Do NOT be UNEQUALLY yoked TOGETHER with UNBELIEVERS!
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14)
This is the message that we receive through
the final instructions that Isaac gives his son Jacob before sending him off to
his brother-in-law Laban (Gen. 28:1-5). They were living in Canaan territory
and there were plenty of beautiful eligible daughters of Canaan for marriage.
However, Isaac follows his father Abraham’s example and directs Jacob to choose
a wife from his own kindred. We see that Jacob obeys his father and starts on a
400-mile trip to Padan Aram, a place north of Haran, in search of a wife for
himself. As part of his customary dowry for Rachel, Jacob pledges seven years’
labor (which becomes seven more years, thanks to Laban’s deception). On obeying
his father’s directive, Jacob receives all the blessings of Abraham (Gen. 28: 3-4).
On the other hand, Esau marries a Canaanite girl knowing full well that this
will not please his father (Gen. 28: 6-9). In doing so, Esau further forfeits
all the blessings that he would have inherited through descent.
God demands
that we hate sin but love the sinner. When it comes to marriage, we have clear
instructions from God’s Word that we should only marry a child of God. When we
obey God’s commandment in this regard, we will also receive all that blessings
that God reserves for His children as described in Psalms 128.
