Scattering – Symbolic Meaning

Scattering – Besides captivity and killing during the Babylonian Captivity, another method of desolating Jerusalem and the land was to scatter the people of Judah by causing them to flee. In addition to this scattering during the time of the Babylonian Captivity, there are several examples notable examples of God scattering His people:

Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden – Gen 3:22
The People from the land of Shinar – Tower of Babel (a.k.a., Babylon) – Gen 11:1-9
Exile of the Northern 10 tribes of Israel to Assyria – 1 Ki 14:15, 2 Ki 17:6, Jer 50:17

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However, by far, the most discussed scattering of God’s people from their land was the fall of the southern tribe of Judah / Benjamin from Jerusalem / Judah. This is the subject of major prophetic books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Micah and Zephaniah.

Scattering as a Punishment for Disobedience

The Historical Scattering of Israel and Judah

The Scattering of Israel (Northern 10 Tribes)

The Scattering of Judah (Southern 2 Tribes)

Israel / Judah become Scattered Sheep

The Historical Regathering of Israel and Judah

Symbolic Meanings of Scattering

Scattering a Portrait of Judgment

Condition of the Elect Before Salvation

Disunity (Persecution) of the Elect during Church Age and Great Tribulation

Disunity during the Church Age

Great Tribulation

Flee from Jerusalem to the mountains

Escape (to the mountains / out of trouble / salvation)

Flee (G5343, G5437) in the New Testament

Lot and his Daughters Flee to the mountains (type of flight during Great Tribulation)

Flee from Babylon

Flee from all the nations (judgment day and salvation)

Flee from tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram

Jerusalem is a Type of the organized worldly church

Jerusalem (symbolic of the church) becomes Babylon

Judah served Babylon 70 years (became part of Babylonian Empire)

Scattering Allows the Gospel to go Forth

Bible words for Scattering

Scattering as a Punishment for Disobedience

In the lengthy discourse in Leviticus 26, regarding the punishment of Israel / Judah for disobedience to the lord God, we find this passage:

And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. (Lev 26:32-33)

We find in this passage clear linkage between the scattering (dispersal) of the people and the land being made desolate in order to allow the land to enjoy her sabbaths. This prophecy was fulfilled in the scattering of the people of Jerusalem and the land of Judah by the king of Babylon (Satan). As we read in Pr 20:26, a wise King scatters the wicked. As we see in the story of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), God caused the people to be scattered due to their pride and self-salvation plan of building the tower into heaven.

In the Deuteronomy passages listing the curses for disobedience (Deut 28:16-68), we find in Deut 28:64-66:

And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: (Deu 28:63-66)

In this passage we find that the people will be taken off of the land (made desolate) and they will be scattered. In the land that they are scattered, they will serve other gods and idols. In this passage, the people who will be scattered, will find no rest (i.e., no salvation).

It is interesting to note in both the Leviticus and Deuteronomy passages that the location that the people were scattered to: the heathen (see also Eze 20:23, 22:15, Zech 7:14, Neh 1:8). Also, a sword would be drawn out after them. In Lam 1:3, it says that the people will not find rest amongst the heathen. In other words, the people were driven away from God, who is the source of their salvation. In Eze 12:14-16, we find that God would only leave a few from the sword (see also Deut 4:27). In other words, there will only be a small remnant left from those who are scattered into the nations (see Eze 6:8).

In Ezekiel 5, we find the parable of Ezekiel’s beard. In this parable, we find in Eze 5:2 and 5:12 that 1/3 of the people would be consumed by pestilence and famine within Jerusalem, 1/3 would fall by the sword and 1/3 would be scattered to the wind and the sword would be after them. In other words, the 1/3 scattered to the wind (Eze 5:10) would also fall by the sword in the nations where they fled, but only a few would be spared. Those who would were symbolized by a few that were to be bound into Ezekiel’s skirts (Eze 5:3) recognize the few that were left in the land, but even them would be cast into the midst of the fire (Eze 5:4). We also find in Eze 5:5-9, 11 that the people were being punished due to their wickedness and abominations (serving other gods, idols).

Ezekiel chapter 6 is another example (see also Eze 36:19, Jer 31:10, Eze 30:23, Eze 5:10-12, 12:14, 22:15, Ps 44:11):

And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Yet will I leave a remnant that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loath themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

(Eze 6:4-9)

We find similar information that the people would be scattered due to their worship of other gods and idols. Similar to the previous passages, the people would be scattered and there will be some who would escape the sword in the nations to where they were scattered. We find important information in the above passage. We also find that those scattered abroad would be a witness of the judgment of the Lord because of the people’s sin and abominable practices. The remnant that goes forward, in essence is sent to preach the Gospel. This has strong correlation to the dispersal of the Christians from Jerusalem that caused the Gospel to spread (see Acts 8:1). More on this below in the discussion on ‘regathering’.

The Historical Scattering of Israel and Judah

The Scattering of Israel (Northern 10 Tribes)

Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. (Jer 50:17-18)
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.(Lev 26:33)
And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. (Deu 4:27)
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: (Deu 28:64-66)
But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: (1Ki 9:6-7)
For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. (1Ki 14:15)
In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. (2Ki 15:29)
In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (2Ki 17:6)
Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. (2Ki 17:23)
And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. (2Ki 18:11-12)
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: (Neh 1:8)
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. (Psa 44:11)
Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. (Psa 106:26-27)
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. (Amo 5:27)
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. (Zec 7:9-14)
Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. (Act 7:43)

The Scattering of Judah (Southern 2 Tribes)

I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. (Jer 9:16)
For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. (Jer 10:21)
Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. (Jer 13:24)
I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. (Jer 18:17)
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. (Jer 23:1)
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. (Jer 23:2)
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? (Jer 23:29)
For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. (Jer 30:11)
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? (Jer 40:15)
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from (Jer 52:8)
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. (Eze 11:16)
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. (Eze 11:17)
And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. (Eze 12:15)
I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; (Eze 20:23)
And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. (Eze 20:34)
I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. (Eze 20:41)
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. (Eze 22:15)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. (Eze 28:25)
And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 29:12)
Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: (Eze 29:13)
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 30:23)
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 30:26)
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. (Eze 34:5)
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. (Eze 34:6)
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. (Eze 34:12)
Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; (Eze 34:21)
And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. (Eze 36:19)

Israel / Judah become Scattered Sheep

An important metaphor for the scattering of Israel / Judah is that of scattered sheep. For example:

Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. (Jer 50:17)

The northern 10 tribes of Israel was scattered in 709 B.C. by Assyria (see 2 Ki 17) and the southern kingdom of Judah was scattered by Babylon in 586 B.C. Interestingly, the underlying cause of the scattering was as a result of the shepherds, which were not properly concerning salvation (i.e., resting place’ and sin:

My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. (Jer 50:6-7)
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. (Jer 23:1-2)

We find later in Jer 23, the following behaviors of the pastors of Israel / Judah:

Jer 23:11 – prophet and priest and both profane, wicked
Jer 23:13 – folly in the prophets of Samaria, prophesied in Baal and caused Israel to err
Jer 23:14 – prophets in Jerusalem commit adultery, walk in lies, strengthen hands of evil-doers, they are like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah
Jer 23:15 – profaneness gone forth into all the land from prophets of Jerusalem
Jer 23:16 – word of prophets are vain and speak a vision from their own heart, not from the Lord
Jer 23:17 – prophets say peace to those who despise the Lord, no evil will occur for those who walk after the imagination of their own hearts
Jer 23:21 – prophets not of the Lord, yet they prophesy
Jer 23:22 – had the prophets caused people to hear, they could have turned them from their evil way
Jer 23:25-26 – prophesy lies, saying that they dreamed, prophets of lies and deceit
Jer 23:27 – cause people to forget the Lord’s name by dreams as their fathers have forgotten Lord’s name for Baal
Jer 23:30 – prophets steal words from his neighbor
Jer 23:31 – prophets use their tongues and false say that their words are from God
Jer 23:32 – false dreams, cause people to err by their lies
Jer 23:33-36 – perverted the words of God

Based on the above Scriptures, we find that Israel / Judah were scattered for their sins, but their shepherds (priests / prophets) are the underlying cause since they taught the people rebellious ways.

Other New Testament Verses on Scattered Sheep:

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. (Mat 9:36)
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. (Joh 10:12)
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. (Mat 26:31)
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. (Mar 14:27)

The Historical Regathering of Israel and Judah

(Note: See New Testament verses of ‘synagogue’ listed below under G4864)

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. (Eze 11:17)
And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. (Ezr 3:1)
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice. (Ezr 9:4)
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. (Neh 8:1)
That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. (Deu 30:3)
If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: (Deu 30:4)
And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. (Ezr 7:28)
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. (Ezr 8:15)
Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. (Ezr 10:1)
And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; (Ezr 10:7)
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. (Ezr 10:9)
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. (Neh 1:9)
And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein, (Neh 7:5)
Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place. (Neh 13:11)
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isa 11:12)
And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. (Jer 23:3)
And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. (Jer 29:14)
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. (Jer 31:8)
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. (Jer 31:10)
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: (Jer 32:37)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. (Eze 28:25)
And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. (Eze 29:5)

Symbolic Meanings of Scattering

Scattering a Portrait of Judgment

So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. (Gen 11:8)
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:9)
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Gen 49:7)
And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before (Num 10:35)
And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. (Deu 4:27)
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. (Deu 28:64)
Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. (Job 40:11)
Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. (Psa 18:14)
… Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before (Psa 68:1)
Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. (Psa 144:6)
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. (Isa 24:1)
Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; (Eze 34:21)
And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. (Eze 36:19)

Condition of the Elect Before Salvation

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. (Mat 9:36)
And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. (Joh 11:52)
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?(Joh 7:35)
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, (Jas 1:1)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1Pe 1:1)
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: (Mat 15:30)
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (Mat 27:5)
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. (Luk 4:35)
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: (Mat 25:24)
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: (Mat 25:26)
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. (Mat 26:31)
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. (Mar 14:27)
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. (Luk 1:51)
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. (Luk 15:13)
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Mat 12:30)
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Luk 11:23)
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (Joh 16:32)

Disunity (Persecution) of the Elect during Church Age and Great Tribulation

Disunity during the Church Age

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Mat 12:30)
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Luk 11:23)
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. (Joh 10:12)
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (Joh 16:32)
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. (Mat 26:31)
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. (Mar 14:27)
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. (Luk 1:51)
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Act 8:1)
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. (Act 8:4)
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only (Act 11:19)

Great Tribulation

In the Olivet discourse, we find the following:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Mat 24:15-21, see also Mark 13:14-19, Lk 21:20-24)

At the time of the Great Tribulation, there will be a time of disunity and scattering. We also find in Rev 18:4, that true Christians are to depart from Babylon so as not to partake of her sins:

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. (Rev 18:3-6)

We also find in the New Testament that the following truth is recorded:

He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Luk 11:23)

In this passage, we find that when there is disunity in the church, there will be scattering. As we saw from the above Old Testament passages, scattering occurs due to false shepherds over the sheep (e.g., Jer 23, especially Jer 23:1-2, see also Jer 10:21-22, 12:10-12) as well as God scattered Judah at the hand of the King of Babylon due to the grievous abominations of Judah. In addition, in the New Testament, we find that scattering (G1287, G1289, G1290, G4650) is the result of persecution and false teachers / ministers within the church:

Persecution of the early church – Acts 8:1, Acts 8:4, Acts 11:19
Those scattered who were addressed by James and Peter – James 1:1, 1 Peter 1:1
He who does not gather with Christ, scatters – Mat 12:30, Lk 11:23 (false gospels)
Disciples scattered when Jesus Christ arrested – John 16:32
Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered – Mat 26:312, Mk 14:27
Israel / Judah scattered – John 11:51-52 (represents church during Great Tribulation)
Scattering by wolves in the flock – John 10:12 (wolves are symbolic of a beast that devours from within the flock resulting in scattering of the flock – Acts 20:29, Lk 10:3, Mat 10:15-16)

In the Olivet Discourse of Jesus Christ (Mat 24, Mk 13, Lk 21) which discusses the Great Tribulation, we find that false teaching and the Abomination lead to scattering:

Many false prophets / deceivers – Mat 24:11
Abomination of Desolation – Mat 24:15, Mk 13:14
Those in Judea (those on housetops, those in field, those are with suck), flee to the mountains – Mat 24:16-20, Mk 13:15-18, Lk 17:31, Lk 21:21-23

In summary, we find that in the Great Tribulation there will be a scattering of God’s people. God’s people will be inflicted with false gospels and persecution resulting in some needing to depart from the congregations.

Flee from Jerusalem to the Mountains

And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people. (Jer 37:11-12)
ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. (Jer 6:1)
Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. (Jer 52:7-8)
And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain. But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him. (Jer 39:4-5)
Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. (Jer 38:2)
He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. (Jer 21:9)
Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me: And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back. So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire. (Jer 38:17-23)
Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight. And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying, Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. (Eze 12:3-14)
And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. (2Ki 25:4-5)
For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. (Jer 4:27-29)
I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. (Jer 27:12-14)
Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. (Jer 38:17-18)
And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. (Jer 52:6-7)
Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. (Eze 11:22-23)

Escape (to the mountains / out of trouble / salvation)

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

(Gen 19:17)

Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

(Gen 19:19)

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

(Gen 19:20)

Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

(Gen 19:22)

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

(2Ki 19:31)

And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

(Ezr 9:8)

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

(Est 4:13)

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

(Job 11:20)

I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

(Psa 55:8)

Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

(Psa 56:7)

Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.

(Psa 71:2)

Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

(Psa 141:10)

A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.

(Pro 19:5)

And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.

(Ecc 7:26)

And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

(Isa 20:6)

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

(Isa 37:32)

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

(Isa 66:19)

Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

(Jer 11:11)

And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

(Jer 25:35)

And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

(Jer 32:4)

And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

(Jer 34:3)

But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

(Jer 38:18)

So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

(Jer 38:23)

So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

(Jer 42:17)

So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

(Jer 44:14)

Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

(Jer 44:28)

Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.

(Jer 46:6)

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

(Jer 48:8)

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

(Jer 50:28)

Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

(Jer 50:29)

Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

(Eze 6:8)

And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

(Eze 6:9)

But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

(Eze 7:16)

But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?

(Eze 17:15)

Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.

(Eze 17:18)

He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

(Dan 11:41)

He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

(Dan 11:42)

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

(Joe 2:3)

Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

(Oba 1:14)

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

(Mat 23:33)

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

(Luk 21:36)

And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

(Act 27:42)

And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

(Rom 2:3)

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

(1Co 10:13)

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

(1Th 5:3)

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

(Heb 2:3)

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

(Heb 12:25)

Flee (G5343, G5437) in the New Testament

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. (Mat 2:13)
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Mat 3:7)
And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. (Mat 8:33)
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. (Mat 10:23)
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Mat 23:33)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (Mat 24:16)
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (Mat 24:20)
But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. (Mat 26:56)
And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. (Mar 5:14)
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: (Mar 13:14)
And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. (Mar 13:18)
And they all forsook him, and fled. (Mar 14:50)
And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. (Mar 14:52)
And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid. (Mar 16:8)
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Luk 3:7)
When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. (Luk 8:34)
Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. (Luk 21:21)
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. (Joh 10:5)
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. (Joh 10:12)
The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. (Joh 10:13)
Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. (Act 7:29)
And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, (Act 27:30)
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. (1Co 6:18)
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. (1Co 10:14)
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. (1Ti 6:11)
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2Ti 2:22)
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Heb 11:34)
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Heb 12:25)
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Jas 4:7)
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. (Rev 9:6)
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore (Rev 12:6)
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (Rev 16:20)
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Rev 20:11)

Lot and his Daughters Flee to the mountains (type of flight during Great Tribulation)

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. (Gen 19:15-17)
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. (Luk 17:28-32)
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. (Gen 19:12-13)

Flee from Babylon

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Rev 18:4)
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. (Isa 48:20)
In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. (Jer 50:4-5)
Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. (Jer 50:8-10)
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. (Jer 50:28-29)
For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. (Jer 51:5-7)
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. (Jer 51:8-9)
And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. (Jer 51:44-45)
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. (Jer 51:48-50)

Olivet Discourse Verses

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains; Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. (Mat 24:15-18)
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains; And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take anything out of his house; And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. (Mar 13:14-16)
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. (Luk 21:20-21)

Come Out – Separation from Sin

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you (2Co 6:16-17)
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2Co 7:1)
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. (Num 16:21)
And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. (Num 16:26)
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. (Num 16:45)
And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, (Ezr 6:21)
Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. (Ezr 10:11)
Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. (Neh 13:3)
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (Psa 1:1-3)
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. (Pro 9:6)
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. (Isa 52:11)
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. (Act 2:40)

Flee from all the nations (judgment day and salvation)

The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. (Isa 52:10-12)
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2Co 6:15-18)
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zec 14:1-5)
Where God’s people come out of:
- And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. (Isa 11:11)

Flee from tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram

And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. (Num 16:26-27)

Jerusalem is a Type of the organized worldly church

Symbolic References to Church:

Jerusalem – Gal 4:26, Heb 12:22, Ps 135:21
Where 2 or 3 are gathered together in Jesus’ name – Mat 18:15-20
- Christians are saints – Acts 9:13, Ro 1:7, 16;:, 1 Cor 1:2, etc.
The house of God – 1 Tim 3:14-15, 2 Tim 2:20, Eph 2:19, Heb 3:6
The temple of God – 2 Thess 2:4, 1 Cor 3:16‑17, 2 Cor 6:16, Eph 2:21
Jesus is the cornerstone – Ps 118:22, Mat 21:42, Acts 4:11, Eph 2:20, 1 Pet 2:6

But the earthly church contains both saved and unsaved – 1 Cor 11:18-19, Mat 7:21-23, Lk 13:23-30, Acts 8:12-20, etc.

We know from the Olivet Discourse that the ‘Abomination of Desolation’ will be set up in the Holy Place (Jerusalem, where the temple / house of God was). We have also established the true spiritual Israel and spiritual Jew is anyone who is a true child of God (whether male or female, whether Jew or Greek). We are all Abraham’s seed and heir to the promises of God (Gal 3:26-29). Christians are also typified as the ‘house of God’ (John 14:2, 2 John 10, 1 Cor 16:15‑19, 2 Tim 2:20, Eph 2:19, Heb 3:6, 1 Pet 2:5, 1 Pet 4:17, Ro 16:5) and the ‘temple of God’ (Lk 11:51, 2 Thess 2:4, 1 Cor 3:16‑17, 2 Cor 6:16, Eph 2:21). Both the house of God and the temple of God were located in Jerusalem. We find the following facts concerning Jerusalem in the New Testament:

Earthly Jerusalem

Where the 1^st Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ Originates From:

It is where Simeon (just and devout) awaited the consolation of Israel – Lk 2:25
It is where Anna awaited the redemption – Lk 2:38
Where Daughters of Jerusalem were – Lk 23:38
Jesus commanded disciples to wait there for the Holy Spirit – Lk 24:44, Acts 1:4
Repentance preached beginning at Jerusalem – Lk 24:47
Christians are to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth – Acts 1:8
Gospel preached in Judea and Jerusalem – Acts 2:14
The church began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (3000 baptized – Acts 2:41) – Acts 2
5000 believed – Acts 4:4
120 waiting for day of Pentecost – Acts 1:15
Early church active in Jerusalem – Acts 4:6, 5:16
Filled with apostles doctrine – Acts 5:29
Disciples multiplied greatly – Acts 6:7
Peter came from there – Acts 11:2, 11:22
Prophets originated from Jerusalem to Antioch – Acts 11:27
Saul joins disciples at Jerusalem – Acts 9:26-28, Gal 1:17-18, 2:1
Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem after 1^st missionary journey – Acts 12:25
First church council – Acts 15
Ordination of elders and apostles – Acts 16:4
Paul fully preached Gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum – Ro 15:19

Where religious activity occurs:

It was referred to as a Holy City – Mat 4:5, Mat 27:53
Jesus presented to the Lord by parents – Lk 2:22
Swear not by since it is the city of the great king – Mat 5:34-35
Where the unsaved Pharisees, priests and scribes were – Lk 22:2, 23:10, Acts 4:5, 6:2, 23:9
Jerusalem is a type of being under the bondage of the law (Hagar, Mt. Sinai) – Gal 4:25-26
Where the Old Testament feasts and Sabbaths were held – John 7:1-14, John 2:23, 6:4, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28, 1 Cor 5:7, etc.

Where persecution of Jesus Christ and Christians Occur:

Where the early church was persecuted – Acts 3-4
No prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem – Lk 13:33-34, Mat 23:37-38
Jesus to die at Jerusalem – Lk 9:31
Jesus condemned / suffered at Jerusalem (priests and scribes) – Mat 20:17-18, Mat 16:21
Where all things that were written would be accomplished – Lk 18:31
Paul persecuted followers of the Way and brought them to Jerusalem – Acts 9:2
Pau did evil to saints – Acts 9:13, 21
Great persecution at Jerusalem – spread disciples abroad, except apostles – Acts 8:1, 14
Paul returns bound in spirit – Acts 20:21-22, 21:4, 22:5
Paul should leave since he will not be received – Acts 22:17-18
Paul sent there to be killed – Acts 25:3
Paul received judgment in Jerusalem – Acts 25:1, 7, 9, 15, 20, 24 (priests and scribes)
Contribution for poor saints at Jerusalem – Ro 15:25-26, 31, 1 Cor 16:3

Represents the church trodden down by the Gentiles during Great Tribulation – Lk 21:24, Rev 11:2

Summary of Earthly Jerusalem:

We find that Jerusalem was the original headquarters for the Christian church. The Holy Spirit was given in Jerusalem and the Gospel and missionaries were dispatched from Jerusalem. However, it was also a center of Christian persecution by the religious establishment that was there.

Jerusalem (symbolic of the church) becomes Babylon

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Rev 18:4)

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee … (Rev 18:23)

Christians (as the light of a candle and bring the voice of the bridegroom and bride), are commanded to come out of Babylon that they be not partakers of her sins and that they do not receive her plagues (Rev 18:4, 23). Revelation 18:4 is a very clear and literal that God’s people (i.e., Christians) are to come out of Babylon. In these passages, Christians are referred to as ‘my people’ (Hos 1:10, 2:23, Heb 8:10, 2 Cor 6:16, Ro 9:25, etc.), the light of the candle (Mat 5:14-16, Eph 5:8, Rev 1:13, 20) and the bride (Rev 21:2, 9, 22:17, John 3:29, etc.). This command to depart is that they do not partake of Babylon’s sins of whoredom, greed and persecution of Christians. To come out should be referred to not participating in the evil behavior of the worldly apostate Christianity. There have been similar commands for God’s people to depart from evil circumstances such as Lot’s departure from Sodom (Gen 19:12-13), departure from Egypt (Israel’s departure from Korah’s rebellion (Num 16:26-27) and references in the prophets to depart from Babylon (Is 48:20, Is 52:11, Jer 37:11-12, 50:89, 51:6, 51:45, 51:50). Finally, during the Great Tribulation, there is a command from God for His people to depart from Jerusalem (Mat 24:15-16, Mk 13:14, Lk 21:21-22). God’s people are not to participate in that which is sinful (2 Cor 6:16-17).

Judah served Babylon 70 years (became part of Babylonian Empire)

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. (Jer 25:1-14)
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (Jer 29:10)
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Dan 9:2)
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? (Zec 7:5)
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, (Ezr 1:1)
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up. (2Ch 36:17-23)
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. (Psa 90:10)
Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? (Zec 1:12)

Scattering Allows the Gospel to go Forth

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: And there they preached the gospel. (Act 14:2-7)
But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. (1Th 2:2)
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mar 16:15)
And the gospel must first be published among all nations. (Mar 13:10)
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luk 24:47)
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Mat 24:14)
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Mat 28:19)
But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: (Rom 16:26)
And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Mic 4:2)
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Act 8:1)
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. (Act 8:4)
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. (Act 11:19)

Bible words for Scattering

Old Testament

H6327 (puts)

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Gen 11:4)
So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. (Gen 11:8)
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:9)
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Gen 49:7)
So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. (Exo 5:12)
And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before
(Num 10:35)
And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. (Deu 4:27)
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. (Deu 28:64)
That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. (Deu 30:3)
And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. (1Sa 11:11)
And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from (1Sa 13:8)
And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. (2Sa 22:15)
And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace. (1Ki 22:17)
And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. (2Ki 25:5)
Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace. (2Ch 18:16)
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
(Neh 1:8)
I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. (Job 16:12)
Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. (Job 40:11)
Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. (Psa 18:14)
… Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before (Psa 68:1)
Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. (Psa 144:6)
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. (Isa 24:1)
Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 41:16)
I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. (Jer 9:16)
For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. (Jer 10:21)
Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. (Jer 13:24)
I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. (Jer 18:17)
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. (Jer 23:1)
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. (Jer 23:2)
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? (Jer 23:29)
For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. (Jer 30:11)
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? (Jer 40:15)
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from (Jer 52:8)
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. (Eze 11:16)
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. (Eze 11:17)
And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. (Eze 12:15)
I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; (Eze 20:23)
And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. (Eze 20:34)
I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. (Eze 20:41)
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. (Eze 22:15)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. (Eze 28:25)
And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 29:12)
Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: (Eze 29:13)
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 30:23)
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 30:26)
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. (Eze 34:5)
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. (Eze 34:6)
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. (Eze 34:12)
Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; (Eze 34:21)
And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. (Eze 36:19)
Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.
(Eze 46:18)
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. (Nah 2:1)
He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are (Hab 3:6)
Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. (Hab 3:14)
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. (Zep 3:10)
Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. (Zec 1:17)
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zec 13:7)

H2219 (zarah)

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. (Lev 26:33)
And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. (Rth 3:2)
For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. (1Ki 14:15)
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. (Psa 44:11)
To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. (Psa 106:27)
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. (Psa 139:3)
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. (Pro 15:7)
A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. (Pro 20:8)
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them. (Pro 20:26)
Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 41:16)
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, (Jer 4:11)
And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways. (Jer 15:7)
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. (Jer 31:10)
And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD. (Jer 49:32)
And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. (Jer 49:36)
And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. (Jer 51:2)
Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. (Eze 5:2)
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. (Eze 5:10)
A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. (Eze 5:12)
And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. (Eze 6:5)
Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. (Eze 6:8)
And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. (Eze 12:14)
And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. (Eze 12:15)
I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; (Eze 20:23)
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. (Eze 22:15)
And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 29:12)
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 30:23)
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 30:26)
And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. (Eze 36:19)
And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. (Zec 1:19)
Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. (Zec 1:21)

H6340 (Pazar)

And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them. (Est 3:8)
There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. (Psa 53:5)
Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. (Psa 89:10)
There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. (Pro 11:24)
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. (Jer 3:13)
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. (Jer 50:17)
I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joe 3:2)

New Testament

G4496 (sophronos)

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. (Mat 9:36)
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: (Mat 15:30)
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (Mat 27:5)
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. (Luk 4:35)

G4650 (skorpizo)

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Mat 12:30)
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Luk 11:23)
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. (Joh 10:12)
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (Joh 16:32)
(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. (2Co 9:9)

G1287 (diaskorpizo):

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: (Mat 25:24)
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: (Mat 25:26)
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. (Mat 26:31)
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. (Mar 14:27)
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. (Luk 1:51)
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. (Luk 15:13)
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. (Luk 16:1)
And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. (Joh 11:52)
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. (Act 5:37)

G1289 (diaspeiro)

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Act 8:1)
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. (Act 8:4)
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. (Act 11:19)

G1290 (diaspora):

Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? (Joh 7:35)
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, (Jas 1:1)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1Pe 1:1)