Much importance is attached to being separate from the world…even to the point some parents do not allow their children to have worldly playmates, friends at school, attend youth activities, etc. Their goal is to be separated to the point of being viewed as a peculiar group of people. Some consider being peculiar outwardly or a gazingstock as a mark of a true child of God.
2 Cor. 6:17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord…
Heb. 10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
Worker Quote: Moses said, “If God’s presence go with us, we will be a separated people, separated from the world.” We are not going out to mix with the world, we are a separated people. If we keep separated and in harmony with God, we know that God’s presence will be with us. You cannot walk with the world and with God, and we have to be separate from the things of this world in order to be with God (Peter Hingeley, Biddeston, QLD, Australia 2012)
Worker Quote: It’s not possible to serve ourself and serve God only on Sunday. We can’t run around with the goats all week and smell like a sheep on Sunday. It’s an everyday matter. (Jack Reddekopp, Okotoks Special Mtg, December 17, 2006)
Worker Quote: “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, touch not the unclean thing.” That is our part. I would like to talk to you about the bit of separation….When I was serving God in my teens, it seemed to me, the word separation was a very gruesome word. I knew the Bible taught it and the workers upheld it and my folks insisted on it, and I am glad I am willing for it (1980 Pukehoke NZ, speaker not given).
Worker Quote: …this separation is something people don’t like…As long as we are led and taught by the Spirit of God, it is going to keep us just as far from the world as it ever did (Andrew Abernethy, Bird City, KS Conv., 1953).
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They believe God wants His children to be separated, set apart from the world, and to be peculiar people. They interpret peculiar to be different from the world, worldly fads, dress, entertainment, etc. To be odd.
Titus 2:14 – Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people…
1 Peter 2:9 – But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
The King James Bible is the only Bible that translates 1 Pet 2:9 as peculiar. Other versions read:
1 Peter 2:9 (NASB) – But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
In their Early Days, they were reported in the press as a Peculiar Religious Sect.
Worker Quote: Sunday evening was notable, to my mind, by the address which a Miss Jennie Gill delivered….‘We are peculiar people,’ she said, “just as God’s people were always peculiar”….The disciples were always reckoned “queer,” and apart from the world and the things which people of the world esteemed. It was, in part, the true mark of their mission and their message (Jennie Gill, Impartial Reporter, Aug. 12, 1909, p.5).
Worker Quote: Are you then willing to have His purpose fulfilled in your life? Why do you not go here and there, indulge in this and that, associate with other company? Because Christ is your Lord. “Purify unto Himself a peculiar people,” a people for His own possession – “who were not a people but are now the people of God, a royal priest hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (Jack Carroll. Olympia Conv., 1942).