One of the most useful kitchen tools is the sieve. It is used to separate solids from liquids such as tea or coffee grounds from the brew. It can be used to sift flour and retrieve fish from a fishbowl. It can even be used as a butterfly net or a fishing net. All filters are a type of sieve. Air filters purify the air in our homes; oil filters clean up our engine oil; water filters purify our drinking water and swimming pools. Chemists employ very fine filter paper to remove the precipitate from a mixture. semipermeable membranes selectively allow the passage of some molecules and not others. The thin membrane inside an egg shell allows water to pass through but not solids. Cellophane has the same property of selective permeability. These membranes can be used in a gaseous diffusion process to separate heavy gas molecules from lighter ones. This process was used by the Germans to produce deuterium and heavy water which could be used to make an atomic bomb.
These are all examples of how sieves can be used to physically separate components of a mixture. However, there are other kinds of sieves. All security systems are based on the ability to selectively admit friends and exclude enemies. A fenced enclosure with a guarded gate is a type of sieve which selectively allows entrance to a secure area. Surveillance cameras and radar sensors are used in very sophisticated security systems. We are all familiar with the guard of a military camp shouting, "Halt, who goes there, advance and be recognized," or, "give the password." When the rebellion occurred in heaven, a security system was initiated to prevent Satan or any of his cohorts from entering the holy city. All the loyal angels who are commissioned to visit earth are given a golden card which they must present to enter heaven's gates (Early Writings, E.G. White, p 39). Since Satan usurped Adam's position as prince of this world, he (Satan) regularly attended council meetings in heaven which were evidently held outside the city (Job 1:6). Thus, there was a danger of him trying to sneak into the city. But since he did not have a golden card, he was unable to do so.
So. God has a sieve that decides who does and who doesn't enter heaven, and this sieve is not Peter, but is a guardian angel at each gate. God has a security system to test what members of the human race will enter heaven. How does He decide who passes through the sieve and who doesn't? We are told that only those who are obedient will be allowed to eat of the tree of life, and enter through the gates into the city. Thus, the great standard of righteousness, which is God's law, is what I wish to call "the divine sieve."
