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1 Corinthians 1 10-1 Corinthians 1 13
Brothers and sisters, I make my appeal to you. I do this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask that all of you agree with one another in what you say. I ask that you don’t take sides. I ask that you are in complete agreement in all that you think.My brothers and sisters, I have been told you are arguing with one another. Some people from Chloe’s house have told me this.Here is what I mean. One of you says,“ I follow Paul.” Another says,“ I follow Apollos.” Another says,“ I follow Peter.” And still another says,“ I follow Christ.”Does Christ take sides? Did Paul die on the cross for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
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Ephesians 4:3-6
The Holy Spirit makes you one in every way. So try your best to remain as one. Let peace keep you together.There is one body and one Spirit. You were appointed to one hope when you were chosen.There is one Lord, one faith and one baptism.There is one God and Father of all. He is over everything. He is through everything. He is in everything.
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Zechariah 11:14
Then I broke my second staff called Union. That broke the family connection between Judah and Israel.
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2 Samuel 20 6
David said to Abishai,“ Sheba, the son of Bikri, will do more harm to us than Absalom ever did. Take my men and go after him. If you don’t, he’ll find cities that have high walls around them. He’ll go into one of them and escape from us.”
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Judges 12:1-6
The troops of Ephraim were called out. The troops went across the Jordan River to Zaphon. When they arrived, they said to Jephthah,“ You went to fight against the Ammonites. Why didn’t you ask us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”Jephthah answered,“ I and my people were taking part in a great struggle. We were at war with the Ammonites. I asked you for help. But you didn’t come to save me from their power.I saw that you wouldn’t help. So I put my own life in danger. I went across the Jordan to fight against the Ammonites. The Lord helped me win the battle over them. So why have you come up today to fight against me?”Then Jephthah called the men of Gilead together. They fought against Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck them down. The people of Ephraim had said,“ You people of Gilead are nothing but deserters from Ephraim and Manasseh.”The men of Gilead captured the places where people go across the Jordan River to get to Ephraim. Some men of Ephraim weren’t killed in the battle. When they arrived at the river, they would say,“ Let us go across.” Then the men of Gilead would ask each one,“ Are you from Ephraim?” Suppose he replied,“ No.”Then they would say,“ All right. Say‘ Shibboleth.’ ” If he said“ Sibboleth,” the way he said the word would give him away. He couldn’t say it correctly. So they would grab him. Then they would kill him at one of the places where people go across the Jordan. At that time, 42,000 men of Ephraim were killed.
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John 17:21
Father, I pray they will be one, just as you are in me and I am in you. I want them also to be in us. Then the world will believe that you have sent me.
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1 Kings 12 16-1 Kings 12 20
All the Israelites saw that the king refused to listen to them. So they answered the king. They said,“ We don’t have any share in David’s royal family. We don’t have any share in Jesse’s son. People of Israel, let’s go back to our homes. David’s royal family, take care of your own kingdom!” So the Israelites went home.But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites living in the towns of Judah.Adoniram was in charge of those who were forced to work hard for King Rehoboam. The king sent him out among all the Israelites. But they killed Adoniram by throwing stones at him. King Rehoboam was able to get away in his chariot. He escaped to Jerusalem.Israel has refused to follow the royal family of David to this day.All the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned. They sent for him. They wanted him to meet with the whole community. Then they made him king over the entire nation of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained true to David’s royal family.
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2 Samuel 20 1
An evil man who always stirred up trouble happened to be in Gilgal. His name was Sheba, the son of Bikri. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew his trumpet. Then he shouted,“ We don’t have any share in David’s kingdom! Jesse’s son is not our king! Men of Israel, every one of you go back home!”
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Judges 9:23-57
Then God stirred up trouble between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem. So they turned against Abimelek. They decided not to follow him anymore.God made that happen because of what Abimelek had done to Jerub- Baal’s 70 sons. He had spilled their blood. God wanted to punish their brother Abimelek for doing that. He also wanted to punish the citizens of Shechem. They had helped Abimelek murder his brothers.The citizens of Shechem didn’t want Abimelek to be their ruler anymore. So they hid some men on top of the hills. They wanted them to attack and rob everyone who passed by. Abimelek was told about it.Gaal and his relatives moved into Shechem. Gaal was the son of Ebed. The citizens of Shechem put their trust in Gaal.The people of Shechem went out into the fields. They gathered the grapes. They pressed the juice out of them by stomping on them. Then they held a feast in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek.Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, said,“ Who is Abimelek? And who is Shechem? Why should we citizens of Shechem be under Abimelek’s rule? Isn’t he Jerub- Baal’s son? Isn’t Zebul his helper? It would be better to serve the family of Hamor. He was the father of Shechem. So why should we serve Abimelek?I wish these people were under my command. Then I would get rid of Abimelek. I would say to him,‘ Call out your whole army!’ ”Zebul was the governor of Shechem. He heard about what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said. So he was very angry.Zebul secretly sent messengers to Abimelek. They said,“ Gaal, the son of Ebed, has come to Shechem. His relatives have come with him. They are stirring up the city against you.So come with your men during the night. Hide in the fields and wait.In the morning at sunrise, attack the city. Gaal and his men will come out against you. Then take that opportunity to attack them.”So Abimelek and all his troops started out at night. They went into their hiding places near Shechem. Abimelek had separated them into four fighting groups.Gaal, the son of Ebed, had already gone out. He was standing at the entrance of the city gate. He had arrived there just as Abimelek and his troops came out of their hiding places.Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul,“ Look! People are coming down from the tops of the mountains!” Zebul replied,“ You are wrong. Those aren’t people. They are just the shadows of the mountains.”But Gaal spoke up again. He said,“ Look! People are coming down from the central hill. Another group is coming from the direction of the fortune tellers’ tree.”Then Zebul said to Gaal,“ Where is your big talk now? You said,‘ Who is Abimelek? Why should we be under his rule?’ Aren’t these the people you made fun of? Go out and fight against them!”So Gaal led the citizens out of Shechem. They fought against Abimelek.He chased Gaal from the field of battle. Abimelek chased them all the way to the entrance of the city gate. Many men were killed as they ran away.Abimelek stayed in Arumah. And Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem.The next day the people of Shechem went out to work in the fields. Abimelek was told about it.So he gathered his men together. He separated them into three fighting groups. Then he hid them in the fields and told them to wait. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he got up to attack them.Abimelek and the men with him ran forward. They placed themselves at the entrance of the city gate. Then the other two groups attacked the people in the fields. There they struck them down.Abimelek kept up his attack against the city all day long. He didn’t stop until he had captured it. Then he killed its people. He destroyed the city. He scattered salt on it to make sure that nothing would be able to grow there.The citizens in the tower of Shechem heard about what was happening. So they went to the safest place in the temple of the god named El- Berith.Abimelek heard that they had gathered together there.He and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He got an ax and cut off some branches. He carried them on his shoulders. He ordered the men with him to do the same thing.“ Quick!” he said.“ Do what you have seen me do!”So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the place where the people had gone for safety. Then they set the place on fire with the people still inside. There were about 1,000 men and women in the tower of Shechem. All of them died.Next, Abimelek went to Thebez. He surrounded it. Then he attacked it and captured it.But inside the city there was a strong tower. All the people in the city had run to it for safety. All the men and women had gone into it. They had locked themselves in. They had climbed up on the roof of the tower.Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. He approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire.But a woman dropped a large millstone on him. It broke his head open.He quickly called out to the man carrying his armor. He said,“ Pull out your sword and kill me. Then people can’t say,‘ A woman killed him.’ ” So his servant stuck his sword through him. And Abimelek died.When the Israelites saw he was dead, they went home.That’s how God punished Abimelek for the evil thing he had done to his father. He had murdered his 70 brothers.God also made the people of Shechem pay for all the evil things they had done. The curse of Jotham came down on them. He was the son of Jerub- Baal.
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Isaiah 19:2-3
The Lord says,“ I will stir up one Egyptian against another. Relatives will fight against relatives. Neighbors will fight against one another. Cities will fight against cities. Kingdoms will fight against one another.The people of Egypt will lose hope. I will keep them from doing what they plan to do. They will ask their gods for advice. They will turn to the spirits of dead people for help. They will go to people who get messages from those who have died. They will ask for advice from people who talk to the spirits of the dead.
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Ezekiel 37:22
There I will make them one nation. They will live on the mountains of Israel. All of them will have one king. They will never be two nations again. They will never again be separated into two kingdoms.
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Isaiah 9:20-21
People will eat up everything they can find on their right. But they’ll still be hungry. They will eat everything they can find on their left. But they won’t be satisfied. So they will eat the dead bodies of their children.That’s what Manasseh’s people will do to Ephraim. And that’s what Ephraim’s people will do to Manasseh. Together they will turn against Judah. Even then, the Lord is still angry. His hand is still raised against them.
