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1 Corinthians 1 10-1 Corinthians 1 13
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you.Now I mean this, that each of you is saying,“ I am with Paul,” or“ I am with Apollos,” or“ I am with Cephas,” or“ I am with Christ.”Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?
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Ephesians 4:3-6
making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling,one Lord, one faith, one baptism,one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
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Zechariah 11:14
Then I cut the second staff“ Binders” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
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2 Samuel 20 6
Then David said to Abishai,“ Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure fortified cities for himself and get away from us.”
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Judges 12:1-6
The Ephraimites assembled and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah,“ Why did you go and fight with the Ammonites without asking us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!”Jephthah said to them,“ My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power.When I saw that you were not going to help, I risked my life and advanced against the Ammonites, and the LORD handed them over to me. Why have you come up to fight with me today?”Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and they fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because the Ephraimites insulted them, saying,“ You Gileadites are refugees in Ephraim, living within Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s territory.”The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Ephraim. Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive said,“ Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him,“ Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said,“ No,”then they said to him,“ Say‘ Shibboleth!’” If he said,“ Sibboleth”( and could not pronounce the word correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.
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John 17:21
that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.
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1 Kings 12 16-1 Kings 12 20
When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king,“ We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse! Return to your homes, O Israel! Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!” So Israel returned to their homes.( Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.)King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day.When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one except the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty.
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2 Samuel 20 1
Now a wicked man named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He blew the trumpet and said,“ We have no share in David; we have no inheritance in this son of Jesse! Every man go home, O Israel!”
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Judges 9:23-57
God sent a spirit to stir up hostility between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal to Abimelech.He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them.The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting bandits in the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it.Gaal son of Ebed came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him.They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, squeezed out the juice, and celebrated. They came to the temple of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.Gaal son of Ebed said,“ Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and is not Zebul the deputy he appointed? Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech?If only these men were under my command, I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech,“ Muster your army and come out for battle!”When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious.He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, reporting,“ Beware! Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you.Now, come up at night with your men and set an ambush in the field outside the city.In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.”So Abimelech and all his men came up at night and set an ambush outside Shechem– they divided into four units.When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places.Gaal saw the men and said to Zebul,“ Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him,“ You are seeing the shadows on the hills– it just looks like men.”Gaal again said,“ Look, men are coming down from the very center of the land. A unit is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.”Zebul said to him,“ Where now are your bragging words,‘ Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men you insulted? Go out now and fight them!”So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out and fought Abimelech.Abimelech chased him, and Gaal ran from him. Many Shechemites fell wounded at the entrance of the gate.Abimelech went back to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.The next day the Shechemites came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it,he took his men and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he attacked and struck them down.Abimelech and his units attacked and blocked the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down.Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled the city and spread salt over it.When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard the news, they went to the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith.Abimelech heard that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were in one place.He and all his men went up on Mount Zalmon. He took an ax in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it on his shoulder and said to his men,“ Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!”So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the stronghold and set fire to it. All the people of the Tower of Shechem died– about a thousand men and women.Abimelech moved on to Thebez; he besieged and captured it.There was a fortified tower in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower.Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire,a woman threw an upper millstone down on his head and shattered his skull.He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons,“ Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say,‘ A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died.When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half-brothers.God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell on them.
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Isaiah 19:2-3
“ I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, brothers will fight with each other, as will neighbors, cities, and kingdoms.The Egyptians will panic, and I will confuse their strategy. They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.
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Ezekiel 37:22
I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms.
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Isaiah 9:20-21
They devoured on the right, but were still hungry, they ate on the left, but were not satisfied. People even ate the flesh of their own arm!Manasseh fought against Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh; together they fought against Judah. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.
