out two-by-two, to be a companion, to support each other and in the midst of it all, to be there for one another. When God’s peace and love is not received, it is not us, they are not receiving. When the instruction is being despised, when the Word is being despised and Christ is being rejected, in Word or in us and we have done all that we were instructed to do, I must say this again, when we have completed everything we were instructed to do, it is only then, because Jesus told them the warning signs to look for, that we are to depart from that place, but nor before shaking the dust off of our feet.
The shaking the dust off symbolizes, that all responsibility for the stubborn household or city had ended.
The Jews thought the land of Israel so peculiarly holy, that when they came home from any heathen country, they stopped at the borders and shook or wiped off the dust of it from their feet, that the holy land might not be polluted with it. Therefore, the action here enjoined was a lively intimation that those Jews who had rejected the Gospel were holy no longer, but were on a level with heathens and idolaters.
Matthew Henry says, “The servant of Christ is the ambassador of peace to whatever place he is sent. His message is even to the vilest sinners, yet it behooves him to find out the best persons in every place. It becomes us to pray heartily for all, and to conduct ourselves courteously to all. They are directed how to act as to those that refused them. The whole counsel of God must be declared, and those who will not attend to the gracious message, must be shown that their state is dangerous. This should be seriously laid to heart by all that hear the gospel, lest their privileges only serve to increase their condemnation.”
Elder James E. Talmage said, “To ceremonially shake the dust from one's feet as a testimony against another was understood by the Jews to symbolize a cessation of fellowship and a renunciation of all responsibility for consequences that might follow. It became an ordinance of accusation and testimony by the Lord's instructions to His apostles as cited in the text.”
Acts 13:49-51 says, “And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.
Acts 18:6 and 7 tells us that Paul, “But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.”
There is that shaking off the dust again.
I would be amiss if I failed to touch on this part. If, before or after the dust has been shaken off and we are taken before our accusers, I want those who are hesitant and those who were bold up until this point to know how we are to act and respond during these situations. I implore you to pray for those who are against you, so when you go before them, there is no malice or anger in your heart. Praying beforehand prepares you. Praying beforehand gives God the opportunity to empty your heart and pour out His love and His Spirit into you. When you go before them, just as Jesus told the disciples, “But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” We are not to walk to our accusers, going over what we might say, if they say this and we will say, if they say that. If we go before them praying, when we get before them, the Spirit of our Father will speak through us.
Jesus tells us that we
will be hated
by all for His Name’s sake. He is letting us know now, that there will be those who hate us, not for who we are but because we are representing Him in Word and Truth. We are being hated because we are doing what God desires for us to do. Not because of our name or how we look or what we are wearing, it is because of Jesus and Jesus in us, that we are being hated. I want to tell those who are people pleasers or those who desire to be liked that doing the will of God will not win you any popularity contests or draw everyone to you. It will do the opposite. This is why you read of so many of God’s Children who walked alone or walked with just a few here and there.
But he who endures to the end will be saved. We are to continue the work we have been given to do, until God tells us, just as Jesus told the disciples, to stop, shake the dust off and move on. So often, there are those who abort the assignment before God gives the command to stop. There are those who flee at the first sign of opposition and wonder why they are led back into the same situation, at a different location. We are to stay and complete the assignment and not leave until God tells us to leave. There are lessons for us to learn, strength and courage to gain, blessings to receive and blessings to dole out, there may be assignments within the original assignment. We will never know, unless we stay the course and move only when we are told to do so.
When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. Once again, we are not to flee until we are commanded by God to do so.
Therefore, do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. In II Timothy 1:6-8, we are told, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” We are not to fear those that are against us. We are not to cringe at the words they speak against us. In Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus instructs us, “You have heard that it was