One of the greatest examples of seeing God’s intention to separate His people from the rest of the world is found in His commands to Israel. They were to be separate from all the other nations. There could be no intermarrying or relationships.
This is because the incredibly negative influence of the other nations would be so powerful that it might sway Israel towards evil. And in fact, it did sway them time and time again. We read in the book of Judges how over and over again the people of Israel disobey God, worship idols, intermarry with the locals, and behave poorly.
“You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.”
Deuteronomy 7:3-4
It is easy to understand why they did this. It was because of the sexual activity involved in the various worship services of the foreign gods.
But some in the modern world might wonder why God did not allow them to intermarry so they could be a “good influence” on the people of Canaan. We are too simplistic in our thinking if we are contemplating this. We should know that the pull of a negative influence is far more powerful than the pull of a positive one. And we will always be more drawn towards evil than towards good. This is simply a part of the human condition, something we must think about as we do war with the flesh.
“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
Galations 5:17
Israel could never be a good enough influence to change the people of the world
Sure, there were probably a few people here and there who wanted to join Israel and changed their beliefs. But these were the minority. Most people never change the way they are. And this is why God’s command was to totally annihilate these people from the face of the earth. None of them could be left alive.
“Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you.”
Deuteronomy 20:17
If you are removing cancer from the human body, you obviously want to remove the whole thing. If you leave even a small portion of the cancerous tumor in the body, it will simply grow back to full strength.
This is why Israel was required to completely remove the cancer that was the pagan nations in Canaan. There could be no place for people who engaged in homosexuality and offered their children as burnt offerings to their gods. Imagine sacrificing your kids by burning them alive just so you could have a better life or a better harvest the next year. It is absolutely despicable behavior. And it was precisely this behavior that required those people to be utterly destroyed.
We live a similar life today.
The modern church overemphasized the idea of being a “good influence“. They do this in the same way that they place too much focus on accountability. These are good tools, but they should not make up the bulk of our practice. We are never going to be able to exert as much positive influence as the world will be able to exert a negative influence. The negative is always more powerful in a face-to-face assault. This is why we must be more strategic in our approach.
We have to control our environment. The best way to avoid negative behaviors is to make sure we do not have the opportunity to engage in them.
You cannot eat junk food if it is not in the house. You cannot be pulled into worldliness if you are not surrounded by people of the world. People who would be forcing their extremely powerful influence on you.
Influence always comes from a position of strength, you cannot influence someone unless you have some power or unless they look up to you in some way. There is no way around this. Influence, as well as help, always comes from a position of strength. This is a fact of life.
We have to arm ourselves and separate ourselves from the negative influence of the world. We have to split from the pack if we ever intend to become strong.
Israel failed time and time again because of negative influences.
We cannot allow our lives to be lived in the same way. Separate yourself from false ideologies and evil behavior just like you would remove yourself from a leper colony. Treat evil like a plague and hide from it. We rarely have the strength to engage it in full frontal warfare, we need to be strategic and maneuver around. Work the enemy’s strengths into weaknesses. Do not allow them to touch you. Act too quickly for them to realize what you are doing. Be fast, bold, and courageous, and do not engage with the world more than necessary.
Do not ever overestimate the strength of a positive influence. The positive influence is almost always weaker than the negative one. Do not count on your own strength of will to allow you to resist temptation or influence others. Be realistic about your own strength and only engage in skirmishes you know you can win.
Avoid evil and act like men.
One thought on “Israel is Separated from Other Nations”