Bible Questions and Answers

Thanks for your question.

Actually, God, as He has revealed Himself in the Bible, really doesn't seem to care at all about interracial marriage or relationships such as dating or close friendships between people of different races or nationalities. Indeed, the Song of Solomon celebrates the marriage of a black woman (probably the Queen of Sheba or perhaps her daughter) to Solomon and typifies the union of Christ and his church. Joseph, one of the most blessed characters in the Bible, and considered to be an extraordinary "type" or foreshadowing of Christ married an Egyptian woman, who may well have been black, and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh became patriarchs among the tribes of Israel. Clearly, in God's eyes, "interracial" marriages are on the same level as any other marriage because there really are no "races" in the sense of significant differences between humans.

Paul tells us in a remarkably scientific statement in Acts 17:26 that all nations are of "one blood." In an era of extraordinary racism, he said essentially that we are all of the same race. Only Divine inspiration could have given him that remarkable information!

We are all of the same race. The so-called racial differences are genetically unbelievably trivial and meaningless in terms of what makes us human. Even scientists agree that every person on earth can trace their ancestry back to one pair. That being the case, where did that one pair come from? The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 and 2!

What is important is not so-called racial differences but what we believe and what we do about that belief. The Bible is clear that believers should not deliberately marry unbelievers. See 2 Corinthians 6:14. There are exceptions of course. For example, if a couple marries and one subsequently obeys the gospel and becomes a believer and is baptized into Christ while his or her partner remains in unbelief, Paul is explicit in saying that the believer should not leave his or her unbelieving spouse. If the unbeliever leaves the marriage, then the believing spouse is free to remarry "but only in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 7:15.

"How can two walk together unless they are in agreement?" asked the prophet (Amos 3:3). That's where the issues of faith in relationships are decided. Are we willing to forsake an attractive relationship when our prospective partner will not share our faith? To enter into such an unbalanced relationship would be more than just a mistake, it would be a sin.

I hope you have found that helpful.

God bless,
Mike,