I’m excited about today’s post… here are some new women who are not heroes. Like Lot’s Wife they are examples of what we should steer clear of. I’m grateful for these stories because we can learn so much from them.  I hope you learn something new from this post. If you do please leave a comment below! I would love to connect with you and thank you personally for checking out Superstarnat.com.

DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED!

Genesis 26: 34 Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

In Genesis 26 we meet two women who enter Rebekah’s life as her daughters-in-law. Both of them are Hittite women. Their race possess a huge problem! You see back in chapter 24 when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, he gave him ONE rule…. NO CANAANITE women! (Genesis 24:3)
Unfortunately, Esau overlooked his grandfather’s instruction. He married two, not one, but two Hittite women.
Now why is this such a big deal? Is it really about race or about blessing?
To fully understand Isaac and Rebekah’s distress we need to have a short history lesson. Operative word being short.  

I’ll take you back a few generations to Noah’s sons. There were three of them: Ham, Shem and Japheth. Genesis 9:22 says, “Ham, the father of Canaan…” This is a prelude to what is about to go down in verse 25 where Noah says, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” Noah was upset with Ham for having dishonored him. Turn the page and check out Genesis 10 where in verses 6 – 20 we learn that Ham has a son named Canaan and that from Canaan came the clan of the Hittites. In Genesis 11:10-32 we learn that Abraham is a descendant of Shem. Now remember that Noah cursed Ham’s descendants and declared that they would be slaves to Shem’s descendants. Later in chapters 12 and 13 we see the Lord called Abraham out of his father’s land to go to a land the Lord promised to give him. Abraham ends up settling his family in the land of Canaan which the Lord promised would one day be his (his descendants). In the last part of Genesis 21 verse 12 God, while speaking to Abraham, declares that Isaac is the son through which his nations will be counted. “…because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.“ To help clarify the point I’ve been leading up to I want to share this line from Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, “The covenant seed of Abraham must be a people by themselves, not mingled with those who were out of covenant”.

To bring it all full circle in chapter 26 Isaac and Rebekah are filled with grief by Esau’s decision to marry women who are out of God’s blessing due to Noah’s curse over the Canaanites. He has disqualified himself from the blessing through this union.

Now how does Judith and Basemath relate to you and me?
When I first read this passage for this blog post the first thing that came to mind was, UNEQUALLY YOKED! Yup! I went there!

I really do not believe that Abraham was racist or prejudice against the Canaanites. I firmly and strongly believe that he was looking out for his descendants. For the generations to come. He wanted to make sure that the blessing was not tarnished. Ensuring that Isaac married from his own tribe to maintain the blessing.
The same goes for you and me. We are to maintain our blessing! We must also marry within our own tribe… Christianity. Judith and Basemath represent the world and those who live outside of God’s will. As Christians we are responsible to protect ourselves from being pulled into the world.

A friend gave me this illustration and I thought it made perfect sense.
Imagine that you are standing on a chair. What’s easier? For you to pull someone up onto the chair next to you or for the person standing on the ground to pull you down to their level?

That’s us. We are standing on a chair in our Christianity. Mingling romantically with those outside of Christianity is the same as extending our arm to be pulled down from our chair and back into the world.
Remember we are living in this world but we are not of it. [Hebrews 13:14]
Let’s be smarter than Esau. Let’s not scorn our blessing of salvation. Let’s protect it instead by keeping our romantic relationships within God’s boundaries. Do not be unequally yoked was His command!

My Prayer for You:
Heavenly Father, please give us wisdom. Please grant us the discernment to know when we are extending our hand to someone who can pull us away from you. Please keep us drawn in close to you that we may be lights shining on a hill instead of lamps hidden under a table. I pray that we may trust you to lead us in the correct path. That in singleness we may trust you and wait on. I pray that even if we are not single that we may learn to solely depend on you and not attempt to take things into our hands. Remind us that you are sovereign and do not need our help. We  love you and thank you for your goodness. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:14
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

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