People God Tells Us To Stay Away From
There is something in the heart of God that loves nearness. From the beginning He moves toward. He walks in the garden in the cool of the day. He speaks before He judges. He covenants before He commands. He tabernacles in the middle of the camp. He becomes flesh and dwells among us. He breathes His own Spirit into human dust. The entire story of Scripture is a story of approach. So when we speak about the people God tells us to stay away from, we must begin there, because if we do not anchor this in His nearness, separation will sound like rejection instead of protection. In the opening chapter of Scripture, before there is sin, before there is rebellion, before there is even a human voice raised in defiance, we see God separating. In Genesis 1:4 it says, “God separated the light from the darkness.” That act is not moral yet. It is structural. It is not punishment. It is order. Creation itself breathes because boundar...