Based on Ezra 9:1-7 (New King James Version)
“When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, ‘The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.’ So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day.”
We know we live in a world corrupted by sin. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we have all inherited a world filled with death, destruction, disease, and various other problems, thanks to the sin that entered the world. If we want to pinpoint the root of all our evils, the blame does NOT lie with God, no matter how much some may want to blame Him. Mankind chose to sin against God willingly, based on free will, and since then, we have all followed suit. So, whether it is due to our own sin, the sins of others, or even environmental sin (because we live in a corrupted environment), sin is the root of all our evils. Today we read about one of the main reasons why the people of Israel became corrupt, and why God Himself delivered them into national destruction. As Ezra himself said, only a remnant survived, and this small group of people were either taken captive to Babylon to be servants or left in the land to cultivate it for the kingdom, also as servants. It is estimated that some 4,600 families were deported to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar's conquest. A great nation was reduced to a small fraction largely because of being unequally yoked. Ezra himself explained in this passage that it was the sin the people committed of not only uniting with pagans but also following their abominations. And what were these abominations? The worship of strange and false gods, committing idolatry and everything associated with it, even sacrificing their own children by burning them alive on a stone altar. This was the serious problem with being unequally yoked or united with pagans.
Now, is this sin still wrong in God's eyes today? Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that the Old Testament or the foundations of God's law no longer apply and that they were abolished through Christ. Being united with pagans or those not converted to the Lord is still sin in God's eyes. This is what the Word says: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. And let's look at something else. There are many so-called believers who practice fornication and think they are not sinning against God, either because they have only one partner (as it's called today) or because they don't marry them, but this is also a serious mistake. The Word explains this: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:15-19. Whether a temporary or more permanent yoke, any yoke (because yokes are not only sexual, but also those formed when you form an intimacy with the world), with an unbeliever remains a serious sin against God, and it brings many spiritual and natural consequences.
Ezra refers to the fact that this evil was already present long ago among God's people, even among the ancient kings. The Word explains this: “But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel…” 1 Kings 11:1-9a. The problem couldn't be explained any more clearly.
What does God ultimately command? Should we hate the world, as many believers do today? No. This is what God says: “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘If you return, then I will bring you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, but you must not return to them.” Jeremiah 15:19. God desires to save the world, and we must help in this endeavor, not by joining the world, but by helping the world come to Christ and experience a true conversion (because religious practices do not save). A true convert to Christ should only unite with, or form close relationships with, another Christian. Otherwise, they will bring many problems upon themselves. So, if you are a Christian, with whom do you share your intimacy: with what belongs to God or to the enemy? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel!