“David sent messengers to say to Ish-Boshet the son of Sha’ul, ‘Give me back my wife Mikhal. I betrothed her to myself for 100 foreskins of the P’lishtim.’ Ish-Boshet sent and took her from her husband Palti’el the son of Layish. Her husband went with her, crying as he went, and followed her to Bachurim. But when Avner told him, ‘Go back,’ he returned.”-2 Samuel 3:14-16
Getting Michal back solved an interesting political problem for David.
Remember, David never did divorce Michal.
She was stolen from him by the Anti-King Saul and given to another man.
They may have been separated, but in David’s mind, Michal was still his rightful property.
She was still his wife.
Ya feeling me here?
But here’s another important thing.
Bringing her back also reconnected David to the house of Saul through marriage.
That’s why Saul took Michal from David in the first place.
Saul wanted to sever the rights David possessed as his son-in-law by taking action that made him NOT his son-in-law anymore.
By reconnecting to Saul’s family through Michal, David added to his rightful claim to Saul’s throne as the next king.
So, David asked Ishbosheth, the current king, to return Michal to him.
Isbosheth agreed, no doubt because Avner ordered him to do so.
We see Michal’s husband, Palti’el, balling his eyes out, following the wife he just lost to David until Avner tells him to stop his wussy nonsense.
Was it such a tragic thing for Palti’el to lose Michal?
Did he so passionately adore her that much?
Possibly, but I doubt it.
What was probably more heart-wrenching was the fact he’d just lost his royal connections to Saul’s family.
This humiliation was devastating.
So what takeaway am I getting from this?
The lesson for me here is clear.
When you marry someone, you don’t just become one flesh with that person, you connect to that person’s family.
This is unavoidable.
That’s why, it’s so important that not only is your partner a believer…
But that your significant other’s family is grafted into the commonwealth of Israel as well…
Otherwise, you’re looking for disaster, my friend.
There’s a reason why the Israelites were warned over and over again to NOT mix with the inhabitants of the surrounding nations.
I’ve seen so many marriages fall completely the hell apart because this principle was not adhered to.
You can’t have one partner grafted into Israel through faith in the Jewish Messiah and the other not, without expecting disaster.
Ya feel me?
See ya all next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion
hath light with darkness?”
–2 Corinthians 6:14-18
To be unevenly yoked is a challenge to any relationship, especially in a marriage.
But it doesn’t start and stop with faith in God: marriages are more often destroyed by being unevenly yoked with regards to money, to careers, to raising of children, or even to politics.
I was engaged to my wife and we had been living together before I accepted Yeshua, andwhen I did I realized that this marriage was not going to be evenly yoked with regards to God because she was raised Catholic and I was raised Jewish.
I kid her, saying that she has always had a heart for the Jewish people because the first Jew she ever knew (which is me), she married!
For the record, I am still Jewish, much more so as a believer in Yeshua than I was as a Reform Jew, and she was never a strict Catholic.
I wrote her a letter explaining that God would be first and foremost, that living together would continue but no fornication until we were married (that was a big one!), and that she would have to settle for coming in as the next most important thing in my life; I did try to lighten the blow by saying that coming in second only to God is not so bad. I gave her the chance to release me from the promise to marry, and I prayed really hard that night. She thoguht it over and decided to marry me, anyway.
It has been nearly 30 years now, and she bought me a mezzuzah for each entry door to the house, we have a Seder every year, and we light Hanukkah candles together. She has supported my ministry, and over the years has learned about God by hearing me talk about him. Yet, she has never read one of my books- we joke about that, saying that a prophet has no honor in his home town.
When our dinner schedules are separate, as they sometimes are due to activities we do separately, I will ask her what she is having and she says she went to the store and bought trefe! 🙂
Yes, I would love it if she became a born-again person, but I also know that in her heart she is learning and that she is a good person, and although we differ on politics and we have different levels of faithfulness and obedience, we work with each other to be one flesh and one body.
Shaul said that when we are unevenly yoked the believer should not leave because who knows? maybe being exposed to a faithful person will one day save the soul of the unsaved one (Cor. 7:12-15)
That is the hope I have and the reward I will get when my prayers for her are answered.
We may not be evenly yoked, but we are working together and we do get a little more evenly yoked as we go.
Great testimony. Thanks for sharing.