Mixed Marriages?

[irishman]

I know that the OT forbids mixed marriages, to preserve the Messiah's blood line, but what about today's world? Is it deemed wrong to marry another race?

[John81]

Some say yes, some say no, some don't care.

[John81]

Just for the record, the command for Jews to not intermarry wasn't to keep the Messiah's bloodline pure. God chose to have some non-Jews in the earthly bloodline of Jesus.

[Seth Doty]

Just for the record, the command for Jews to not intermarry wasn't to keep the Messiah's bloodline pure. God chose to have some non-Jews in the earthly bloodline of Jesus.

Ditto. It had nothing to do with keep the bloodline pure. It had everything to do with the fact that the surrounding nations were pagan. If someone converted to the one true God and became part of the Jewish nation in the OT it was perfectly fine for a "natural born" Jew to marry them and several such examples exist. Same principle applies today, don't marry the heathen. Race is not the factor that makes it acceptable or unacceptable then or now.

[JerryNumbers]

I spoke about this with my doctor that is black, the reply was, "I call it my preference, I do not want my daughter to marry a white person. She has friends that are white, and sometimes they come to our house and there is never has been a problem, all goes very well."

I suppose some white people would call this doctor raciest.

[irishman]

true, there were Gentiles in the blood line, as far you go with it, but take a look at Gal. 3 where there are Jews, and there are spiritual Jews. God is not the "God of men", but of the Jews. He sorted things in genesis "after its kind" and this was good. I cannot prove, nor disprove the theory, but the scriptures forbidding mixed marriage are more abundant than those that don't, depending on how you read it.

Ruth, the Moabitess became a Jew when she trusted their God; Rahab also trusted in the God of Abraham, but there were some that did not. (even Solomon-1 Kings 11:1). One guy was killed for taking a foreign women that was captured in battle (can't remember the scripture). I believe that it was to keep the blood line holy, and that man spoiled that himself. God created two beings, Adam and Eve, and they were undoubtedly of the same race. Since then, man has polluted the blood line (Satan has through men) in order to destroy the bloodline, and prevent the birth of the Messiah.

Again, I cannot prove either theory, so it remains, as Jerry's doctor said, "preference", but it makes more sense to me that God would separate the holy from the unholy through the bloodline. If someone has already engaged in a mixed marriage though, he is not useless to the Lord; there is no reason for divorce (which Moses ordained for the Jews who polluted the bloodline.)

[Salyan]

true, there were Gentiles in the blood line, as far you go with it, but take a look at Gal. 3 where there are Jews, and there are spiritual Jews. God is not the "God of men", but of the Jews. He sorted things in genesis "after its kind" and this was good. I cannot prove, nor disprove the theory, but the scriptures forbidding mixed marriage are more abundant than those that don't, depending on how you read it.

Ruth, the Moabitess became a Jew when she trusted their God; Rahab also trusted in the God of Abraham, but there were some that did not. (even Solomon-1 Kings 11:1). One guy was killed for taking a foreign women that was captured in battle (can't remember the scripture). I believe that it was to keep the blood line holy, and that man spoiled that himself. God created two beings, Adam and Eve, and they were undoubtedly of the same race. Since then, man has polluted the blood line (Satan has through men) in order to destroy the bloodline, and prevent the birth of the Messiah.

Again, I cannot prove either theory, so it remains, as Jerry's doctor said, "preference", but it makes more sense to me that God would separate the holy from the unholy through the bloodline. If someone has already engaged in a mixed marriage though, he is not useless to the Lord; there is no reason for divorce (which Moses ordained for the Jews who polluted the bloodline.)

The only mixed marriage forbidden in the NT is between a believer and an unbeliever. Israel was given to us for an ensample - and the example we see from them is that the God's people should not marry pagans.

As far as marrying other races, we know that we are all descended from Adam (and later Noah). Paul's sermon on Mars Hill stated that God 'hath made of one blood' all nations of the world.

Scientists have been unable to prove a genetic difference between the so-called 'races.' Any one person can expect to have a 0.2% genetic difference from any other person - even if they're from the same 'race.' Those differences that we identify as racial distinctions make up only 0.012% of the genetic variation. We're even all basically the same color - all colors of skin result from varying amount of melanin in the skin. Even the evolutionary biologists admit this now - there is only one race of humans, Homo sapiens sapiens. (I know all this scientific stuff doesn't count for the OP as much as the Bible, but I thought it was interesting. ) Genetically and Biblically, therefore, there is only one 'race.'

One more thought - God did sort the animals in Genesis after their kind - but there was only one kind of Adam! God didn't create different colors of people - he created one man and one woman with the genetic variation capable of producing a multiplicity of colors. If those colors matter that much to us, maybe we should be limiting marriages by hair color. No blonde should ever marry a brunette. :frog:

[trell]

Technically and physically speaking, the bloodline comes from the father's sperm only. The woman contributes no blood to the fetus at any time. Genetics are there, but the fetus produces it's own blood once conception occurs.

God did not want the idol worship which non-Israelites would bring in.

This is why we are saved through the blood of Jesus. His blood came only from the Father, so it was pure. When we get saved, that pure blood is there as a perfect sacrifice to allow us to be called God's sons and daughters, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.

[heartstrings]

Technically and physically speaking, the bloodline comes from the father's sperm only. The woman contributes no blood to the fetus at any time. Genetics are there, but the fetus produces it's own blood once conception occurs.

God did not want the idol worship which non-Israelites would bring in.

This is why we are saved through the blood of Jesus. His blood came only from the Father, so it was pure. When we get saved, that pure blood is there as a perfect sacrifice to allow us to be called God's sons and daughters, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.

From the website of the American Red Cross

Like eye color, blood type is passed genetically from your parents. Whether your blood group is type A, B, AB or O is based on the blood types of your mother and father.

From the University of Arizona Biology Dept.

Each biological parent donates one of their two ABO alleles to their child. A mother who is blood type O can only pass an O allele to her son or daughter. A father who is blood type AB could pass either an A or a B allele to his son or daughter. This couple could have children of either blood type A (O from mother and A from father) or blood type B (O from mother and B from father).

http://www.biology.a.../inherited.html

If blood type can be inherited also from the mother, how could there be a "pure bloodline" in the lineage of Christ? He would have inherited genetics from Rahab (a Canaanite) and Ruth (a Moabite}. And if my memory serves me correctly, my Father and I had different blood types. Edited October 22, 2011 by heartstrings

[Seth Doty]

Another false but frequently repeated "preacher story" used to illustrate a biblical truth? Say it isn't so.

Biblically it seems that a "sin line", what ever that may be exactly, passes down from the father which is apparently why it was needful for Christ to be born of a virgin. That doesn't have a thing to do with the genetic makeup of the blood though. The genetic information for a persons blood, as you pointed out, comes from both parents, not just one, just like everything else does genetically speaking.

on the fact check, people should do that on illustrations more often if they are the type of illustration that claims to be fact.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Seth-Doty

[Wilchbla]

The "blood comes from the father" teaching was started, I believe, by Martin DeHann Sr. who was a medical doctor. At that time it was the common belief in the medical community that the blood only came from the father.

[HappyChristian]

It isn't the blood from the father that scripture points out - it's the seed...which is why God specifically told the woman that it would be HER seed...not his...

And I think any woman who's had a baby could tell you that said baby also has her blood...

[swathdiver]

If blood type can be inherited also from the mother, how could there be a "pure bloodline" in the lineage of Christ? He would have inherited genetics from Rahab (a Canaanite) and Ruth (a Moabite}.

Saw this on Wretched TV a few months back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3bsAMyRwbw

[Seth Doty]

Saw this on Wretched TV a few months back:

That presentation is flawed. If both the Matthew and Luke genealogies were of Joseph then, since Christ was not Josephs literal son, there would be no evidence for Christ being the literal son of David as he was biblically required to be. The genealogies of Matthew are those of Joseph and establish Christs legal right to to be the king of Israel, since Josephs line was legally the royal line and Christ was his adopted son. One of Josephs ancestors(jechonias) had a curse on him though which said no descendant of his would ever sit on the throne of Israel which is no doubt why Christ did not physically come through the royal line. The genealogies in Luke however are those of Mary and establish Christ as the literal son of David as the Messiah was required to be.

[swathdiver]

Interesting point, I will have to make time to look into this further.