By

Shelby G. Floyd

Today, most young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are thinking about getting married and having a family. It is very important for the happiness and success of a young man or young woman to make the right decision in choosing their partner for life. Perhaps it would be good to observe a few principles by which God’s people made that choice in the Old Testament.

Choosing a Worldly Marriage Partner

As you probably remember, the patriarch Isaac and his wife Rebecca, had twin boys—Jacob and Esau. The New Testament declares that Esau was a profane man who sold his birthright for one morsel of food (Hebrews 12:16-17). This simply means that his character was godless. We see this demonstrated in the choice that he made when he selected his wife.

It seems during this period of time that men and women were quite a bit older when they selected their marriage partners than today. The book of Genesis declares: “When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah” (Genesis 26: 34-35). Esau demonstrated that he lacked spiritual values in his choice of Hittite women who had Canaanite and worldly values embedded in their culture. When young people select a wife or husband, they are marrying into their families as well as their own. Continue reading “Choose Your Wife (Husband) for Life” →