This is a very important topic and a repeated theme all throughout the scriptures! And in the Hebrew culture when something is repeated over and over it is because it’s very important and nothing to gloss over. So, before I list the scriptures on this topic I want to say that this message is not intended for those who are already living in unequally yoked marriages, and I do want you to know that I’m praying for your situations collectively that YAHWEH will soften your spouse’s hearts and have them turn to the truth. I know that YAHWEH is in control and make a situation work out for the best despite us getting ahead of him, we all know His power! So again, I’m not here to start a dispute, I’m here to tell the truth as always and to warn others.
We see what happened in Ezra chapters 9 and 10 was not good because of the children of Yisra’el married unbelievers because it was a direct transgression against ELOHIM because they bring a false mighty one into the marriage which is idolatry. YAHWEH says the unbeliever will turn your sons away from Him, why? Because people begin to compromise for the sake of the marriage and will allow an Xmas trees to be put up in their homes which is an idol, celebrate birthdays, or alternate the days of worship and do Shabbat one week and Sunday on the next, they begin to compromise on celebrating other pagan holidays etc. The consequences don’t just fall on the parents, but also on the children, so parents must be mindful of the children being pulled between the truth of Torah and the pagan ways of the world, it is a domino effect.
All I can say is fast and pray to YAHWEH and listen to His voice for He knows everyone’s situation. It is my duty to warn anyone moving forward who is thinking about getting married to someone who is not walking on the path of truth or does not believe in YESHUA!
Galatians 5:17
“For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.”
Do not let the fleshly feeling of wanting to be in a relationship make you compromise the truth of YAHWEH’s word which is contrary to the Spirit.
The commandment
Exodus 34:12-17 (Aramaic)
“Take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land wither you go, lest they become a stumbling block to you. But you must destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their idols. For you shall worship no other mighty one; for YAHWEH whose Name is zealous is a zealous ELOHIM. You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, so that the people may not go astray after their idols and sacrifice to their mighty ones, and they shall invite you, and you shall eat of their sacrifices; and you shall TAKE OF THEIR DAUGHTERS TO YOUR SONS, AND GIVE YOUR DAUGHTERS TO THEIR SONS; AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL GO ASTRAY AFTER THEIR MIGHTY ONES. And their daughters CAUSE YOUR SONS TO GO ASTRAY AFTER THEIR MIGHTY ONES.”
Leviticus 18:21 (Aramaic)
“You shall not let any of your semen be cast into a strange women (pagan/unbeliever) to cause her to be pregnant; neither shall you profane the Name of your ELOHIM; I am YAHWEH.”
Leviticus 20:1-5 (Aramaic)
“And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, say to the children of Yisra’el, anyone man of the children of Yisra’el or of the proselytes who sojourn in Yisra’el who shall cast any of his semen into an alien woman, he shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will pour out My anger against that man and will cut him off from among his people; because he has cast his semen into an alien woman to DEFILE MY SANCTUARY AND TO PROFANE MY SET-APART NAME. And if the people of the land do any way ignore the offense of the man who has cast of his semen into an alien woman, that they may not kill him, then I will set My anger against that man and against his family, and will cut him off and all who go astray after him, because they go astray after alien women from among their people.”
So, we see the that YAHWEH makes this commandment to the native-born and the proselyte the righteous gentile convert who is now considered a native-born Israelite, which means the “alien woman” is a pagan unbeliever who has not joined in with Yisra’el.
Deuteronomy 7:1-4 (Aramaic)
“When YAHWEH your ELOHIM shall bring you into the land which you are entering to possess, and has destroyed many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgasites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves; and when YAHWEH your ELOHIM shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them; then you shall utterly destroy them; and you shall make NO COVENANT WITH THEM, nor show mercy to them, NEITHER SHALL YOU MAKE MARRIAGE WITH THEM; you shall NOT GIVE YOUR DAUGHTERS TO THEIR SONS, NOR TAKE THEIR DAUGHTERS FOR YOUR SONS, THAT THEY MAY NOT TURN AWAY YOUR SONS FROM FOLLOWING ME, and serve other mighty ones; and then the anger of YAHWEH would kindle against you and destroy you quickly.”
Jubilees 30:7-15
“And if there is any man who wishes in Yisra’el to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is OF THE SEED OF THE NATIONS shall surely die, and they shall stone him with stones; for he has worked shame in Yisra’el; and they shall burn the woman with fire, because she has dishonored the name of the house of her father, and she shall be uprooted from Yisra’el. And do not let an adulteress or uncleanness be found in Yisra’el throughout all the days of the generations of the earth, for Yisra’el is set-apart to YAHWEH, and every man who causes defilement shall surely die; they shall stone him with stones. For thus has it been ordained and written in the heavenly tablets regarding all the seed of Yisra’el: he who causes defilement shall surely die, and he shall be stoned with stones. And to this Torah there is no limit of days, and no remission, nor any atonement: but the man who has caused the defilement of his daughter shall be uprooted in the midst of all Yisra’el, because has given of his seed to MOLOCH, and worked profanely so as to cause defilement. And you, Moses, command the children of Yisra’el and exhort them NOT TO GIVE THEIR DAUGHTERS TO THE NATIONS, AND NOT TO TAKE FOR THEIR SONS ANY OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE NATIONS, for this is ABOMINABLE BEFORE YAHWEH. For this reason I have written for you in the words of the Torah all the deeds of the Shekhemites, which they worked against Dinah, and how the sons of Jacob, saying, “We will not give our daughter to a man who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.” And it is a reproach to Yisra’el, to those who live, and to those that take the daughters of the nations; for this is UNCLEAN AND ABOMINABLE TO YISRA’EL. And Yisra’el will not be free from this uncleanness if it has a wife of the daughters of the nations, or has given any of its daughters to a man who is of any of the nations. For there will be a plague upon plague, and curse upon curse, and every judgment and plague and curse will come if he does this thing, or hides his eyes from those who commit uncleanness (Leviticus 20:1-4), or those who defile the set-apart Name, then will the whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this man.”
All the words that YAHWEH spoke are true as we see that Solomon who was the wisest man in the world fell into idolatry because he married foreign women. His actions caused the kingdom of Yisra’el to be split into two kingdoms.
1 Kings 11:1-2 (Aramaic)
“But King Solomon loved many FOREGIN WOMEN, as well as the daughter of Pharoah, women of the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which YAHWEH had said to the children of Yisra’el, YOU SHALL NOT MIX WITH THEM, NEITHER SHALL THEY MIX WITH YOU, LEST THEY TURN AWAY YOUR HEART AFTER THEIR MIGHTY ONES; Solomon clung to these in love, and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives TURNED AWAY HIS HEART. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other their mighty ones; and his heart was not perfect with YAHWEH his ELOHIM, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtaroth the mighty one of the Zidonians, and after Chemosh the mighty one of the Moabites, and after Malcom the mighty one of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of YAHWEH, and went not fully after YAHWEH, as did David his father.”
Nehemiah 13:23-27 (Aramaic)
“In those days I also saw Jews who had married FOREGIN WIVES of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod and in the other half they could not intelligently speak in the Jewish language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them and cursed them and smote some of them and buried them and made the others swear by ELOHIM, saying, YOU SHALL NOT GIVE YOUR DAUGHTERS TO THEIR SONS, NOR TAKE THEIR DAUGHTERS TO YOUR SONS OR FOR YOURSELVES. Solomon king of Yisra’el transgressed by these things. Yet among many nations there was no king LIKE HIM, who was beloved by His ELOHIM, and ELOHIM made him king over all Yisra’el; nevertheless EVEN HIM DID FOREIGN WOMEN CAUSE TO TRANGRESS. And this thing was reported to you, and yet you committed this GREAT EVIL, to transgress against our ELOHIM IN MARRYING FOREIGN WIVES.”
Ezra 9:1-4 (Aramaic)
“Now when these things were completed, the elders came to me, saying, the people of Yisra’el and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, (turned their hearts away from YAHWEH) even the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Ammonites, the Perizzities, the Jebusites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have TAKEN OF THEIR DAUGHTERS FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR THEIR SONS, SO THAT THE SET-APART SEED HAVE MIXED THEMSELVES WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE LANDS; and the hand of the elders and the Levites have been first in this iniquity. And when I heard this thing, I tore my garments and my mantle and pulled the hair out my head and of my beard and sat down speechless. Then all those who were diligent concerning the Word of ELOHIM of Yisra’el, because of the TRANGRESSION OF THE EXILES, assembled before me; and I sat speechless until the ninth hour.”
So, I’m sure someone will say, “So this means we cannot marry foreign women?” That is not what YAHWEH is saying at all, He is saying don’t marry an unbeliever who isn’t following Him; otherwise, they will lead you astray. Ruth was a Moabite and she accepted YAHWEH the true ELOHIM, married Boaz and is in the bloodline of YESHUA!
Ruth 1:16
“And Ruth said to her, far be it from me to return from following after you, and to leave you; for where you go, I will go; and where you dwell, I will dwell; your people shall be my people, and YOUR ELOHIM MY ELOHIM…”
My fellow brothers and sisters as we see there are multiple witnesses concerning the severity of this situation. YAHWEH has called us to be a set-apart people from the rest of the world. We are not to look like them, act like them, nor worship like them. Teach your children the truth and pray for a spouse who is walking in the truth or give them in marriage if possible to someone in the truth. Just do all that you can to prevent this from happening as YAHWEH has commanded us.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (Aramaic)
“Do not unite in marriage with UNBELIEVERS, for what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? Or what mingling has light with darkness? Or what accord has Messiah with Satan? Or what portion has a BELIEVER WITH AN UNBELIEVER? Or what harmony has the temple of ELOHIM with idols? For you are the temple of the living ELOHIM as it is said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their ELOHIM, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be SEPARATE, says YAHWEH, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, said YAHWEH Almighty.”
As always, may YAHWEH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name!