The Problem with Marrying Outside the Faith

Many people think the Bible's prohibition in the Old Testament of Israel intermarrying with other nations is a proof text prohibiting interracial marriage in our day. Nothing could be further from the truth. The prohibition in the Old Testament against intermarriage with the pagan nations around Israel was a prohibition against inter-FAITH marriage. For when two people from different religions wed, they inevitably sway to one faith or another. And the Lord God knew the pull of seeking to please those surrounding nations who had been long established in the land was very strong for his people. He knew their hearts would be drawn away to serve their gods.

Such is the case under the reign of Solomon's son. It doesn't take long for the southern kingdom to quickly degeneration into a people very much like the pagans they were supposed to drive out. Rehoboam leads Israel into blatant rebellion:

1 Kings 14:22–24 (ESV) And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24 and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

These things listed are the age old sins of humanity's lust. For those who believe in Evolution, they must explain why we never learn (evolve) from the destructive nature of our flesh and revert back to the same old sins of the ancients whenever we turn from scripture. The Asherim were wooden representations of the female deity and male cult prostitutes were exactly what you think they were. Today we see modern Feminism destroying the beauty of the sexual differences and homosexuality not only being tolerated but celebrated in every media and educational outlet possible. What we see from this moment in Israel's history is that those things our age calls "progress" is really REGRESS into the ancient practices God forbid then and does so today because they are destructive to us.

The results of their sin is not swift judgment from the heavens. God is patient with us and was patient with His people. He let them see what their sins would do. In this case, as with many nations and peoples since, these practices led to national weakness and poverty. Notice the description:
1 Kings 14:25–28 (ESV) In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 27 and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. 28 And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

Almost poetically, gold shields are replaced with bronze shields and the great king of Israel has to be guarded as he goes from house to temple. The proof is in the text: when we walk away from the Lord we walk away from the strength, power and defense He proves to be for us our our nation. 

But all this began with Solomon. The text repeats a phrase on purpose that describes Rehoboam:

1 Kings 14:21 (ESV) Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.

1 Kings 14:31 (ESV) And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.

Solomon's interfaith marriage with Naamah the Ammonite shaped Rehoboam far more than all the warnings Solomon wrote in Proverbs regarding the dangers of the immoral woman and sexual infidelity. This is what we MUST consider when looking at our own lives. If we reject God's Word and join ourselves to pagan worshippers, they will turn us away from him and we lose in the end.