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This semester we have been examining the roots of the fundamental problem of the human condition, namely, our sense of separation from our creator and sources of our being and our feeling of isolation from everyone around us. The idea of divisions into groups of insiders and outsiders is reinforced in many ways in the Old Testament, starting with God’s choice of Abraham to form a chosen nation, God’s exclusive defense of his special people in Egypt to bring them out of slavery, God’s support of Israel’s holy war against the inhabitants of Palestine, to God’s ultimate revenge on Israel’s enemies at the end of all time, the dreaded Day of the Lord. This paper is aimed at the analysis of each step in the process of the reinforcement of separation. The framework for the analysis is the following:

        - The Blessing and the Abrahamic Covenants
- The Testing of Abraham
- Jacob and the Blessing
- The Call of Moses and the Ten Plagues
- Passover
- Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments
- Golden Calf
- Day of Atonement
- Incentive for following the law
- Purging Evil
- Herem and Holy War
- Day of the Lord
 

The Reinforcement of Separation

Apparently the problem of separation is the primary one in the books of the Old Testament. The same can be said about our everyday life. People face this problem almost everywhere – at work while handling different proceedings or at home while handling family relations. This problem is ultimately multinational and there are many nations that claim themselves to the only chosen. As a result we kill each other, we hate each other and we do not try to understand each other. This paper is focused on the reinforcement of separation in the Old Testament and supported by comprehensive quotes from Bible.  The analysis will be concerned with slicing of people into ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’, and the role of fear and sacrifice in the concerned process within the established stepwise framework.

The first step in the process of separation reinforcement is the Blessing and the Abrahamic Covenants. In this story the Lord clearly and deliberately identifies Abram and his people as ‘chosen’. He says: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you … whoever curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:2, 12:3). The Lord provides certain privileges for Abram and his people by marking them as a ‘great nation’, giving them many fruitful lands “The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8) and establishing his protection over them. No other nation can curse them and the same is implied about any hostility towards the ‘chosen’ people. But all the above was given in exchange for Abram’s loyalty, fear of God and sacrifice. The role of sacrifice should be highlighted – Abram builds an altar everywhere he meets the God, everywhere the Lord makes him stay for some time. For instance, “So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7), “There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD” (Genesis 12:8), “So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD” (Genesis 13:18) and so on. All these altars emphasize that God loves and encourages sacrifice. Sometimes God directly requests a sacrifice – “So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon” (Genesis 15:9). Well, I have noticed the Lord has a good taste. It is also important that Abram carries out all the things God commands him – even if they are strange or questionable as in the case when God promises Abram to have multiple descendants even though Abram is almost hundred year old – “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers” (Genesis 17:1-2). Abram blindly believes to every word of the Lord and executes his every command without doubt not only because of loyalty to the Lord but also because of fear of the God Almighty. For this reason God credits him as a righteous one and makes his people ‘chosen’. The fear of God is important feature and a requirement to be righteous. The Lord does not loose any opportunity to remind Abram and his people about the role of the God Almighty in their destiny simply by creating some obstacles and troubles in their lives. Like “Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13). These words clearly indicate that the ‘chosen’ nation has a destiny which determination is an absolute prerogative of the God. Hence it is no wonder that people are afraid of him.

The next step is the Testing of Abraham. This story has a clear logic – ‘the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away’. The son of Abraham was given by the Lord and there should be no doubt that the Lord reserved the right to take him back on the first need. Indeed the God did not want Abraham to sacrifice his son. He only wanted to make sure Abraham is still afraid of him and is loyal to him – “… Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12). Later God separates the nation of Abraham again: “I will surely bless you… Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:17, Genesis 22:18). Personally I’m not sure that such a separation is fair because it simply makes ‘outsiders’ having no future by default. Just because they are not ‘chosen’. Even though the concept of fairness is a very comparative one – something is fair to one person will surely be unfair for another person.

The next step that will be concerned is Jacob and the Blessing. Genesis 22 perfectly illustrates the reinforcement of separation. The Lord said to Rebekah when she was pregnant: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 22:23). So these boys were unborn yet, but already separated. Moreover, the separation stipulated unequal strength and subjection. It stipulated the struggle for the birthright and outrageous lie, Jacob considered the end justifies the means, probably. Finally, Jacob snatched out the blessing of his father Isaac, the blessing of God. He snatched out the blessing along with God’s favor, protection and gifts. So Jacob became an ‘insider’ deceitfully while Esau became an ‘outsider’ and lost everything. When someone gains something – somebody looses just the same. This is an informal law of economy – isn’t it derived from Biblical texts? Probably, yes.

But this step is also concerned with fear of God and sacrifice. “Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac… He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal” (Genesis 31:53, 31:53). Here fear of Isaac is associated with the fear of God because the Lord promised to bless everyone who is blessed by Isaac.

The next step is the Call of Moses, and the Ten Plagues. This story is vivid sample illustrating the importance of fear of the God Almighty. From the very beginning God chooses weak, diffident and imperceptible man, Moses, and empowers him to be as mighty as God before the king of Egypt. This choice is not casual, probably. The Lord wanted to show his power, to let people know what he is capable for so they will be afraid of him. The Lord had shown that their destinies are in his arms by hardening the Pharaoh’s heart and sending ten plagues on his people because they oppressed the ‘chosen’ nation. By the way Israelites did not suffer from any of the plagues sent onto Egyptians. Probably, the Pharaoh would be glad to let the Israelites go away and forget about them even after the third plague, but the God hardened his heart and exposed Egyptians to plagues. It is a confirmation of separation – obviously Egyptians belonged to the ‘outsiders’. In this story God insists that Israelites have to worship and sacrifice him in the desert “Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God” (Exodus 3:18) before they can leave Egypt and go to the land of Canaan. The fear of Lord is also highlighted. Moses is afraid of God: “Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6), the Lord wants Israelites to be afraid of him: “Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD” (Exodus 6:7, 6:8). Te God wants everybody to be afraid of him ultimately: “this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16).

The next step that will be analyzed is concerned with the Passover. All the Israelites were to sacrifice some lamb and mark their houses with their blood so as to not be exposed to the plague of the firstborn. Here God requests Israelites the following: “you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons” (Exodus 13:11-13). Thus God emphasized the role of sacrifice.

The next step is related with the Ten Commandments. Here the Lord decided that it is enough to scare Israelites because they had already become afraid of him and explained them how are they separate from other nations: “out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5, 19:6). He also explained them the role of fear: “the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning” (Exodus 20:20).

Further step is the Golden Calf story. There people made a gold idol for themselves and the Lord was angry because they did not follow his commandments. Hence they forget their fear before him and deserved a punishment. It looks like the policy of threats and bribery – so as to make people obey God has to keep them fearing, so as to show them they are separate from others God has to provide miracles and encourage them sacrificing. “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day” (Exodus 32:29) – this is a bribe and here is the threat – “And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made” (Exodus 32:25).

The next step is concerned with the Day of Atonement. Here God explained how to make sacrifices and worship: “with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering” (Leviticus 16:3). It is like the situation when students are late for the lecture and the tutor says he will not admit them into the class until they will not give him a candy. Doesn’t it look familiar? So sacrifice is like a gesture of footsie. This story can be named the Goat of Atonement or Scapegoat  which is a peculiar payment for human sins. Atonement implies the Lord will forgive the ‘chosen’ people.

Further step is Incentives for following the law. God clearly states which measures he will use to encourage Israelites following his commandments. There are ‘threats’ and there are ‘bribes’ also. God promises people prospering life and death to their enemies, but God also promises terrible and severe punishments for disobedience: “I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life” (Leviticus 26:14). The separation of Israelites is highlighted: “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today” (Deuteronomy 4:6-8) but their obedience is required in exchange for this. God also proclaims his commandments to Israelites but they are concerned only of ‘insiders’. They do not imply not killing ‘outsiders’ (non Israelites) or stealing from them. The Lord only regulates the order within ‘chosen’ nation; all other nations are not counted.

The next step or story is Purging Evil. There are many commandments of God related to evil. The Lord insists on immediate murdering of all people that spread evil or induce people to disobedience: “do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death” (Deuteronomy 13:8-9). I have an impression that all problems can be solved easy and in a single step just by murdering. The logic is the same of autocracy (for instance, Stalin’s well-known aphorism: “There is no man – there is no problem”). This step depicts cruelty which is not peculiar to God because his nature is not cruel at all.

Another important step is concerned with Herem or the Holy War. The Lord’s position and relation to ‘outsiders’ is simple but effective: “you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.  Do not intermarry with them” (Deuteronomy 7:2-3). Such measures will surely make all other nations fear the Lord of Israel and emphasize they are separate from all others. Another illustration of separation reinforcement: “The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you” (Deuteronomy 7:15). Thus ‘outsiders’ have no chance, they have no future because under the ‘fear promotion program’ God has commanded to destroy (Herem) all those who are not belong to ‘chosen’.

The last step that will be concerned in this paper is the Day of the Lord. This title implies there will be a day when the Lord will interfere in the lives of ‘chosen’ people again and everyone will be rewarded according to his deserts. This day is designed to keep people in fear of God, just to keep them tighten constantly. Otherwise they can be punished. So people should always expect this day and consider it in all their actions: “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near” (Joel 2:1) because this is the day of final judgment.

Finally I would like to draw a conclusion regarding all the above issues of separation reinforcement process, fear of God and sacrifice; about their consequences and their projection on the modern world.

Separation in Bible is a very important issue and the Old Testament’s main idea. Surely all we are separate. We are separate from God, we are separate from each other and I can not even imagine the opposite situation. But this separation is stipulated by mentality, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, many other things. The separation must not cause problems of mutual understanding between different nations. There must no be any ‘chosen’ nation. All we are equal in the eyes of God. He loves all of us and shares his love to everybody – Muslims and Christians, Buddhists and representatives of any other religion. The problems occur when some people deliberately misinterpret religious concepts or Biblical writings. Some people read and understand Bible literally. Then they take a knife (a gun or a bomb) and kill others. Some people read and understand Bible with a deep insight. Such people elicit only moral concepts and lessons from it. I think that all people are indeed separate and different. We differ by the skin color, language, literacy etc. But none of these differences make one better than the other. For me Bible is the book of knowledge first of all. I believe anyone can find something new and interesting in it. So as to elude misinterpretations of Bible (or any other religious writings) the world community should increase the number of educational programs and help people identify what is good and what is bad.

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