# 246 Do Not Be Unequally Yoked

The Book of Genesis

Day 246

Ge 26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.  35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Esau….so spiritually dull. He had sold his birthright for some stew, and now he marries not one but two unbelieving Canaanite women! What was he thinking? Ummmm, he wasn’t!

First of all, marriage was meant for one man/one woman…not two, and secondly, it is God’s desire that His children marry believers! No wonder the writer of Hebrews refers to Esau as “profane or godless!”  He just did things without any regard to the will of God.

The Laws of God have been written in the hearts of men from the get-go. Ro 2:14,15 says, “ for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,  15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

This Law that Esau ignored concerning intermarriage was later codified in De 7:3,4,6,  "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.  4 "For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.  6 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

God’s people are not to be profane or common. They are holy, set apart. Their marriages are to be set apart and holy as well. To add a heathen to the marital union is like adding fools gold to the treasure that God desires marriage to be. It is the institution that He loves! (Mal 2:11)

In 2Co 6:14 we read, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

God’s will has not changed in this matter, believers ought to marry fellow believers! I know this is not necessarily an easy thing to do in today’s world.  It seems in many cases that personal faith in Jesus isn’t worked out until later in life, and singles just don’t want to wait that long! On top of that, how can you really tell whether someone is a Christian? Can you see their faith? Is it real or a charade?

Let’s face it, only God knows and the best we can do is pray, and seek to marry someone who professes to be a Christian, and always looking for signs of the fruit of the Spirit in their life. As Jesus noted in Lu 6:43,44 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.   44 "For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.”

So, for the single person, the key is to wait and discern. For the parents the key is to pray early and often for your child’s future mate! To not do these things is to open the door to future “grief of mind,” for parents and children alike.

Parents: In addition to praying for your child’s future mate, be sure to teach your children early on about God’s plan for marriage.