“Come out from among them, and be ye separate.”
by Walter Giddings
August 20, 2023
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
c 14 Be ye not unequally yoked toge-
ther with unbelievers: for what fel-
lowship hath righteousness with un-
righteousness? and what commun-
ion hath light with darkness.
p 15 And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel?
c 16 And what agreement hath the
temple of God with idols? for ye
are the temple of the living God: as
God hath said, I WILL DWELL IN
THEM, AND WALK IN THEM;
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND
THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
p 17 WHEREFORE COME OUT FROM
AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEPA-
RATE, saith the Lord, AND TOUCH
NOT THE UNCLEAN THING; AND
I WILL RECEIVE YOU,
c 18 AND WILL BE A FATHER UNTO
YOU, AND YE SHALL BE MY SONS
AND DAUGHTERS, saith the Lord
Almighty.
Second Corinthians chapter six.
How many of us have felt that we are permanently trapped, even encased in Mystery Babylon? How many of us feel like we are helplessly, hopelessly trapped in Mystery Babylon, handcuffed to the rail in the last boxcar on a speeding express freight train going into the abyss! The bridge is out! (Revelation 18:2-4). How many of us feel we are permanently ensnared in Babylon with no hope of escape from being “partakers of her sins” and receivers “of her plagues”?
c 2 And he cried mightily with a
strong voice, saying, Babylon the
great is fallen, is fallen, and is be-
come the habitation of devils, and
the hold of every foul spirit, and a
cage of every unclean and hateful
bird.
p 3 For all nations have drunk of the
wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have com-
mitted fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed
rich through the abundance of her
delicacies.
c 4 And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues.
Revelation chapter eighteen.
How long will Mystery Babylon continue to bedevil us? If we separate from Mystery Babylon will we draw Persecution unto our families?!!!
How do we separate ourselves from Mystery Babylon?
One of the major statutes under The Laws of Bible Study we can best illustrate with a question: Would our God, the God of our Fathers, command us to do that which is impossible? Are we accusing God of being a man? Selah! Does God’s Intervention on behalf of Adam speak for itself? (Jeremiah 29:10-13). What does the Word of God say?
p 10 For thus saith the LORD, That
after seventy years be accomplished
at Babylon I will visit you, and per-
form my good word toward you, in
causing you to return to this place.
c 11 For I know the thoughts that I
think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to
give you an expected end.
p 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and
ye shall go and pray unto me, and I
will hearken unto you.
c 13 And ye shall seek me and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all
your heart.
Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine.
(Daniel 9:2). Did the end time Prophet Daniel, in the first year King Darius, the Mede, was made King of the realm of the Chaldeans, read Jeremiah’s 70 year prophecy?
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel
understood by books the number of the
years, whereof the word of the LORD
came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he
would accomplish seventy years in the
desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel chapter nine.
Daniel remained in Persia, even under King Cyrus, when the King issued the de-cree, and the 42 thousand and change returned from captivity under Ezra/Nehe-miah? Did Daniel train the wise men whose descendants sought the one born King of the Jews, when they saw his Star in the east? How can we doubt the plain record of History concerning the faithfulness of the God of our Fathers, and his solicitude toward our ancestors? Does the Faithfulness of our God and His Christ tell us He commands that which is possible to do?
(Return to Revelation 18:4). Is it very [!] possible for us to obey this heavenly commandment?
4 And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues.
Revelation chapter eighteen.
“Come out of her, my people.” Is it axiomatic that God would never command us to do something we could never do? When we come out of Babylon, will that separate us and Mystery Babylon? Is it possible that every generation of God’s Family on earth has been training to obey this very Commandment?
(Exodus 33:14). Is the God of our Fathers in the Blessed Assurance business? Read with me what He told Moses:
14 And he said, My presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee
rest.
“And I will give thee rest.” Does “I will give thee rest” remind us of the Scripture in Hebrews? (Hebrews 3:5-6).
5 And Moses verily was faithful in
all his house, as a servant, for a testi-
mony of those things which were to
be spoken after;
Are “those things which were to be spoken after” being “spoken after” in Hebrews?
6 But Christ as a son over his own
house; whose house are we, if we
hold fast the confidence and the re-
joicing of the hope firm unto the end.
“If” … Such a tiny two-letter diphthong! Especially for such heavy sets of consequences that follow! “If we hold fast the confidence.” “If we hold fast ... the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” How well did our ancestors do in the Wilderness? Did almost an entire generation fail to enter the Promised Land? Will there be a 2nd Exodus at the end of the Age? [Revelation 12] If that comes upon us, how well will our generation do? Will we sin after the manner of our ancestors? Will we sheep give Stupid a new name? Will we fight the very thing that tries to save us?
(Hebrews 3:7-11). Would it help us prepare for the 2nd Exodus by studying the errors of our ancestors in the 1st Exodus?
p 7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost
saith,) Today if ye will hear his
voice,
c 8 Harden not your hearts, as in
the provocation, in the day of temp-
tation in the wilderness:
p 9 When your fathers tempted me,
proved me, and saw my works forty
years.
c 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that
generation, and said, They do always
err in their heart; and they have not
known my ways.
p 11. So I sware in my wrath, They shall
not enter into my rest.
“They shall not enter into my rest.” Almost an entire generation did not enter into His rest. Their carcasses dropped in the Wilderness.
(Verses 12-18). Shall we continue the Responsive Reading? Classmates, you have verse 12:
c 12 Take heed brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief
in departing from the living God.
p 13 But exhort one another daily,
while it is called To day; lest any of
you be hardened through the deceit-
fulness of sin.
c 14 For we are made partakers of
Christ, if we hold the beginning of
our confidence stedfast unto the end;
p 15 While it is said, Today if ye will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation.
c 16 For some, when they had heard,
did provoke: howbeit not all that
came out of Egypt by Moses.
p 17 But with whom was he grieved
forty years? was it not with them
that had sinned, whose carcases fell
in the wilderness?
c 18 And to whom sware he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to
them that believed not?
“Whose carcases fell in the wilderness”? “To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest”? “To them that believed not”? Did even Moses fail to enter the Promised Land? Did only Caleb and Joshua, the faithful spies, from that generation of our ancestors, enter into the Promised Land? (Verse 19). What did they do that they counted themselves unworthy of God’s Promised Rest?
19 So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews chapter three.
What about us, their literal descendants, today? (Hebrews 4:1). Does that Promise of entering into His Rest apply to us?
Let us therefore fear, lest a promise
being left us of entering into his rest,
any of you should seem to come short
of it.
How does this Promise made to them constitute a promise made to us? The next verse begins with the word “for”. The word “for” indicates that what follows is an explanation of why this is true.
c 2 For unto us was the gospel preach-
ed, as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Was the Gospel preached unto the Hebrews in the Wilderness, just like the Gospel has been preached unto us? Or, are we in unbelief (!) concerning the plain Scripture of Hebrews 4:2? Does Paul press the point in verse 3?
3 For we which have believed do
enter into rest, as he said, As I have
sworn in my wrath, if they shall en-
ter into my rest: although the works
were finished from the foundation of
the world.
Can we enter into this rest? Is the only thing blocking us from “entering into His rest” our unbelief? Did God have problems in Egypt with that generation he led into the Wilderness ? (Ezekiel 20:5-10). Shall we look at the end time Prophet Ezekiel’s report of their behavior in Egypt?
p 5 And say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord GOD: In the day when I
chose Israel, and lifted up my hand
unto the seed of the house of Jacob,
and made myself known unto them
in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up
mine hand unto them, saying, I am
the LORD your God;
c 6 In the day that I lifted up mine
hand unto them, to bring them forth
of the land of Egypt into a land that
I had espied for them, flowing with
milk and honey, which is the glory
of all lands:
p 7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye
away every man the abominations of
his eyes, and defile not yourselves
with the idols of Egypt: I am the
LORD your God.
c 8 But they rebelled against me, and
would not hearken unto me: they
did not every man cast away the abo-
minations of their eyes, neither did
they forsake the idols of Egypt: then
I said, I will pour out my fury upon
them, to accomplish my anger against
them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
“In the midst of the land of Egypt.” This is not a good report of our ancestors in Egypt! Did every man have Egyptian abominations before their eyes?! Did they worship the Idols of Egypt?! Did our LORD pour out his fury upon them? Did the LORD our God accomplish his anger against them “in the midst of the land of Egypt”? Was there anything that could prevent Israel’s God from making them an Indelible Lesson before all the known world?
p 9 But I wrought for my name’s sake
that it should not be polluted before
the heathen, among whom they were,
in whose sight I made myself known
unto them, in bringing them forth
out of the land of Egypt.
c 10 Wherefore I caused them to go
forth out of the land of Egypt, and
brought them into the wilderness.
Ezekiel chapter twenty.
Is it true God spared our ancestors in Egypt from His Wrath? Ten times God severed the land of Goshen from all Egypt in the plagues when he judged all the gods of Egypt! Nothing of the flocks and herds and first-born sons of Israel died! Ten Times God put a separation between the Egyptians and his people Israel! Ten Times God made the Egyptians know how that the LORD did “put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”. [Exodus 11:7]
Are we like them? Are we like them that believed not? Did The God of our Fathers preach that we their descendants should also be separate?
(Back to Exodus 33:15-16). Earlier in this Lesson we read, (Verse 14), that The God of our Fathers made promise to Moses, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Moses took this opportunity with God’s Promise to them and to us, to secure a full understanding from Him “with Whom we have to do” [Hebrews 4:13]:
p 15 And he said unto him, If thy pre-
sence go not with me, carry us not up
hence.
c 16 For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found
grace in thy sight? Is it not in that
thou goest with us? So shall we be
separated, I and thy people from all
the people that are on the face of the
earth.
What was Moses understanding of cause and effect? According to Moses what caused “we” to “be separated, I and thy people from all the people that are on the face of the earth”? How does Israel know that She has found Grace in His sight? What did Moses ask?
“Is it not in that thou goest with us?” Does God today go with American Israel? Is it because we do not seek to be separate? Do we worship the gods of the strangers among us? Do we refuse to cast away the abominations before our eyes? Are we like them? Are we like them that believed not? Or are we like Caleb and Joshua? Were Joshua and Caleb the only two that crossed the Jordan and entered into the Promised Land from the generation whose carcasses dropped in the Wilderness?
What did God say in response to Moses’ Question? (Verse 17).
17 And the LORD said unto Moses,
I will do this thing also that thou
hast spoken: for thou hast found
grace in my sight, and I know thee
by name.
Exodus chapter thirty-three.
“I know thee by name”. What did God mean by that? It was in our Lesson, Eternal. If a name be blotted out of The Book of Life will Jesus say I never did get to know you? Did Moses offer himself in Atonement for The Golden Calf Sin? “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin---; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” [Exodus 32:32]
“I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken.” Did our God answer what Moses said in Verse 16? “In that thou goest with us” … it shall “be known … I and thy people have found grace in thy sight … so shall we be separated from all the people that are on the face of the earth.” Does God go with American Israel?
Are we like them? Are we like them that believed not? Or, are we like Caleb and Joshua? Is there a way to tell what we will do? What will you and I do? Do we know? (Psalm the 4th: verse 3). Is there a way to tell what we will do, from what we are doing now?
3 But know that the LORD hath set
apart him that is godly for himself:
the LORD will hear when I call unto
him.
Psalms chapter four.
“The LORD hath set apart him that is godly.” Does that sound like we get a lot of help to be separatists? The translation, “hath set apart” is from H6395 palah, paw-law’; a primitive root, to distinguish (literally or figuratively) :- put a difference, show marvelous, separate, set apart, sever, make wonderfully. (Psalms 139 verse 14). The same Hebrew verb, H6395 palah, paw-law’ appears in Psalms 139:14:
14 I will praise thee; for I am fear-
fully and wonderfully made: mar-
vellous are thy works; and that my
soul knoweth right well.
Psalms chapter one hundred thirty-nine.
“Wonderfully” translates H6395 palah, paw-law’:- separate, make wonderfully. This is the same Hebrew verb translated “separated” in Exodus 33:16: “So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.”
Is there a way to tell what we will do? Can we know what we will do to come out of Mystery Babylon? (Leviticus 20:24-26). Can we know what we will do, from what we are doing now?!
p 24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall
inherit their land, and I will give it
unto you to possess it, a land that
floweth with milk and honey: I am
the LORD your God which have
separated you from other people.
c 25 Ye shall put difference between
clean beasts and unclean: and be-
tween unclean fowls and clean: and
ye shall not make your souls abomi-
nable by beast, or by fowl, or by any
manner of living thing that creepeth
on the ground, which I have separa-
ted from you as unclean.
p 26 And ye shall be holy unto me:
for I the LORD am holy, and have
severed you from other people, that
ye shall be mine.
Leviticus chapter twenty.
“Ye shall be mine.” If we are obeying God’s commandment to eat only clean meats, are we being Holy unto Him “with Whom we have to do”? Are we being the separated, severed People of God being Holy unto Him? Are we rehearsing to “Come out of her my people”? In being “separate”, is God already training us to depart from Mystery Babylon?
(Matthew 28:18). These verses we know as The Great Commission.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given un-
to me in heaven and in earth.
“All power.” Did Lucifer lose big at the cross?! What therefore does Jesus want his Family to do?
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost.
“All nations” of Adamkind in Israel. Open Book Quiz: What is the neglected part of The Great Commission? “Teach” what?!
20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have command-
ed you: and, lo, I am with you al-
way, even unto the end of the world.
Amen.
Matthew chapter twenty-eight.
If American Israel had been teaching “all things whatsoever I have commanded you” would Jesus still go with us? Would teaching “all things whatsoever I have commanded you” put a big difference between us and Mystery Babylon? Did God already rescue our Ancestors from Babylon?!
Bibliography
2 Corinthians 6:14-18. “Come out from among them.”
Revelation 18:2-4. “Come out of her my people.”
Jeremiah 29:10-13. “to give you an expected end.”
Daniel 9:2. “70 years”.
Revelation 18:4. “Come out of her my people.”
Exodus 33:14. “My presence shall go with thee.”
Hebrews 3:5-6. “whose house are we”.
Hebrews 3:7-11. “They shall not enter into my rest”.
Hebrews 3:12-18. “them that believe not”.
Hebrews 3:19. “Unbelief”.
Hebrews 4:1-3. believers “do enter into rest”.
Ezekiel 20:5-10. Bad report on Israel in Egypt.
Exodus 33:15-17. “so shall we be separated”.
Psalms the 4th, verse 3. “set apart”.
Psalms the 139th, verse 14. “[separately] made”.
Leviticus 20:24-26. “ye shall be mine”.
Matthew 28:18-20. “whatsoever I have commanded you”.