June 24, 2017 | Christian Religion

UNHOLY MARITAL UNION: ABOMINATION TO GOD

By Priestly Bride

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, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (KJV)

I was going to write something about raising godly children, but I was led to write this article. I believe it is for someone.

As a young person in my late teens and early twenties, I wanted to marry someone who I strongly felt loved me so much that it was hard to listen to God to cut off from him.He was not born again. I tried to convince God that I could convert him in the marriage. He was such a nice person that almost no one could see anything wrong in his life. He was smart, humble, intelligent, good and with attractive profession, but not born again. At one point, I thought that he was born again in the University where he was at the time, but would not want to change because of the fear of the parents and relatives who were Catholic, at the time. (I am not inferring that there are no born-again persons in the Catholic especially, Charismatic movements. Any born again child of God in Catholic however, needs to realize that Catholic religious system is set up as a pagan religious system. They mix the true worship of God with idol worship. This displeases God. You will notice the image of Sun god in most of their things including their Eucharistic adoration. It spreads and shines like rays of the sun. It is a symbol of sungod. That is only one of their errors. I will not go into details here since that’s not what we are discussing now.

Continuing with my story, our Church on the other hand, would not acceptany marriage with anyone outside the Church.The Lord revealed Himself to me in this matter, so much so that I saw how jealous He is of us. He was gentle and hard to me. I was breaking His heart. But as a Father, He patiently handled the situation with me until I dropped the relationship, when a friend of mine encouraged me to drop it to be at peace with God. The relationship was not only hurting God, it was hurting my life as I lost my peace and felt lots of pain at the thought of it.In His faithfulness, as He promised me, He supernaturally provided for me in His time, someone that He pre-ordained for me. He is good and His mercy endures forever.

I shared this experience with one of my daughters recently, without the knowledge that she was secretly going through the same struggle. Then she explained to me that it has given her the confidence to share her secret struggles on this matter with me, and to let go until God’s appointed time and person that He ordained for her.

I want to emphasize that there is no marriage relationship between a true child of God and and those who are not in Christ. Paul warned as above:

There is no agreement between the Temple of God and that of Satan. The difference is the Kingdom of darkness and that of light; the kingdom of Heaven and Hell.I often heard Pastor Philip of Grace of God Church in Bladensburg Maryland those days that: there is no meeting point between East and West when both parties are heading to the opposite directions. No matter how fast you run to the West and the other to the East, there is no meeting point between you two.That is very true. There is no agreement or meeting point between a marriage between a believer in Christ and an unbeliever. You cannot marry to convert. It does not happen except under very rare circumstance. Through the Prophet Malachi, the LORD cried out that:

Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts (Malachi 2:11-12 (KJV)

Such marriages are abomination to God. It treats God’s holiness as common, for we are called and set apart as holy people unto God. We are kings and priests unto Him. He therefore, commands us to be holy for He is holy. Only through holiness shall we dwell with Him, and He with us. God does not compromise His holiness. So, any marriage with someone, who is not born again, and to someone whose faith in Christ is not sure, is abomination to God. It profanes His holiness.

The ultimate plan of God for His people is to be united together as one in Christ, which is unity with Himself. In marriage therefore, the couple is joined in one flesh union with each other in Christ. The two are united in Him, as one. Their unity is under the coverage of God, who also is united with them as one. This was the prayer of Jesus Christ, that we be made one and one in Him so that as He is One with the Father, we become one in Him and the Father. By this we share in the Glory of the Father and the Son.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:21-23 (KJV).

So, marriage with an unbeliever is not one flesh. It’s like trying to knit iron and clay together. They will not melt into one another, but will continue to rubbish and consume one another as there is no relationship between light and darkness.

Before the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God warned them never to inter-marry withheathen daughters and sons; but, to kill and wipe off everyone: man, woman and children. He warned them not to make peace treaty with them or have anything to do with them so they would not teach their children their evil ways and so corrupt them.

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 (Deuteronomy 7:2-6 (KJV)

King Solomon, however, who started very well with God, entered marriage treaty with most of the foreign women, which God forbade. They came with their gods and goddesses. King Solomon made groves/shrines for those gods. And so, those foreign (strange) wives turned his heart away from the LORD, when he became old. That was God’s warning, that they would turn their hearts away from Him. The sin of Solomon in turning away from the Lord, caused Him to yank ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel out of the hands of his son Rehoboam, which resulted to the division of the Kingdom of Israel into two Kingdoms: The Southern and the northern Kingdom. He left two tribes as the northern Kingdom because of His faithfulness to His covenant with King David, the covenant which He swore with an oath to give to David sure mercies over the throne of Israel.

King Ahab, one of the Kings of Israel, (the Northern Kingdom), married the daughter of the Zidonian King, Jezebel. She also came with her gods and goddesses, and greatly polluted the land with idol worship, and murdered true prophets of God. As a result, Elijah the Prophet of God pronounced God’s judgment upon the land so that there was neither rain nor dew for three and half years. The people suffered great drought because of lack of rain, which was one of the curses of God upon the people for forsaking Him. After the contest on Mount Camel at the end of the drought, whereby the people saw that the God of Israel was the only true God, Elijah had to render God’s judgment upon the false prophets, killing 950 prophets of Baal and Asherah. God therefore, returned rain upon the land of Israel.

Marriage with unbeliever is not only disastrous to the spiritual wellbeing of God’s people; it will affect the destination of such a person with God. It is abomination in the sight of God. It is so grievous that Ezra mourned greatly when they returned from the exile and found out that most of the people who returned from the exile resumed some of the sins which took them away into captivity, which included unholy marriage with heathen people.

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, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their aughters 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 (Ezra 9:1-4 (KJV).

After mourning before God in prayers, he gathered the people and they made a covenant to separate themselves from foreign wives and to cast them away with the children born through such marriages.

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware (Ezra 10:1-5 (KJV)

Nehemiah also contended with the Jews who did the same thing ((Nehemiah 13:23-25 (KJV)

Someone could say that I am referring to the Old Testament, and that we are in the New Testament. First, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, God’s laws and orders are forever settled in Heaven. The only thing that was made obsolete in the New Testament was the animal sacrifices and temple rituals which were fulfilled in Christ, Who is the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the whole world. Just as the Lord Jesus said: Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one stroke or jot of God’s law will pass away. Paul however, also warned the Corinthian brethren not to yoke themselves with unbelievers. I referenced on this earlier.

It does not matter how much the person loves you, spends money on your behalf, understands you, cares about you or for your loved ones; if he speaks a different language (I mean if He is not a new creature in Christ), he cannot be one flesh with you. The foundation of such marriage would be on a shaky or faulty ground. True marriage is built upon the Rock, Christ; and so, it will survive the storms and winds of life which will always surely come against it. It is only through the Word of God, and through the Blood of Jesus Christ, that any marriage can survive the storms of life. If anyone is not armed with the Word of life, and have the signature of the Blood of Jesus over his/her life, he or she cannot overcome the trials and the tests that come upon the marriages of the people of God, because their faiths in Christ. Every marriage is tried by fire. Your anchor therefore, must be solidly held on the Rock so that your family will continue to live under the canopy of God’s Glory. Your children therefore, shall enjoy the presence and blessings of God over their lives. This will be a great foundation for them to build a successful marriage union with their spouses.

If you are getting married to someone who does not want the marriage to stand on the word, or who avoids prioritizing God in the marriage, you may take a step back to seek the Lord’s face. The Lord Jesus emphasized that the wise man builds his house on the rock, while the foolish builds on the sand. While the former survives all the storms that come against it, the latter does not (Mathew 7:24-27).

Marriage affects one’s destiny with God. God wants to fulfil His good plans for you and your family. Don’t forget that God knit you together in your mother’s womb. Everyone is a written scroll by God, sent to earth to fulfil certain assignments. In such assignments over your life, your parents, your geographical boundaries, your marriage, your children, the people you will meet in life are all written in that scroll. It is only in following God’s order for your life, by continually waiting upon Him for directions or for the revelations of the written scroll/testimonies of your life as it is written in Heaven before you were born, that you will walk and fulfil God’s plan for your life. If however, you make choices by yourself and not according to God’s plan for your life which are only revealed as you wait upon Him for directions for your life, you will make a shipwreck of divine order for your life. Many talents in your life will be dormant and will not reach the right audience (for a man’s talent makes room for him and brings him before great men) with those talents. Many people die prematurely for missing God’s purpose for their lives. The power and provision of God await you on your purpose. You also have an impact to make in life. Wrong marriage will be a great obstacle. So, allow God the Master builder of your life to direct the rudder of your boat. God bless you as you meditate on these and chose to follow His order for your life, amen.

For more information on a successful and blessed marriage union, you can check out my book:

Revisiting the Foundation of Marriage: Embracing Divine Principles for a Successful Marriage