Deuteronomy 7:3–4

These were the instructions Jehovah gave to His people. They were clear and explicit. No mercy for the Canaanites, no covenant with them, no union, no fellowship of any kind; unsparing judgement, intense separation.

Solomon was openly disobeying God. God had said to His people: "You shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in to you." There was a double prohibition. We are in danger of going to the world or of letting it come in to us. Perhaps the latter possibility is even more dangerous than the first... Little by little it works its way into our homes and into our lives. Often, when we open our eyes to the danger, it is already too late.

God stated the inevitable consequences of disobedience in this respect: "they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods, then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you." Here there is no suggestion that a God-fearing husband or wife might win an ungodly partner for the truth. The very opposite result is sure.

Why were the people to keep the sharpest separation from the Canaanites? Why refuse firmly to make any covenant or form any marriage with them?... Simply because they were a holy people. And who had made them a holy people? Jehovah. He had chosen them and set His love on them. He had redeemed them, and separated them to Himself. So it was His right to say what they were to be, and how they were to act. "Be holy, for I am holy."

The command to the nation of Israel at the very beginning was to keep the way of the Lord very carefully as to marriage. If they failed here, the Lord would no longer own them as His (Joshua 23). In line with this, Solomon's days of turning from God show disobedience in this very thing (1 Kings 11). Afterwards, no real recovery to God could happen without a return to this principle in their marriages (Ezra 10; Neh. 10).

The two sons are dragged down to Moab with their parents. They marry Moabite women, and Jehovah puts them to death according to His word (Deut. 7:3-4). If Christian parents depart from God in heart, the effect on their children is disastrous. We never fall without dragging down others with us.

Abraham keeps the way of the Lord in this matter. He sends a special mission to a distant land to get a wife "in the Lord" for his son. Isaac waits for the result with patience, and looks for no marriage among the people close at hand. He might have got a daughter of Canaan; but he endured.

All Scripture has consistently warned against such mixtures. On this question, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 is clear and decided: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." If an Israelite had to avoid a yoke with a Gentile, how much more should a believer today form no bond with an unbeliever.

The most intimate and permanent yoke that the world knows is that of marriage... A believer may yoke himself with an unbeliever by a business partnership... But at least he can get out of it in time, even if at financial loss to himself. But marriage he cannot get out of except by death — his own or his partner's.

Bad as it is for a believer to marry an unbeliever, God does not even then say, Come out from the relationship; leave your wife; part from your husband.

Israel was to carry out God's judgment on these utterly corrupt peoples. Wiping them out was meant to do Israel good. It would have stopped them marrying the daughters of these peoples. Such marriages were the surest way to catch the infection of their awful idol worship. Their later history shows what this failure cost. It largely accounted for their constant dabbling in idolatry. In the end it brought their own judgment and scattering under the Assyrians and Babylonians. They failed to judge and destroy the evil completely, so they caught its infection and fell under its power.

The principle laid down here is of the very weightiest kind. Why were the people to keep the most marked separation from the Canaanites? Why were they to refuse, with firm decision, to make any covenant or form any marriage alliance with them? Why were they to pull down their altars, break their images, and cut down their sacred groves? Simply because they were a holy people. And who had made them a holy people? Jehovah. He had chosen them and set His love on them. He had redeemed them and set them apart for Himself. So it was His right to say what they were to be and how they were to act. "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Here there is no hint that a God-fearing husband or wife might win an ungodly partner for the truth. The very opposite result is certain. A woman's influence over a man is great. So it is of the greatest importance that God Himself matches everyone who knows Him. A marriage made in defiance of the Word has ruined many a man besides Ahab.

From the very beginning God commanded Israel to keep His way carefully in the matter of marriage. On no account were they to give their daughters to Canaanite sons. On no account were they to take Canaanite daughters for their sons (Deut. 7:3). If they did, the Lord would no longer own them as His (Joshua 23). In line with this, Solomon's days of turning from God show disobedience in this very thing (1 Kings 11). Afterwards no real recovery to God came without a return to this principle in their marriages (Ezra 10; Neh. 10).

God plainly forbids marriage with these enemies (v.4). The foreign husband or wife would draw the Israelite into serving idols. All Scripture has always warned against such mixtures. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 is clear and decided on this question: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." If an Israelite had to avoid a yoke with a Gentile, how much more must a believer today form no bond with an unbeliever. This is God's Word. It is enough for every obedient heart. But if someone disobeys, he can expect painful consequences.

The nations Israel was mixing with were demon worshipers. So God had flatly forbidden any marriage with them. Believers today are not under such a law. Scripture still tells them, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers" (2 Cor. 6:14). If they disobey it, Scripture does not tell them to put the unbeliever away. It says instead, "the wife should not separate from her husband" (1 Cor. 7:10)... Today a believer who marries an unbeliever does not escape the painful results of this disobedience. He must learn them by experience.