A GODLY FOUNDATION

Pr. James Victor Lubwama

You cannot fully comprehend salvation till you understand the Old Testament, because It forms a strong foundation for the New Testament, and it is a shadow of the New Testament and therefore you should not neglect it like some do.

Do Not Marry The Daughters Of Canaan

Isaac called his son Jacob and once again prayed for him a blessing and charged him not to marry the daughters of Canaan but rather from the house of Bethuel - man of God or the dweller in God. Laban the son of Bethuel had daughters and Isaac told Jacob to go there and marry one of them. Genesis 28:1-2 (NKJV) says;

“Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him:  “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother”

God through Isaac wanted to build a foundation of a family that fears God. The house of Bethuel is the one God had set apart to bring forth the daughters of faith. It is from this house that Isaac too married Rebekah.  Isaac prayed for Jacob and declared that He will be an assembly of peoples and from him came the twelve tribes of Israel. (Genesis 28:3-4)

It is important to note the Canaanite women are idol worshippers who are likely to divert and draw you to their beliefs, values and gods. God put emphasis on women because they nurture and raise children in line with their beliefs and values. A glimpse in to the life of Isaac will show you that he used to live with his mother in the tent and always sat at the feet of his mother. Genesis 24:67 (NKJV) says;

“And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death”

The same applied to Jacob, he sat at the feet of his mother in the tents and was raised in the fear of God, however, Esau never sat in tents with his mother. He was always on the move and in the field hunting. No wonder Jacob was favoured and more loved by his mother. Genesis 25:27-28 (ESV) narrates;

“When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in the tents 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob”   

Wait Upon The LORD

This is a great lesson for the church today; believers ought to wait upon the Lord by sitting at the feet of the servants of God, be taught the word of God, and then gather the strength they need to mount on wings like eagles. (Isaiah 40:31). At times those who diligently and relentlessly seek the Lord are sometimes mocked and negatively criticized, but ignore those who do and press on; those who mock you will be proved wrong, and once you are well equipped, you will overtake them just as Elijah overtook King Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of Jezreel when the hand of the LORD came upon him. 1 Kings 18:45-46 (GNT) says;

“In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel”

Because Esau was ever in the field, he must have missed the teaching from his parents to the extent that he did not make it a point to marry from the house of Bethuel. Genesis 28:8-9 (NIV) says;

“Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac;  9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.”

Choose A Spouse From The Family Of Faith

After the death of Sarah, Abraham told Eliezer to go and find a wife for his son and he was also specific on where to get the wife from. So Isaac was doing for Jacob exactly what his father had taught and done for him. Genesis 24:1-4 (NIV) says;

“Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

Abraham even made Eliezer to make a solemn oath to make sure that he doesn’t get a woman from the Canaanites. They had only settled in Canaan but they didn’t compromise their faith and belief at all. You might also have traveled overseas or changed address but no matter where you go, do not be yoked with those of unlike faith, belief and values (2 Corinthians 6:14). Where do you look when looking for a spouse? They married within their families, and what is the revelation behind this? A right husband or wife is one that comes from your family of faith – one who is born-again. And the family of faith is not limited to your local church but extends to the entire body of Christ in the entire world

So to a born-again Christian who is not yet married, a right spouse should come from your family of faith, i.e. should be born-again.  And when you a find suitor, the first thing you need to test is whether she is born-again not a Canaanite. Some of you are proud but God fights the proud. You have mentalities such as, there is no one in church who matches my level or class, thinking that suitable spouses are in the world. If you have pride and marry outside, you will suffer the consequences