How sad in our day that the divorce rate is so high. How sad that in many places it is possible to get a divorce over the counter in a matter of hours! If you are divorced today, do not feel condemned. Our God is merciful, and full of compassion.
The Lord carries His church, and He will unite us in His time. We do our part by not increasing the separation. By blessing others and not cursing them. And by doing what He has called us to do, knowing that nobody this side of Heaven has the whole picture.
The point here for this study is that God did the separating, and made it very clear to Gideon what he was to do. He will do the same for you. God knew who He wanted in the army, and He chose them personally. He still does the same today.
In the first chapter of Mark, Jesus went to the synagogue and started to teach. His authority amazed and impressed His listeners. That was His teaching. They would be more amazed with what happened next when we see Jesus clearly demonstrating one of the most important separations in the Bible.
The closer we as individuals get to the Lord, the more we recognise that our standards are nowhere near as high as His. And the more we realise just how much we have been forgiven. That forgiveness following repentance is so much more than a prayer at a church service.
In this verse from Ezra, the people of Israel had been living in exile in Babylon. They had begun to do things that their God had specifically described as an abhorrence to Him. For us who have been born after Christianity began the same thing applies. We are set apart.
In our everyday lives, in our urbanised western culture, most of us do not see sheep and goats being separated, but we do see ethnic groups being separated. We see separation between rich and poor, as well as different nationalities. There are Catholics and Protestants, and many other Christian denominations.
The thing that strikes me in this verse in Matthew is that there is only the wicked on one side and the righteous on the other!! Many people will be saying, But I went to church every Sunday. Others will claim to have prayed every night before getting into bed!
All Christians are called today to be priests. This means living for the Lord, representing Him to those around us, and spending time in prayer (Revelation 1:6 & 5:10). We must each do the job the Lord has called us to do with all our heart, mind soul and strength.
At the very moment Jesus died on the cross, this curtain of separation was torn from top to bottom! His death broke forever, the wall barrier that stood between us and our Heavenly Father, making it possible for us to have access to the presence of The Most High God.
EN 
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