May 14, 2024
Machelle McDowell
What does it mean to be unequally yoked? I am going to confess. The very first time I read this scripture (2 Cor 6:14-16), the first thing that came to my mind was….an egg!
Wow, was I way off the mark! My first clue should have been the spelling of the word- yoke….not yolk, LOL.
I looked a little deeper into what a yoke is: a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attaches to a plow.
I found it interesting that if two oxen are yoked together and one ox is yoked improperly it will cause them to be off balance. They can’t work together. They will go in circles or sometimes just stop all together.
2 Corinthians 6:14-16
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? OR what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with the devil? OR what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
This past week I spent some time in the book of Judges 13-16 and quite honestly the story of Samson opened my eyes to some truths that I had never pulled out of these chapters before.
Samson’s birth was a blessing bestowed upon his parents to whom his mother was barren. Along with Samson’s birth came a lifetime Nazrite vow and this child was given a supernatural physical strength through God’s holy spirit. His mission was to rescue the Israelites from the Philistines, he could never cut his hair. His hair symbolized God’s favor upon him.
His strength was unbelievable but he had a greater weakness- women. He continually stepped out of God’s will for his life by being unequally yoked with ungodly pagan women who led him astray.
Is there such a thing as love at first sight? I tend to believe that it is possible-however; I tend to lean on the side of lust at first sight when it came to Samson and his choice of female companions. Maybe, I am wrong, either way, love at first sight is dangerous.
When we step out of God’s will in choosing our soul mate for life, it usually does not go well for us. When we are unequally yoked with a mate we have created a situation where two people are going to disagree on many important life decisions and that creates a life of conflict and the marriage will be out of balance, finding themselves going in circles, alot like the oxen that have been yoked improperly.
Samson sees a Philistine woman for the first time and wants to marry her. The first onset of his demise, but ironically from the Lord. God was at work.
Samson’s parents tried to convince him that this was not a good idea. Judges 14:4 "His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.”
Isn’t it beautiful how God can take our weaknesses and use them for good?
Samson has a party for the Philistines to celebrate his marriage and offers a riddle for them to solve. If solved they would receive 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. If they failed to solve it then they were to provide the same for him.
And so if began- Samson’s wife was threatened by the Philistines to entice her husband to tell her the riddle or they would burn her and her father’s house. She succeeds. To her credit, she acted out of fear, but Samson saw it as betrayal.
This was Samson’s first move against the Philistines. He was enraged. He killed thirty of the enemies of Israel. His father-in-law thought that Samson hated his wife, so he gave her to another man.
God uses Samson’s ungodly anger. Samson strikes out against the Philistines and the story of the Philistines downfall begins to unfold. Revenge creates a snowball effect. The Philistines burn Samson’s wife and father. Samson retaliates as a one man army against them with a great slaughter. He now could trust no one.
Samson is on the run. He goes to Gaza and sees a prostitute. Once again he is unequally yoked to a pagan woman. (Even though a man is being used by God does not make him exempt from blatant sin)…here we are again going in circles and out of balance.
And then…..there was Delilah! Samson fell in love again with a woman named Delilah. Three’s a charm, no….. more like strike 3 in the woman department. Delilah was far from yoked with Samson. She flat out inserted the bull ring in his nose and led him to slaughter!
The Philistines bribed her to have Samson reveal the source of his strength. This proved her love for Samson- non existent. She only wanted the money.
Ironically, Samson knew something was not right or he wouldn’t have lied to her 3x. An ungodly relationship can sway our thinking. He stayed with her anyway.
She was furious. She then played the, “You don’t really love me” card. And, Samson eventually shared his heart and the truth with her. So, she lulls him to sleep and has someone to cut his hair.
His hair was not really the source of his strength but was a symbol of God’s favor upon his life. Samson was arrested, tortured, and blinded.
He was unequally yoked and bound most of his life to pagan women that helped rob him of God’s intended blessing for his life; Now he is bound with bronze fetters and God’s presence seems far from him.
Friends, relationships are not the only way can be unequally yoked. We can be unequally yoked with the world in which we live. We let worldly influences affect our thinking and our belief system to the point of compromise.
Samson realized where His strength came from. His hair began to grow in prison and he was reminded of his vow. He cried out to the Lord one last time as he stood between two pillars that held the temple in place. He pushed with all his strength and the building fell upon all the Philistines. He killed more Philistines that day than he did his entire life….at the cost of his own life.
God never forsook Samson. He was restored! The last victory came out of Samson’s humility.
What is the take away from this story? Light and darkness do not cohabitate. One will blot out the other. Which will you choose?