Good Morning.
When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. (Genesis 26:34-35)
When it came time for Isaac to marry, Abraham had sent his servant to find a suitable wife for Isaac because he didn’t want him to marry Canaanite women. Isaac’s impetuous son decided to break that tradition creating “grief of mine to Isaac and Rebekah.” Yet again, Esau demonstrated that he had no regard for what is holy and was not fit to propagate the covenant made with Abraham. He thought nothing of satisfying a physical appetite while desecrating what is holy in the process. The issue is that God’s people were not and are not to mingle with the nations in this manner. Through Moses, God said:
“You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4)
For God’s people to intermarry in this way would constitute mingling what is holy with what is profane. It had nothing to do with race or even culture per se; it had to do with the fact that the people of the land were idolaters. Later, Paul addressed this issue with believers saying:’
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14 28)
Whether the issue is marriage or something else, the point is that we are not to intertwine ourselves with people or situations that would equate to mingling light with darkness. We are not to compromise our faith and testimony by joining ourselves to anything Scripture regards as unclean and potentially wicked. To do so would be synonymous with the Laodiceans who were described as “lukewarm” — a mixture of hot and cold. It is our duty to “come out from among them” that we might be acknowledged by our Heavenly Father as His sons and daughters. Let us be true to Him and remain unfettered by the “daughters of the land.”
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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