Cairo: Jesus in Egypt & God's Unusual Leaning
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
I’ll never forget the day a Christian woman in our church asked me to perform her wedding ceremony. After some conversation, I discovered her fiance wasn’t a Christian.
(Photo by gcardinal from Norway, CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
“Why would you marry an unbeliever,” I asked her, “when God’s Word says you can’t?”
“Well, I prayed about it,” she answered, “and I feel like it’s okay.”
“You didn’t need to pray. You can be certain it isn’t God’s will.”
It was a short conversation.
God’s will for you will never contradict God’s Word. You don’t even need to pray about it. (Tweet that.)
Marriage has a tremendous influence on the spiritual life.
In the Old Testament, God regularly warned His people against intermarriage with foreigners: “For they will turn your sons away from following Me” (Deuteronomy 7:4; see also Exodus 34:12–17). And because the kings of Israel would lead by example, the Lord prohibited them from marrying wives who would turn their hearts away from a relationship with God (Deuteronomy 17:17).
God had nothing against foreigners per se, but often a foreign spouse brought along a belief in a foreign god.
King Solomon literally wrote the book on wisdom. And yet, he behaved so foolishly in the realm of matrimony! How? It started with a small compromise: “Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt” (1 Kings 3:1).
Solomon’s marriage to an unbeliever was an attempt to buy national security for the price of a wedding.
This small sin opened a crack in Solomon’s heart that eventually divided it. Eight chapters later we read what seems inconceivable:
Solomon had “seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away” (1 Kings 11:3).
That wasn’t a typo. Just do the math: 700 + 300 = 1000 women.
(Hill of Evil Counsel, where Solomon built shrines for his wives’ gods. Courtesy of Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Solomon never started out to worship pagan gods. But the crack that divided Solomon’s heart would ultimately divide his nation, destroy God’s temple, and deport the Hebrews into exile (Nehemiah 13:26).
And it all began with a marriage to a foreign woman . . . that led to more unbelieving wives . . . and then to a divided relationship with God.
God’s standards haven’t changed for Christians.
God knows that a spouse can influence the heart of his or her mate. His commands are given for our good.
Tell me what you think: If you’re married, what ways have you found to encourage the spiritual life of your spouse? To leave a comment, just click here.
Adapted from Wayne Stiles, “The Wives of Solomon: Turning the Heart of a Spouse,” The Wise and the Wild: 30 Devotions on Women of the Bible (IFL Publishing House: Plano, TX, 2010), 55-56.
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