BACKGROUND

It is written in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15,

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?”

If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ and considering getting married, you must first truly understand the kingdom to which you belong and its incompatibility with evil and the things that belong to Satan and his kingdom, as it is written:

“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” – Colossians 1: 3-14

Please be aware of the truth - there are only two spiritual kingdoms and they are at war with each other.

TWO KINGDOMS AT WAR

When the Word of God - by and through whom all things were made - was manifested in the flesh as Jesus Christ on the earth, He clearly spoke of the distinct demarcation between the two kingdoms and the enmity that exists between them, as it is written:

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." - John 15:18-19.

The existence of the distinct demarcation between the two opposing kingdoms and their inhabitants are again emphasized in the Book of Revelation, as it is written:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." - Matthew 25:31-35

All Christians who are faced with the decision to marry must first determine if the one in whom they are interested is "a sheep" or "a goat". It is imperative that a determination is made whether the one in whom they are interested is "a child of the kingdom of light" or "a child of the kingdom of darkness". They must be guided by the Holy Scriptures, as it is written:

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?” - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

Again, we are cautioned, as it is written,

"Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" - Amos 3:3.

AN ENMITY IN DIVISION ESTABLISHED BY THE CREATOR

This strict demarcation between the two kingdoms and their children was established by the Creator when sin first occurred on the earth and when He cursed the source of its occurrence (Satan who was formerly the archangel Lucifer), as it is written:

"So, the Lord God said to the serpent:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” – Genesis 3:14a, 15

This enmity spoken of in the aforementioned scripture is that which weaves throughout the Holy Scriptures... there are two kingdoms on the earth and those two kingdoms have their own "children" - two groups of people symbolized by the "sheep" and "goats". Satan's kingdom - the kingdom of darkness - has its own "children" referred to by Jesus Christ as the "goats" and the kingdom of the Almighty God - the kingdom of light - has its own "children" referred to by Jesus Christ as the "sheep".

The "woman" in the aforementioned scripture symbolizes the chosen nation of the Hebrews/Israelites (the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) in the Old Testament and as the "Church" in the New Testament. It should be noted that "the Church" in the New Testament is the expansion of the Old Testament "woman" to include the Gentiles who by faith in Jesus Christ are adopted into that "nation" - the "woman" in the Old Testament.

Here is the truth that each of us should truly understand because it is critical to our salvation in Jesus Christ:

There are ONLY two kingdoms.

• The kingdom of light, which is the Kingdom of God.

• The kingdom of darkness, which is the kingdom of the devil.

There are ONLY two sets of children:

• There are the children of the "woman".

• There are the children of the "serpent".

There are ONLY two sets of children:

• There are the children of God.

• There are the children of the devil.

There are ONLY two sets of children:

• There are the children of the kingdom of light.

• There are the children of the kingdom of darkness.

There are ONLY two sets of people:

• There are the sheep.

• There are the goats.

Now, if you are a "child of God" - a child of the kingdom of light - WHY would you choose to marry a child of the devil - a child of the kingdom of darkness? Why? How can a child of the light live with a child of darkness? How can a child of God live with a child of the devil? How and why would a true child of God choose to marry a child of the devil?

Again, we are cautioned, as it is written in Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"

AN HISTORICAL EXAMPLE FOR GUIDANCE

The Most High's requirement that marriage for His people be restricted to a choice of mate within His people runs as a common thread throughout the fabric of the Holy Scriptures - from the Old Testament to the New Testament. In the Old Testament, when He delivered His people from the mighty Egyptians and was about to take them into the Promised Land, He issued this warning to them:

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, 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 you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” - Deuteronomy 7:1-6

There is an important historical example given to us in the Old Testament that emphasizes the restriction of marriage choice. This event occurred when the Israelites who lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah (the "Jews") returned to rebuild the temple after being freed from Babylonian captivity by the decree of King Cyrus. Upon their return from captivity, the Prophet Ezra was informed that some of the Jewish men had married to and had children with pagan women in disobedience to the Most High's command, as it is written:

“When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.”

So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.” – Ezra 9:1-4

Two remediation actions were taken to rectify the wrong of marrying pagan spouses and having children with them.

Remediation Action #1

The prophet Ezra, fasted, rend his garments in extreme grief, mourned for the unfaithfulness of the people, confessed the sin of the improper marriages, and appealed to the Most High for forgiveness. (See Ezra 9:5-15)

Remediation Action #2

The Jews were required to confess their sin and leave their pagan wives and children and return to the people of God, as it is written:

“Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra,

“We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it."

Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to this word. So they swore an oath. Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.

And they issued a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the captivity, that they must gather at Jerusalem, and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the instructions of the leaders and elders, all his property would be confiscated, and he himself would be separated from the assembly of those from the captivity.

So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open square of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of heavy rain. Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have transgressed and have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of Israel. Now therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers, and do His will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the pagan wives.”

Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, “Yes! As you have said, so we must do.” - Ezra 10:1-12

AN AGELESS MARRIAGE PRINCIPLE FOR GOD'S CHILDREN

The Almighty God's requirement that His people, when deciding to marry, must restrict their choice of a mate to those who belong to Him is echoed again in the New Testament. (It should be noted that when a married nonbeliever becomes a child of God, there are other principles that are applicable.) No where is it more strictly and clearly stated as in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18,

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Therefore, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.””

Whom does the Almighty God requires a believer to marry?

It is simple. It is clear. God wants His sons and daughters to marry each other.