148. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT BEING UNEQUALLY YOKED WITH AN UNBELIEVER?

(The Single Woman Series – Batch 3)

Let’s imagine some scenarios. You are a Christian because you have believed that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, you have repented of your sins and confessed him as Lord over your life. Maybe you’ve met this really cute guy who treats you really well and has shown you interest. Maybe you are also interested in him and you have begun to envision the possibility of you two being together.

However, there is only one problem spoiling the happily ever after fairy tale you have begun to conjure up in your mind, of what could be. To you, its not that big of a deal but some of your Christian friends and that Pastor or Preacher or even your own conscience, keep telling you that you should not align yourself in anyway with this man because you’re a Christian and he is not.

Oh how you wish you could shut out their voices and the one shouting the loudest from inside! You want this to work so badly! He may even be religious but you know in your heart that he is not saved. He does not believe in Jesus and he does not serve him as Lord. He hasn’t tried to hide his identity from you. You know from the very beginning that he is a man of the world.

Yet, you want to know what to do. Your mind is telling you one thing but your heart, another. You may have started to have feelings for this guy or even allowed yourself to fall in love with him. In fact, you may be in so deep, the thought of letting him go is painful and you wonder, desperately, do you have to?

Can’t there be any exceptions to the ‘do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers’ rule? Who came up with that saying anyway? Can’t God excuse you because you love him so much?

For some, you may be getting down in age and your biological clock is ticking. Nobody at Church has expressed interest in you, although you’ve waited for years. Yet, that nice guy at work has been giving you the eye and you happen to think that he is hot. Should you just let him know that you’re interested and see where it goes? What does the Bible say about the situation and is there anyway you can convince God to allow you to be with this man?

GOD’S CHARACTER

God can be described in many ways. As you read the Bible, you learn more and more of him, his ways, what pleases him and what he hates. Of course because he is God, we cannot possibly understand everything about him or his ways because he is sovereign. Whereas we are on earth, he is in heaven. Whereas we have been created and from the dust of the earth, he is the Creator of all things and his Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom.

Romans 11:33-36 states of him:

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Similarly, in Isaiah 55:8-9, the Lord stated to the Israelite people, through his Prophet:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

As we read scripture, there are some characteristics about God that pervade the entire book though, such as the fact that he is all-wise and all-knowing (omniscient), all powerful (omnipotent) and has the ability to be everywhere at the same time (omnipresent).

Given that he is the one that created all things and was in existence before time even began, he alone is worthy of our worship. He is also thrice holy, perfect and throughout time, has always desired to have a people set apart from the world’s evil and ungodly system with whom he could have a special relationship with and who would love him, do what was right, stay away from sin and serve him.

GOD’S DESIRE TO SET PEOPLE APART FROM THE WORLD FOR HIMSELF

We saw this in Genesis 6 for example, where, in observing how wicked the human beings he had created had become, God decided to destroy them all with a flood, except for Noah and his immediate family.

The Bible states in Genesis 6:5-9 that:

“…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. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations and Noah walked with God.”

In verses 17-18, God told Noah:

“And behold, I even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.”

For the people that God calls out to be set apart, sanctified by him from the world and specially his own, he has always entered into a covenant with them, whereby he made them promises of what he would do in their lives and for them, if they obeyed him and continued walking uprightly.

In Genesis 17:1-16, just like he did with Noah, he made a covenant with Abram and his future children (the Israelites). The scripture reads:

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.”

Based on the historical account provided by the Bible, whenever God called any person or people out of the world’s system, to serve him, as part of the covenant he entered into with them, they were expected to separate themselves from those that continued in the world’s evil system, had no fear of God and were engaged in evil practices.

For example, when it came to business alliances and marriages, God expected his special people to stay within their own circle and to enter into business partnerships and relationships with other people that were also called out by him from the world’s system, to live separate, clean and sanctified lives.

It has been God’s desire that those who knew him, had relationship with him, believed on him and were serving him, would not join with those who had no relationship with him were not serving him and did not believe in him. Such persons were called the ‘ungodly’ or the ‘heathen’ because they did not have knowledge of the true and living God were not serving him were living wickedly and were usually steeped in idol worship of dead gods.

In Deuteronomy 7:1-11, after God had delivered his special chosen people the Israelites from the slavery they had endured in Egypt, as they proceeded on their way to the beautiful land he had promised them, he instructed them not to join with and marry people that were ungodly and not Israelites. He stated:

“When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.”

THE ISRAELITES DISOBEY GOD – THE OLD TESTAMENT

Despite God’s instructions, the Israelites who we read about in the Old Testament, disobeyed him and many married people that did not know God were not Israelites and were serving false gods.

As a result because God’s covenant with them contained a blessing for obedience but a curse for disobedience, they were punished severely by God. He removed his hedge of protection from them, allowed their enemies to have dominion over them, to oppress them, to kill some of them and to take others bondage in chains as prisoners, to a strange land.

In 2 Chronicles 36:14 -20 for example, it states:

“Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 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.”

In Ezra 9, while the Israelites were still in bondage due to their disobedience, Ezra, who was also an Israelite and desired to do things God’s way, states of the Israelites:

“Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations…For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands:yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied. 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. And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.”

There are many other examples of Israelites who chose to disobey God and to marry or enter into business relationships with the ungodly or heathen. In each and every case, the outcome was disastrous, as God will not bless disobedience.

There was for example, King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. He was serving God beautifully but then he decided to disobey for the sake of love and marry women who were not Israelites. These women were referred to in the Bible as ‘strange women’. They caused his relationship with the Lord to be impaired because of this sin and got him to the point where he too was worshipping the false gods which they introduced him to. This displeased the Lord tremendously and punished him as a result.

In 1 Kings 11:1-14 it states:

“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 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. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen. And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.”

In the book of Nehemiah 13, it states of the Israelites who had gone astray and forgotten what God had told them to do:

“On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever;… Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude…In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of 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? And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business…”

Based on the above scripture, the disobedience of the Israelites in marrying those that were not God’s chosen people had gone to such lengths, that Joiada had even married Sanballat’s daughter. In Chapter 6 of Nehemiah, we learn that Sanballat and Tobiah were enemies of the Jews/Israelites and tried their very best to hamper them and prevent them from rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.

In Chapter 2:10 and 4:1-3, it states, of Sanballat and Tobiah when they heard that the Jews were rebuilding again:

“When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel…But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.”

Yet, although Sanballat was a known enemy of the Jews/Israelites, hated them with passion and was invested in their destruction, Joiada had foolishly chosen to get married to the enemy’s daughter! He was therefore practically sleeping with the enemy of progress for the Israelites and of course, it is my view that Sanballat most likely approved of the union, as a means of getting access to the Israelites, so as to further undermine them.

As we read further in the Bible, we see that Samson, who consistently aligned himself with women who were ungodly and from the enemies camp was betrayed by these women and eventually lost his life because of one of them, called Delilah. Close to the beginning of his downward spiral, he insisted on marrying one of them, although his parents did not approve and had enquired of him if he could not have chosen a wife from his own people.

In Judges 14:1-3, it states:

“And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”

Later on, when he aligned himself with another ungodly woman, he loved and trusted her but she used him and sold him to his enemies for money, who in turn put out his eyes and mocked at him before he pulled down the pillars where he was being held and killed himself and all of them in the process.

Ahab, who was King of Israel, also married an ungodly woman called Jezebel, who was one of the most wicked women that ever lived. Despite God’s clear command of separation to the people of Israel (which he likened unto a bride that he loved, chose for himself, entered into a marriage covenant with and was faithful to), Ahab still went ahead and entered into a marriage covenant with this woman, a Zidonian, who was not an Israelite and whose people were steeped in the practice of idol worship.

God considers such treason to be spiritual adultery, as it was tantamount to an Israelite turning his back on God who loved him and giving his heart over to someone that was in clear breach of the love covenant he had with God. Part of the covenant that the Israelites had with God was that they would remain separate from those who did not serve him. To join with such people therefore, in a marriage or otherwise was a breach of that love covenant.

Not surprisingly, Jezebel then exploited and abused her position as the wife of the King, by usurping Ahab’s authority while he just sat there and allowed her to do as she pleased. Although she was not supposed to even be among the Israelites in the first place because the marriage was an unholy alliance in God’s eyes, she basically took over, had people killed, did wickedly and set up idols all over the place.

1 Kings 16:31-33 states of Ahab:

“And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”

In all of these unholy alliances and unions because God could not bless them, there was no spiritual connection between the parties. The relationships that Samson, Ahab, Solomon, Joiada and so many other Israelites entered into were probably entered into due to the allure of the respective women or men, who may have been beautiful or handsome. There may have been what people call ‘chemistry’ and strong physical attraction. However because one party belonged to God (the light) and the other did not (darkness), nothing beautiful could have ever come out from them joining themselves together in marriage with these people.

In each case, the ungodly persons the Israelites had aligned themselves with not only caused them to breach God’s covenant but it caused them to stop serving him and to become corrupted just like those they had aligned themselves with. This shows that we should never underestimate the power of evil communication and alliance, in undermining our spiritual lives and walk with God.

1 Corinthians 15:33 states: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS – THE OLD TESTAMENT

It appears that the Lord may have made exceptions for some in the Old Testament like Joseph (who married an Egyptian before God gave the instruction to the Israelites years later), Ruth who was a Moabite and yet married Boaz who was an Israelite and Rahab the harlot, who lived with the Israelites when Jericho had been destroyed and it seemed, may have been the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5)

In the case of Ruth and Rahab though, they both acted in faith and turned to the true and living God, so that it may be that, like with Abraham, their faith was counted for righteousness.

GOD’S COMMAND TO CHRISTIANS TODAY – THE NEW TESTAMENT

You’ve probably read all that went before and are asking, how does it apply to me? What are God’s rules to Christians today? Can we marry whoever we please once we love them and have good intentions towards them? Are there any exceptions that can apply?

Well today, God has a covenant with the Church (known as the New Covenant), whereby all those that believe on his Son the Lord Jesus Christ, that he died, rose from the dead and is coming again and confess him with their mouth as Lord, will be saved from the wrath of God that is to befall all those who die or leave this earth outside of Christ Jesus.

Just like he c0nsidered the Israelites to be his chosen people, he considers all of his children today (the Church), to be people that are special and set apart to live holy lives to his glory.

Given that he is the same yesterday, today and forever, he does not change (Malachi 3:6). Just as he expected the Israelites and those he had called to separate themselves from those in the world, he has also called all of his children today, which are those that have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and are therefore Christians, to not align themselves with unbelievers.

In the New Testament, he makes it clear (and without exceptions) that he does not want his Church marrying or entering into business relationships with such persons. Unbelievers are those that do not believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, have not asked him to come into their hearts and save them and are not serving him.

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, (which is in the New Testament) it states of all Christians:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 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.”

Just like in the Old Testament, God means business. When he says for us not to be unequally yoked and for Christians to only marry other Christians, he is not joking. Just like he brought the Israelites down for their disobedience and made them suffer, he does the same for those who are his children today, who decide to disobey.

It doesn’t matter the reason. Even if the man who is in the world and not a Christian is nice, sweet, mannerly, kind and loving, there is no excuse for the Christian who knowingly goes out and aligns herself to that person, whether in a relationship, in fornication, in any form of sexual immorality, in kissing, marriage or otherwise.

Just like with the Israelites, curses, not blessings, will flow from such a decision and that person, although God loves them, will suffer dearly. She will be left with nothing but regret and she must repent of this disobedience, which God regards as treason. For, when a child of God chooses to disobey him and to go after someone that is not saved, she is turning her back on God, breaching the covenant and demonstrating that this man is now her idol because she has elevated him over God.

Many women think foolishly that they can align themselves with men in the world and then bring them to God. I once did. I thought I could invite him to my Church and that he would hear the gospel and be saved. In my folly, I even cried for his unsaved condition, whenever I heard the gospel being preached.

This will not happen. What will happen is that the man will compromise the Christian woman’s standards, turn her heart away from God and lead her down a downward spiral. For some women, they never recover and live a life full of regret. If only I had listened, they think to themselves. If only I had obeyed God, my life would have been different.

If you are a genuine Christian and in any kind of relationship with someone you know is not a Christian or tempted to enter one, my advice to you is to listen to God, repent for your sin and leave that situation, now! For, no good can ever come out of that situation, no matter how hard you try or how hard you want it to work. Whatever God places a curse on is cursed and just like the Israelites who God allowed to be taken captive by their enemies because of their disobedience, you will suffer for your disobedience in excruciating ways. That man will hurt you and God will allow you to go through suffering, heartache and hardships in life because he will remove his hedge of protection from you.

If you have messed up and are sorry for your sin, then go to God now and admit that he was right and you were wrong. Admit that you sinned when you aligned yourself to that man who you idolized and placed above God and that you should have never done so because you knew he was not a Christian to begin with. If you engaged in any sexual sin with this person, also confess this to God and ask him to cleanse you from all of your sin, to restore you and to be merciful to you as you move forward.

1 John 1:9 states: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

You should also find other Christians (ideally more than one) who you can also confess what you have done to, so that the devil does not try to keep you stuck in guilt, shame and fear.

James 5:16 states, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”

God is not obligated to give you the best of the future after what you have done but he will forgive you once you are genuinely sorry, tell him so and turn away from your sins. He may also still decide in his mercy, to give you another chance, by introducing you to one of HIS sons and writing a love story for you that he can bless.

If you obey God, keep yourself from all men that are not Christians and wait on God to send you the man that he wants you to marry, then, provided it is his will, he will send such a man in his own timing, he will bless that union and you will never regret obeying God.

As Joshua stated to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 therefore and because you have the power to choose to obey or disobey God, I say to you now:

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

In summary, what the Bible teaches is that:

God expects and has commanded separation between his people (Christians) and those in the world;
There are no exceptions to this rule today;
Disobedience will definitely lead to destruction and disaster because it removes your hedge of protection and brings a curse;
Being unequally yoked with an unbeliever is another way of saying befriending, fraternizing and even sleeping with the enemy. For, you are giving the devil a foothold through this person to operate in your life;
You are not strong enough to withstand the evil that comes with an unholy alliance;
No matter how nice and attractive a person is anybody who is outside of Christ is still in darkness is controlled by the devil (who hates you) and so he will use them to try to bring you and your testimony down, to kill, steal and destroy your dreams, hopes, vision, aspiration, finances, health, peace of mind, your youth, your opportunity to enter into a healthy and equally yoked relationship with one of God’s sons (because you’re wasting time!) and your future.

I beg you, choose God over that man. Do NOT be unequally yoked with anyone that is not a believer. Choose life, choose blessings, choose health and not death.

(Written on 09th October, 2018)

ADDENDUM

When a Christian obeys the Lord and sticks close to his Word, the Lord promises to go with her and to fight for her in her battles, enabling her, through HIS power, to be victorious. However, if that Christian chooses to disobey, to depart from the Lord and to yoke herself with unbelievers through a relationship, marriage or otherwise, the Lord will no longer enable her to withstand the enemy’s attacks in battle. In short, she will go from doing great exploits and attaining great heights, to failing miserably in life and suffering abysmal defeat.

This was explained clearly in Joshua 23:8-13. Joshua reminded God’s people the Israelites of the great feats that God had helped them to overcome by the power of HIS might and cautioned them to be careful to love their God, to cleave to him and to do all that his Word said to do. In a nutshell, he reminded them that obeying the Lord and remaining separated from the ungodly, led to blessings, power and victory but disobeying and aligning themselves with the ungodly through marriages and otherwise, would lead to curses, weakness and defeat.

Joshua told the Israelites:

“But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: But as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves that ye love the Lord your God. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: KNOW FOR A CERTAINTY that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.”

The same is true today, of God’s people in the Church. It is impossible to be unequally yoked to an unbeliever and to win. For, this involves disregarding God’s Word and is therefore an act of wilful disobedience. God will not help you in your folly and you will find that you have forfeited or given up your blessings. Instead, you foolishly opened the door to curses in your life and as is usually the case, the very person that you chose over God, thinking that it was ‘love’, the enemy may use to wreak havoc in your life.

(Addendum written on 28th May, 2022)

2nd ADDENDUM

On 8th October, 2023, I listened to a Sermon from Vance Havner, where he spoke about the impossibility of there being any kind of union or communion between those who belong to the Lord and those who are unbelievers. He said:

“Light and darkness: You can’t get them together. What communion hath light with darkness? No twilight zones. Black and white have been smudged into indefinite grey now but right is still right and wrong is still wrong and truth and error cannot be reconciled. The same fountain cannot send forth both bitter water and sweet. Two cannot walk together except they be agreed.

The New Testament takes a firm stand against false doctrine and in language utterly foreign to the compromisers today, who want to blend into unfellowship, men who doubt or deny the Word of God with those who believe it.

You can’t mix the Church and the world. What concord hath Christ with Belial?… You’ve heard about the unfinished symphony. This is the impossible symphony. There is no harmony, no concord, between Christ and Belial. What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?…The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And that doesn’t make for amalgamation and togetherness, between the Church and the world.

Jesus said in Matthew 16, I send you forth, not as white sheep among black sheep. I send you as sheep, among wolves...

Evil men are spoken of as wolves, God’s people as sheep, under the Great Shepherd…

There are no other two animals on earth so unalike as wolves and sheep. Opposite ends of the spectrum. The wolf is the symbol of all that’s vicious and violent and rapacious and destructive and the sheep is a figure for all that’s gentle and innocent and peaceful and benign. And there’s no way on earth, to establish peaceful co-existence between wolves and sheep. They’ll lie down together in the Kingdom age and the sheep wouldn’t be inside the wolf but we’ll have to wait ’till then.

There are those who are trying to establish liaison and rapport between the wolves and the sheep, between the Church and the world, evil and good. Some try to smooth out the differences. They say, well the good is not so good and the bad is not so bad. But God sees only the wolves and the sheep, the lost and the saved, the once born and the twice born. That’s the real race issue today and you never hear much about that…The trouble is that most of this world today is run by the once born. That makes it a little rough on the twice born.

The wolves are out to destroy the sheep. The idea that this world is kindly disposed to the Church is a lot of eyewash. The true Shepherd does not invite the wolf into the fold in the hope of establishing communication. He lays down his life for the sheep. It’s about time we got wise as to what we’re up against in this world of darkness, a demonic world masterminded by the devil. Sometimes these wolves wear sheep’s clothing. Matthew 7:15. They creep into pulpits and into Churches and would deceive the very elect if they could. Satan as an agent of light is much more dangerous than Satan as a roaring lion.“

(2nd Addendum written on 8th October, 2023)