God has given us our tribes — whether our borders are countries, states, counties, cities, traditions, languages, ethnicities, race, gender (yes, only two), or even the season of life we’re in right now. There are countless ways we differ, countless things that pull us toward one group and away from another. He made us unique. 

BUT GOD

Just like He gave certain locations to the 12 tribes, He gave them one name: My people. He gave them one place to gather: the temple. He gave them Himself: their God.

He gave them exactly what Jesus prayed for in John 17.20-23 - 

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (ESV).

Even in Ezekiel (which I keep typing with an “x” for some reason) the heartache is enormous as he is experiencing all these visions and acts, not living out his calling of priest because he’s a Babylonian captive, and as he walks us through the departing of God from the temple. Trust me, read Ezekiel 10 slowly and carefully. Some of the most powerful writing of the Bible!

BUT GOD

He’s such a good father that hope is never far off. Here is what He promises in Ezekial 36.28, “You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (ESV).

God had separated them by tribe, then two kingdoms, then through exile—but His plan was always to bring them back together as one people under Himself.

Now, I’m reading Amos. I’m only as far as the first two verses, but there is a lot of context about the place and time of Amos. Amos is part of the divided kingdom, Israel and Judah. He is living in Judah and is used by God to warn those in Israel. Yes, there are many surrounding enemies, but there’s also so much fighting within God’s people! They purposely hurt each other through many different ways. God has called them His people since Abraham. Yet, here they are, separated by tribe and two kingdoms, and now instead of uniting under Him, under the name He gave them, they’re fighting among themselves.

My husband said that we don’t need non-believers to tear the church apart. We’ll do it to ourselves.

BUT GOD

Praise God for Jesus because if we stayed in the Old Testament our hope may barely be the way it was when the people cried out for His death.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him” (Eph. 1.7-10, ESV).

Like the Hebrews, God gives us Himself—through Jesus. He gives us a name: Christian. And He gives us a place: the church. Praise God!

We live out all the differences through so many areas of life almost every minute of every day. Then there’s Sunday. We come together to read, listen, and learn from the same Bible (and this is me assuming you’re going to a Christian Bible teaching church). We come together to worship the same God. The One who brought us all together. The One who ransomed us, not according to anything about us - sameness or differences - but because we were obedient to the one call to the One. 

So, is this a reminder to make church a priority? 

Yes.

Also, it’s a reminder to read your Bible. Daily. Make it a habit to want to know God more and more every single day of your life. Know who He is, what He has done, and what He is going to do.