Hello friends! In the previous episodes of this program we have discussed about the unequal yoke issue for different levels. We have also heard some advice on how to help and support our sisters and brothers who are currently facing this challenge. Now we all know of the possible consequences of unequally yoked marriages, so how should we keep them in our prayers?

Today we are looking for some guidance from the bible. The Scriptures make clear of God’s care for such individuals and laid down instructions to protect and to provide for them. There are a few you may read as reference such as Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 24:19–21 and Proverbs 15:25. Should not the church do the same? By prayer, through friendship and in practical ways, we can show grace, thus making the unequal yoke easier to bear and, God willing, turning it into an equal one. To help us in our intercession, consider the following templates for earnest prayer:

For young Christians looking forward to finding a life partner, pray for God to prepare their hearts.

Lord, we pray for those looking for life-partners. May You grant them discernment and wisdom in their choice. Help them to see beyond the outward and temporal to what is inward and eternal. May they place the matters of faith above their emotions, for what we believe is more important than how we feel. In their choosing, give them courage to turn away from that which displeases You and pursue only what You will bless.

For those Christians already in a stable relationship with non-Christians and ready to get married, we pray that the Lord touch the believer’s heart and attract the other to come to Him.

Lord, we pray for those already in an unequal yoke and preparing for marriage. We ask that the believing partner will continue to believe in and work towards the equal yoke. We know that Your Holy Spirit can change the heart, even the most hardened one. And we pray for the unbelieving partner. May the marriage solemnisation stir in his (or her) heart solemn thoughts about their new chapter of life which is best embarked upon with a common faith. Lord turn his (or her) heart towards You.

Also for those who have been suffering for years in unequal yoke marriages, we pray for a strong heart for the Christian partner and power from God to help.

Lord, we pray for those already married and facing the challenges of the unequal yoke. Grant them faith to continue believing and patience to continue waiting. May they have wisdom to know what to do in each situation and grace to live out a life that reflects Your love and power. We take comfort and courage from what You have done and can do in such marriages. Help us to persevere in our prayers and find opportunities to draw them into our fellowship, looking forward to the day when both partners will meet at the cross and walk the same path from there.

No matter in which stage, we have our faith based on promise from God. He is always there to listen and help in His way.

Dear friends, now we know how to keep our church members and family in prayer for unequal yoke issue. Would you like to learn more about how the early Christians and churches looked at this issue? Let’s review from the time of Paul and the Corinthian Church.

Paul warned the Corinthian church against the unequal yoke in the oft-quoted verse in his second letter to them: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 6:14. He went on to illustrate with five sets of incompatible things: Righteousness and wickedness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, believer and unbeliever and the temple of God and idols. The word translated “unequally yoked” is a rare word in biblical literature, being found only here in the New Testament and only once in the Old Testament: “Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together” in Deuteronomy 22:10. The practical wisdom behind such a prohibition is obvious: Animals of different heights and temperaments are unlikely to cooperate and get the work done. There is nothing moral or immoral about it—just common sense. However, this prohibition is sandwiched between two injunctions of less obvious value: ‘Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard… ’ and ‘Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.’ Here, the value appears to be more symbolic than practical or moral.

Matthew Henry concedes:

There appears not anything at all of moral evil in these things, and therefore we now make no conscience of sowing wheat and rye together, ploughing with horses and oxen together, and of wearing linsey-woolsey garments…

Another commentator gives the prohibitions some value and proposes that ‘an apparently innocuous act becomes filled with spiritual significance as a paradigm of behavior’. One more prohibition, similar in nature, comes to mind: “Do not mate different kinds of animals” in Leviticus 19:19. Such crossbreeding of species is unnatural and untenable—so a lion and a tiger may produce a liger but it would be sterile. The lineage stops there; it is not meant to be. If so, the idea of ‘mating’ between different species underlines how intimate and compromising the yoking must be seen to be. No wonder readers apply the prohibition naturally to marriage. Whatever it is that Paul has in mind as the rationale, he clearly speaks against an unequal yoke. William Barclay surmises that the apostle may be addressing Corinthian believers who felt obliged to join trade guilds, participate in public events or offer incense—all in homage to some gods or Caesar. But is the marriage between a believer and an unbeliever not a marriage in the eyes of God? Does God recognise such marriages as legitimate or are they sinful and illegitimate? Writing to the Corinthian church, Paul addresses the issue of believers already married to unbelievers. His counsel to them is:

If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. (1 Corinthians 7:12–13)

The reason Paul gives for this is found in the next verse:

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. (1 Corinthians 7:14)

While the apostle would object to a believer marrying an unbeliever, he appears to accept a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever if it had already been contracted. He encourages the believing partner to keep the marriage as he or she would ‘sanctify’ the unbelieving partner as well as their children. Obviously, it does not mean that the unbeliever automatically becomes a believer on account of the believer’s faith. How the unbeliever becomes ‘holy’ and ‘sanctified’ has been the subject of considerable analysis. Two points are helpful to note: Firstly, the purpose of Paul’s words is to allay the fears of the believing partner and secondly, to turn those fears into hope that not all is lost for a marriage already contracted. Such is the position of John Calvin:

The godliness of the one does more to sanctify the marriage than the ungodliness of the other to make it unclean. Accordingly a believer can live with an unbeliever—not in the contracting of marriages but in maintaining those already entered into—with a clear conscience.

How do you have a better expression about the unequal yoke issue? Traced back to the age of Paul and even Old Testament, it gradually appeared. We are reminded to be alert about it, but also accept the unbelieving partner with caring and love.

Dear friends, we always encourage Christians to be supportive and to help those in need. Especially for those in unequal yoke marriages, we need to encourage and support them to stand firm in their faith. But there are also other cases when the unequal yoke finally needs to be stopped.

When would be a proper time to make such decision? And, what if it’s already a stable and long-term relationship? We shall discuss this in the next episode. Please come and listen to our next episode this Thursday. Stay tune and good bye!

圍繞我 You Surround Me

詞，曲: 張恆恩 Brook Chang © 2017 Stream of Praise Music / BMI. CCLI #2351995 讚美之泉版權所有

https://youtu.be/ZzjucjDQQDY