DISUNITY EXPOSED

Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: (17) A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (18) An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, (19) A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

The wise king now lists the things that God hates. Today we are appalled by random murder, sexual perversions and generally ungodly lifestyles. Most of us are not guilty of these things, but what we find on this list is a litany of attitudes that we tolerate in our lives whether at home, in the work place or in Church. Let us now elaborate on each of them.

He that soweth discord among brethren: We need not to forget the poetical construction of the book of proverbs. The rhyming of Hebrew poetry is formed by a regular repetition of concepts viewed from different angles yet confirming each other. This concept of creating variance between people comes in as a refrain to the end of verse fourteen of this same chapter. It almost seems that this whole litany, this whole list informing us of God’s dislikes is to bring us to the climax of that refrain. This proverb also continues with an example of discord between through between brothers. It warns us of the dangers of adultery.

Whereas adultery is a very common way of bringing disunity, it is not the only one. A famous missionary, whose name escapes me at present said that the biggest issues that divide a missionary or a Church revolve around the handling of children and of money. I guess these are the closest things to our heart. Taking the issue to a higher level, we also see the Church, the body of Christ, divided into many doctrinal factions. I do not feel that it is necessarily abnormal as these sometimes represent the growth pains of maturation of the Church. What is sad is when we amplify what separates us instead of what unites us.

This issue also deserves to be taken to the ultimate level of everything written in this Holy Book we call the Bible: the messianic level. Ultimately, everything is about the Messiah. Jesus Himself said that when we accept Him in our lives, it would provoke divisions within the very core of our social structure. But is He the one who created this division? The Messiah’s role is to bring restoration to our world, which means to bring things back to the way they were and ought to be. If bringing back things the way they should be provokes variance between people, Jesus must not be the one at the source of thsi variance. Rather, this division was created by those who are responsible for taking us away from the original plan of God, and no matter whom or what he used, the devil is ultimately responsible for this state of affairs.
Going full circle in this exposition, we also can see that the ultimate person responsible for brotherly divisions at all circles of life is the devil. Why should we indulge him with the pleasure of succeeding in his evil plan?