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1 Corinthians 1 10-1 Corinthians 1 13
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters.Some of you are saying,“ I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying,“ I follow Apollos,” or“ I follow Peter,” or“ I follow only Christ.”Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!
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Ephesians 4:3-6
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
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Zechariah 11:14
Then I took my other staff, Union, and cut it in two, showing that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken.
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2 Samuel 20 6
Then David said to Abishai,“ Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my troops and chase after him before he gets into a fortified town where we can’t reach him.”
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Judges 12:1-6
Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah:“ Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!”Jephthah replied,“ I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon.So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?”The people of Ephraim responded,“ You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them.Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him.“ Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they would ask. If the man said,“ No, I’m not,”they would tell him to say“ Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say“ Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.
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John 17:21
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one— as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
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1 Kings 12 16-1 Kings 12 20
When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded,“ Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!” So the people of Israel returned home.But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, to restore order, but the people of Israel stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.And to this day the northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David.When the people of Israel learned of Jeroboam’s return from Egypt, they called an assembly and made him king over all Israel. So only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the family of David.
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2 Samuel 20 1
There happened to be a troublemaker there named Sheba son of Bicri, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. Sheba blew a ram’s horn and began to chant:“ Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Come on, you men of Israel, back to your homes!”
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Judges 9:23-57
God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers.The citizens of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech on the hilltops and robbed everyone who passed that way. But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.One day Gaal son of Ebed moved to Shechem with his brothers and gained the confidence of the leading citizens of Shechem.During the annual harvest festival at Shechem, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely, and everyone began cursing Abimelech.“ Who is Abimelech?” Gaal shouted.“ He’s not a true son of Shechem, so why should we be his servants? He’s merely the son of Gideon, and this Zebul is merely his deputy. Serve the true sons of Hamor, the founder of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?If I were in charge here, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him,‘ Get some soldiers, and come out and fight!’”But when Zebul, the leader of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious.He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah, telling him,“ Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you.Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields.In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, attack the city. When Gaal and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish.”So Abimelech and all his men went by night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem.Gaal was standing at the city gates when Abimelech and his army came out of hiding.When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul,“ Look, there are people coming down from the hilltops!” Zebul replied,“ It’s just the shadows on the hills that look like men.”But again Gaal said,“ No, people are coming down from the hills. And another group is coming down the road past the Diviners’ Oak.”Then Zebul turned on him and asked,“ Now where is that big mouth of yours? Wasn’t it you that said,‘ Who is Abimelech, and why should we be his servants?’ The men you mocked are right outside the city! Go out and fight them!”So Gaal led the leading citizens of Shechem into battle against Abimelech.But Abimelech chased him, and many of Shechem’s men were wounded and fell along the road as they retreated to the city gate.Abimelech returned to Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech heard about it,he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them.Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in the fields.The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.When the leading citizens who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal berith.Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered in the temple,so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some branches from a tree, then put them on his shoulder.“ Quick, do as I have done!” he told his men.So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech’s example. They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died— about 1,000 men and women.Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it.But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women— the entire population— fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower.Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance,a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.He quickly said to his young armor bearer,“ Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died.When Abimelech’s men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers.God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.
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Isaiah 19:2-3
“ I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian— brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, province against province.The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.
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Ezekiel 37:22
I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.
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Isaiah 9:20-21
They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, Ephraim will feed on Manasseh, and both will devour Judah. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.
