Ezra 9:1-4 – Do not be unequally yoked

Stipulated in the covenant God had with the Israelites He told them precisely not to indulge in a mixed marriage with foreigners. This was exactly what God said to them Deuteronomy 7:1-4. “When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it and clears away 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 stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”

Now among the Jews that had returned from exile, intermarry with foreigners was widespread. In Ezra 9:1-2, Ezra was approached by some of the princes reporting that “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, those 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 for their sons so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.”

These people had clearly violated what God through Moses had stipulated. Even religious leaders who should have known better had broken this commandment. When it was told Ezra, he was distressed. Narrating in the first person, Ezra said, in verse 3, “I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled.” He was astonished as did every one of those who had a wholesome fear for the Word of God. They came gathered to him on account of the exiles’ unfaithfulness. They were sad and bewildered by how lightly and casually the people regarded God’s instruction.

Here is the call not to be unequally yoked in marriage. God’s concern has always been that believers would be wrongly influenced and apostatized. He knew that one’s unbelieving spouse has the capacity to influence a believer to compromise on his or her relationship with God. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul’s instruction question is still very relevant today. When seeking a life partner, the pertinent question is still, “…for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? If we are looking for a life partner or counseling someone looking for a life partner remember that it is wiser to marry someone who is also committed to the LORD Jesus.