Foreign wives are (men or women) you marry without God’s permission
What I am about to discuss with you is strong meat. You should pray and ask God if He wants you to know these things before you read further.
God says,
“And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange (foreign) wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.”
Ezra 10: 10-12
A holy people
The people of Israel were a holy people. Holy, in this case, meant separated people who God chose to manifest Himself to all the nations of the earth. After their captivity in Babylon the children of Israel came back to rebuilt Jerusalem. However it is written,
“Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.”
Ezra 9:1-3
Highly distressed
Ezra was beside himself. Ezra could not believe that the children of Israel, upon being delivered from Babylon, had intermarried with the daughters of the idolatrous nations around them. A holy people had married foreign wives. Ultimately, in order to prevent Israel from falling into idolatry again they had to “put away” all those they had married from outside the covenant of Israel.
This was a BIG deal and is covered during two complete chapters of the book of Ezra. By contrast, the whole history of the world before the flood only got eight. In order to do the will of God the children of Israel could not allow themselves to be exposed to the idolatrous practices of the people around them by marrying foreign wives. Even Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived fell to this same temptation.
God says,
“But king Solomon loved many strange (foreign) women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto 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 gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lordhis God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.”
1 Kings 11: 1-5
The scripture also states,
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
2 Corinthians 6:14
What is true marriage?
There is much confusion about marriage in the Christian church. In fact, I believe that, for many believers, marriage has become an idol before God in their lives. Many believe that once they have chosen a mate they are bound to that mate for life no matter what the circumstances of that marriage. The say, “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
Thus, not matter what the origin of their union even if it was a marriage in the “Chapel of Love” in Las Vegas during a drinking binge, once they are saved they believe they are bound to that mate for life.
Here is a truth,
“Has God joined your together with you mate? If not, why do you believe it is His will that you be together?”
Here is a very hard saying,
“Very, very few marriages are joined together by God.”
The truth is, the very few people are joined together by God because they did not allow God you unite them in the first place. If God is not allowed to choose your mate He is not bound to honor your marriage if it is not done according to His will. In effect you have married a foreign wives. Many have the mistaken notion that if they “sleep” with someone they are now bound by God to that person forever. If this were true then there would be many in our churches that our bound to multiple people simply because of sin. Moreover, people think that if they were married in any type of civil ceremony that God has to automatically honor that contract and treat them as man and wife. That is simply not so.
What God hath joined together
God honors what He joins together and not necessarily what man joins together. It is not that God will not work with what you have done especially if it was done before you came to know Him. However, if what you have done does not or cannot line up with His will in Then He does not feel bound by what you have done not matter what you said before a priest or minister. Here is a truth,
“Just like God did not feel bound to honor the marriages of the Israelites to the daughters of idolatrous nations, because it would derail his plan for His people, God does not feel bound to honor our errant decisions if it will derail His plans for our lives.”
The hard truth is that mistakes that you have made during the time before you knew God or even after you knew God cannot be allowed to frustrate the will of your Father. When it comes to marriage either both of you will have to submit yourselves to God and do his will or God will not honor your marriage. Our Father may separate you from a unbelieving spouse if they are set against Him.
Darkness cannot exist where there is light
In truth, nothing that is corrupt, not even your marriage, can exist in the presence of our Father. When the Spirit of God is moving among His people everything that is not of him must change for the better or go. Sickness cannot stand in the presence of the Spirit of God. Even death cannot stand in the presence of God. Why then should foreign wives (marriages) made against His will stand in the presence of Almighty God either?
One facet of the Tabernacle experience is separation from foreign wives. There is no other way I can put it than that. There is an idol in the Christian church and it is the belief that people must stay married no matter what. However, God does not see it that way. If you made a rash vow as to your mate and you come into the presence of God, your marriage may simply be dissolved by our Heavenly Father. It will not be mean or even necessarily hurtful, but as you walk closer to the light those foreign wives (man or woman) will simply cease to exist and you will go your separate ways. In other words, if God has not joined you together you may be simply put asunder.
A lot in God’s kingdom is riding on whom you marry
Why is this? What could God possibly gain by breaking up marriages? People who are reading this may be feeling all kinds of emotions right about now because I am touching upon a demonic strong holds in their lives. They know that they do not love their mate and may even not be wanting to stay married to their mate, nevertheless, they have stuck it out all these years because they were taught that they must do so in order to be a “good” Christian.
It is true that God hates divorce but, in reality, God hates something even more: foreign wives. If your rash vow causes His will to be frustrated God is perfectly willing to set things straight in your life (just like He did in the book of Ezra). The closer you approach God the more this is true. As an example, there comes a time that even lying to the Holy Spirit can be a death sentence.
It is written,
“But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.”
Act 5: 3-5
God is a holy, and though the blood of Jesus allows us to approach Him we still need to be mindful that He is perfect and therefore as we draw near all the imperfections we have will have to be gone.
The dogma of marriage is a sacred cow
This is one of the biggest sacred cows of Christianity. It is also one of its most hypocritical doctrines. Some say that the divorce rate in Christianity even exceeds that of those who do not believe. Yet, most preach and teach that the doctrine of marriage is absolute. Many clergy say that once a marriage is entered into, for whatever reason, it cannot be broken without committing sin. This is error and legalism, and in some instances is literally damning people to hell.
Divine love will, like everything else, bring the doctrine and practice of marriage into alignment with God. If you marriage is weighed in the balance and found wanting then the hand writing will be on the wall for you to plainly read. God decides if your marriage is acceptable. If not, God will lead you to divorce.
One of the main causes of the Great Apostasy
Oddly, those who married foreign wives will reject Tabernacles simply because their faulty marriage is at risk. Even though God make commands them to put away unsanctioned unions, instead of submitting to the Holy Spirit, they will reject His will and call it of the Devil. These will become vicious and vindictive persecutors of the brethren who allow the fury of hell to manifest through them to all those who, by faith, divorce their foreign wives.
Put away your foreign wives
In conclusion, when God is moving we have to follow His will not matter what. Having strayed from God’s foreordained path we may be required to leave our foreign wives to return to His will. Having built lives upon things that are not God’s will that, when we give them up, there’s not much left. However, it’s better to enter the kingdom as a pauper rather than pass through the gates of hell as a rich man.
Finally, divorce is never a light issue with God. God will not break your marriage unless He feels it is necessary. Frankly, not many people are walking close enough to God to hear correctly in such an important matter. I say this is yet for an appointed time for many to whom this pertains. Remember, you must have clear direction from God to make such a serious step. Divine Divorce is not something you should ever do because of frustration or dissatisfaction with your mate. Unless God Himself gives you permission don’t do it.
Be wise as serpents, harmless as doves
One danger of sharing this truth is it gives sinners the opportunity to use it unwisely. You must be led by His Spirit and do nothing of this magnitude until you do. When and if you know the clear course of action then proceed. At that time know that you stand before God and not before man.
Lyrics to
“Make Us One”
by Cindy Morgan
I learned this lesson the hard way. God will break apart unholy alliances. I fought to the bitter end to uphold the sacred cow you speak of here. When I found out the truth in what I had done the separation was a terrible thing at first but later I learned the gift I received. I truly found another sacred cow when the truth about monogamy in marriage was exposed. These two concepts changed everything about the marriage relationship that I understand and now God as blessed me beyond measure to recover what I have lost.
Dear Curtis,
Praise God. That is wonderful.
God bless,
Michael
Dear All,
Divorce in the church is like the silent crime. Everyone knows about it, most people dispise it, but many do it. We actually pretend like it matters when it really doesn’t. People who divorce simply remian in the church or switch to other churches. We are all taught that it is wrong but, in truth, our actions speak louder than our words.
The truth of the matter is that the doctrine we are taught is in error. The basic concept of holy matrimony is flawed. The fundimental error is to assume it is holy martimony in the first place when we enter into relationships without God’s permission. Only after we admit that we have married unwisely can we begin to see the truth of the matter.
Blessings,
Michael