, and an amazing experience. They were all together before they experienced the separation! We do not know exactly how long they were in that room together before this amazing experience. But we know that they were together.

It was not long before the men of Israel were seduced by foreign women, and fell into sin, not only sexual, but spiritual sin too. The foreign wives led them astray, when in fact the Israelite men should have known that their God was the One and only True God.

The point of our verse today is that the Israelite nation was different. They were the only nation that had The Almighty God living with them. The One True God who was and is totally pure, who could not look on sin. He is still the same today. Praise God.

The verse today refers to the Christian family. This is forever growing as people across the world accept Jesus as Saviour and are accepted into the family of God. That family that Father God is calling as a group set apart for Him, so that others will see and believe.

Once the earth was beginning to be filled with different people groups, God did another major separation. Separating His people, the Jewish nation of Israel for Himself. God had always wanted a special group of people who would show the rest of the world that He is real, and approachable.

Here we have a separation of woman from man, but with a plan for a re-union. In our modern world many attitudes to marriage are changing. Biblical standards do not change. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is the duty of His church to uphold the Truth.

Years ago I was privileged to visit the point in South Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Not Cape of Good Hope as many believe, but further East round the coast, the very small cape Agulhas. These two oceans meet, but are still distinctly separate. It is fascinating!

If our first thought is to obey the first commandment, it can be very difficult to be joined successfully and permanently with someone else who does not have the same priority. If your priority is God and that of your partner is elsewhere, this can lead to friction.