Separation from the World I — Spiritual Growth for New Believers
- spiritualwalk
- Mar 29
- 3 min read
Scripture Reading:
Exodus 10:8-11 (NRSVUE)
"So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, 'Go, worship the Lord your God! But which ones are to go?' Moses said, 'We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we have the Lord’s festival to celebrate.' He said to them, 'The Lord indeed will be with you if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly, you have some evil purpose in mind. No! Go, the men among you, and worship the Lord, for that is what you are asking.' And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence."
Exodus 10:21-26 (NRSVUE)
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.' So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was dense darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another, and for three days they could not move from where they were, but all the Israelites had light where they lived. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, 'Go, worship the Lord. Only your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your little ones may go with you.' But Moses said, 'You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them to serve the Lord our God, and we will not know what to use to worship the Lord until we arrive there.'"
Exodus 12:6-11 (NRSVUE)
"You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord."
Exodus 12:37-42 (NRSVUE)
"The Israelites set out from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed crowd also went up with them, and livestock in great numbers, both flocks and herds. They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt; it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. The time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that very day, all the ranks of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. That was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all the Israelites throughout their generations."
2 Corinthians 6:17 (NRSVUE)
"Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you."
Regarding separation from the world, the Bible contains numerous commands and examples. The Old Testament provides many lessons and models. Babylon, Sodom, Ur of the Chaldeans, and Egypt all serve as representations of the world, revealing its nature. Egypt represents the pleasures of the world, Ur of the Chaldeans represents the world’s religious systems, Babel represents the world's confusion, and Sodom represents the world's sin. People ought to leave Egypt, just as Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans. Lot went to Sodom, and the Israelites were exiled to Babylon, yet they were all called to come out. The Bible uses these four places as symbols of the world and, at the same time, teaches God’s children how they should separate themselves from it.
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