Chapter 9 - Separation From Unbelievers
in Marriage
Chapter 9 - Separation From Unbelievers
in Marriage
Nothing quite so displeases God as when His children intermarry with
children of wrath, for nothing so corrupts a nation as does polluting of
the people of God by intermarriage.
1. Intermarriage with unbelievers was the main cause of the flood. God
says that the flood was caused because the wickedness of man was great
in the earth. Genesis 6:5-7, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man
on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and
beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth
Me that I have made them." The basis of this wickedness, however, was the
intermarriage of the descendants of Seth with the descendants of Cain.
Genesis 6:1-4, "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the
face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of
God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives
of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred
and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also
after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and
they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old,
men of renown." Because of this intermarriage between God's people and
the heathen, God's wrath was so stirred that He destroyed every person
on the face of the earth except eight. Think of it! The flood was caused
because the godly line of Seth, that is, God's people, intermarried with
unsaved people. The descendants of these marriages became so wicked that
God destroyed earth with a flood. You see, when a lost person marries a
saved person, the children usually follow the unsaved parent instead of
the saved one. The reason for this is that the disobedience of the saved
person in marrying an unsaved person usually causes him to lose his testimony
so the children usually follow the unsaved parent instead of the saved
one. Such was the case when the descendants of Seth married the descendants
of Cain. They followed the way of Cain instead of Seth until the earth
became so wicked that God destroyed it.
2. God gave different languages in order to prevent intermarriage. In
Genesis 11 the people built a tower called the Tower of Babel. Genesis
11:6-9, "And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all
one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained
from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let Us go down, and there
confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the
earth: and they left off to build the city. 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." Notice again verse 6, "Now nothing will be restrained from
them which they have imagined to do." Compare that with Genesis 6:5 when
before the flood God said, "that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually." The imagination in Genesis 6:5 was intermarriage.
Now God says that since the races are getting together in the building
of the tower of Babel, they will once again imagine what they imagined
before the flood and nothing will be restrained from them, which means
intermarriage between God's people and the heathen. Because of this, man's
language was confounded in an effort to prevent intermarriage.
3. The unholy union between Abraham and Hagar shows God's displeasure
with the mixing of His people. A famine came in the land. Abraham and Sarah,
at a time when their faith had lapsed, fled to Egypt. There they hired
a young lady named Hagar to be a servant. When they returned to Canaan,
Hagar went with them. In the process of time, Abraham had sexual relations
with Hagar in an effort to perpetuate his seed. Not only was the adultery
wrong, but the crossing of lines between God's people and heathen people
was also wrong. From their unholy union came a son named Ishmael. Ishmael
became the father of the Arabs. He and his descendants claimed that the
Promised Land was theirs because God had promised this land to Abraham
and to his seed. Genesis 12:7, "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said,
Unto thy seed will I give this land; and there builded he an altar unto
the Lord, Who appeared unto him." Ishmael justifiably had a right to claim
it, for he was the firstborn son of Abraham. On the other hand, Isaac had
a right to claim it because he was the son of promise and was given to
Abraham and Sarah in their old age. So we have two races- the Jews and
the Arabs- both justifiably claiming the land, the Arabs claiming it because
Ishmael was the first son of Abraham, and the Jews claiming it because
Isaac was the son of promise. Now for nearly 4000 years there has been
nothing but war and strife in Canaan because of this unscriptural union
between Abraham and Hagar. Hagar was a descendant of Cush, who was a son
of Ham.
4. Esau married a heathen woman against the will of God. Esau married
Ishmael's daughter, who was also Hagar's granddaughter. Esau's name was
changed to Edom, which means "red" because he had sold his birthright for
a bowl of red soup. This unholy union between Hagar's granddaughter and
Esau brought forth a heathen nation known as the Edomites. They were a
constant thorn in the flesh to God's people, giving special trouble to
them as the Israelites entered into the Promised Land after their departure
from Egypt and their forty years in the wilderness. Generations of heartache
have been caused by God's people marrying unbelievers.
5. Moses erred in marrying the Ethiopian woman. Now to be sure, Miriam's
criticism of Moses and this marriage was punished by God because the judgment
belongs to the Lord, not to Miriam or any other human being, but the fact
is, Moses saw few good days after this unscriptural marriage.
6. The error of Balaam was leading God's people to intermarry with the
heathen. Jude 11, "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain,
and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in
the gainsaying of Core." When Balaam went to Moab for a reward, he did
not intend to compromise his message, but he should not have gone to Moab.
Because he did go to Moab, God's people followed and the inevitable intermarriage
followed. Not only was the purity of the race destroyed but the purity
of their faith was also destroyed.
7. David's marriage with Bathsheba was an example of an unscriptural
yoke in marriage. So much is said, and rightly so, about David's sin with
Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba's husband. Little
is said that David's marriage to Bathsheba was unscriptural. David was
one of God's people. Bathsheba and Uriah were Hittites. The Hittites were
descendants of Heth. Genesis 10:15, "And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn,
and Heth." Heth's father was Sidon; his grandfather was Canaan, who was
a son of Ham. Genesis 10:6, "And the sons of Ham; Cush and Mizraim, and
Phut, and Canaan." So David's sin was more than adultery and murder; it
was an unscriptural yoke in marriage.
8. Samson and Delilah formed an unholy yoke. Judges 16:4, 5, "And it
came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose
name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and
said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and
by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict
him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver."
You will notice that Delilah was a Philistine. The Philistines came from
Philistim. Genesis 10:14, "And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came
Philistim,) and Caphtorim." Philistim was the son of Casluhim, who was
the son of Mizraim, who was the son of Ham. Genesis 10:6,13,14, "And the
sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And Mizraim begat
Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim,
(out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim." Once again, there was more
than adultery involved; there was a mixing of the seed of God's people
and those who were not God's people.
9. Jezebel and Ahab corrupted Israel by an unscriptural yoke in marriage.
Ahab was an Israelite; Jezebel was the daughter of the king of Sidon. Sidon
was the son of Canaan and the grandson of Ham. Genesis 10:6, 15, "And the
sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And Canaan begat
Sidon his firstborn, and Heth." Not only was Jezebel a wicked woman, but
she was an unbelieving woman, and she led Israel into wickedness and idolatry.
This was unnecessary and would not have happened if Ahab had not disobeyed
the commands of God in an unholy yoke in marriage.
10. Solomon married unsaved women who turned away his heart. I Kings
11:4, 5, "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned
away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the
Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination
of the Ammonites." Because of this, God removed the ten tribes of the kingdom
from Solomon's son. Solomon's downfall was marrying heathen women.
11. Nehemiah rebuked the Jewish remnant because they married unsaved
women. He used Solomon as an example of such unholy action. Nehemiah 13:23-27,
"In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon,
and Moab: and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could
not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each
people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of
them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye
shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters
unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by
these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was
beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless
even him did outlandish women cause to sin. Shall we then hearken unto
you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying
strange wives?"
12. The Samaritans became bitter enemies of Cod's people and were people
founded on unscriptural marriages between God's people and unbelievers.
When Nebuchadnezzar took the Israelites captive to Babylon, he took the
wealthy and middle class, but did not want the poor people. They were left
in the land. Assyrians migrated into the land while most of the Israelites
were in captivity and intermarried with the remnant that was left. Now
these Assyrians were from Babylon. Their founder was Nimrod, who was the
son of Cush, who was the son of Ham. From this unscriptural union came
the Samaritan people, who are bitter enemies of the Jews and cause them
much heartache.
13. God forbade the Israelites to intermarry with the Canaanites when
they came to the Promised Land. The Canaanites were the descendants of
Canaan, who was the son of Ham. Genesis 10:6, "And the sons of Ham; Cush,
and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan." As such, they were heathen people.
This is the reason God wanted the Israelites to drive the Canaanites out
of the land. They were idolatrous people and God did not want His people
to intermarry with them.
When God's people intermarry with unbelievers, they are rebelling against
the Word of God and sinning against God. They are also sinning against
their unborn children and their children and their children. It should
be ingrained in every child in his earliest days that he should never marry
an unsaved person. Hence, he should be taught that he should never date
unsaved people. Think of it! Intermarriage between God's people and the
heathen caused the entire world to be destroyed and also caused man to
have his language differ from others. This has caused and is causing all
the trouble in the Middle East and has brought grief and heartache to millions
of people who have violated the command of God and to millions of people
who are children and grandchildren of those who have violated the command
of God. Marriage is a yoke, and we are plainly commanded not to yoke up
with unbelievers.
