From cover to cover the unifying message regarding distinction becomes clear: God is a God of distinction. He is the very antithesis of amalgamation, universalism, and uniformity. First, He separates darkness from light, then He does away with formlessness and there is a distinction between Heavens and Earth. He then separates the cosmic waters. [4]
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3,4)
God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so. (Genesis 1:7)
God both defines and distinguishes over and over and over again throughout history, from cover to cover and that never changes. We see righteousness defined in the garden as trusting obedience, regardless of our understanding. We see Noah distinguished as righteous and preserved through God's wrath upon the earth. The Lord explains through the prophet Ezekiel that Noah, Job, and Daniel were distinguished in their righteousness, which sets them apart from any city or people they dwell among. [5] We also hear the Lord continue to prophesy about this 'remnant' that will come out of Israel when His wrath once again purges and distinguishes the righteous and unrighteous.
"Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save themselves,” declares the Lord God. (Ezekiel 14:14)
We see a continuation of defining and distinction as the Lord carves out a family for Himself to make for Himself a people. A people distinct from the rest of creation, a people to whom He tethers to Himself by way of a covenant.
I use the word tether because when you look at the synonyms for this word the results you get are: secure, bind, chain, and restraint. Let us meditate on those words and apply them to the way the Lord eternally anchored Himself to the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
•Secure: peace for us that He has not given up on Creation.
•Bind: Himself to those of us who never give up our trust in His Promises.
•Chain: us to the hope of His redemption of all things so that we might not drift away.
•Restrain: Himself from acting in grief and anger towards rebellious and selfish people.
When the promises to Abraham were carved into a covenant, the process of God's distinction continued. First, the Lord desired for us to understand that this covenant with Abraham was irrevocable, one of the ways He did this was by showing us in history that, although Abraham attempted to interpret the mode of delivery for the promise, he never once doubted the promise itself. So we see the Lord continue to deliver on this promise because the promise had no contingencies reliant upon Abraham. We also see the 4,000 years of consequences for disobedience in the form of war, violence, and bloodshed between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael that continues today. This informs us that there are incredible consequences for sins, still, He retains all of the promises that He has made.
Role Assignments, Usurpation & Humble Submission
In the book of Jude (Judah), the Lord's brother warns against role usurpation in the second to last book of the Biblical canon. He writes that even though it was burning in his heart to write about their mutual salvation, instead he is burdened to warn and rebuke these waterless clouds and wandering stars.[8] In the order of Cain, Korah, and Balaam, he writes, that they should be cut off from among the community. He uses the term wandering star as a descriptive. We are told that God created the stars [9], set them into place [10], and even named them [11]. There are numerous references to stars as angelic hosts and there are three recorded heavenly rebellions in the Tanakh. (Genesis 3, Genesis 6, Genesis 11 - confirmed in Psalm 82 & Deuteronomy 32)
These wandering stars did not stay fixed in their designed distinct roles.
Jude also references humans who step out of their assigned roles and pine after another. Cain is referred to in this order of offenses. Note that in Genesis 4 when God rejects Cain's sacrifice that is not the thing that leads to his demise, we see the Lord warn Cain about his response :
“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:6)
We are not told how much time passed between this warning and the murder of Abel, but there are two things we can take away from these events :
Cain did not heed the warning and allowed the sin to devour and consume him leading to the sin that caused him to be sent into exile, murder.
Cain's refusal to accept the ruling of God's rejection of his sacrifice is a blatant usurpation of authority. Who is Cain to disagree with the creator?
After the Exodus, Korah rebelled by rising up and claiming that all in the community of the Lord are loved the same, he was dissatisfied with the distinction the Lord had set for Moses and Aaron [12].
They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. (Numbers 16:3-5)
Balaam took it upon himself to set up a stumbling block for the tribes of Israel which consisted of tempting them into disobedience [13]. In both instances, we see an example of someone assuming a role that does not belong to them and the fury of the Lord with regard to obedience. According to Isaiah, the Lord would set up a stumbling block for Israel for His purposes [14]. In Leviticus, it is not permitted to set up a stumbling block for the blind[15]. Paul warns about setting stumbling blocks for another in Romans and Corinthians. The Lord alone is the one who can allow for the testing and stumbling of His image-bearers.
The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41-42)
What is disobedience truly? It is a usurpation of roles. It is creation turning from the creator, it is rejecting our design, the distinction between us and Him, rejecting the place we have been put in.
What do roles, distinction, and obedience all have in common? The answer is humility.
If we cannot humble ourselves, we will undoubtedly end up entangled in its antonym: pride. This is where all disobedience is born from. We can plant seeds of humility or pride in our gardens and that will determine whether our fruit is obedience or disobedience. That is in its most distilled state what the Bible is saying. It is one consistent message from beginning to end. God elaborates in endless ways and formats so that every mind can find this message regardless of where they find themselves in scripture.
The consistency and continuity of our Creator's message is so simple, so direct so narrow in its scope that once the reader can see it, it can never be unseen again. It is patterned and repeated over and over again as a constant reinforcement that the narrative as you continue to read, has not changed, is not changing, and will never change because, "He never changes, nor casts a shifting shadow." [17]
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