Joshua
23: 12-13 "For if you ever go back and cling
to the rest of these nations...and
intermarry...know that God will not continue
to drive these nations out..."
The taking of the Promised Land for Israel
could and would only be sustained as each
generation chose to follow the Lord and to
be careful to marry those of like faith and
practice. We often think that people fall
into idolatry and doctrinal error because
they are persuaded by intellectual
arguments. But often they move away from the
faith because they fall in love with someone
of a different faith. Joshua was warning
Israel to be very careful in their
relationship with God.
One of the most important ways to help
maintain this commitment was to marry "A
believer." We literally lose our grip on our
faith when we allow our heart to be directed
and affected by who we choose as our
life-mate, rather than who is our Lord! The
enemy knows that most people are not
offended or bothered about the spiritual
component in a relationship as they should
be, but they should be! No Christian
who is serious about being married should
ever be serious about anyone who is not a
devoted follower of Jesus Christ. If a
prospective mate is not following Christ, it
doesn"t matter if they are
beautiful/handsome, intelligent,
educated, and wealthy or have a wonderful
personality, because these are not the
things to build a marriage upon.
The words of Joshua should be understood and
heeded with great intentionality. Marrying
an unbeliever will weaken the believers
resolve to seek the Lord because their
spouse does not believe the same things.
When their children come along it will be
obvious that the parents have a different
set of values, especially in regard to going
to church, reading the Bible, and serving
the Lord. When one spouse has the
"backing" of the world system it makes the
believer's responsibility for giving
spiritual direction to his/her family
extremely difficult! After a while they will
become discouraged to the point that they no
longer try. Those who take their faith
seriously also take the counsel of Joshua to
Israel concerning marriage seriously.
Every believer should and must marry those
who follow Jesus Christ, PERIOD!
In Christ,
Tommy Middleton
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