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Shaking Off Dust
by Carol Balizet
©2001Scriptures
Some Biblical references mention dust in context:
- Adam's creation:
"And the Lord God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7) - One type of the sons of Abraham is called "dust of the earth":
"And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered." (Genesis 13:16)
Also, Abraham's sons were likened to "sand of the sea" and "stars of the sky".
"... I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore..." (Genesis 22:17)
My personal belief is that these classifications align with the Arabs, the Jews and finally Christians. In addition, each individual believer - or son - has all three natures within himself: flesh, soul and spirit. - One of the Egyptian plagues was lice; and they were connected with dust:
"... Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt." (Exodus 8:17) - With ashes and sackcloth, dust is often associated with deep repentance, mourning and grief. There are so many references to this, I won't list any particular one.
- God says He will raise us out of the dust to set us among princes:
"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, [and] lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set [him] with princes, [even] with the princes of his people." (Psalms 113: 7,8) - Satan's curse in Genesis 3 is, in part, that he is relegated to the dust realm:
"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed... upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" (Genesis 3:14)
There are many others, but we have enough here to see that dust does not represent God's highest and best. It is always spoken of in an unfavorable way. It is our source - the material from which we are made - and the physical part of us will return to it, but during our lives it is a negative thing, to be avoided.
Dust related to separation
The Lord gave us a number of scriptures about "dust" in the context of separating from others. The following are four very similar but not identical passages on the subject.
- "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." (Matthew 10:14)
- "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them.Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city." (Mark 6:11)
- "And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust FROM your feet for a testimony against them." (Luke 9:5)
- "But they shook off the dust OF their feet against them, and came unto Iconium." (Acts 13:51)
It's customary for Christians to resist any breach with other Christians, and to view any separation among God's people as something He hates. It's almost always seen in the light of: "These six [things] doth the Lord hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him... he that soweth discord among brethren." (Proverbs 6:16)
We tend to forget that the Lord is author of many divisions. He said: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." (Matthew 10:34,35)
In many separations among God's people, He is the one doing the dividing. When the rich young ruler walked away from Jesus, Jesus let him go (see Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18). The differences between them were too great for a common walk, but of course not too great for love.
We consider it almost always to be a virtue to stay "in fellowship" with other Christians, and that is not always God's will. For example: “A man who is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” (Titus 3:10)
And in situations not quite so serious, we have been given Scriptural routes to attempt restoration. When we go with truth, in love, in the will of the Father, and we are not received, then we leave. We leave the people, and we get rid of the "dust" which clings to our feet.
What does He mean by the word dust?
Of course the concept of dust makes us think of Satan's realm; he crawls on his belly in dust; he eats dust. It also speaks of "the flesh", the part of the world which remains on us from our daily walk, our contact with this present society. It is associated with mourning, plagues, curses, dirt and the residue of carnality.
And it clings to us, specifically to our feet, as we are rejected, ousted, removed from fellowship. God tells us four different times to get rid of it. This should be as much a part of our reaction to rejection as is forgiveness. They reject us? We forgive. They cast us out, won't receive us? We get rid of the dust.
Here are a few of the things which might possibly make up the dust that clings. Of course, the specifics will vary with each person and each incident, but here are some possibilities.
- Soul ties, especially if there was a more or less formal union with the rejecting group, or if authority has been surrendered.
- Artifacts or gifts which have been exchanged. These are often benign and harbor no danger, but sometimes they can represent a risk. If we're the target of serious malice, we need to ask God about keeping anything given us by that rejecting group.
- Memories of shared experiences.
- A "common purse" as in Proverbs 1:11,14,15: "If they say, Come with us... Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse... My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path."
If we have supported the rejecting group, or if we have been supported by it, those financial ties need to be broken. The money over which we have been made stewards is one of the four things the Bible says we shall stand accountable for - along with our children, our words and the grace (and its duty) which God has given to us. We need to seek God about any misuse of it by supporting - or by failing to support - the source of our present "dust".
- Broken promises, or even more importantly, broken covenants. God required the Israelites to honor their agreement with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9, despite the Gibeonites' deceit; the dilemma lasted until the time of David; and the cost for righting this wrong in II Samuel 21 was heavy - seven sons of Saul died.
We must seek release from any obligations we have made and forgive others for what they have done - or failed to do. If this means we endure an injustice, so be it. The object is a clean, complete separation which will free both sides to go on with God, and which will align with what God has told us to do. And this may not necessarily mean justice is accomplished.
- Our reaction to rejection is usually (it is always humanly) to justify ourselves and assign blame to the rejecters. We need to guard against this kind of thing, because it keeps us bound to the ones who have rejected us. The route to freedom is to forgive freely, and to seek God for any sin we may have to repent.
The self-justifying, the replay over and over of the wrongs committed against us, is real serious dust. It clings to us in a blanket of pain and resentment, and keeps the wounds open.
- It's also common for rejected people - those who are constantly swimming upstream, offending and threatening folks and as a result being "not received" over and over - to harden their hearts. If we keep ourselves from caring about others, then it doesn't hurt so bad if they cast us out. But this is not aligned with the nature of Jesus - the most rejected being who ever walked this planet, and the least deserving of it - and we need to stay open and tender to others.
Not easy, but then who ever said it would be easy?
- Curses and judgments spoken by the rejecting group. We need to deal with any negative words spoken against us at the break-up, and any words which may continue. Two Scriptures which apply here are:
- "Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue..." (Proverbs 18:21)
- "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn." (Isaiah 54:17)
What they have said, and often what they continue to say, has the potential to empower an enemy against us, and we must deal with the creative power of the spoken word. - Deal with any offspring of this broken relationship. What has been produced between us and the rejecting group? Is there ministry? Are there babes in Christ who may be damaged by this break-up? Is there common property; are there common responsibilities? God has very high standards for our behavior, and His requirements don't diminish just because we're being treated unfairly.
It is absolutely essential for our eventual victory to be obedient to God in every single detail. Our obedience is vastly, infinitely, more important than any effort to receive justice.
- Wounds need to be healed. So many of us have been conditioned by the world to adopt its "coping mechanisms", but God's recommendations for healing are far superior.
We forgive any sin against us, repent of our own sins, and then admit to God that we are hurt. We have been insulted, offended, wounded, misunderstood, slandered, possibly betrayed, and all of this hurts!
And He has comfort for hurting children; He will not leave us comfortless; we have the Holy Spirit to comfort us.
The Beatitudes contain that remarkable statement: "Blessed are they that mourn..." He doesn't look on a cast out, rejected, despised child as pitiful and abused, or as mistreated and shameful, but as blessed! What a remarkable God we have!
The trick to receiving comfort is to keep the emotion of pain, and don't allow it to become anger. God doesn't comfort the angry; He comforts the mourner. It's so natural to become angry when we're mistreated, but that stops the flow of comfort.
- If we can keep the "list of offenses" out of it . . .
- If we can keep our thoughts away from a focus of what they did wrong . . .
- If we can just come to God and say, "I thought he was my friend and I really miss him" . . .
- then God is free to bless us.
And at the end, we are more like Him. And that's what it's all about.
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