Whenever you see a carriage or a wagon being pulled by animals, you will always see that it is pulled by two or more of the same type of animal. Carriages used in historical reenactments or romantic rides around a downtown area will always have a pair of horses. Wagons on farms will use a pair of horses, or perhaps oxen. You never see a horse and a cow, or a donkey and an ox harnessed together. Why? The horse wants to go, but the cow wants to stay and eat grass. The donkey wants to go this way, but the ox another way. Their desires are different. They are unequally yoked. In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul speaks about the dangers of believers being unequally yoked. Let’s take a look at what God’s Word says.
This is one passage of Scripture that some people do not like to hear, and will often toss aside. However, it is in God’s Word, and should be heeded. As our passage opens, God tells us that as believers, we should not be “yoked together” with unbelievers (vs. 14). Being “yoked” has the idea of being joined together and united as one. God tells us here not to be bound to unbelievers, either in marriage or in business partnerships, or even in very close “best friend” friendships. We are to show the unbelievers love, kindness, and concern, but they should never be our closest of relationships.
We have several tragic examples in the Old Testament of a believer who made the mistake of being unequally yoked. One example was with godly King Jehoshaphat of Judah who made a bad alliance with the evil, ungodly King Ahab of Israel (II Chronicles 18:28-19:3). This alliance did not turn out well. God sent one of His prophets to sternly reprimand King Jehoshaphat. The prophet, speaking for God, said “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you.” Another example was with King Solomon. He married pagan women, women who did not believe or worship Yahweh. These women turned his heart away from God, and led to the eventual destruction of the people (I Kings 11:1-13). Helping people in need is godly, but making unwise alliances, business partnerships, and even marriage will prove disastrous.
Why is this so important for believers? Quite frequently an unbelieving spouse will slowly (and sometimes not that slowly) draw the believer away from a close relationship with the Lord. Through word or action they lead the believer to stop attending church as often as they might like, or reading the Bible as frequently. Solomon’s wives slowly got him to forsake Yahweh and instead worship pagan idols. An unsaved business partner may lead a believer into unethical business practices. Maybe not right away, but over time they begin to compromise their standards for the sake of the business. Jehoshaphat's standards slowly fell as his relationship with evil Ahab increased.
Someone seeking to live for the Lord should have nothing in common, no fellowship, harmony, and compromise with the unbeliever, those in darkness (I Corinthians 10:20-21). The word “Belial” in verse 15 is a word that means “worthless”, and is a name given here for Satan. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, and are His temple. God says here in verse 16 we are not to be united with those who are children of the devil, which Jesus called those who did not accept Him (John 8:44). Idols and God do not mix.
We are to be separated from the world, separated, but not isolated. We are to share the Gospel message with others, but the call to follow Jesus is also a call to be separate and distinctive from the worship and lifestyle of the world. This also includes Christians, and particularly pastors, joining with false and pagan religions for any religious enterprise or ceremonies. Those could never be done to God’s glory. We cannot belong to both Jesus and the world.
We need to be careful how we live. Anything that occupies the place that belongs to God in our life is an idol. We need to purge ourselves of our idols, and get into a right relationship with God. We must set ourselves apart from the world. Unfortunately many Christians have chosen to be entertained by things of the world. We need to ask the Lord to lead us into what is pure. If the enemy (Satan) gains a foothold in our lives by tempting us to compromise, then our faith, our relationship with God will suffer, along with our witness. Through the Blood of Jesus, every bondage that takes our focus away from God can be broken. We must separate ourselves from that which is not of God, and get the ungodly things out of our life. The more separate we become in God, the more pure and powerful we will be for His Kingdom.
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