Numbers 22:55-56 – “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living.  ⁵⁶ And what I intended to do to them I will do to you.’”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the thought of “co-existence” kept tugging at my heart.  As believers in God, followers of Jesus, and adherents of the Bible, we struggle with “co-existence.” That struggle is often because we interpret “God is LOVE” to mean tolerance of sin.  God IS love, and He is also Holy and Just. 

A warning of trying to be “tolerant” of wickedness is found in Numbers 33:55-56.  God told Israel to destroy the inhabitants of Canaan.  There are many reasons, including the hybridization of the race, which dates back to the cohabitation of angels with humans.  The worship of Baal, Molech, Ishtar, and the many demon gods would pollute the seed line through which redemption would come.

There is more, but time and space prohibit me from an in-depth discussion.  But the warning that transcends eras is clear.  The warning pertains to “co-existence.”   You can’t have a non-aggression pact with the devil.  We are to be holy because God is holy.  We are to seek purity of heart.  Trying to “co-exist” with wickedness creates a condition that either permeates us with the sin or becomes, as the verses declare, “splinters in our eyes, and spears in our sides, and will trouble us in the land.”

Gross wickedness that believers try to “co-exist” with becomes negative leaven in us and society.  We must love the sinners, but we must separate ourselves from the wickedness.  We cannot ignore the evil and sit in silence, allowing the followers of evil to remain comfortable in their condition.

If we love people with the love of God, we will warn them and point them to Jesus.  We do that with humility, gentleness, compassion, and overflowing love.  Our desire is restoration, not condemnation.  As Christians, we are different.  Ignoring evil does not make it less evil or less destructive.  It emboldens it.

John 3:17-18 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved.  He who believes in Him will not be condemned; but he who does not believe has already been condemned for not believing in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.”  

John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; and he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall remain on him.”

If we love God and love people, we will not seek “co-existence” with wickedness.   We will present the Truth, the Way, and the Life to them, living separate from their practices.  Being good is not a ticket to heaven, but being born again is.  “If a man is not born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3.

We walk a complicated line living in a world of wickedness.  We struggle with the seeming conflict of God’s love and judgment.  But, allowing the wicked to live unconfronted, thinking all roads lead to heaven, is not an option.  Love demands we warn of destruction and reveal the Truth and Life in Jesus!

Remember, we are not called to co-exist but to resist and be transformed into the Image of Christ Jesus our Lord!