It was on this day in 1947 that the UN voted to partition Palestine creating what was then called Trans-Jordan and what would become the modern state of Israel. The very next day, Arab terrorist campaigns were released against Jewish inhabitants living in the land. Nevertheless, this division led to a series of events that brought about the modern state of Israel.
Division is a word that, to believers, typically carries a negative connotation. No doubt, in many cases, division is a negative element within the body especially when we divide over theology and customs. Unfortunately we sometimes make enemies of those who should be our brethren. However, please consider that there is another side to division – one that has a positive connotation. Sometimes division is necessary in order that life might occur.
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.” (Genesis 1:3-5)
From the beginning we see that it is sometimes necessary for division to occur so life can be possible. In the creation account, God divided the light from the darkness. On the second day, He divided the waters above from the waters below. On the third day, He divided the seas from the dry land, and so on. Sometimes, there has to be division that God’s purposes might take place.
Every human being started as a single cell in their mother’s womb. But for a body to be formed, that single cell had to divide and become two; two had to become four and so on. Without that division, there would not have been a body to emerge from the womb. In the life of God’s people, there has been and, sometimes necessarily must be, division. Even when, in some cases, it has been viewed as negative it, nevertheless, ends up serving His purpose. For example, after Solomon’s death, the kingdom of Israel was divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. When this separation occurred, a civil war almost broke out and would have had God not sent a prophet to the King of Judah.
But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, Thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.’”
This division orchestrated by God was apparently necessary that His purposes for Israel, then and later, to come to pass. Multiple prophecies refer to this division and also the restoration God has promised to occur at the end of days. The point is division is sometimes necessary, as it was after Solomon’s death and as it was in 1947 with the petition of the land of Palestine, for life as He intends it to thrive. Consequently, there are times when division comes from Him.
How can we know if its coming from Him? When it occurs we may not be able to tell for certain. But we do know for certain that when it does come from Him, it will lead to life. No doubt, Abraham was distraught over the fact that he was required to leave his country, his family, his father’s house and everything he was familiar with. Later, he had to separate from Lot and, later still, from Ishmael. Yet we can see that this division was necessary that there might be a people, a nation of faith, called Israel.
We shouldn’t go around looking for things to divide over, but when it comes our way, is completely unexpected and totally out of our hands, maybe we should consider that it might be coming from Him. Division in our lives is sometimes intended to serve His purposes in our life.
Shalom.
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